Mother Teresa

[Lui]

The Christian life is so simple. If God wants it, he will make it possible. If he does not not, then he’s not very interested.

I watched the movie Mother Teresa played by Oliver Hussey last night. That message came across quite well in the movie. Although the movie was one hour and fifty minutes it seemed much too short to portray her life in detail but it gave you a small glimpse that I liked. I highly recommend it.

 

[JReducation]

I watched the movie Mother Teresa played by Oliver Hussey last night. That message came across quite well in the movie. Although the movie was one hour and fifty minutes it seemed much too short to portray her life in detail but it gave you a small glimpse that I liked. I highly recommend it.

That is the best movie made about her yet. TIME did a wonderful edition on her for her 100th birthday. If you can find it, it’s worth the buy.

There is only one work that portrays her entire life in detail, The Gospel. I have always said that if we lost the bible we can reconstruct it word for word by writing the lives of Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Calcutta. They are inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. Teresa brings us the charity and compassion of Christ. Francis brings us the poverty and suffering of Christ. However, charity, compassion, poverty and suffering are inseparable.

Their history is very similar too. Francis was born at time when kings and popes made strange bedfellows, the clergy was poorly educated and often lived in sin with women, other men and adolescent boys. The laity was indifferent toward the faith. Bishops could not teach or govern their dioceses. There had been several Lateran Councils, but Catholics and non-Catholics ignored the councils and went about their life as usual or worse.

Teresa of Calcutta was born in the interim of the First Vatican Council, since Vatican I was adjourned, but was not formally closed until 1960. She would live through Vatican II and die 40 years after the Council. The Council, the fall of the British Empire, the rise and fall of Nazism and Communism would have a profound impact on the Church, the world and in Teresa’s own life. Her sisters spread out from India during the turbulent years following Vatican II.

Francis’ brothers would spread out from Italy during the turbulent years following the IV Lateran Council. The Crusades against the Muslims would impact Francis’ life forever and would dictate how his order would view and deal with the Muslims to this day. This brought persecution and criticism on them from lay Catholics, especially monarchs. Francis ordered his brothers to convert the Muslims by example without ever preaching to them, so as to live in peace among them and the Jews in Palestine. The Catholics believed that the only way to protect themselves from the Muslim attacks on Europe was to convert them or eradicate them. More hatred would be levied against Francis, when the Pope declared Palestine a papal custody and give to the Franciscans to protect, to this day. Later, the Franciscans would travel to Muslim Spain and discourage all attempts on the part of Catholics to get rid of Jews and Muslims, but would encourage fraternal cooperation and co-existence. By the time that Ferdinand and Isabella came around, the people of Andalucia were very happy together: Muslims, Jews and Christians. The Andalucian Franciscans served them all.

Flash foward several centuries, Mother Teresa would be censured by the right wing of Catholicism for doing the same thing. She refused to preach to the Muslims and Hindus. She refused to force baptism and conversion on the children entrusted to her. She defended the rights of people of all faiths, races and nationalities to live in peace.

She and Francis would write into their regulations a command to their sons and daughters. They may never feel anger, mistrust, fear or rejection toward a person of another faith. Instead, they are to bring Christ through silent service, prayer and reconciliation. Many thought that the Holy See would reject these postulates. Some hoped the Holy See would do so, because it would justify their hatred and their cruelty toward non-Catholics and non-Christians. They were shocked when Popes Honorius III and Pius XII gave their blessing and signed their statutes as they were, even when some cardinals pointed out what they called indifferentism.

People never understood that this man and woman mirrored Christ to perfection and that they can teach us the distinction between indifferentism and holy indifference. However, the Church understood it. This holy indifference allows them both to achieve very little in the material sense. Yet, they changed the face of the world and the Church forever. That is the power of holy indifference. It has the power to attract attention and to turn hearts and minds without words. There will never be a man or woman in the civilized world who has not heard of Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Calcutta, the Seraphic Father and the Saint of the Slums.

