{UAH} Mother Teresa of Calicutta to be canonized this Sunday 4th September 2016

One of the greatest personalities of modern times, the very much

venerated Blessed Mother Teresa whose charitable deeds won her

worldwide prestige and a Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 is now ready

for canonization as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The ceremony will

take place this weekend Sunday 4th September 2016 in St Peter's Square Rome.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend just as numerous world personalities from all continents and an estimated 500,000 pilgrims expected to cram St Peter's Square for the occasion and close to two billion TV viewers from all corners of the globe where festivities to mark the event will also take place. There will also be commemorative occasions at the UN Hqrs New York where an exhibition on Mother Teresa will be on display and where a concept paper on the great nun will be led.

Rome is receiving thousands of pilgrims from all over the world for the historic event and, in addition to both train and plane loads, buses are rolling in from France, Spain, Portugal, all corners of Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, UK, etc.. In France Air France has also won the contract to ferry thousands of pilgrims to Rome at a reasonably cheap fare. Mother Teresa's Congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, will be led by their Superior General and will be accompanied by 350 members of the congregation. From India an official delegation of 200 individuals led by India's Foreign Minister  is expected in Rome this coming Friday. Two Indian state ministers will also be part of the delegation. Hundreds of other Indians are travelling on their personal expenses. And many of Italy's 150,000 Indians will also grace the occasion. Other major official delegations will come from Albania, where Mother Teresa springs from, and Taiwan from where the Vice President is heading the delegation that includes one of the choirs which will perform at the ceremony.

St Peter's Square will see a lot about Mother Teresa starting Saturday ( 03/09/16) when Pope Francis will preside over celebrations intended to honour volunteers and organizers of pilgrimages for this Holy Year of Mercy that has so far brought millions of pilgrims to Rome. The first 100 days of the inauguration saw an estimated 3 million pilgrims in Rome! It's also on this Saturday that the portrait of the new saint will hang majestically on the facade of St Peter's Basilica for the occasion.Then Sunday ( 04/09/2016 ) is the great day itself with the canonization Mass beginning at 10.30 am (Rome Time) and ending with the Angelus prayer. And Monday ( 05/09/2016 ) will be the Thanksgiving Mass in St Peter's Square presided over by Cardinal Prolin, the Secretary of State, and attended by thousands of people. Mother Teresa's relics will also be on display in St Peter's Basilica for the veneration of the faithful.

The Pope decided to make this canonization a landmark in the commemoration of the Holy Year of Mercy in orde to bring into focus the great work of this very courageous nun whose zeal for  service to the poor springs from her merciful heart that has brought a message of charity to the entire globe. The decision to canonize Mother Teresa was reached when the Pope approved the required miracle for canonization a few months ago. The miracle involves the sudden healing of an Indian woman who was succombing to a deadly cancerous tumour in the stomach which had swollen almost to the dimensions of 7-month pregnancy! The lady mysteriously recovered when the nuns placed on her stomach a medal that had been placed on Mother Teresa's tomb for the intention. When taken to a hospital and to a scientific laboratory all analysis failed to detect any sign of the malady! And the lady since then has remained very strong and confident. She will also travel to Rome. In addition to this second miracle ( the first was the basis for her beatification), the Pope and the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints had also studied the 80 volumes ( 35,000 pages ) devoted to Mother Teresa's detailed biography and quasi daily actions in order to get more acquainted with her virtues of holiness. Now the great nun who in her lifetime  was seen as a living saint  is officially granted the aureole of sainthood to the entire full satisfaction of  the whole planet!

Dr G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris / France )

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