Nuns Offer Simple Tribute Quietly, Mother Teresa’s Order Gets A Chance To Grieve
Sisters of Mother Teresa’s order sang and prayed over her modest tomb Sunday, a tribute to an unassuming woman the day after the world said goodbye with an elaborate state funeral.
About 100 nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, wearing their trademark blue-trimmed saris, gathered around the flower-covered grave in a former dining hall of the convent where Mother Teresa lived.
Photographers’ flash bulbs briefly illuminated the dim room as dignitaries, including Bernadette Chirac, wife of French President Jacques Chirac, and several reporters were allowed to enter.
Mother Teresa, known as the saint of the gutters, was buried in a private ceremony Saturday after her funeral.
Her tomb, a cement-covered rectangular block about 3 feet high, has a biblical verse etched on a white marble marker: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Visitors were asked to remove their shoes before entering as a sign of respect to Mother Teresa, who died of a heart attack on Sept. 5 at the age of 87.
The grave site eventually will be open to the public, with a new entrance in the wall that runs along a busy Calcutta street.
On Saturday, thousands had lined the streets to watch Mother Teresa, her body in an open white casket resting on a gun carriage, make her final journey through the city where the Roman Catholic nun began her worldwide mission to the poor.
India, the adopted country of the European-born nun, awarded her the honor of a state funeral complete with military escort for her cortege and 21-gun salute at her burial.
“God loved the world so much that he sent to us Jesus Christ. And Jesus loved us so much that he sent to us Mother Teresa,” said Sister Nirmala, who took over as head of the Missionaries of Charity after Mother Teresa retired a few months before her death.
Onlookers responded to her eulogy with loud, prolonged applause. Sister Nirmala and the 4,000 other nuns of the Missionaries of Charity will need such support to continue raising orphan children in Calcutta, feeding hungry street people in Rome, and caring for babies with AIDS in Washington.
Mother Teresa has founded hundreds of clinics, schools, orphanages, homeless shelters and other projects around the world. She said she received a call from God to serve the poorest of the poor in 1946.
Some, even in the order, have expressed concerns that it will be difficult to raise funds without Mother Teresa’s charismatic leadership.