TIRANA, Sept. 5 – This date two years ago Mother Teresa became the first Roman Catholic of Albanian origin to be canonized by Pope Francis, making the date widely celebrated around the world and an official holiday in the country.
The country’s President Ilir Meta remembered the anniversary of the canonization by sharing a Facebook post celebrating Mother Teresa’s life of charity and calling on everyone to use the day to self-reflect.
“Not all of us can do great things, but each of us can do small things with great love,” Meta wrote among others in his message, recalling the expression of St. Mother Teresa and calling for more love.
On his side, Tirana’s Mayor Erion Veliaj announced he would celebrate Mother Teresa by engaging in a community service marathon.
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. – Mother Teresa. Tirana will celebrate Mother Teresa Day with community service marathon,” Veliaj wrote in his Twitter account.
The Tirana Municipality has opened a number of social canteens throughout the capital over the last three years and is located close to the citizens who need support.
Meanwhile, Shkodra’s House of Mother Teresa missionaries mass was held to honor canonization day.
The widely-debated series of crimes that have struck Shkodra lately occupied a significant part of the mass, where missionaries appealed for an end to the shocking murders.
Around the world, millions commemorated Mother Teresa for her canonization two-year-anniversary, which is also the date of the anniversary of her death.
Mother Teresa was born in Skopje as Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910. She was born to parents who had moved to Skopje from Kosovo.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. She was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
She was banned from visiting family members in Albania by the country’s then brutal atheist communist regime, but she did visit as the regime fell and Albanians have commemorated her life and work ever since.
“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
The famous saying by Mother Teresa best portrays the nun of Albanian origin, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, who dedicated her whole life to helping the poor, despite critics of her.