Both lived in great darkness, aridity, and feeling totally isolated from God and from the people around them. This is the great gift that comes from holy indifference. One becomes immune to what is around one and there is no consolation but Christ himself. No miracle, no prayer, no sacrament, no great work of charity, no preaching, nothing that we can do in this world, will ever make you feel the presence of God. Your soul hungers to be united to the Father through unity with the soul of the Son and you are supported by the movements of the Holy Spirit who drives you to continue to love and serve, even when you feel dry and cold.

The motto of the story, to be as holy as Teresa and Francis, we must begin to practice holy indifference.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Lui]

There is only one work that portrays her entire life in detail, The Gospel. I have always said that if we lost the bible we can reconstruct it word for word by writing the lives of Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Calcutta.

What do you say to people like Hitchens and his harsh criticism against Mother Teresa. I haven’t actually watched his documentary which is on Youtube or read his book because I’m not interested but it still annoys me.

 

[Monica4316]

I watched this documentary on Mother Teresa last night. It was about her life in general and about the fact that she struggled with faith and the lack of it all her life. I think there is a book about her doubts which I’m looking for but I was totally surprised to hear this.
A priest explained that that often occurred to Saints in the past though and often if someone is really close to God he will go through darkness. I’m just reading the Diary of Sister Faustina and she was also struggling at times but Mother Teresa seemed to be struggling all her life.

it was the ‘dark night of the soul’ it’s a trial from God to purify the will… I believe she is a Saint

 

[JReducation]

What do you say to people like Hitchens and his harsh criticism against Mother Teresa. I haven’t actually watched his documentary which is on Youtube or read his book because I’m not interested but it still annoys me.

I wouldn’t say anything. I’m a Franciscan. We don’t argue about the faith. The faith is to be lived. If and when a person is ready for it, he or she will ask. Then you can speak, because the other person wants to hear what you have to say.

When asked about these allegations and others, I simply ask why the person making the allegations didn’t go out and try to do it right.

it was the ‘dark night of the soul’ it’s a trial from God to purify the will… I believe she is a Saint

We have to be careful here. The Church has never taught that the Dark Night is a trial or that God even tries or tests people. That is a popular misconception. Not a Catholic teaching. God does not go around testing us. Let’s talk about tests and trials first.

God allows us to go through “trials and tribulations” because only through suffering is the soul purified. It’s not a test. The term “trial” does not mean a test. It means “challenge”. Even the scriptures when they use the term, if we watch what is happening in the story, God is challenging the person to do what is necessary to atone for sins, to show love of neighbor or to show the power and glory of God. There is always a purpose that goes way beyond a test that one passes or fails.

Now let’s talk about the Dark Night. The term was coined by St. John of the Cross, but the experience has existed since God created Adam. St. John is very careful to explain that the Dark Night is not a test or a punishment. On the contrary, it’s a blessing that God grants only to select souls whom he loves more than others. It’s a great honor that God offers to some souls to walk in the darkness that Christ faced on the cross. John describes it as a leap in faith. Like Christ, the soul is invited to step into the darkness, unable to see, but completely confident that God is leading the way through the darkness. Even though the emotions feel nothing but darkness, the soul rests on knowledge, not feelings. It knows that God is in charge; therefore, there is nothing to fear. God grants this great grace only to those souls that he knows will be able to tolerate it. If it were a test, it would not be granted only to those who can pass it.

St. Catherine of Siena does not use the term Dark Night, but speaks of the same experience. She speaks of it as the final journey before the Divine Nuptuals.

St. Bonaventure wrote about it when he uses Francis of Assisi’s spiritual journey for his famous work, The Journey of the Soul to God. They all describe it as a blessing for a very select crowd of people.

Catholics of the 21st century hate the idea that God gives special graces to some people. We have been brainwashed with all of this equality nonsense of our secular society. We try to impose the same rules on God. The problem is that God is not buying it. He has a plan.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[mariafransisca2]

Don’t believe in the book called Come Be My light by one of her MC priests. I think she is misunderstood.

