Kolkata gearing up for Mother Teresa’s canonization ‎

With the sainthood ceremony of Mother Teresa in Rome less than a month away, preparations are already well underway for the celebration of the event in eastern India’s Kolkata city, where the Albanian-born nun started her mission of mercy and died.   Scholars, priests, students and artists in the bustling city, earlier called Calcutta, are continuously holding seminars, exhibitions and prayer meetings every day across the city to promote “Mother Teresa’s philosophy towards humanity” and a group of young independent photographers are taking part in the crowdsourced Sainthood Project. Photographs taken throughout the city will be displayed in several locations in Rome in early September, to coincide with the Sept. 4 canonization of Mother Teresa. The photographers are volunteers, trying to highlight aspects of the young Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity to serve the “poorest of the poor” in India. The young people are funding their own travel to Rome to participate in the ceremony and exhibit the photographs in open-air galleries.

“This is our tribute to Mother,” said Srijita Deb Burman, 25, a business professional. “These images will depict the inspiration that must have attracted Mother to this city.”  Meanwhile, artist artist Sunita Kumar, a Sikh who volunteers for the Missionaries of Charity, said she has “made several new paintings depicting (Mother Teresa’s) ideology that will be exhibited at the arts exhibition at St Xavier’s School in Calcutta until her canonization.”

The city’s Park Street, a popular meeting place for young people, already renamed Mother Teresa Sarani will hold special festivities until Christmas.   At Mother Teresa’s home, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the doors are open for all, and followers and admirers of every creed come every day, visiting and praying at her tomb. Some people drop in to be counseled by the sisters, asking for solace; others come looking for medicine or other daily items.

Mother Teresa’s home is already a place of worship, where novices and ordinary people can be seen carrying their books to the tomb seeking blessings.  “It was her influence that I joined the order at 18,” said Sister Ruth from Andhra Pradesh state.  Sisters Laisa and Ansavio stood near Mother Teresa’s statue, distributing small packets of medicine to a few local visitors who had come seeking help. 

Mother Teresa’s relics have been placed near her tomb on the ground floor of the motherhouse, but very soon the place will be dedicated for the veneration of the saint.  Representatives of the Missionaries of Charity say they have plans for regular special Masses and prayer meetings. A thanksgiving mass will be held on August 26, Mother Teresa’s birthday, ahead of the canonization. On September 4, nuns, novices and followers will participate in the canonization in St Peter’s Square, watching it via live broadcast.    About 30 members of the Missionaries of Charity will travel to the Vatican for the canonization. German-born Sister Mary Prema, superior general, is already in Rome to facilitate the process and accommodate the guests.

In the run-up to the canonization, a three-day Mother Teresa International Film ‎Festival (MTIFF) will kick off on Aug. 26 at Kolkata's Nandan multiplex to celebrate the life and mission of Blessed Mother Teresa. The film festival, organized by the Indian chapter of ‎SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, will travel to numerous ‎locations around India and then go overseas. ‎ Later in September, a series of festivities have been planned across the city, where many believe Mother Teresa’s work had already made her a saint.   (Source: CNS…)