MOTHER TERESA: A Biography

hearted free service to the poorest of the poor, according to the

teaching and the life of our Lord in the gospel, revealing in a

unique way the salvation of God.... Our particular mission is

to labor at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the

poor.... We are called THE MISSIONARIES OF CHAR-

ITY.^10

Mother Teresa wished to see the vow of poverty rigorously applied. She
wrote:

Whoever the poorest of the poor are, they are Christ for us—

Christ under the guise of humans suffering....Our food, our

dress; it must be just like the poor. The poor are Christ himself.

We should not serve the poor like they wereJesus. We should

serve the poor because they areJesus.^11

Mother Teresa sought to reinforce the vow of poverty in other ways,
too. In the constitution of the order it is stipulated that at no time will the
Missionaries of Charity own any buildings or other property. Postulants
were to be members of the Roman Catholic Church, which would pre-
serve the very core of the congregation. However, in time it became clear
that because the church was not a strong institution in India, that this
stipulation would have to be modified. Still, the core tenets of the consti-
tution for the new congregation showed the influence of those groups that
had the greatest impact on Mother Teresa’s own life, from the missionary
efforts of the Jesuits who swore devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
obedience to God, and also to the Loreto Sisters who stressed a similar de-
votion and obedience to carrying out the work of the Lord on earth.
The last matter that needed to be attended to was the question of the
sisters’ dress. Sent to Rome were three photographs: one depicting a pos-
tulant in a plain white sari and short-sleeved habit, the second of a novice
in a white sari and habit with sleeves that entirely covered the arm, and
last a picture of Mother Teresa in the sisters’ dress of white sari with the
distinctive blue border. The new style of dress, while unorthodox, was ac-
cepted.

A NEW BEGINNING

On October 7, 1950, Archbishop Périer came to the house at 14 Creek
Lane for the first time to celebrate mass at the altar located in the tiny
chapel on the second floor. A large number of persons assembled to hear
Father Van Exem read the decree of erection recognizing the Missionaries

OUT OF A CESSPOOL—HOPE 49