The crisis of faith experienced by Mother Teresa had moved her ahead towards purification and transformation, Sister Nirmala said on Sunday.
KOLKATA: The crisis of faith experienced by Mother Teresa had moved her ahead towards purification and transformation, her successor as chief of the Missionaries of Charity, Sister Nirmala said on Sunday.
"That was God's way of leading Mother towards to the path of purification and transformation," Nirmala told newsmen after lighting birthday candles at Teresa's tomb inside the MoC headquarters here on the occasion of her 97 birthday.
Earlier, Nirmala and her confreres attended the Eucharist celebrations in the building's first floor chapel.
"I will take this as a plus for her," Teresa's long-time associate Sunita Kumar said, "This proves her heroic virtues. When we pray, don't we all yearn to experience God and sometimes feel dejected when we can't?"
Even the Buddha and Sri Ramakrishna had felt this yearning in their struggle for enlightenment, Kumar said.
Mother Teresa's struggle with faith was revealed for the first time about five years ago when some of her letters appeared in the 'Journal of Theological Reflection,' which is circulated only among the Catholic clergy.
Now, the letters are being published in a book, 'Mother Teresa: Come, Be My Light,' edited by Fr Brian Kolodeijchuk, a priest of the MoC and the chief postulator for the cause of Teresa's sainthood.
Monsignor Robert Sarno, who heads the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that is looking into Teresa's cause for sainthood, has said that the controversy surrounding the book would not hamper the process.
Catholic Association of Bengal (CAB) General Secretary, Ugene Gonsalves said his organisation expected Mother Teresa to be canonised by 2010, her 100th birthday.
"We are expecting the Vatican to declare her canonised on August 26, 2010. The actual canonisation process can take place in October that year," Gonsalves said.
Stating that his organisation has declared 2007 as the 'Year of Mother Teresa,' he said the CAB would begin nine-day 'Novena' prayers from tomorrow till Teresa's death anniversary on September 5 in the hope of early sainthood.
The CAB has taken up a series of events since August 23, including prayer meetings, cultural shows, sit and draw competitions and quiz contests, as part of its 'Year of Mother Teresa' programme. The events would culminate in an inter-faith prayer meeting on September 13, Gonsalves said.
Earlier, the CAB representatives attended the Eucharist celebrations at Mother House and later garlanded her statue on Park Stree, christened last year as Mother Teresa Sarani.
As of previous years, the All-India Minority Forum held an all-faith prayer meeting at Mother's tomb. The meeting was attended, among others, by Sister Nirmala.
Mother Teresa's birthday was also being celebrated by the All-India Minority and Weaker Sections' Council and the Mother Teresa International and Millennium Awards Committee at a function at the Church of Our Lady of Dolores.
The Archdiocese-level programme to celebrate Mother's birth centenary would be held at St Teresa's Church which she preferred to attend during her lifetime.
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