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Today marks the 13th anniversary of the Blessed Mother Teresa's feast day. Join us at Autom as we celebrate the life of an amazing woman who endured constant hardships and poverty to spread the message of Jesus' love.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born August 26, 1910, in Üsküb, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Skopje, Macedonia). After her father's death when she was just eight years old, her mother decided to raise her Roman Catholic. She knew at age 12 that she was committed to serving the Lord and six years later she joined the Sisters of Loretto as a missionary. She traveled to Ireland to learn English and prepare for her missionary work in India. After 17 years in India, Teresa received what she referred to as "the call within a call."

While on an annual retreat with the Sisters of Loretto she received her new calling. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith." She replaced her traditional habit with a white sari with blue trim, adopted citizenship of India, and headed to the streets to serve. She walked for hours with no food to eat or place to lay her head, but her strong faith in God attracted attention of government officials. Upon receiving permission from the Vatican some 3 years later, Teresa and 12 other members founded the Missionaries of Charity. They wanted the sick, the poor, and the dying to receive love and care in their times of need.

Teresa opened her first Home for the Dying in 1952, and began opening more hospices and homes for orphans and those suffering from leprosy. Within 8 years she had locations throughout India, and began spreading her work internationally by 1965. The international presence of Missionaries of Charity spread like a wildfire throughout the next three decades, with over 500 homes in more than 100 countries by 1996.

During her 1983 visit with Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa suffered her first heart attack. After two more heart attacks and other heart related ailments, she was hospitalized in a well-equipped facility in California. She stepped down from her position as the head of Missionaries of Charity on March 13, 2007 and returned to heaven to meet her creator on September 5, 2007. At the time of her death, she had transformed a group of 13 into over 4,000 women and 300 men serving at 610 missions in 123 countries.

Mother Teresa was truly a wonderful woman that spread her love for Jesus Christ through her actions of humanity throughout the entire world. Her most notable honors include the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, the first ever Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, and many honorary degrees from universities in both the East and the West. Mother Teresa was beatified on October 13, 2003, and is well on her way to being canonized.

Today join all your friends here at Autom as we remember to spread love and humanity in your communities and homes. When the Blessed Mother Teresa was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" Teresa answered "Go home and love your family."