September 10, 1946: Mother Teresa receives her “call within the call”.
On board a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received a message (so she claimed) from God, and an epiphany of sorts that caused her to realize, in her own words:
I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless - to be God’s Love in action to the poorest of the poor.
She began missionary work among the poor in 1948, before being receiving permission from the Vatican a congregation called the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. Her first efforts to help the poor began in Calcutta’s slums; over the years, she and the sisters of the congregation opened different charity homes in India for the dying, for those suffering from leprosy, for orphans and the homeless. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1980, the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.
But naturally, some of her more controversial actions and views have come under some scrutiny and criticism. She once remarked, during her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in fact, that she believed the abortion to be “greatest destroyer of peace today” and opposed it in all cases; her militant stance on abortion was controversial even to some Church officials. British author and journalist Christopher Hitchens was a particularly vocal critic of hers. She also reportedly encouraged members of her order to perform Christian baptisms on dying patients, and she may have also discouraged the use of painkillers because she believed that it is “the most beautiful gift for a person that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ”. Others question the quality of healthcare and cleanliness of her “Houses of the Dying” and her connections with the Duvalier family of Haiti. Former members of the Missionaries of Charity have also, over the years, given their opinions on the matter (articles here and here).