10 September 1946 Inspiration Day; while riding a train, Sister Teresa
receives her call to help serve the poorest of the
poor.
15 August 1947 India becomes free from British rule; three nations
are formed as a result of Indian independence:
India, Pakistan, and Ceylon.
1948 Sister Teresa requests permission to leave the
Loreto Order to live alone and work with the poor
in Calcutta; her first act is to open a school in the
slum of Motijhil; on April 12, she receives permis-
sion from Pope Pius XII to remain a nun who will
report directly to the archbishop of Calcutta; in
August, she travels to Patna where she works with
the American Medical Missionary Sisters for three
months of intensive medical training; she returns
to Calcutta in December; she will also become a
citizen of India.
1949 Moves in with the Gomes family at 14 Creek Lane
in February; in March, Subashni Das, a young Ben-
gali girl, becomes the first to join Mother Teresa.
7 October 1950 The new congregation of the Missionaries of Char-
ity is approved.
1952 Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity
move to their new motherhouse located at 54A
Lower Circular Road; in August, Mother Teresa
opens Nirmal Hriday, the first home for the dying,
next to the temple at Kalighat.
1953 The first group of Missionaries of Charity take their
first vows; Shishu Bhavan, the first home for aban-
doned and handicapped children, is opened.
1957 Mother Teresa begins working with lepers of Cal-
cutta.
1959 The first houses outside of Calcutta are opened.
1960 Mother Teresa travels outside of India for the first
time since coming there in 1929.
1963 The Missionaries of Charity Brothers is established.
1965 Shantinagar, the Place of Peace for Lepers, is
opened.
1969 The International Association of Co-Workers of
Mother Teresa becomes officially affiliated with the
Missionaries of Charity.
xiv TIMELINE