The feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta was celebrated with a concelebrated High Mass at the Basilica of Regina Pacis, Bensonhurst, Sept. 5. St. Teresa of Calcutta, who was raised to sainthood last year is fondly remembered as Mother Teresa by her sisters and many devotees across the world.

Msgr. Ronald T. Marino, pastor of Regina Pacis, encouraged this new initiative in the parish to bring the faithful to pray and to know more about her life, her vocation and mission to the world especially among the poor and the poorest of the poor.

Msgr. Marino invited all to pray in silence before the Mass at the statue of Mother Teresa placed in the Columbarium, St. Joseph’s chapel.

The clergy of the parish, and members of the Missionaries of Charity from their Brooklyn Convent, participated in the event.

Father Francis S. Rosario, a priest from the Archdiocese of Calcutta, was the main celebrant. Other concelebrants included Msgr. Marino, and Fathers Marco Brioschi and Nicholas Apollonio.

Msgr. Marino introduced the Mass in honor of St. Teresa and highlighted some of intentions of the day.

“For Mother Teresa, Jesus was at the center of all her activities and mission entrusted by God,” he said.

Father Rosario preached the homily on the vocation and mission of Mother Teresa. He was associated with her through his ministry in Calcutta and even as a child, when she opened her first house in Ranchi outside Calcutta in 1959.

The Mass was a multi-cultural event with liturgical singing in English, Spanish and Italian. Jonathan Fields and Julio led the English and Spanish singing, respectively. The Legion of Mary and the Tuesday devotion group offered flowers to decorate the altar. The prayers of the faithful were offered in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Bengali.

More than 300 people attended, including many parishioners and those from neighboring parishes.

The presence of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, was inspiring and encouraging for all.

At the end of the Mass, a prayer for vocations to observe the Year of Vocations was recited.