Clad in the trademark sari, white with three blue lines on the border, nuns welcome you at the entrance of Mother House in Kolkata. Entry, however, is restricted to certain areas in Mother House, which is the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa. It is here that Mother Teresa lived, prayed and worked. It is here that she was laid to rest on September 6, 1997. Today, the house is a place of pilgrimage and meditation for admirers of Mother and her cause.
Religious and cultural barriers seem to melt in Mother's presence. Tributes to Mother Teresa pour in from Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jains from all over the world. There is pin-drop silence at her tomb adorned with flowers, where visitors kneel in silence to pay respects. The room which houses her tomb was used for the novitiates of Missionaries of Charity when she was alive. Atop the tomb, a statue of mother Mary inscribed with the words 'Love me as I have loved you' from the scripture reiterates the message that Mother shared with the world.
Nuns from the Missionaries of Charity take part in a mass to commemorate the 106th birthday of Mother Teresa in Kolkata | AFP
All the windows of the room have been kept open. The incessant noise of traffic on the busy road outside often disrupts the silence in the room. That, however, does not disturb its profound sanctity.
Outside the room, the house is abuzz with nuns running around to get work done. Congratulatory messages for the Missionaries of Charity are pouring in from all corners of the world. Almost 20 senior sisters led by Superior General Sister Prema have left for Vatican to attend Mother Teresa's canonisation ceremony to be held on September 4.
“So, we have shortage of staff who could look after all this. There are many Catholic volunteers who have come from different parts of the world. We have to guide them as well, along with guests who want to visit us during this auspicious time,” said a spokesperson of the congregation.
Pablo De Cote is one such Catholic volunteer who has come from Mexico. Pablo first chose to visit not the tomb where Mother was laid to rest, but the tiny room where she spent all her life. The room is just big enough for a single bed, a wooden desk and chair and the simplicity of the room has been preserved. The bed has been maintained the way it was. The table clock she used shows 9.15, the time when Mother Teresa died. The clock is said to have stopped ticking then. The walls of the room have only two portraits—both of Pope John Paul II.
Mother Teresa's room | Salil Bera
“What a human being of our time. Here she lived her life without any noise,” said Pablo. His associate Angel Estrella felt this is the ideal time to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. “We have been trying to come here for sometime. Now this time we found it would be appropriate for us to do our course as volunteers of Missionaries of Charity as she is going to be canonised,” said Angel.
It was in this room that Mother held meetings, took calls and answered letters. She would also write letters addressing social issues and notes to her sisters in the congregation. Those letters were kept in different mailboxes, each with a sister's name. The names written on the boxes include Sister Priscilla, Sister Lysa and Sister Nirmala, who died recently.
Located above the kitchen, the room that Mother used is considered to be the hottest in Mother House, but it has no ceiling fan. “All this will be definitely recorded in history. The world has never seen a human being who lived a life like this,” said a sister with Missionaries of Charity who has come from East Africa.
Officials of the Missionaries of Charity recall the last hour of Mother Teresa's life as painful. But they are happy that at least her desire to die surrounded by the sisters of her congregation was fulfilled. “Before dying, Mother intently looked at the cross and the crown of thorns which were beneath the framed picture of Jesus. That day she had extreme pain in her chest and back. But she woke up and did her work as she said there was little time left, so she would have to finish the task,” said a sister.
In the evening, she was in pain and had trouble breathing. A doctor was called, so was the priest. The power supply went off and Mother could not be given oxygen. All sisters were summoned and they stood beside her with lighted lamps. Mother looked at them and with a final look at the face of Jesus, she breathed her last.
