Kolkata146;s own

But it is the Parisian aristocrat, Louise de Marillac 1591-1660, who comes most to mind, vis-a-vis Mother Teresa. Inspired by Vincent de Paul, she devoted her life to the care of the sick and the terminally ill, training corps after corps of working class women as nurses. Her work is the foundation of the worldwide network 8216;Daughters of Charity8217; which, by the end of the 20th century, became the world8217;s largest international network of religious non-cloistered women called Sisters of Charity or 8220;Angels of the Battlefield8221;.

Mother Teresa of Kolkata and her order are very much in the finest Christian tradition of social service. But the need for 8220;miracles8221; as a condition for sainthood may not be universally acceptable. For it would seem miracle enough to most that a frail young Albanian woman felt a divine call to service so intensely that she gave her entire earthly span and her best energies to answering that call. That, like Dr Albert Schweitzer or Father Damien, heroes of centuries past, she worked in conditions and laid hands on sufferers that most would have been loath to go near. But this was Mother Teresa8217;s view of her work: 8220;In the silence of the heart God speaks. He says, 8216;I have called you by your name, you are mine; water will not drown you, fire will not burn you, I will give up nations for you, you are precious to me, I love you8217;.8221; Perhaps this was her true miracle, igniting human will with divine inspiration, to make the most useful kind of magic for humanity.