I’ve read it, and it brought my faith to null. Because of reading that book I even doubted if mother teresa was a saint. I think it is rather erroneous.

She seems joyful in these videos, and sincere.
motherteresa.org/tube/26vid_eng.html

I had to ask in my prayers to blessed mother teresa, blessed mother teresa, are you in heaven? And the answers was peace, yes she is in heaven.

I think Padre Pio, in his book Secrets of a Soul, also underwent this dark night of faith. But it is not exaggerated as in the case of Mother Teresa.

What healed me is reading the Diary of St. Faustina - Divine Mercy in my Soul. In reading that book, I find that God isn’t far away, and that helps my faith.

 

[JReducation]

Don’t believe in the book called Come Be My light by one of her MC priests. I think she is misunderstood.

The book is actually very accurate. It describes the Dark Night exactly as Catholic Theology teaches it. There is no feeling of love, light, joy, charity, hope or the presence of God. God seems to have abandoned you or non existent. That’s what the Dark Night it. It is necessary for the soul to go through this to achieve union with the soul of Christ.

St. Teresa of Avila experienced it for about 20 years. St. Francis of Assisi did not come out of it until he was on his death bed. St. Catherine of Siena went through it for an undetermined period of time. St. Faustina and St. Therese experienced it less time, because they died younger than the rest.

This experience does not mean that the person is not a saint. It’s just the opposite. It only happens to those who are saints. God allowed it to happen to them because he knew the outcome. He knew they would not buckle.

The author gets it spot on. Mother Teresa was able to smile, despite it all because she traveled on intellect. The intellect takes over. You smile, you pray and you do what you have to do, because you KNOW that God is near . . . however, you FEEL worse than being in hell. Even in hell, those poor souls have feelings. The mystic does not always feel. Sometimes, with the Dark Night of the Soul, the mystic will also experience a Dark Night of the Senses. St. John of the Cross explains this for us. You may want to read him. However, I warn you. His writings are very frightening, because he draws you into his experience of darkness. However, it must be remembered that while he wrote these things, he was happy. His mind told him that he had every reason to be happy.

The same is true about Mother Teresa. Mother smiled, because she knew that her suffering, her lack of faith, charity, and her feelings of hopelessness pleased Christ and atoned for his suffering. She agrees to be the “saint of darkness” as she calls herself. The height of sanctity is the willingness to spend eternity in darkness if it pleases God. This is the power of Mother Teresa’s testimony.

When she had nothing else to give, she surrendered to God even the possibility of seeing him, as long as it pleased him. What is powerful about her book is that she teaches us to let go of what we feel and what we believe and hang on to what we know.

She seems joyful in these videos, and sincere.
motherteresa.org/tube/26vid_eng.html

She is very joyful. She wills herself to smile for Jesus, regardless of her feelings and thoughts. What she teaches us is that we’re not as important as we believe. We hang on to our thoughts, our ideas, our opinions and our feelings. Mother teaches us that true holiness is acheived through total poverty. Total poverty is to have nothing material and nothing emotional, only knowledge. It’s not academic knowledge, it’s spiritual knowledge. It’s the kind of knowledge that Christ and the Blessed Mother had. It’s the knowledge that St. Joseph had. Mother teaches us that love is a choice, not a feeling.

I think Padre Pio, in his book Secrets of a Soul, also underwent this dark night of faith. But it is not exaggerated as in the case of Mother Teresa.

Pio experienced it, but his was combined with physical torture. God allowed Satan to physically torture him. Mother Teresa did not have this experience.

What healed me is reading the Diary of St. Faustina - Divine Mercy in my Soul. In reading that book, I find that God isn’t far away, and that helps my faith.

If you read Mother Teresa’s writings very carefully, the one thing that she never doubts is God’s mercy. She knows that what she is experiencing is not because God does not love her, but because he is merciful. She is being blessed with the rare opportunity to share in the darkness of the cross.

