Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Kolkata, Aug 27, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The birth centenary celebrations of Mother Teresa commenced with a holy mass that spanned across two hours in the global headquarters of Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata on Thursday morning. The holy mass which was held to remember Mother Teresa on her birth anniversary yesterday was attended by as many as 1,000 priests, nuns as well as common people at the first-floor chapel of the Mother House.

The main celebrant of the holy mass was Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo of Ranchi who was accompanied by Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sirkar, Archbishop Emeritus Henry D’Souza, Bishop of Baruipur Salvadore Lobo while 60 other priests also graced the occasion. Sister Prema who is the Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity as well as her predecessor Sister Nirmala also participated in the holy mass while a number of nuns of the Catholic Christian Order established by Mother Teresa attended it dressed in their traditional blue-bordered white saris.

One of the most significant high points of the holy mass to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Mother Teresa was a message from Pope Benedict XVI who described Mother Teresa as the ‘exemplary model of Christian virtue.’ The message that was sent all the way from Vatican urged everyone to draw inspiration from Mother Teresa’s spirituality as well as her example of being at the service of the sick and poor. Despite the fact that Pope Benedict XVI could not physically be present at the birth anniversary celebrations of Mother Teresa, he said that he was joining the celebrations spiritually.