KOLKATA, India (CNS)
Although the Sept. 4 canonization is at the Vatican, Kolkata is making preparations. Scholars, priests, students and artists are continuously holding seminars, exhibitions and prayer meetings every day across the city to propagate “Mother Teresa’s philosophy towards humanity.”
“I have made several new paintings depicting her ideology that will be exhibited at the arts exhibition at St. Xavier’s School in Kolkata until her canonization,” said noted artist Sunita Kumar, a Sikh who volunteers for the Missionaries of Charity.
Park Street, Kolkata’s vibrant street and a prominent hangout for young people, has already been renamed Mother Teresa Sarani. Special festivities will continue in that area until Christmas.
At Mother Teresa’s home, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the doors are open for all, and followers and admirers come every day, visiting and praying in her tomb. Many say they have been doing so for a long time and vouch that their prayers have been heard. Some people drop in to be counseled by the sisters, asking for solace; others come looking for medicine or other daily items.
“Mother Teresa has always been the icon for the confluence of faiths, and that’s why I have such devotion for her saintly powers,” said Aarti Kumari, a Hindu and a regular visitor who comes for counseling from the nuns on family issues.