I would suggest that you read it again, but put aside all feelings. Read it coldly and logically. Apply the principles of assetical theology to it and you’ll see that it describes a life of faith that is beyond anything that any of us can can do on our own and that it’s God at work and Mother is a willing victim.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Dorothy]

Brother, how close can one outside of monastic life approach this?

What I really mean to ask is, is contemplative prayer approachable, or even possible for us on the outside?

It seems like there is too much in the way.

-Tim-

I recommend the book “Fire Within”, by Father Dubay. In it he discusses St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and he explains that all Catholics are called to contemplative prayer in some degree. (Some more than others, according to their state in life.)

So, we should not be discouraged from living a spiritual life. We have so many treasures in our Church to help us on our way. It is possible to live in the world and not be of the world. A prayer life helps us in this.

 

[JReducation]

I recommend the book “Fire Within”, by Father Dubay. In it he discusses St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and he explains that all Catholics are called to contemplative prayer in some degree. (Some more than others, according to their state in life.)

So, we should not be discouraged from living a spiritual life. We have so many treasures in our Church to help us on our way. It is possible to live in the world and not be of the world. A prayer life helps us in this.

I had the honor of being taught by Fr. Dubay when I was working on my doctorate in Spiritual Theology. He used his book. It was incredible to hear him explain what he meant. I really miss him. It’s great to read it along with The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila, so that you can see what Fr. Dubay is talking about. He has us read his book, Teresa’s and John of the Cross Ascent to Mt. Carmel simultaneously. It was powerful stuff.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Dorothy]

I had the honor of being taught by Fr. Dubay when I was working on my doctorate in Spiritual Theology. He used his book. It was incredible to hear him explain what he meant. I really miss him. It’s great to read it along with The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila, so that you can see what Fr. Dubay is talking about. He has us read his book, Teresa’s and John of the Cross Ascent to Mt. Carmel simultaneously. It was powerful stuff.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

How wonderful to have been taught by Father Dubay in person!

The Lay Carmelite group I am in did a book study that lasted a year on “The Way of Perfection”. There is so much to learn from St. Teresa. and St. John of the Cross. and St. Therese of Lisieux as well! It takes a lifetime of prayer and practicing virtue to grow closer to the Lord, and worth every minute. We Catholics are so blessed by our faith, and the wonderful saints and teachers we learn from.

 

[JReducation]

How wonderful to have been taught by Father Dubay in person!

The Lay Carmelite group I am in did a book study that lasted a year on “The Way of Perfection”. There is so much to learn from St. Teresa. and St. John of the Cross. and St. Therese of Lisieux as well! It takes a lifetime of prayer and practicing virtue to grow closer to the Lord, and worth every minute. We Catholics are so blessed by our faith, and the wonderful saints and teachers we learn from.

You’re absolutely right. The problem that Euro-American Catholics have is not with mysticism. It’s with control. We want control. Having lived through the 20th century, a century with two World Wars, the rise and fall of Nazism and Communism replaced by unbridled Capitalism makes people skittish. Instead of leaning on our faith and the eperience of our saints, we go the other way. We project our fears even onto God.

Any sign that God may take over the controls freaks us out. I think that people like Mother Teresa were prophetic voices for our time. She proved that we could still relinquish control without losing anything and gaining everything.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[FrancisMonica]

That being said, to contemplate first of all cultivate silence, interior silence. Speak not and think not of things that take away your peace. The problems of the world and of the Church are not your problems. Mother, never made them her problem. Her approach was radically different from our own. She saw what everyone else sees as problems, scandals, errors, evils and sins as a call. She paid very special attention, always asking God to allow her to hear what he wanted her to do and God told her. In the end, it was a call not to fix the world, but to heal the world, one person at a time.

How does one cultivate interior silence? I’m not really sure how one “thinks” not of things that take away peace.

