Maharashtra church to be renamed after ‘Saint Mother Teresa’

A delegation of around 50 Christians from the Diocese of Vasai will take part in the celebrations.

Palghar:  When the world celebrates the proclamation of Mother Teresa as a Saint on Sunday, September 4, by Pope Francis in the Vatican, a church in Maharashtra will also have its own memorable celebrations.

On that day, ‘The Blessed Mother Teresa Church’ in Virar town, around 60 km north of Mumbai, will be re-christened as ‘St. Mother Teresa Church’ amidst pious celebrations for the lady who touched the hearts of millions of poor in India with her selfless charitable works.

The renaming ceremony will bring alive the cherished memories of Mother Teresa’s only visit here in April 1986 for the people of Vasai-Virar and will make it perhaps the only church in the country to be dedicated to ‘Saint’ Mother Teresa. ”She had blessed the people of this Diocese, inaugurated the extension wing of the Cardinal Gracias Hospital and later addressed a youth rally here,” Father Richard Dabre, Secretary to Archbishop, Diocese of Vasai, told IANS.

The soon-to-be St. Mother Teresa Church also treasures a drop of Mother Teresa’s blood — a relic enshrined in a glass case — which attracts thousands of people from all over the country. A magnificent, one-tonne statue of Mother Teresa, constructed in stark white Makarana marble, erected in 2012, looks benevolently upon the worshippers inside the church, Fr Dabre said.

Preparations are currently under way to make the upcoming historic event of Sunday in the Vatican and in Vasai Diocese unforgettable. Colourful decorations, multi-coloured lights, banners, hoardings and flowers shall be seen in and around the Christian pockets in the Diocese, with a population of 137,000.

A procession of young and old will be taken out to the church and will culminate in a special Mass to be celebrated by Archbishop Felix Machado to herald the new Saint that evening. More than 5,000 people are expected to witness the event. Representatives of the Missionaries of Charity in Vasai, Mumbai and other parts of the country will also be present.

A delegation of around 50 Christians drawn from the Diocese of Vasai will head to the Vatican later this week to take part in the celebrations there for the canonisation.

The delegation will comprise the former Parish Priest of The Blessed Mother Teresa Church, Father Michael Rosario, and Father Joe Pereira of Vasai.

Source: India.com