Euphoria, tears in Kolkata

Kolkata, September 4

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Nuns shed tears of joy and hugged each other, amid euphoric scenes at the Mother House, global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, as the order’s founder Mother Teresa was declared a Saint by the Vatican on Sunday.

Hundreds of admirers of the Albanian nun, who made Kolkata her home for seven decades to serve the poor and the infirm, gathered near the blue, three-storied building since the morning to soak in the festive atmosphere.

Outside, traffic was thrown out of gear, as people carrying blue flags, and lilies in hand, made a beeline for the small, dingy lane leading up to the freshly-painted house, where Mother lived for 44 years and also died on September 5, 1997. Lilies were offered at her tomb, as the devout cutting across all religions bent and prayed.

The entrance to the house was bedecked with blue and white blossoms, the colours that Saint Teresa chose for the sarees to be worn by the nuns of her order. Two giant screens in two rooms of the house beamed the ceremony at the Vatican live for the visitors, who sat under a life-size flex of a smiling Mother Teresa. There were cheers as Pope Francis was seen arriving for the celebrations at the St. Peter’s Basilica in a ceremonial procession.

The crowd followed the proceedings with rapt attention, but erupted in joy a few minutes past 2 pm when the Pontiff declared that the nun would henceforth be called St Teresa. The honour came a day before the nun's 19th death anniversary, and only nine days after her 107th birthday. — IANS

1910-1997

• Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, now in Macedonia, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.
• After doing iconic work in the slums of Calcutta, she died in 1997 aged 87. 
• The youngest of three children, she attended a youth group run by a Jesuit priest called Sodality, which eventually led her to becoming a nun.
• She joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta, where she taught at a high school. 
• After contracting tuberculosis, she was sent to rest in Darjeeling. It was on the way that she felt what she called ‘an order’ from God to leave the convent and live among the poor.
• The Vatican granted her permission to leave the Sisters of Loreto and to live her new call under the guidance of the Archbishop of Calcutta.

In a rare occasion, nuns watch TV

Kolkata: Having stayed away from TV sets all their life, hundreds of nuns of the Missionaries of Charity on Sunday made an exception when they were glued to screens beaming Mother Teresa’s canonisation ceremony live. At the Mother House, headquarters of the congregation and home of the Saint, three large TV screens were brought from outside so that nuns from different homes and churches can gather at one place and watch the sainthood ceremony. “We do not have TV or mobile phones here. Only when we have to screen some documentary for visitors then some screen is put up,” one of the nuns said. PTI

Pope offers pizza lunch to homeless

Vatican City: Pope Francis is following in the footsteps of Mother Teresa by offering 1,500 homeless people a pizza lunch at the Vatican after her canonization Mass. The homeless, most of who live in shelters run by Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity order, came to Rome overnight on buses from across Italy to take part in Sunday’s Mass. They got seats of honor for the celebration and were served lunch in the lobby of the Vatican auditorium. A Neapolitan pizza maker brought 20 people and three pizza ovens to cook the lunch, which was served to the guests by 250 sisters and priests of the Sisters of Charity order. AP

Goa chapel dedicated to Saint Teresa 

Panaji: A chapel built on Chorao Island along the Mandovi River near here became the first such prayer place in Goa to be dedicated to Mother Teresa who attained sainthood on Sunday. The chapel, situated along the road connecting the island to the river front, was inaugurated with special service for Saint Teresa. It has the statue of Teresa at its entrance. Fr Gabriel Coutinho, parish priest from Vasco, said the chapel would inspire many to emulate Teresa’s preaching of serving the needy. PTI