A Souvenir Sheet consisting of 1 no. of commemorative postage stamp on Mother Teresa, was canonized at Saint Peter‘s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis in 2016 :

Issued by India

Issued on Sep 4, 2016

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Saint Teresa on the occasion of her Canonization.

Credits :
Stamp / Souvenir Sheet / FDC / Cancellation Cachet : Ms. Alka Sharma

Type : Souvenir Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 5000 Paise

Souvenir Sheet Printed : 0.4 million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu

Born on Aug 26, 1910 at Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire [now Skopje, Republic of Macedonia]

Died on Sep 5, 1997 at Calcutta, West Bengal, India

About : 

• Mother Teresa was an icon of God’s tender mercy, radiating the light of God’s love to so many through her works of mercy, both spiritual and material.
  
• Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an ethnic Albanian family in Skopje, in what is now part of Macedonia, Mother Teresa came to India as a Sister of Loreto in 1929. On her arrival in India, she began working as a teacher. On 24 May 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity”. From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching at St. Mary‘s and in 1944 became the school’s principal. A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters and her students, Mother Teresa‘s twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy.
  
• However, the widespread poverty around her made a deep impression on her; and this led to her starting a new order called “The Missionaries of Charity”. The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Receiving what she described as a “call within a call”, she began her missionary work with the poor and laid the foundation for what would become the Missionaries of Charity.
  
• The Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic (Latin Church) religious congregation was established in 1950 by Mother Teresa. In 2012 it consisted of over 4,500 religious sisters. A member of the congregation must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and the fourth vow, to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”. Today, the order consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries. Missionaries care for those in need of care and assistance. They have schools run by volunteers to educate street children and run soup kitchens as well as other services as are required by the community. They have 19 homes in Kolkata (Calcutta) itself and services are provided, without charge, to people regardless of their religion or social status.
  
• In 1965, by granting a Decree of Praise, Pope Paul VI granted Mother Teresa‘s request to expand her congregation to other countries. The Congregation grew rapidly, with new homes opening all over the globe. The congregation’s first house outside India was in Venezuela, and others followed in Rome and Tanzania, and eventually in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe, including Albania.
  
• Following her death in 1997, St 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.
  
• According to the norms, the Catholic Church requires one “medical” miracle before a deceased Catholic can be declared “blessed”, and another such miracle, occurring after that declaration, before he or she can be canonized as a saint.
  
• Mother Teresa, who will now be a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. This was the first step towards sainthood. In 2002, the Vatican officially recognised the first miracle she was said to have carried out after her death. On December 20, 2015, Pope Francis recognised a second miracle attributed to the Mother in Brazil, where, according to a write-up handed out by the Missionaries of Charity, a man with an incurable bacterial brain infection was cured on December 9, 2008 after his wife prayed to Mother Teresa in a parish church.
  
• Mother Teresa‘s work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards. Mother Teresa was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian work in 1979.
  
• The date of Mother Teresa‘s canonization will coincide with the conclusion of the Year of Mercy pilgrimage for workers and ministers engaged in works of mercy. With the canonization of Mother Teresa, the Church presents her as an inspiration to those who like her, “long to light the fire of love and peace throughout the world”. She assisted the poor, the sick and the abandoned with tireless dedication, offering smiles and simple gestures, finding strength to preserve with her vocation through prayer and trust in God.
  
• Text : Based on information available on internet.

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