Mother Teresa feast passes off quietly amid pandemic restrictions

The feast of Mother Teresa of Kolkata was a subdued affair this year as covid-I9 restrictions prevented the faithful from visiting the headquarters of the saintly nun's congregation in Kolkata city in eastern India. Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta led a concelebrated Mass on Sept 5th and prayed at the tomb of the nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity congregation in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) Missionaries of Charity nuns celebrate the feast of St. Teresa popularly known as Mother Teresa with solemnity each year drawing people from all over the world into the packed tomb room and courtyard of the headquarters, also known as Mother House but only a handful of nuns, including the congregation's superior Sister Mary Prerna Pieria attended the Mass that Archbishop D'Souza concelebrated with two other priests Mother Teresa's spirituality was based on the person of Jesus. She believed in the dignity of every person created in the image and likeness of God he said explaining the foundation of the Missionaries of Charity. 

The archbishop distinguished between "true spirituality and artificial religiosity" and said Christian prayers should help make inner changes to share resources without selfishness. The world is witnessing an unprecedented pandemic. If Mother Teresa was alive today she would tell us to see Jesus in every suffering person dying person and care for him or her in whatever way you can and share whatever you have and do not be indifferent. Farell Shah the archdiocese's social communication director said that this year due to the Covid- 19 restrictions and safely concerns, numbers were strictly limited to a handful of participants. He said they arranged to livestream the Mass online considering the global interest in the Mass from Mother House and told UCA News. The death anniversary has gathered significant crowds since the nun died on Sept 5th 1997 aged 87 . It is an official feast day in the Church since her canonization on Sept 4th 2016. The United Nations has designated the feast day of St. Teresa as the International Day of Charity. The Albanian nun born in Skopje in 1910 came to India as a Loreto nun at the age of 19. She left the Loreto congregation following a call within the call 'to 'serve the poor's poorest' her biography states.She began working in the slums of Kolkata and in 1950 founded the Missionaries of Charity congregation. The nuns. now identified by their blue-bordered Indian sari work worldwide among the poor. The congregation has some 5,000 nuns in over 770 houses 243 of them in India. They work for the destitute and dying besides providing shelter homes for unwed mothers and orphanages. 

Kolkata remembers Mother on her 110th birth anniversary.

SYLVIA M. MAYNE

Kolkata: the city woke up with joy on 26th August, 2020 to celebrate the 110th birth Anniversary of beloved Mother Teresa of Calcutta Owing to the pandemic situation the city observed a quiet birth celebration with around 20 people participating at St. Thomas’ Church in Middleton Row for special holy Eucharist and Floral tribute at Mother’s statue on Mother Teresa Sarani. This year Mother House was not allowed for public to gather around Mother’s tomb for celebration. A special mass was organised only for the sisters residing at Mother House. Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, Fr. Dominic Gomes offered the holy Eucharist. In his homily he said, one woman, one mission: that’s all it took to change this world.” Later in the evening the Catholic Association of Bengal (CAB) left no stone unturned to celebrate the birthday of their Patron Saint, Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The celebration began at the decorated Statue of Mother Teresa near Allen Park on Park Street. The beautiful balloon decorations of blue and white reflected the colour adorned by the Missionaries of Charity sisters and Mother herself. Among the many dignitaries present, were Janab Javed Khan and Janab Nadim-ul-Haque, honourable Ministers of the State who paid their floral tributes to Mother. Fr. Moloy D’costa and Fr. Orson Wells conducted a short prayer service to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mother Teresa. Fr. Devraj and Fr. Rodney joined in the prayer service along with the core team of the CAB. The Celebrations continued to St.Thomas’s Church Middleton Row at 4:00 p.m with a Solemn Eucharistic Service, concelebrated by Fr. Orson Wells, Fr. Devraj Fernandes, Fr. Rodney Borneo, Fr. Michael Biswas and Fr. Basil Mandi. The first reading was read by Mrs Angelina Mantosh Jasnani, the President of CAB. In His homily Fr. Rodney gave a beautiful message that how Mother Teresa turned to Jesus each time she served the humanity, for it is from Jesus that she derived her strength. Trinamool councillor and friend of CAB Ms Juhi Biswas was also present on the occasion. The Vote of thanks was proposed by the Treasurer Mr. Collin Fitzgerald,who sincerely thanked all the people, whose contributions made the day a grand success. The Kolkata Police, the core team of CAB, the Religious and even elements of nature the rain and sun. The holy mass was screened live for people all over the world to participate. Thanks to the Director of Media commission, Mr. Farrell Shah and his team for telecasting live the holy mass in this pandemic time. The President of the CAB made a final announcement that there will be similar celebrations on the 5th September, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the details of which will be notified later through social media. The Holy Eucharist ended with a final blessing followed by the hymn-Tumi amar Bondhu Jishu. The CAB under the leadership of President Mrs. Angelina Mantosh Jasnani and her core team, have been very active and promising in organising such events. May Mother Teresa bless them with strength and courage to carry on their work, for the greater glory of God.