Mother Teresa’s order says sainthood a ‘gift from God’

The faithful hold a procession in honor of Mother Teresa of Calcutta at St. Joseph Parish Church in Mabolo, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

Often referred to as a “living saint” during her lifetime, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, will officially join today the pantheon of holy men and women saints of the Catholic Church.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the canonization ceremony for the petite nun whose process for sainthood was fast-tracked just a year after she died in 1997.

Pope Francis will preside over the canonization rites at St. Peter’s Basilica, 10:30 a.m. Rome time (4:30 p.m. in the Philippines).

In Cebu City, nuns of the Missionaries of Charity — the congregation she founded — capped a nine-day preparation for the big event with a Mass and procession in the streets of Barangay Mabolo where the religious group is based.

“We’re very happy. Mother Teresa’s elevation to sainthood is a gift from God. We knew she’s a saint. Because of her, we (nuns of the Missionaries of Charity) are here,” said the congregation’s mother superior who requested anonymity as part of their protocol.

She said Mother Teresa, who visited Gasa sa Gugma-Home for the Dying Destitutes in Mabolo a number of times in the 1980s, continues to guide the sisters in caring for the poorest of the poor which the saint zealously performed when she was alive.

No one from the Missionaries of Charity in Cebu flew to Rome to attend the canonization of Mother Teresa.

The mother superior said they will just watch the proceedings via Eternal Word Television Network.

Tomorrow, Sept. 5, the nuns will celebrate the first feast of Mother Teresa as a saint with a 9 a.m. Mass to be presided by Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Villarojo at St. Joseph the Patriarch Parish in Mabolo.

On Sept. 7, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will officiate a 9 a.m. Thanksgiving Mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City.

At the Chapel of Holy Relics in Tabor Hill, Talamban, Cebu City, strands of hair, blood-soaked cotton and a piece from the habit of Mother Teresa is publicly exposed for the veneration of the faithful, said Fr. Dennis Duene Ruiz, OAD, the chapel’s founding chaplain said.