Special prayers at Mother House on St Teresa's birth anniversary

Special prayers were held at the Mother House in Kolkata, the global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, on the 110th birth anniversary of St Teresa of Calcutta but entry of visitors was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tomb of St Teresa is in the Mother House.

Nuns of the order congregated at the prayer hall keeping safe distance from each other and lit candles before a large portrait of St Teresa, still fondly called Mother Teresa. They prayed to her for the well being of the people, specially the poor for whom she had devoted her entire life.

The nuns also distributed food among the poor near the gates of Mother House maintaining social distancing norms.

Sunita Kumar, who was one of those closest to the saint, said unlike previous years she could not visit Mother House but offered her special prayer by calling up the nuns.

"I specially requested them (the nuns) to pray for a COVID free world. They told me it is in everyone's mind," Kumar, who had been a volunteer in the Missioners of Charity for 35 years and a confidante of Mother Teresa said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. Fondly remembering Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta) on her birth anniversary."

St Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, presently the capital of North Macedonia, to a family of Albanians. She left home at a young age and came to India in 1929 as a novice with the Loreto nuns. She left the congregation in the late 1940s and started the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 to work among the poor.

She died on September 5, 1997 in the city, which she had made her home and was canonized on September 4, 2016 by Pope Francis at the Vatican.