Teresa Awaiting Her Novitiate

I have always been inspired by Mother Teresa, who led a life of selfless devotion to caring for the destitute, sick and dying.  Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in a devoutly Catholic Albanian-Indian family, she moved to Ireland at the age of 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto, a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education.  There she underwent a series of spiritual transformations that prepared her for her life’s work.  She later moved to India, where she lived most of her life and carried out her missionary work.  This piece depicts her as a young woman before she entered the convent. Her appearance here shows her youthfulness and vulnerability, a distinct contrast with her more familiar appearance later in life.