"Saints of Empowered Prayer: St. Teresa of Calcutta"
St. Teresa of Calcutta: Teresa was born in Skopje, Macedonia on
August 26, 1910 and is known today as Mother Theresa. At age 18 she was moved
to pursue missionary work leaving home to join the Sisters of Loreto. She
received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux.
In 1929 she left for her first trip to India, arriving in Calcutta. She taught
in an all-girls school and made her final vows on May 24, 1937. From that time
on she was called Mother Teresa.
In 1946 during a train ride for her
annual retreat, Mother received her "inspiration, her call within a call." On
that day, in a way she would never explain, Jesus' thirst for love and for
souls took hold of her heart and the desire to satisfy His thirst became the
driving force of her life. By means of interior locutions and visits, Jesus
revealed to her the desire of His heart for "victims of love" who would radiate
His love on souls. "Come be my light, He begged her. I cannot go alone"
Mother Teresa work tirelessly to care
for the needy setting up several new congregations and as the world took
notice, she received many awards. She received them 'for the glory of God and
in the name of the poor."
There was an even greater heroic side of
this great woman only revealed after her death. Hidden from all was her
interior life marked by a deep, painful feeling of being separated from God,
with an increasing longing for His love. She called her inner experience, the
darkness. The "painful night" of her soul, which began around the time she
started her work with the poor and continued to the end of her life. Through
her darkness she mystically participated in the thirst for Jesus. She
shared in the interior desolation of the poor.
In spite of severe health problems and
the desolation within she continued to govern her Society and respond to the
needs of the poor and the Church. Mother Teresa is a symbol of love and
compassion. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. She was canonized by Pope
Francis on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5th.
Questions:
1) Am I able to discern when I am experiencing
desolation or consolation? And,
2) How
am I changed by it?
3)
How do I respond to burning issues placed
in my heart by the Holy Spirit?
