Mother Teresa birth anniversary: Union minister Hardeep Puri pays tribute

In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Roman Catholic religious congregation which later went on to be known as Missionaries of Charity. During her life, she set up many homes for the poor, needy, those dying from AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis all over India.

Union minister Hardeep Puri paid tributes to Mother Teresa on her birth anniversary on Thursday. The minister said she dedicated her life to the service of humanity.

Mother Teresa came to India in 1929 and took her first religious vows on 24 May 1931.

"Remembering Bharat Ratna & Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa Ji on her birth anniversary. She established ‘Nirmal Hriday’ & dedicated her life to the service of humanity," the minister said on Twitter.

Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She was borh on August 26, 1910 to a family of ethnic Albanians in Skopje in Macedonia.

Mother Teresa left her home for Irelands's Rathfarnham at the age of 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto. She wanted to learn English in the hopes of becoming a missionary, and English was the language of instruction for the Sisters of Loreto in India.

Mother Teresa came to India in 1929, and after a period of teaching at St. Teresa’s School in Darjeeling, she took her first religious vows on 24 May 1931.

She later went on to teach at a school in Kolkata, where she served for almost two decades. However, serving the poor and needy was Mother Teresa’s true calling and in 1948 she began her journey of serving the poor and the needy.

In 1950, she founded the Roman Catholic religious congregation which later went on to be known as Missionaries of Charity.

During her life Mother Teresa set up many homes for the poor, needy, those dying from AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis all over India. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

In 2017, she was posthumously canonized as a Patron Saint by the Vatican Pope for her service to the needy and poor.