--- description: Mother Teresa will officially become a saint on Sept. 4. Here, take a look back at the work of her life and the legacy she left. title: Mother Teresa Photos: Images Show the Power of Her Work image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27202e56dbd0c2a2/6988a4b9e20a878311a9243b/mother-teresa-life-in-pictures-5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Images Show the Power of Mother Teresa's Work by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) and [Andrew Katz](/author/andrew-katz/) Sep 2, 2016 9:24 PM CUT  Mother Teresa smiles with an infant in Calcutta, India, in 1981. Mother Teresa smiles with an infant in Calcutta, India, in 1981.Francois Le Diascorn—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) and [Andrew Katz](/author/andrew-katz/) Sep 2, 2016 9:24 PM CUT Mother Teresa will officially [become a saint](http://time.com/4476076/mother-teresas-faith-history/ "undefined") on Sunday, on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death. The Roman Catholic nun, widely [known](http://time.com/vault/issue/1975-12-29/page/47/ "undefined") for her dedication to humanitarian causes with the Missionaries of Charity, [spent her life](http://time.com/4126238/mother-teresas-crisis-of-faith/ "undefined") caring for poor and sick people. Photos of Mother Teresa throughout the years show her clad in a blue-trimmed white sari, assisting the sick, orphans, the homeless and others. In 1955, when her charity took in large numbers of abandoned children, Mother Teresa opened the Children’s Home of the Immaculate Heart to safely house them. Her work garnered several awards and recognition, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. Here, see Mother Teresa at work throughout her life—and the work that has continued, thanks to her legacy, in the years since her death.  Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa prays in 1988, during the dedication ceremonies at her 400th worldwide mission to care for the poor in Tijuana, Mexico. The Tijuana mission will shelter the homeless, the terminally ill and unwed mothers. Bettmann Archive  Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, the future Mother Teresa, at age 18 in Albania. Vittoriano Rastelli—Corbis/Getty Images  Mother Teresa rides in an ambulance alongside a group of impoverished people in Calcutta, India, in October 1979. Jean-Claude Francolon—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  Mother Teresa smiles with an infant in Calcutta, India, in 1981. Francois Le Diascorn—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  Pope Paul VI awards the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize to Mother Teresa in 1971, for her work among the poor in Calcutta and her founding of an order dedicated working with the poor. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images  Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, on Oct. 1, 1979. Jean-Claude Francolon—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  Queen Elizabeth II and Mother Teresa look at the Insignia of the Honorary Order of Merit, which she just presented to the Lady of Calcutta, at the Rashtrapati Shavar in New Delhi, India, on Nov. 24, 1983. AP  Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Prof. John Sanness, hands over the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize to Mother Teresa. Bettmann Archive  First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Mother Teresa at the opening of the Mother Teresa Home for Infant Children in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 1995. AFP/Getty Images  Mother Teresa takes a couple minutes to herself at a prayer hall before going about her daily rounds. Bettmann Archive  Mother Teresa addresses a group of children during mass at a church. Michel Setboun—Corbis/Getty Images  Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity decorate the tomb of Mother Teresa, who was buried after a state funeral, at Mother House in Calcutta, India, on Sept. 14, 1997. Sherwin Crasto—AP  A group of Indian orphans along with a nun of the Missionaries of Charity offer prayers in front of a portrait of Mother Teresa during prayers to observe the seventh anniversary of her death in Calcutta, Sept. 5, 2004. Deshakalyan Chowdhury—AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4478269/mother-teresa-legacy-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4478269/mother-teresa-legacy-photos/"},"headline":"These Images Show the Power of Mother Teresa's Work","datePublished":"2016-09-02T21:24:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:25.558Z","description":"Mother Teresa will officially become a saint on Sept. 4.","url":"https://time.com/4478269/mother-teresa-legacy-photos/","keywords":["faith","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27202e56dbd0c2a2/6988a4b9e20a878311a9243b/mother-teresa-life-in-pictures-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Katz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27202e56dbd0c2a2/6988a4b9e20a878311a9243b/mother-teresa-life-in-pictures-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mother Teresa In Calcutta, India In 1981 -","caption":"Mother Teresa smiles with an infant in Calcutta, India, in 1981.","creditText":"Francois Le Diascorn—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4478269/mother-teresa-legacy-photos/","name":"These Images Show the Power of Mother Teresa's Work"}}]}] ```