People pay homage to Mother Teresa at Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata

KOLKATA - To mark the Mother Teresa’s birth centenary an all faith prayer was held at Missionaries of Charity, the Mother’s home, in Kolkata this week.

People and religious leaders belonging to different religions-Hindu, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist converged on this occasion at Mother’s tomb to pay homage and to pray God.

Mother Teresa made Kolkata her home and opened several homes, including one for those who were old and dying and the other for destitute children.

A group of Sikh singer priests known as Raagis sang melodious hymns.

“Mother belongs to all, irrespective of religions, cultures, and the people, and especially to those who are poor and marginalised, those who are lonely, deprived, depressed, and these were the people whom she served and therefore, to remember her, the good works that she has done and the values she lived in her life that needs to be spread among all people,” Rev. Fr. Sunil Rozario, a priest of Kolkata Archdiocese said on Friday.

Apart from the Sikh Raagis, religious leaders belonging to different faiths such as Hindu, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jain and Buddhist –gathered at the Mother’s tomb to pay homage and also to pray to God.

“People of all faiths, they are coming together to pray and worship God, and India is so rich. It has got rich heritage in music, dance, so we are bringing all those elements here, the resources that we have to worship God through our prayer, and expressing our solidarity and belongingness to God,” added Rev. Fr. Rozario.

The doors of Mother House, where the ethnic Albanian nun lived and died, were left open at dawn and hundreds of slum dwellers from the city walked in to pay their respects to the Mother.

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87.

The nun started working in slums and later set up her Missionaries of Charity, which was approved by the Vatican in 1950. The organisation now runs more than 500 charity homes in over 100 countries.

Mother Teresa received several national and international awards for social service during her lifetime. These included the Bharat Ratna, 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. By Sanka Ghosh(ANI)