Commemorating Mother Teresa

By Shelani de Silva.

One year has passed since the death of Mother Teresa, the legendary saint of the untouchables whose charitable work spread from the slums of India throughout the world. The Albanian born nun was an angel of mercy to thousands of children, unwed mothers, lepers and the poor of the poorest.

This week Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa around the world will join together to commemorate and pray for her soul and for the strength to carry out the work she initiated. Word was sent forth last week from Calcutta, the main mission for all homes to hold a day of prayer and to organise distribution of free meals to the poor.

In Sri Lanka there are six missions, all providing shelter and comfort to orphans, mentally retarded children, elders, unwed mothers and the sick.

These missions survive largely on donations from well wishers. So since the death of the head of the mission one wonders how they have sustained themselves. But miraculously Mother Teresa's work has come alive in the lives of her workers [nuns] with more fervour and devotion.

Head of the Shanthi Nivasa in Mattakuliya Sister Regine said they saw theirs as a work of God and work of love.

"Mother's (Teresa) presence is felt by all of us. There is not a day that passes without me thinking about her. We miss her a lot but at the same time there is a sense of comfort to know she is much nearer to us now than last year. Earlier Mother would either be in Calcutta, USA or some other country and it was not that easy to contact her but now she is with God, she is with us," explained the nun.

Sister Regine said that during the course of last year the work of Mother Teresa had grown.

The nun cited a beautiful example of Mother Teresa's comforting words which are of great solace to her.

"A few years ago my father was very sick and I visited him in Calcutta and stayed a few weeks. Just a week after my return to Sri Lanka he died. Since it was not practical for me to go back again, I sent a note to Mother asking her to pray for my father's soul and my family. She replied saying that my father and I were far away before but now Jesus is in my heart and now that papa has died he is in Jesus's heart and hence much closer to me. These words from Mother have now become a comfort to me. I keep this note in my prayer book and often read it," said Sister Regine. She said that donations have not stopped coming in. "There has not been any significant difficulty or problem faced during the course of last year."

The nuns were planning a special mass on Saturday [5th] at the home and at St. Lucia's Cathedral followed by the distribution of food packets to the poor with the participation of the children and the elders of the home.

The mission in Kandy is headed by sister Sibyl Anne, who said that about two months ago she had dreamt of Mother Teresa. In her dream, they had visited several places in Kandy helping the poor and talking about the mission. Sister Sibyl Anne had met Mother Teresa three times in Calcutta and says that although she is no more she is very much with them spiritually. The Kandy mission cares for mentally retarded children below twenty years and other children. Sister Sibyl Anne says that since the death of the Mother they have been led by her spirit to carry out the work.

"It's about eight months since I took over. At first I was wondering how I was going to cope, especially handling the mentally retarded but I prayed and asked for guidance and I must say work has been easy as well as inspiring," she said. The Bishop of Kandy will hold a mass and dry rations will be distributed.

Of all the missions the homes in Trincomalee and Vavuniya work under trying conditions. But Sister Mila at the Trincomalee home which provides shelter to destitute children, war victims, and others says that though they missed 'their Mother' very much, her spiritual presence helped them to carry-out the work.

"People in this part of the country have come to seek our help. They are much aware of our mission that this is the work of God. Of course financially it is very difficult. At times we have to depend solely on alms-givings. To expect donations from the people in Trincomalee is wrong but we have managed to go through all difficulties," she said.

Similar sentiments were expressed by the missions in Moratuwa, Galle and Vavuniya. Thus the spirit of the saint of the poor lives on reaching out to the people who are helpless, abandoned and destitute

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