Devotees of Saint Mother Teresa in many parts of the world including the Philippines will commemorate Monday, Sept. 5, her feast day marking her 25th death anniversary.
At the St. Mother Teresa Parish in Binan, Laguna, Bishop Buenaventura M. Famadico will preside over the concelebrated fiesta mass at 9:30 a.m. Monsignor Mar Castillo, parish priest of the St. John the Baptist Parish in Calamba, will celebrate a fiesta mass earlier at 7 a.m.
Novena masses were offered from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4. The first novena mass coincided with the second parish founding anniversary.
At the Mother Teresa Parish in Paniqui, Tarlac, Bishop Enrique V. Macaraeg will preside over the fiesta mass at 9 a.m. The praying of the holy rosary, novena, and novena masses was held from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4.
Fondly known during her lifetime as the ‘living saint,’ Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, which today, has spread to different countries including the Philippines.
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, and candles, and sing hymns.
Thanksgiving masses will be offered in more than 256 countries across the world, including the Philippines, which she visited in 1977, 1978, and 1984. Novena prayers were offered in her honor from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4. The United Nations has declared Sept. 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 on Aug. 26, 1910, she took her religious vows in 1931 and chose the name Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron saint 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.