 "Maharashtra churches celebrate Mother Teresa's canonisation")
A catholic church near here, dedicated to Mother Teresa, was on Sunday rechristened as 'Saint Mother Teresa Church' even as prayers were held all over Maharashtra to rejoice the canonisation of the Nobel laureate, who spent her life serving the destitute and the rejected.
A series of celebrations were held at churches in Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts, as Mother Teresa was declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican today.
The Blessed Mother Teresa Church in Virar, around 60 km north of Mumbai, was re-christened as 'St Mother Teresa Church'.
The renaming ceremony brought alive memories of Mother Teresa's visit to Virar in April 1986.
This is the only church in the country to be named after Saint Mother Teresa, Fr Philip Vaz, the parish priest of the church, said.
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, was in Rome to attend the canonisation ceremony.
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The Missionaries of Charity at Asha Daan, Byculla, held a three-day celebration by special children from three schools.
The IC Church in Borivli hosted a prayer service, where a documentary on the Mother was screened.
At St Joseph's Church in Vikhroli, Fr Rocky Banz unveiled a photograph of Mother Teresa at a special mass.