Devotees of Saint Mother Teresa in many parts of the world, including the Philippines, will commemorate on Saturday, September 5, her 23rd death anniversary.
Widely known during her lifetime as the ‘living saint,’ Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, which today, has spread to different countries.
Every year on her death anniversary, devotees of Mother Teresa gather at her gravesite in Calcutta, India for the special thanksgiving masses and prayers, as well as to offer flowers, candles, and sing hymns.
Thanksgiving masses will be offered in more than 256 countries around the world, including the Philippines, which she visited in 1977, 1978, and in 1984. Novena prayers were offered in her honor from August 27 to September 4. The United Nations has declared September 5 of every year as the International Day of Charity in memory of Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship. She became popular as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and the helpless. She was a pro-life advocate who described abortion as “the greatest destroyer of peace in the world.”
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in the year 1910, she took her religious vows in 1931 and chose the name Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron of missionaries. Through divine inspiration, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and guided its expansion until it was operating in 256 countries ministering to the poor, the sick, the orphaned, and the dying.
Because of her advocacies, she was accorded several awards and recognition including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1962, the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and India’s highest civilian honor, the “Bharat Ratna” (Gem of India) in 1980.
Mother Teresa died in 1997 at the age of 87 and was granted a state funeral by the Indian government in recognition of her services to the poor of all religions in India. She was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 2003. Pope Francis canonized her on the eve of her death anniversary on September 4, 2016.