The true contemplative is one who can look at the world, the Church, and the problems to be found in both without making them a problem for himself or herself. Instead, he or she asks, “Where is God?” Then he pays attention to God. He see problems as windows to find God. He prays that he will not miss seeing God in every situation. To do this, one must embrace silence, charity, detachment, especially from one’s ideas and wishes so as to attach oneself to whatever Christ says through the Church.

Again, I’m wondering “how” to go about detaching.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[JReducation]

How does one cultivate interior silence? I’m not really sure how one “thinks” not of things that take away peace.

Again, I’m wondering “how” to go about detaching.

There are many methods. I tend to borrow from different spiritual masters what works for me. I keep in mind that the goal is interior silence and detachment from the world around me. I begin with prayer. I pray the Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

I make room for periods of silence and solitude. I take a daily walk, by myself without an iPod or whatever. I don’t watch the new. I do read the newspaper online. I find that reading the paper is less jarring than watching the news. Newscasters have a way of communicating their feelings to their audience. The newspaper is just printed words.

When I read all of these posts on CAF and all the concerns that people have about the mass, the sex abuse scandal, the SSPX, the Council or some other thing, I try not to think about it afterward. If it comes back to haunt me, I assume that God wants me to pray over it and offer up something to help. I can be a prayer, an extra act of charity, a little more manual labor, or simply an extra fast. If it really haunts me, I remind myself that I’m not in charge. I have no power to change it or authority over other people. I’m just the smallest and most insignificant human being. This is very important. We must remind ourselves that we are insignificant.

We live in a world that has taught us a great lie. It taught us that in order to value ourselves we must live in awe of our value, our opinions, our potential, our gifts, our knowledge and our freedom. The truth is that all of those things point to the glory of God and we have to remind ourselves of that over and over again. It takes a long time to get ourselves to remember that our opinions and thoughts only have value if they do something good for someone. If they just exist in our heads, they are taking up space. I have taught myself that an idea or a thought is useful if it serves charity. If it’s just an idea that I can do nothing with, then it’s useless. I have now come to the point that I can simply tell myself, “That’s not helpful,” and I can move on with whatever I have to do.

Of all these things, the most important thing is to remember to appreciate being alone and quiet. I visited the Carthusians in Spain and I learned a little secret. They spend a great part of their day staring into space, literally doing nothing but looking at a garden. They do this several times a day for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. They have done this for centuries. This has actually helped them to pray and to remain at peace. They have a guesthouse and you can talk to the brother who takes care of you. While I was there I asked him if they ever thought about any of these subjects that we discuss so often here on CAF. He looked at me and asked me, “Why would we want to do that? What can we do to fix it, other than to pray? We don’t think about those things and we don’t talk about those things. We give them to the Lord and we trust the Church.” I left there thinking about this conversation. On the train ride back to Madrid I remembered the Serenity prayer.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

The Peace Prayer is also helpful, because it helps us put priorities into perspective. When we prioritize according to God’s plan, we begin to experience peace.

As I said, everyone uses a different approach that works for them. The goal is the same, to achieve silence in order to contemplate.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[FrancisMonica]

Thank you for your reply Br JR. I plan on printing it out so I can re-read it daily until it sinks in. For starters I’m going to try to read the news instead of watching it on TV. I usually watch the cable news channels as each story is regurgitated over and over with a slightly different spin each time and by the time I finally turn it off, my head is spinning!

I’ve really been disappointed in myself over the last few days because I got sucked into the story of a beloved priest who is having some problems and found myself obsessing about it, reading blogs and forums about it and discussing it with friends. I know there is nothing I can do about it, nothing I really know about it and my opinion about it doesn’t matter (and more than likely will cause more harm than good) and yet I have wasted countless hours spinning my wheels which does not bring about any good whatsoever. This is what really prompted me to ask you the questions I asked today.

