Mother Teresa canonized in Vatican

The famous Catholic nun, founder of the women's monastic congregation "Missionaries of Charity" Mother Teresa of Calcutta has been proclaimed a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, reports RIA News.

The ceremony of canonization took place on Sunday, September 4, during Pope Francis’ jubilee celebration for workers of mercy and charity in St. Peter's Square of the Vatican. It was attended by more than 100 thousand pilgrims from around the world. On the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, to mark the chargeability of Mother Teresa a poster with the image of the blessed nun with arms folded was placed.

After Pope Francis read a special formula for the inclusion of Mother Teresa in the list of saints of the Roman Catholic Church, a many-thousand crowd of the faithful cheered. The ceremony was televised live on the Vatican channel and streamed online. Skopje, Mother Teresa's hometown, announced a week-long celebration of her canonization. In India, a special Mass was celebrated at the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.

Italian media called the canonization of Mother Teresa, who died in Calcutta, September 5, 1997, aged 87, one of the most important events of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Mother Teresa is seen as an icon and symbol of God’s love and mercy for the discarded of this world and, indeed, for the whole of humanity, rich and poor alike.

Mother Teresa (real name Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu) was born August 26, 1910 in the Macedonian city of Skopje to an Albanian- Vlach family. Since childhood the girl dreamed of monastic service and at the age of 18 she went to Ireland, where she joined the monastic order "Irish Loreto Sisters." In 1931 she took monastic vows under the name of Teresa in honor of Teresa of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun canonized in 1927.

Then, the order sent her to India, and in 1948 she founded a monastic congregation "Missionaries of Charity" in Calcutta, whose activities were aimed at the establishment of schools, orphanages, hospitals for the poor and seriously ill. Now the congregation has 400 branches and 700 charity homes in 120 countries. In 1979, the nun became a Nobel Peace Prize winner "for activities to help the suffering person." The anniversary of her death, 5 September, was made her feast day.

On 17 December 2015 the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis had recognised a second miracle attributed to her, involving the healing of a 35-year-old Brazilian with multiple brain tumors, thus eliminating the last obstacle on the path to canonization.