The Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office has unveiled a special postage stamp which it is releasing two days before Pope Francis officially declares Mother Teresa a saint. The philatelic office has said it will print and sell a maximum of 150,000 sheets of 10 stamps each.
A number of events are planned around the canonisation of Mother Teresa on 4 September:
1 September: Feast for the poor and Missionaries of Charity family, including a musical based on Mother Teresa’s life.
2 September: Masses in various languages in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Anastasia al Palatino and veneration of her relics. In the evening, a prayer vigil with solemn Eucharistic Adoration will be held at Rome’s Basilica of Saint John Lateran with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the papal vicar of Rome, presiding.
3 September: Catechesis by Pope Francis for the jubilee celebration of workers and volunteers for mercy. In the evening, a prayer and musical meditation will be held at Rome’s Basilica of Saint Andrea della Valle followed by veneration of Mother Teresa’s relics and Mass.
4 September: Canonisation Mass. Pilgrims will be able to venerate Saint Teresa’s relics in the evening at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.
5 September: Celebration of a Mass of Thanksgiving and the first feast of Saint Teresa of Calcutta in Saint Peter’s Basilica with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, presiding. Pilgrims will be able to venerate the relics of Saint Teresa at Saint John Lateran in the evening.
6 September: Continuing veneration of the relics of Saint Teresa at Saint John Lateran.
7-8 September: Veneration of the relics of Saint Teresa of Calcutta at Rome’s Church of St Gregory the Great, along with the possibility of visiting her room at the convent of Saint Gregory.
Blessed Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an ethnic Albanian family. Mother Teresa came to Ireland to train as a Loreto Sister, before she was sent on mission to India in 1929.
She began her missionary work with the poor and laid the foundation for what would become the Missionaries of Charity.
Following her death in 1997, Saint John Paul II waived the usual five-year waiting period and allowed the opening of the process to declare her sainthood. She was beatified in 2003.
ENDS
