In 1983, Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity soup kitchen at 115 N. Oakley Ave., next to St. Malachy Parish on Chicago’s West Side. It was here that her Missionary of Charity sisters had their first Chicago convent and where the now-Blessed Teresa of Calcutta visited three times. So it was only fitting that, among the poor the sisters continue to serve nearly every day, the U.S. Postal Service’s Chicago office unveiled the new Mother Teresa 44-cent postage stamp Sept. 8. The U.S. Postal Service commemorated the anniversary of the nun’s 100th birthday with a stamp featuring a portrait of Mother Teresa painted by artist Thomas Blackshear of Colorado Springs, Colo. The sisters turned the Chicago unveiling into a service with songs and intercessions and prayer. About 50 soup kitchen customers joined in as well, along with supporters and post office officials. The sisters now live in Pilsen but continue to operate the soup kitchen, which is open at 10 a.m. daily (except Thursdays). Fourteen Missionaries of Charity were on hand for the unveiling and helped serve food to the regular visitors after the brief ceremony. “The sisters have served here with great love,” said Missionary of Charity Sister Mary Marcella, in her opening remarks. “We raise our hearts to God in grateful thanks” for the life of Mother Teresa, “that has been something truly beautiful for God,” she said. “Mother Teresa gave so much to the world,” said Donald Nichols, manager of Post Office Operations, during the unveiling. She was honored in America several times, he said, “but those aren’t the reasons she appears on a stamp today. It is because her example of selfless charity and boundless love for all humankind continues to inspire millions of people here in America, and around the world.” Born Aug. 26, 1910, in what is now the Republic of Macedonia, Mother Teresa went to India at the age of 18 and founded the Missionaries of Charity there. She died in Calcutta Sept. 5, 1997, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. Nick Skokna has volunteered at the soup kitchen for 18 years and brought one of his sons to the unveiling. The St. Issac Jogues parishioner said he met Blessed Teresa of Calcutta 25 years ago and felt inspired. “I appreciated the way she lived her faith in such a beautiful way,” Skokna said, adding that she challenged people “like me to help the poor and be a good father and a good husband.”