Museums

Memorial House of Mother Teresa

The desire to pay respect to one the most famous person and Nobel Prize winner from Macedonia was accomplished in 2009 with the opening of the Memorial house dedicated to Mother Teresa. On 31 January 2009 the Memorial house of Mother Teresa was formally promoted in front of hundreds of people.

About the object

The gallery of the museum depicts the interior of a city house in Macedonia at the beginning of the XX century. Above the gallery there is a small chapel where the priests from the Catholic Church hold services twice a week. At the honorary masses associated with important dates related to Mother Teresa, her relic is presented.

The basement part of the museum is designed as a multimedia center that will host various projections, promotions, exhibitions, and educational projects related to the life and humanitarian work of Mother Teresa.

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Exhibition

The exhibition includes photos, documents and exhibits through which one can follow the life journey of Mother Teresa starting from her childhood years in Skopje, via the years that she spent as a Missionary of Charity, until her death and beatification. The gallery also possesses large number of photographs that depict the humanitarian work of Mother Teresa and her sisters. Among the most important documents that the museum possesses several can be highlighted: her birth certificate issued by the Catholic Church “Sacred heart of Jesus” in 1928, her sari, her hand-written prayer book, cross and rosary, as well as several awards that Mother Teresa won throughout her life.

About Mother Teresa

Agnes Gondzha Bojaxhiu was born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the family of Nikola and Drana Boaxhiu, as the youngest of the three children. Her father was a famous trader and member of the City Council of Skopje as the only Catholic member. Bojaxhiu’s family house was open to all, especially to the poorest. When she was five and a half years old, she received her First Communion. In 1919, her father, Nikola Bojaxhiu died and then her family suffered a financial difficulties.

On 26 September 1928, she leaves Skopje, her hometown, and her family to join the Loreto Sisters, Institute of Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, Ireland.

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By decree of Pope Pius XII on 12 April 1948 Mother Teresa received permission from Vatican to leave the monastery of Lore- to and to begin her mission among the poorest in the streets of Calcutta. On 17 August 1948, the same year, she replaced her own nun clothes with simple white cotton sari with blue stripes (symbol of humility, modesty and love of the Mother of God).

Her humanitarian work has been recognized worldwide, result- ing in receiving Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Today there are more than 5000 sisters, and more than 600 hundred brothers all over 133 countries in the world.

When AIDS takes swing the world as a disease of the new time, new lines of activities are directed towards raising public aware- ness of the causes and consequences of the disease. On this occasion on 24 December 1985, Mother Teresa opens first hospital for the people sick from AIDS in New York.
On 5 September 1997 she died in Calcutta at the age of 87. As a sign of gratitude the Indian government gave her a funeral with state honors. Her body was laid in the Motherhouse in Calcutta. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayers of people of all faiths and social strata.

Visits to Skopje

During her lifetime she visited Skopje four times: in May 1970, on 27 March 1978, on 27 June 1980, when she was declared for an honorary citizen of Skopje, and for the last time on 19 September 1986.

Working hours

Gallery Monday to Friday 09:00 – 20:00
Saturday & Sunday 09:00 – 14:00
Chapel (Services) Tuesday at 08:00; Saturday at 08.00

Location

Memorial House of Mother Teresa
Str. Macedonia N.N., 1000 Skopje, Macedonia Phone: +389 2 3290 674; http://www.memorialhouseofmotherteresa.org/en