British sculptor Jonathan Wylder depicted Mother Teresa with her hands in an often seen pose of praying. Amid hymn-singing, the statue was unveiled at the Mother House, the Missionaries of Charity headquarters, a Catholic nun born in Macedonia.
Naresh Kumar, a worker at Mother House who was instrumental in having the statue made, said that Wylder initially made Mother Teresa´s hands very delicate. «But Mother´s hands were really strong, the strongest I have seen,» Kumar said. So alterations were requested to make the hands sturdy.
Wylder´s fear of flying prevented him from attending the unveiling in the Prayer Hall, outside the room where Mother Teresa´s tomb is located. «I think this is the best thing I have done,´´ Wylder said in a letter read during the ceremony.
«When we see the statue we feel she is there,´´ said Sister Nirmala, the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity who succeeded Mother Teresa. «We are reminded of the love and blessings of Mother who may not be physically among us but guiding us from above.»