I am a Secular Franciscan (professed August 2010) and have read a lot about St Francis and St Clare and how they were detached from the world and I so want to be more like them within my present state in life but I continue to fail. You have given me “concrete” steps to take and I plan on taking them.

Thank you once again! I very much appreciate all of your posts. You are in my prayers.

Peace and all good,
FM

 

[JReducation]

Thank you for your reply Br JR. I plan on printing it out so I can re-read it daily until it sinks in. For starters I’m going to try to read the news instead of watching it on TV. I usually watch the cable news channels as each story is regurgitated over and over with a slightly different spin each time and by the time I finally turn it off, my head is spinning!

I’ve really been disappointed in myself over the last few days because I got sucked into the story of a beloved priest who is having some problems and found myself obsessing about it, reading blogs and forums about it and discussing it with friends. I know there is nothing I can do about it, nothing I really know about it and my opinion about it doesn’t matter (and more than likely will cause more harm than good) and yet I have wasted countless hours spinning my wheels which does not bring about any good whatsoever. This is what really prompted me to ask you the questions I asked today.

I am a Secular Franciscan (professed August 2010) and have read a lot about St Francis and St Clare and how they were detached from the world and I so want to be more like them within my present state in life but I continue to fail. You have given me “concrete” steps to take and I plan on taking them.

Thank you once again! I very much appreciate all of your posts. You are in my prayers.

Peace and all good,
FM

First of all, you’re very welcome.

Second, so we’re brothers, both sons of Sts. Francis and Clare.

My community was founded by a Capuchin and two SFOs. That’s how we ended up being OSF (Order of St. Francis). We bring together the poverty and obedience of the Capuchins with the penitential and apostolic vision of the Secular Franciscans.

I do a lot of formation work for the local SFO. I love them. They’re great people.

I know the case of which you speak. There seems to be an obsession with that case, as if those who are writing and talking can change anything. Those are precisely the kind of activities that the masters taught us to avoid.

Today’s masters would advise you to avoid the blogs and the forums where people get too hung up on things that they cannot change and to focus on those that will help you be more charitable, poorer, more obedient, more prayerful, penitential and more fraternal toward all people. That’s what our Holy Father would expect of his sons and daughters.

Mother Teresa understood him very well. She imitated him to perfection and she built on what she learned from him. She had a very interesting spirituality. She combined Francis of Assisi and Benedict (not the pope ). She brings togeher Benedict’s love for prayer and work, his hospitality for Christ and Francis’ love of poverty, the poor and his ability to see Christ in the poorest of the poor. She also combines the obedience of both of these patriarchs. She was uncompromising when it came to obedience. She never disobeyed, nor did she tolerate disobedience. Like Francis and Benedict, if you wanted to get on her bad side all you had to do was disobey and you were history.

Like them, she understood that the cross was the ultimate act of obedience and poverty. One can let go of all the material posessions in this world, but if one does not surrender one’s will, wishes and deisres and accepts what God gives and give what God takes, one is not truly poor.

Mother, Benedict and Francis saw the world through the same lens. All men and women are sons and daughters of the same Father. Even though Catholics posess the fullness of faith, others are also in search of God, in their own way. Like the patriarchs, she opted to see the good that they did instead of criticizing them.

She became angry when a child was abandoned, when a woman was forced to have an abortion, when a person was left to die on the streets, when a hungry person was not fed, when people who claim to be people of faith paid more attention to their issues and ignore Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. She became very angry with the developed nations of the world, because we are the poorest of all. While we have less people dying of hunger, we have more people dying of loneliness.

Like Benedict and Francis, she combined contemplation with action. She said very little about prayer and about charity. She prayed and practiced perfect charity. She had a very interesting custom, she measured time and distance in rosaries. When asked how long it took, she would answer “one rosary” or “three rosaries”.

