Associated Press,
Washington Post,
Boston Globe
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Sunday, September 7, 1997

Calcutta, India: The frail women in rain-soaked saris were turned away, as were the laborers with somber faces who came Saturday to pay their respects to Mother Teresa, the tiny woman who took up the burden of the world?s poor and downtrodden.

The nuns of her Missionaries of Charity order decided the convent chapel where her body lay was too small to accommodate crowds.

They posted hand-lettered signs saying mourners could pay respects at a larger chapel to which Mother Teresa?s body was to be moved today. Her body will lie in state at St. Thomas? Church until her state funeral Saturday.

A state funeral for the Nobel Peace Prize winner who died Friday night of a heart attack at 87 represents a break in custom for the Indian government, as such an honor normally is conferred only upon serving presidents and prime ministers.

The funeral was rescheduled from Wednesday to Saturday, and sources close to the order said that was to give nuns who work around the world more time to reach Calcutta and also to give both the order's members and Mother Teresa?s lay devotees more time to adjust to her loss.

"The sisters had trouble letting go, emotionally of their leader and wanted to give members of the public a chance to express their grief," one source said.

The site of the funeral still has not been announced as the order searches for a place in the cramped city that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of mourners. Because there are only about 100,000 Catholics among 10 million Calcuttans, the city has no church on the scale of Europe's large cathedrals. Organizers are considering the soccer field of St. Xavier's College, while government officials are offering an indoor stadium.

Mother Teresa will be buried at the convent in central Calcutta that was her home and the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, according to Sister Barnet at the mission.

Even after they learned they would not get in, some mourners lingered Saturday, standing patiently in the warm, monsoon rain. One woman, seeing a reporter allowed in, begged to be taken along. A group of high school students held signs declaring her "immortal." At times, as many as 500 were held back by police barricades.

Inside, more than 200 nuns gathered for a Mass in the plain, dimly lit chapel, few showing emotion as they kneeled in prayer and song, their voices rising in choruses of hallelujah."Today, Mother Teresa is enjoying the presence of Jesus, whom she loves and to whom she dedicated her work. We should all be rejoicing today, for we have a great intercessor in heaven," said Father Sebastian, who celebrated the Mass.

The service ended with one nun making the sign of the cross on Mother Teresa's forehead.

Later Saturday, about 20 children from a nearby Missionaries of Charity orphanage were led into the chapel. But for the most part, only politicians, diplomats and nuns have been able to see her.

Asha Mondal was among those denied a glimpse of Mother Teresa on Saturday. The 25-year-old homemaker from a village outside Calcutta traveled two hours by bus to pay homage to the woman who "has given me life."

Mondal grew up in one of Mother Teresa?s orphanages in Calcutta and said she had learned firsthand of the nun?s generous heart. "Mother loves us all," said Mondal, who said she would come back to view the body today.

As word of her death spread, so did the mourning in the city of joy.

Abroad, Calcutta has long been seen narrowly as the home to destitute families who live grimly on narrow sidewalks. That image was reshaped a bit by a book by Dominique Lapierre and the movie based on it, both called "The City of Joy," a fictionalized account of his experiences with social workers who discovered a resilient spirit in the city's poorest.

However, if it weren?t for a few soot-covered and ill-kept colonial monuments, it would be nearly impossible to believe that Calcutta was once the glittering capital of British rule in India and the envied gateway to subcontinent's natural resources and industry.

The Marxist-led city is legendary for strikes and daylong power cuts, for potholes the size of rickshaws and for standstill traffic because beggars and hawkers choke the roads. Even for the most intrepid investors seeking to capitalize in third-world markets, Calcutta has traditionally been a black hole to sidestep.

It was in the slums of this city that Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity a half-century ago, and the young nun of Albanian parentage won over residents with her compassion and respect for their culture.

The day after her death, residents of various religions said they admired Mother Teresa.

"She was a poor man's God. She gave them clothes, food and medicines," said Mohammad Wasim, a Muslim tailor

Sujit Dhar, a local leader of a Hindu nationalist group, said, "She in fact embodied some Hindu philosophy, the spirit of service."

Father Edward Le Joly, an 88-year-old retired priest who helped Mother Teresa establish her Missionaries of Charity in 1948, was asked how city residents generally felt about her. He replied: "They loved her."