Pope Francis leads prayer vigil for Mother Teresa in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican ahead of her canonisation ceremony on Sunday.
Mother Teresa – the revered nun of Calcutta whose efforts with poor and destitute made her a household name and an icon of 20th century humanitarian work is to be elevated to Catholicism’s celestial pantheon on the eve of her 19th death anniversary.
‘”Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love…”
It was with this great love that Blessed Teresa took care of the poor and sick of the slums of Calcutta.
This great love that started in a small building of Nirmal Hriday, the Home of the Pure Heart, in Calcutta that transformed to a world wide organisations with ten thousands of volunteers all having one thing in mind.
Mother Teresa a nun from Albania chose to break through the cloistered life of her convent in a foreign country to take care of the unnoticed and unwanted people.
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Albania, she took up the name of Sister Mary Teresa when she joined the Loretto religious congregation.
Working in a school in Calcutta, she identified a calling to serve the poor in the 1946.
The nun small in stature but with tremendous energy went on to start caring for the poor and uncared for in the streets of Calcutta.
To many who were left dying in the streets, Mother Teresa gave the dignity of death.
Along with 12 other sisters, Mother Teresa started a new organisation Missionaries of Charity in 1950.
The institute now having centers around the world in more than 120 countries, takes care of refugees, homeless, sick and the disabled.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work to alleviate poverty and distress and many civilian honours of various countries including the highest Indian civilian honour, Bharat Ratna in 1980.
The journey of her life was however not an easy one.
It was marked by challenges and criticisms which she overcame with humility and determination to do her part. In her quest for the peace and well being for all.
Mother Teresa just followed her maxim.. “Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.”
Aged 87 she breathed her last on the 5th of September 1997.. Her legacy of love, peace, hope lives on.
On the road to sainthood in the Catholic Church, Mother Teresa was beatified in 2003 by the then Pope John Paul II after the Vatican acknowledged her first miracle.
A tumor-stricken Calcutta woman was cured through her intercession.
And Pope Francis recognised the Second Miracle in December 2015 when a Brazilian man suffering from severe brain infection was healed after intercession to the ‘Saint of Gutters.’
The inspiration Mother Teresa drew from being faithful in little things broke barriers of indifference and prompted many around the world to look around them and recoginse a brother and sister in each other.