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

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files.

What a Key EPA Repeal Means for America’s Climate Future

A Harvard alumni panel examines the impact of the “Endangerment Finding.”

Pete Buttigieg Calls For a Politics of ‘Belonging’

A Kennedy School panel discusses polarization and the uncertain future of American democracy.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman gazes at large decorative letters with her reflection and two stylized faces beside them.

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

A woman in a black blazer holds a bottle of beer.

Introductions: Mallika Monteiro

A conversation with a beer industry executive