St Teresa gets a road named after her in Darjeeling

Amitava Banerjee, 4 Dec 2016, DARJEELING: Darjeeling named a road after St. Teresa of Calcutta on Saturday. This hill town occupied a special place in Mother’s life. People from all walks of life rejoiced with the naming of a street after the Saint.

“The Darjeeling Catholic Association had appealed that a street in Darjeeling be named after the Mother. The matter was put up in the Chairman-in-Council meeting on November 10. The meeting unanimously resolved to do so. We decided on the erstwhile Rockville Road and renamed it on Saturday,” said Amar Singh Rai, chairman, Darjeeling Municipality.

The road connecting Gandhi Road to Dr Zakir Hussain Road (TV Tower) has been named the “Saint Teresa Road.” The Missionaries of Charity House of Darjeeling is located on this street.

A sombre ceremony which included a prayer service by Bishop Stephen Lepcha was organised to mark the occasion. Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity were also present.

“It is a day of great joy for us. Let Darjeeling work in the lights and footsteps of Saint Teresa,” said Sister Jose Letta, Regional Superior, Missionaries of Charity. The plaque was unveiled by Rai.

“It is indeed a proud privilege for me and my family to live on the street named after Mother Teresa,” said Doctor Plaban Das, a medical practitioner who resides on this street.

Bishop Stephen Lepcha urged the people of the town to walk the road of love and compassion as shown by Saint Teresa. “It is our duty to continue the rich legacy,” said the Bishop.

Agnes, who later became Saint Teresa, arrived in India in 1929. She joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling.

She took her first religious vows as a nun on May 24, 1931 in Darjeeling and made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937 in Kolkata, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa. While in Darjeeling she used to teach in St. Teresa’s school under the Loreto Convent. The school was founded in 1921.

On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling during an annual retreat between Siliguri and Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the “call within a call,” which prompted her to start the Missionaries of Charity.

It was the turning point of her life. Thus she had stepped out of the Loreto Convent in Darjeeling into the slums of Kolkata, immortalised by her noble deeds. She was canonised on September 4, 2016 as St. Teresa of Calcutta.

The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception located at the Loreto Convent in Darjeeling also houses an oratory (a place of worship) in her name. Saint Teresa as a Loreto Nun used to pray here and had even taken her vows as a nun in this Cathedral. Saint Teresa’s relics are kept in this oratory.