Melani Manel Perera

Two organisations donated seeds to grow peanuts, red beans and corn. The government of former President Rajapaksa had seized the lands of coastal villages to develop tourism. Many residents are still living in tents.

Catholic woman lived in sin because of a "great pain". Her niece had left the family to marry a Buddhist man. "We lived in hatred for eight years, but then we realised that we cannot refuse her husband if we really want to put into practice God’s teachings." The clear voice of the Virgin Mary said, "My daughter, forgive him."

About a thousand Holy Family members discussed love and mercy, setting up various groups, each suggesting initiatives like not marginalising classmates, organising Masses for the sick, and making decisions in the family together.

Students attending catechism in two parishes near Colombo organised the event, showing Jesus’s works and miracles, the holy doors open across the country, and a full-scale reproduction of a Holy Door. With this exhibition, " children were able to express their talents."

About 2,000 women and girls took part in a six-kilometre march to back Pope Francis’s Laudato si’ encyclical, which speaks about social justice. Sri Lanka is among the five countries that pollute oceans the most. Developing best practices in school can be passed on in the family.

The ceremony began with a procession of the statue of the saint. The apostolic nuncio and the auxiliary bishop of Colombo celebrated the service. Nuncio stressed three reasons "why Mother Teresa is really important to us.” Some who met her remember.

The faithful filled the shrine from the early hours of the morning. Mass followed the rosary, litanies and novena. In his homily, Fr Priyadharshana mentioned that "we have to ask Our Lady to give us the strength to bear our crosses as she did, without rejecting them."

Liturgies of thanksgiving were celebrated this morning in every diocese for the canonisation of Mother Teresa. In Colombo, the Missionaries of Charity live in the ‘Home of peace’, which takes in the sick, the disabled and orphans. On 11 September, an official celebration will be held to honour the saint.

Patricia converted to Hinduism to marry the man she loved. But because of this "self-imposed love” she “denied God’s love". After her husband’s death, she was left alone with three children. Welcomed by the Missionaries of Charity, she recently went to confession and received the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The Missionaries of Charity in the Asian country will not be in Rome for the ceremony on 4 September. They will remain with “our beloved poor”. For this moment, they “have prepared several activities of meeting and prayer”. It will be “a time of joy”.

The refugees live in precarious conditions in 43 refugee camps. Military leaders justify the decision on national security. IDPs claim the army built Buddhist temples on their land, when most of them are Hindu or Catholic. Government IDP figures do not coincide with those of activists.

In August the shrines of Thalawila and Madhu are crowded with pilgrims, both Catholic and non. On August 7, the feast of the Mother of Our Lady was celebrated with three days of spiritual retreat. August 15, Madhu celebrated the Assumption of Mary.