“Put your hand in Jesus’ hand, and walk with Him. Walk forward, because if you look back, you will come back.” Those were the farewell words that Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu heard when she left her home in Skopye, North Macedonia for Ireland. When she left on September 26, 1928, Agnes was 18 years old. Agnes left her family to join the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary (community of the Sisters of Loreto), a religious order of women who devoted themselves primarily to the world of education.

With the Community of the Sisters of Loreto, Agnes registered to be involved in the mission of this order in Bengala, India. Her departure from home required courage and strong faith, because Agnes realized that “being a missionary means being ready to never return”. Along the way, her mother’s words kept ringing in her ears: “walk with Him.” Agnes pondered: Am I capable of walking with Jesus? In what way do I walk with Jesus?

Who is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu? Maybe not many people know her. But if we mention the name Mother Teresa, almost everyone will know her. Most know her as a saint from Calcutta, where she devoted herself for decades. Wherever Mother Teresa went, she would be received by heads of state as an ambassador of peace. Mother Teresa also received the Nobel Prize for Peace. She was also awarded a prize by Pope John XXIII. She was once invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. After her death on September 5, 1997, Pope John Paul II awarded her the title of Beata (blessed in English). And then almost two decades later on September 4, 2016, the Catholic Church awarded her the title of Saint.

Little Bud from Skopye

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Gonxha means "rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian) was born on August 26, 1910, in what was then known as Skopye, a city that is ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and geologically dissimilar to its surroundings. Although born on August 26, she considered August 27 (the day she was baptized) to be her "birthday". She was the youngest child of Nikollë and Drana Bojaxhiu. Her father, Nikollë Bojaxhiu (whose name means "painter") was from Prizren Kosovo, while her mother is believed to have come from a village near Dakovica Kosovo. Her father, who was involved in Albanian politics, died in 1919 when she was eight years old. After her father's death, her mother raised her as a Catholic.

Agnes as a teenager participated in church activities, joining a youth sodality group accompanied by a Jesuit priest, which fostered an early interest in missionary matters. Her parish priest also provided a mission magazine, The Catholic Mission, which caught Agnes' attention and strengthened Agnes' interest in the mission call.