Thaindian News

Kolkata, Sep 5 (ANI): Special prayers were held at the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata today to mark Mother Teresa’s 12th death anniversary.

Prayers and floral tributes were offered at the grave of the Mother.

Hundreds of people from all walks of life and of all faiths joined the nuns of the Charity for a special morning mass.

“We are very happy to celebrate this day as Mother’s Day in the Heaven. She has gone to God but she is still with us in spirit,” said Sister Nicole, Missionaries of Charity.

After the beatification of Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic Church had declared September 5, the day Mother left her earthly abode, as Feast Day - a day for joy and celebration.

A lbanian born Mother Teresa made Kolkata her home and dedicated her life to the service of poor and destitute children. The Pope beatified the Nobel laureate in October 2003, paving the way for her canonisation, or being declared a saint.

She qualified for beatification after Vatican officials acknowledged that she was responsible for a miracle in which an Indian woman was cured of stomach cancer through her intervention. Mother Teresa, who died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87, was popularly known as the “Saint of the Gutter” for her extraordinary love and dedication to the poor, the homeless and the diseased.

She came to India in 1929 at the age of 18 and took up teaching and became an Indian citizen in 1948.

She started working in slums and later set up her Missionaries of Charity, which was approved by the Vatican in 1950.

The organisation now runs over 500 charity homes in over 100 countries. Mother Teresa received several national and international awards for social service during her lifetime. They include the Magsaysay Award in 1962, the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the John F. Kennedy International Award in 1971 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. (ANI)