On the 19th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death, September 5 – her feast day – the cardinal presided over a Mass in St. Peter’s Square to give thanks for the canonization of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity.
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The blonde beauty wore a black lace dress, complete with a matching veil as the belted out the classic hymn.
Beatified in 2003, Mother Teresa or now known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, has become one of the most influential religious personalities of this.
Many of these saints were not elevated until centuries after their deaths; Mother Teresa died in 1997. “Today, I pass the emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life to the whole world of volunteers”.
ALSO READ: Mother Teresa’s canonization: After nearly two decades, why only now?
On Sunday Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa of Kolkata a saint, on his Jubilee Year of Mercy.
“We may have some difficulty in calling her “Saint” Teresa”, Pope Francis added. Becoming a Saint in the Catholic Church is no easy feat. Setting up the Missionaries of Charity order, she made a decision to devote her entire life to the depriving masses. But Mother Teresa is a fascinating person.
“For Mother Teresa, mercy was the salt which gave flavour to her work, the light which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering”, Pope Francis said.
Mother Teresa worked with the poor in Kolkata for almost four decades, having initially come to eastern India as a missionary teacher with Ireland’s Loreto order.
“This mother was simple, very poor and devout and for us she is a testament to serving others”, Sister Leandra said.
She has been acknowledged in the church for two miracles involving healing the sick.
She joined the Sisters of Loreto at age 17 and was sent to Kolkata, where she taught at a high school.
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Pope Francis celebrated the canonization of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun on Sunday by inviting 1,500 homeless people from around Italy to lunch in the Vatican after the ceremony.
