Tripura celebrates canonization of Mother Teresa

Hundreds of Saint Teresa's adorers took part in a peace rally here to celebrate her canonization from Mother to Saint that took place in Italy's Vatican City last Sunday.

Mother Teresa, known as the "saint of the gutters" during her life, was made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, 19 years after her death.

Millions of Catholics revere her as a model of compassion. More than one lakh people attended the ceremony in front of St. Peter's Basilica.

Students played school band while small children dressed like nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, formed by Saint Teresa for serving the poorest of the poor and the dying and sick, sat in tableau.

People from various religions and walks of life took part in the peace rally organized from committee for the celebration of Mother Teresa's canonization, which started from the Rabindra Centenary Hall and went through the streets of the capital city.

Young girls from various tribal communities in their traditional attire walked with placards of the Mother and several of her preachings.

Bishop Lumen Monteiro, who was present there at the Saint Peter's Square when Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa at the Vatican on September 4 last, said, "It is indeed a great honour for me to be present but also to represent Tripura because Mother had a great love for all the people all over and Tripura was no less. She came to Tripura and started a house in Agartala and another house in Kumarghat. She visited our school and loved the place and people loved Mother. It was a honor because this event in Sainthood, canonization in Rome last Sunday, to be present for that was like for being present for whole people of Tripura and India and was a moment of great joy."

Not only people of the Christian faith, but from others also voluntarily took part in the peace rally, which according to them, is the need of the hour for global peace and a message against religious fundamentalism.

Sumita Roy, a participant said, "I am not a Christian, I come from the Hindu community. I personally believe that peace is a great thing and right now the nation demands peace and it is the need of the hour and that is the reason I personally participated to promote peace..Mother Teresa is known to us right from the childhood, she always has inspired us, motivated us."

Meantime, Manila Sahay, a teacher described her as an inspiration to the younger generation in today's modern world.

She said, "As Mother Teresa had internationally promoted peace, the participating students shall also get motivated for helping each other and walk in her way for the development of the nation. If we achieve even one percent of Mother's greatness then we shall feel ourselves blessed."

Teresa rose to fame in the eastern Indian city Kolkata, where she devoted her life to helping the destitute and the sick in its teeming slums and was also awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.