Advice from Mother Teresa on Class Day 1982 at Harvard

The class of 1982 hears from "the angel of Calcutta."

Mother Teresa delivers the Commencement address at Harvard University on June 10, 1982

Some senior classes opt for levity, or substance cloaked in levity, from their Class Day guest speaker. The class of 1982 chose to hear a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who may one day be named a saint. Mother Teresa, who founded the Society of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950, urged her audience to work for Jesus and to live virtuous lives themselves, and received a long, standing ovation from the unusually large crowd in Tercentenary Theatre.

 

For more on Mother Teresa’s speech, see this PDF from the July-August 1982 issue.

A transcription of the speech has been posted by Saint Catherine Labouré Church in San Diego.

Most popular

National Academy of Medicine Elects New Members

More than a dozen Harvard faculty members are honored. 

America’s National Parks Are a $56 Billion Economic Engine

Harvard’s Linda Bilmes on measuring the economic value of public lands

The Medical-Robotics Revolution

Engineering advances in surgery, mobility, and patient care

House - Email

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustrated map of Colonial Cambridge and the Harvard College campus featuring buildings of the campus, houses, Cambridge Common, and the Charles River

Harvard Celebrates America’s 250th

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

A person hanging from a spiral notebook with a blue sky and clouds in the background.

Letters to the Editor

Readers Respond to Our Grade Inflation Survey

A sampling of answers 

Historical battle scene with soldiers in red and blue uniforms, flags waving, chaotic action.

Harvard Celebrates America’s 250th

The Harvard-Trained Doctor Who Urged a Revolution

Before his heroic death, General Joseph Warren was dubbed “the greatest incendiary in all of America.”