mother teresa, a saint for the darkness and doubting
I had heard, not too long after Mother Teresa died, that if she was a saint it would be a saint to the doubting. I wondered about that - and did some research and learned that Mother Teresa had not felt or sensed God’s presence since the late 40’s. This boggled my mind. Was it since she was surrounded by Christ’s presence in the poor, sick, and homeless? Was it to quell her pride? Was it a “sharing in the sufferings of Christ?”
Time Magazine has written a fairly extensive article on this “little known reality” in Mother Teresa. It is well worth the reading. The “dark night” and the purgation of senses is often a topic we avoid. Yet, this is a necessary and requisite journey all of us take (and some take for their whole lives).
I have not read this yet, waiting for my copy of Time. I find what I have heard to be very rewarding. I will post more after I read the article.
I like to say that Mother Teresa didn’t feel the presence of Christ all those years for a very simple reason… She WAS the presence of Christ. We should all pray, I think, for the same experience…
Good observation Peter!
I think that may be a part of it - although I think there were times Christ shared in the “one-ness” and sensed the Presence of the Father.
So I think there is a darkness that goes beyond “being the presence…” but what do I know - I have not even come close to understanding or experiencing even an iota of what the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta endured.