UNI

Kolkata, Aug 26: The Missionaries of Charity on Saturday observed the 96th birth anniversary of Mother Teresa with a special mass and a call for love prevailing over violence.

All-faith prayer held in the premises marked the occasion.

Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity Sister Nirmala led the mass that celebrated the life of the Mother, who made the city her home and founded the order of the Missionaries of Charity to serve the poor and destitutes.

Speaking on the occassion, the Mother's successor called upon militants to eschew violence and said ''Only love can conquer everything''.

''Guns can only spread evil. Violence can't do any good. But the power of love can conquer everthing,'' she said.

She described Mother Teresa as a ''gift of God to the earth''.

Later, an all-faith prayer, attended by members from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist communities, was held in the premises of the MC. The prayer was organised by the United Minority Forum.

A large number of people, majority of them children, flocked the Mother's house since morning to offer prayers and flowers at her tomb.

The Mother, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, two years after she left Loreto order, died in 1997 ending an illustrious life, dedicated to the mankind.

She was beatified by the then Pope in October 2003 after the Vatican recognized that the healing of a tumour in the abdomen of a woman was an act of miracle by the Mother.