The ceremony will take place at nine in the morning, Roman time. But the Philippines is seven hours ahead of Rome, by the international time belts, so it will come to us — live, by satellite television — from 4:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The entire ceremony will be televised, live, while it is actually happening in Rome, over the Associated Broadcasting Corporation — Channel 5 in Manila. It will be seen and heard, simultaneously, over 14 other outlets of ABC:
ABC- 2 LAOAG
ABC- 28 BAGUIO
ABC- 5 NAGA
ABC- 6 LEGAZPI
ABC- 11 SORSOGON
ABC- 32 BACOLOD
ABC- 21 CEBU
ABC- 8 SURIGAO DEL SUR
ABC- 13 BUTUAN
ABC- 10 AGUSAN DEL SUR
ABC- 21 CAGAYAN DE ORO
ABC- 2 DAVAO
ABC- 29 ZAMBOANGA
ABC- 12 GENERAL SANTOS
ABC is affiliated with 32 Cable Stations in Luzon, 14 in the Visayas, and 14 in Mindanao.
For those who are unable to watch the telecast live, from 4:00 pm until 6:30 pm on Sunday afternoon, it will be carried as a delayed broadcast over the National Broadcasting Network, Channel 4 in Manila, from 9:00 pm to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday evening.
NBN has 20 other outlets, all over the nation:
NBN-11 CEBU
NBN-11 DAVAO
NBN-7 ZAMBOANGA
NBN-11 PAGADIAN
NBN-11 DIPOLOG
NBN-8 COTABATO
NBN-8 TACLOBAN
NBN-2 GUIMARAS
NBN-10 DUMAGUETE
NBN-12 CALBAYOG
NBN-4 PUERTO PRINCESA
NBN-8 NAGA
NBN-8 BAGUIO
NBN-11 LAOAG
NBN-4 VIGAN
NBN-2 BACOLOD AND ILOILO
NBN-4 GOA, CAMARINES SUR
NBN CATANDUANES Community TV Network
NBN-13 ROMBLON Community TV Network
NBN-2 SORSOGON Broadcasting Corporation
IBC, Channel 13 in Manila, will also televise the beatification from 9:00 pm to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 19.
ANC on Channel 21 in Sky Cable and Channel 32 in Home Cable, will air the program from 11:00 pm on Sunday, October 19, until 1:30 am of Monday, October 20.
For the night owls – we will present the whole ceremony on GMA from 12:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., on Channel 7. The first hours of Monday, October 20. If your mind, or your heart, is troubled, this beatification will bring you peace of soul. It will be a beautiful way to end a long, long day.
And if you miss the beatification live at 4:00, delayed at 9:00, and delayed again at 11:00 and 12:30 a.m., you can see and hear it, exactly as it happened in the Vatican, over RPN 9, from 1:30 pm to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 20.
His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin wrote a pastoral letter on this beatification to all the Clergy, Religious and Lay Faithful of the Archdiocese of Manila. In his letter, the Cardinal said:
"Mother Teresa led a saintly life while on earth, devoting her ministry to the least, the poor, the marginalized, the abandoned, the rejected, the sick and the dying. She personally attended to them with her generous, comforting hands, showing to them by her authentic Christian acts, the human face of Jesus. Thus it was that, even while still on earth, she was called the ‘Living Saint’.
"The Archdiocese of Manila honors this saintly woman’s beatification and gives thanks to the Lord for the gift of her life totally offered in service to God’s people, with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the Manila Cathedral on October 20, 2003, at two in the afternoon.
"We request your presence at this Eucharistic Celebration. Together let us give praise and thanksgiving to God for the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
"May the prayer of this holy woman help each one of us to become faithful to the grace we have all received."
This beatification, so soon after her death, is reminiscent of the saints of old who were canonized "by acclamation."
Her religious order of nuns – the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation she founded – is the fastest growing order of religious women in all the world. Young girls in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, in the United States and in Europe, want with all their hearts to be like Mother Teresa, serving the poorest of the poor, serving the destitute, who have nothing to give in return.
The world is not so bad, after all.