Sister Nirmala to be buried today after funeral mass

 

She was living in the same church premises. 

Since morning people lined up at Mother House to pay their obeisance to the late nun who had stepped into the shoes of Mother Teresa in 1997, the year the Nobel laureate died, and despite the tall order of living up to the expectations of the world she proved over the years that she was the right choice made by the Mother as she led the order of self-effacing nuns for 12 years till choosing to step down in 2009 owing to health problems.

She was then succeeded by German-born Sister Mary Prema Pierick.

Sister Nirmala Joshi was born in 1934 in present Jharkhand (then known as Ranchi, Bihar and Orissa Province). Her parents were from Nepal and her father was an officer of the British Army.

She was born a Hindu but after she got her education under the Christian missionaries in Patna, she chose Christianity and  converted to Roman Catholicism. She joined the Missionaries of Charity and thus went on to head it finally with Mother herself rooting for her in her lifetime.

Sister Nirmala was also conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India, in 2009 for her services.

 

Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS