Mother Teresa's 98th birthday celebrated

KOLKATA: The Missionaries of Charity houses world-wide on Tuesday celebrated the 98th birthday of its founder Mother Teresa with her successor Sister Nirmala praying for the right use of the life given by God in a strife-torn world.
    
"We thank God that he has given us this life and pray that we make the right use of the life He has given us," Nirmala said at the MC headquarters here.
    
The day started with the customary morning mass at the first floor chapel of Mother House.
    
Later, the All India Minority Forum held an all-faith prayer at Mother's tomb on the building's ground floor.     

A steady stream of Mother's devotees and admirers visited the colourfully-decorated tomb kept open throughout the day.
    
MC hospices and orphanages in the city organised special feeding programmes for the inmates on the occasion.
    
The Nobel laureate nun, who died on September five, 1997, was put on the first track to sainthood by Pope John Paul-II, resulting in her beatification in 2003 after the Vatican approved a miracle attributed to here. The beatification allows her to be worshipped in all MC chapels.
    
One more authenticated miracle is necessary to declare her a saint, which would allow her to be worshipped in Catholic churches globally.