Church marks Mother Teresa's 100th birth anniversary

Catholics gathered for Mass at the Manila Cathedral on Thursday to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who was popularly called "a living saint" during her lifetime. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales presided over the 9:00 a.m. mass, attended by the "Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity," the religious congregation founded by Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910. She died on September 5, 1997. She was a Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship. She was renowned for her great compassion and works of charity. For over 45 years, she served the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. She was also a Nobel peace prize winner. After her death, Pope John Paul II beatified her and gave her the title "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta." The legendary nun came to the Philippines in 1977 to establish her congregation’s first center in the Philippines, the Alay ng Puso (Home for the Sick & Malnourished Children) along Del Pan Street, Binondo, Manila. In 1978, she inaugurated the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Home for the Sick & Dying Destitutes) in Tayuman, Tondo, Manila. In 1986, the Home of Joy (Home for the Sick & Malnourished Children) was completed in Tayuman, Tondo. Similar centers of the Missionaries of Charity were also put up in the Archdioceses of Lingayen-Dagupan, Caceres, Cebu, Davao, Tuguegarao and Palo, and the dioceses of Antipolo, Iba, Kalibo, Bacolod, Calbayog, and Imus. There are about 160 Filipino sisters belonging to the Missionaries of Charity. “Her tireless efforts to love the poor, the sick and the dying brought her to all corners of the world where she met with leaders and royalty clad in her blue and white sari-like habit and, sometimes, in her rubber slippers," the Manila Archdiocese said in the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). The Manila Cathedral will also feature an exhibit on the life and works of Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa's centenary will also be marked in other parts of the world with activities such as the: * Launching of the book “Where There is Love, There is God" which features writings from Blessed Teresa * Issuance of the Mother Teresa postage stamp in the United States (Mother Teresa postage stamps have been similarly issued in Austria, Josovo and Monaco) * Launching of the "Mother Teresa Express Train" in India * The lighting of the "Peace Bridge" and in New York’s Niagara River, with blue and white lights, the colors of the Missionaries of Charity. –VVP, GMANews.TV