Nuns paid tributes to Mother Teresa on her birth anniversary by lighting candles

Several nuns gathered at the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata this morning to pay tribute to Mother Teresa on her 109th birth anniversary.

They lighted candles at the flower-adorned grave of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"Mother was not concerned about success, fame or power; she only belonged to Jesus. She served the poorest of the poor across the world and became the defender of the right to life for the unborn and challenged children, who were perceived as the burden to the society," said a nun.

Born in a family of ethnic Albanians in Skopje in 1910, Mother Teresa left her home at the age of 18 and later joined the "Sisters of Loreto" located in Irelands's Rathfarnham.

Her actual name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She moved to India in the late 1920s and taught history and geography for 15 years at Kolkata's St Mary's High School.

Nuns pay tribute to Mother Teresa at Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata

In 1948, she decided to leave the church and aid the poor and needy in Kolkata.

In 1950, she laid the foundation stone of the Roman Catholic religious congregation, which is known as the Missionaries of Charity.

Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, but she refused to accept it and urged the jury to contribute the prize money of USD 192,000 for helping the poor people of India.

In September 2017, Mother Teresa was declared Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Calcutta by the Vatican Pope for her selfless service towards helping the underprivileged and poor in Kolkata.