Inspiring Women

of Faith

Sister Helen Prejean

Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Agnes Bojaxhu was
born in Yugoslavia
in 1910. She
entered the
convent at the age
of 18, taking the
name of Sr Teresa.
She sailed for India
and for years,
taught at a girls’
Catholic school.
Most of the
students were from
wealthy families.
While on a train returning from her annual retreat,
Sister Teresa felt the call of God to leave the security
of her convent life.
She believed God was calling her to minister to the
poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta.
She responded to this call, and left the convent in 1948.
She lived very simply, and spent her days picking up
dying people from the streets.
In 1950 she opened the first Home for the Dying, where
the outcasts of Calcutta could die with dignity.
Many girls she had taught at the Loretto convent school
joined her in her work. They too, dedicated their lives
to Jesus in serving the very poor. In 1950, Sr Teresa’s
order became known as the Missionaries of Charity.
She taught her nuns to
live very simple lives, to
pray constantly and to see
the face of Jesus in every
person, especially the
poorest of the poor.
She and her sisters
set up homes not only
in third world
countries, but also in
New York and Rome.
She saw spiritual
poverty as the worst
poverty of all.
Mother Teresa won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
for her service of love to
the world. She accepted
the award –
..”in the name of the
hungry, the naked, the
homeless, the crippled,
the blind, the lepers, of all
those people who feel
unwanted, unloved,
uncared for throughout
society, people who have
become a burden to the
society and are shunned
by everyone.”
- Mother Teresa’s Acceptance Speech
Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age
of 87.
Her Missionaries of Charity continue to grow and
serve the poorest of the poor.
Her Order is currently going through the process of
having Mother Teresa declared a saint.
Interview with Mother Teresa
Sister Helen Prejean
When Helen Prejean, a
Sister of St Joseph, left her
teaching job to live in a
housing project, her life
changed.
She became pen pals with
Patrick Sonnier, a convicted
killer of two teenagers, who
was on Death Row.
Sonnier was sentenced to die in the electric chair of
Louisiana’s Angola State Prison.
Sonnier invited Helen to visit him regularly as his
spiritual advisor.

On the night of April

5, 1984, she
accompanied him to
his execution.
Sister Helen’s last words to Patrick Sonnier -
“You look at me, you
look at my face. I
can’t bear the
thought that you
would die without
seeing one loving
face. I will be the
face of Christ for
you.”
Sr Helen was greatly affected by the experience of
watching another human being be executed. She
said: “I couldn’t watch someone be killed and walk
away. Like a sacrament, the execution left an
indelible mark on my soul.”
She wrote about her
experiences in a
book called Dead
Man Walking, which
was made into a
major motion
picture.
She has
educated the
public about
the death
penalty by
lecturing,
writing and
speaking all
over the
USA.
She is outspoken in her oppostion to the death
penalty as an inhuman and immoral act.
Sr Helen
continues to
counsel
inmates on
Death Row
and
accompany
them to
their
execution.
Sr Helen also works with the
families of both the
murderers and their victims.

She says that prayer and

dedication drive her. When
she’s in the right place at the
right time, Sr Helen says she
is aware if God’s presence.
Although the
Catholic Church
teaches that the
death penalty is
almost never
morally acceptable
in modern society,
there are around
3,000 people
awaiting execution
in the United States.
The End