VATICAN CITY, Rome — Pope Francis has issued a decree, inscribing the feast day commemorating the death of India's erstwhile 'living saint' Mother Teresa of Calcutta in the Roman Catholic calendar.

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments released the decree inscribing Saint Teresa, along with the liturgical texts to accompany her feast day on September 5.

Mother Teresa, whose real name is Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, was “a beacon of hope, small in stature but great in love, a witness to the dignity and privilege of humble service in the defence of all human life and of all those who have been abandoned, discarded and despised even in the hiddenness of the womb.”

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery, offered this praise of Saint Teresa.

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje on August 26, 1910 as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. She professed solemn vows as a Sister of Loreto in Calcutta, India, in 1937. In 1950, she left the Sisters of Loreto to found the Missionaries of Charity, which now numbers over 6,000 sisters active in 130 countries who serve those most in need.

Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and Pope St. John Paul II beatified her on October 19, 2003.

Pope Francis canonized her on September 4, 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
In his comment released on Tuesday, Cardinal Roche said Pope Francis requested her insertion in the Roman Calendar in response to the requests of bishops, religious, and the lay faithful.

He noted that her holiness and spirituality reveals to the faithful an “outstanding witness to hope for those who had been discarded in life.”