She was eminently practical too. I loved what she called her “crash novena”. She would go before the Blessed Sacrament and say the Memorare seven times, then she’d go about her business and wait for Jesus and Mary to act. She forbade fasting in her community, because she said that the practice of perfect charity with a smile was penance enough. When she founded her community of men, she was asked what their habit would be. She looked around at the Indian workers. She said, “That”. It was a white shirt, khaki pants and sandals. When asked why not a tunic like other male religious wear, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Jesus wants us to be Indians.” They are the only religious congregation of men, that I know, that does not wear a Roman collar, because it’s not Indian.

Her sisters do not have private sleeping quarters. They sleep in their chapel floor on mats. However, the brothers have separate or semi private rooms. Her logic was that men needed more space than women. She had a real understanding of human beings.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Marie5890]

Bro JR,
Thank you, as always, for taking the time to explain things. More often that not I find wisdom, direction, insight, and guidance in the things you share here.

I have a question and it’s pretty basic but one that no one has been able to explain it in a way that makes sense to me.

(forgive me for it’s simplistic naivete but it’s where I am at)
What is the difference between “mediation” and “contemplation”? Does it mean a devoid of thought?

Somewhere I got the idea that contemplation means having a “blank” mind. Im not sure that is right?

Thank you.

 

[lakotak]

The book is actually very accurate. It describes the Dark Night exactly as Catholic Theology teaches it. There is no feeling of love, light, joy, charity, hope or the presence of God. God seems to have abandoned you or non existent. That’s what the Dark Night it. It is necessary for the soul to go through this to achieve union with the soul of Christ.

St. Teresa of Avila experienced it for about 20 years. St. Francis of Assisi did not come out of it until he was on his death bed. St. Catherine of Siena went through it for an undetermined period of time. St. Faustina and St. Therese experienced it less time, because they died younger than the rest.

This experience does not mean that the person is not a saint. It’s just the opposite. It only happens to those who are saints. God allowed it to happen to them because he knew the outcome. He knew they would not buckle.

The author gets it spot on. Mother Teresa was able to smile, despite it all because she traveled on intellect. The intellect takes over. You smile, you pray and you do what you have to do, because you KNOW that God is near . . . however, you FEEL worse than being in hell. Even in hell, those poor souls have feelings. The mystic does not always feel. Sometimes, with the Dark Night of the Soul, the mystic will also experience a Dark Night of the Senses. St. John of the Cross explains this for us. You may want to read him. However, I warn you. His writings are very frightening, because he draws you into his experience of darkness. However, it must be remembered that while he wrote these things, he was happy. His mind told him that he had every reason to be happy.

The same is true about Mother Teresa. Mother smiled, because she knew that her suffering, her lack of faith, charity, and her feelings of hopelessness pleased Christ and atoned for his suffering. She agrees to be the “saint of darkness” as she calls herself. The height of sanctity is the willingness to spend eternity in darkness if it pleases God. This is the power of Mother Teresa’s testimony.

When she had nothing else to give, she surrendered to God even the possibility of seeing him, as long as it pleased him. What is powerful about her book is that she teaches us to let go of what we feel and what we believe and hang on to what we know.

She is very joyful. She wills herself to smile for Jesus, regardless of her feelings and thoughts. What she teaches us is that we’re not as important as we believe. We hang on to our thoughts, our ideas, our opinions and our feelings. Mother teaches us that true holiness is acheived through total poverty. Total poverty is to have nothing material and nothing emotional, only knowledge. It’s not academic knowledge, it’s spiritual knowledge. It’s the kind of knowledge that Christ and the Blessed Mother had. It’s the knowledge that St. Joseph had. Mother teaches us that love is a choice, not a feeling.

Pio experienced it, but his was combined with physical torture. God allowed Satan to physically torture him. Mother Teresa did not have this experience.

If you read Mother Teresa’s writings very carefully, the one thing that she never doubts is God’s mercy. She knows that what she is experiencing is not because God does not love her, but because he is merciful. She is being blessed with the rare opportunity to share in the darkness of the cross.

