Mother Teresa's 20th death anniversary observed

Special masses and prayers were held today to pay tribute to Saint Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa, on her 20th death anniversary.
Candles were lit at her flower bedecked grave here at Mother House, the global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) which was established by her in 1950.
Nuns of the order led by MoC Superior General Sister Prema and other eminent persons sang hymns from the Bible and recalled St Teresa's life.
Mother Teresa's long time associate and author of 'Blessed Teresa of Kolkata', Sunita Kumar said, "We do not call it a death anniversary. We call it a feast day to remember her".

St Teresa of Calcutta was born on August 26, 1910 at Skopje in Macedonia. She died on September 5, 1997, a few days after her 86th birthday.
She was the recipient of numerous honours including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and Bharat Ratna in 1980. In 2003, she was beatified 'Blessed Teresa of Calcutta' and was elevated to sainthood in 2016.

"The Archdiocese of Calcutta is set to declare St Teresa as its co-patron," Sister Prema had said yesterday on the first anniversary of her canonisation.
The declaration would be formally made by the Archbishop of Kolkata, Thomas D'Souza after a holy mass tomorrow, she had said.

The Vatican representative in India would be present on the occasion.