Patna: With Mother Teresa set to be canonized a saint by Pope Francis on September 4, celebrations are being planned by the Catholic church in Bihar, especially in Patna, where she stayed for a few months in 1948 for a nursing training programme before commencing her work with the poor and the deprived.
When Mother Teresa decided to separate from Loreto Convent and form a new congregation in the late 1940s, she came to Patna to learn basic nursing.
“At that time, the current Kurji Holy Family Hospital was known as Holy Family Hospital and functioned on the premises of Padri Ki Haveli in Patna City. It was here that Mother Teresa stayed for about three months, received nursing training and virtually commenced her service for the poor,” a priest told Times of India.
The hospital premises was later handed over to sisters of Missionaries of Charity, the congregation established by Mother Teresa. The room where she stayed in 1948 is preserved as the ‘Mother’s room’ till date. Some of her belongings, including the cot she used and some other furniture, are also preserved as they were in her days. Photographs of Mother Teresa, also known as ‘Saint of the gutters’, are also displayed in her room and in another one adjoining it.
Mother Teresa’s sainthood celebrations, which will include special prayer services, will be held on September 4 at Gaya on a deanery level and on September 11 in Nalanda and Magadh deaneries.
In Patna, a thanksgiving Mass will be offered in each of the churches on September 11 as part of the celebrations. “On September 10, we are organizing an adoration service and arrangements for confession will be made. A film titled ‘Maa tujhe salam’ made on Mother Teresa’s life will also be screened on the day,” said Fr Johnson Kelakath, head of the Queen of the Apostles church, Kurji.
He added, “September 10 is believed to be the inspiration day of Mother Teresa when she got inspiration to lead a different way of life by helping and healing the poor and the downtrodden.”
City residents expressed happiness to be part of the celebrations. “Mother Teresa is among the few, who will be granted sainthood in such a short span since her death on September 5, 1997,” said a Pataliputra parish resident.
Even in 2003, when Mother Teresa was beatified, grand celebrations were held in Patna, including one at Patna Women’s College where an exhibition on her life and works was put up besides cultural programmes, a priest recalled.