I would suggest that you read it again, but put aside all feelings. Read it coldly and logically. Apply the principles of assetical theology to it and you’ll see that it describes a life of faith that is beyond anything that any of us can can do on our own and that it’s God at work and Mother is a willing victim.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

What is the “Dark Night of the Senses?” I have heard of the dark night of the soul, but not the senses. What does it mean?

 

[Jan_W]

A friend of mine was a good friend of Mother Teresa; she told me years ago, before it was generally known, that Mother Teresa struggled for many many years with darkness - perhaps as much as forty years - but a month before her death ‘It all came back!!!’’ Those were her words, they had the ring of truth and still do.

I send this small item because it is almost first-hand.

 

[sasy]

Here are a few examples of what she wrote:

• “Where is my Faith — even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness — My God — how painful is this unknown pain — I have no Faith — I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart — & make me suffer untold agony.”
• “So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them — because of the blasphemy — If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?”
• “I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.”
• “What do I labor for?” she asked in one letter. “If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”

I want to get the book “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta”…

Yes, she had written this, but in the same letters she completely surrended her self to God. Although she didn’t felt God’s presence, God was in her heart. He came to use her hands, legs, minds and heart to love the least of our brethren - the poorest of the poor. She realy became a pencil in His glorious hands.

 

[JReducation]

Yes, she had written this, but in the same letters she completely surrended her self to God. Although she didn’t felt God’s presence, God was in her heart. He came to use her hands, legs, minds and heart to love the least of our brethren - the poorest of the poor. She realy became a pencil in His glorious hands.

Mother and Bl. John Paul II are probably the last spiritual masters of the 20th century. Mother experienced a darkness of the senses and of the soul. In the Dark Night of the Soul, the person feels alone, but knowledge takes over. Mother operated on what she knew, not on how she felt.

Her prayer is actually a prayer of transprency, which is the same prayer as that of Mary. When we hear Mary’s dialogue with the angel, we are witnessing prayer. The entire Incarnation or the Visitation of the Angel is a prayer event in prayer’s life. She is pulled into the mystery of God and engages in a dialogue with God, through Gabriel. However, if we observe closely, Mary does not hide her question and her lack of understanding. On the contrary, when she asks, “How is this to be, since I do not known man,” she is presenting herself to God as she is. She is being transparent. We see her do this again in the Canticle that the Lucan writers claim she said to Elizabeth. We don’t know eactly how that went down and it does not matter. We do know that in the Canticle Mary is very transparent. She speaks about her soul, her poverty, her lowliness, her people and the wonders of God.

Mother’s prayers are in the same model. They are who she is. She is not lacking in faith, though she may think so. In fact, she is higher in faith than most of us, because she is confident that she can present herself to God as barren as she feels. Most of us are afraid of feeling barren and even more afraid of admitting it to ourselves. Therefore, we cannot come to God as we are, because that would require honesty, which is the same as humility.

Additionally, Mother’s senses don’t allow her to feel God through the tangible, the world around her. She circumnavigates by using her mind. She knows that Christ is in the poor and that he wants to go to the poor. She knows that the human smile is a sign of the Divine smile and of God’s delight in his creation. She was a profound student of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi knew that all things and people point to God, even evil in the end serves God’s purpose. Sin provides an opportunity for mercy and forgiveness. He looked for those shadows of God’s presence in the world around him and the people in his life. Mother learned this little spiritual “trick”. Even though she does not feel with her senses and emotions, she knows. What she knows is what drives her.

At the end of her life, God restores the calm and the consolation about a month before she dies. She told us this herself before her death. She did not know that she was going to die in September 1997. She knew that she could suddenly rest. The presence of God was not only something that she knew, but it was something that she felt in her emotions and more importantly, her soul felt united to him. Like St. Paul and St. Francis, she had run the race and she had won. It was time to go home.

The lesson to be learned from her life is to remember what we know about God and about ourselves, even when our feelings and our senses tell us something else.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF