Spend Every Day of the New Year in the Presence of Mary

Mother Teresa Shows You How In Powerful New Book

HUNTINGTON, In., Dec. 26, 2007 -- On January 1 the Church celebrates a solemn feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her unique title, “Mother of God.” Honoring Mary’s essential role in the story of the world’s redemption, and placing ourselves under her care and protection is an excellent way to begin the New Year. But better still would be living in the presence of Our Lady every day, year after year. That is how Mother Teresa of Calcutta lived, as her close friend and co-worker, Father Joseph Langford, tells us in his new book, Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady.

The recent publication of some of Mother Teresa’s private correspondence with her confessor in which she admits that she is deeply troubled by religious doubts has confused many of her admirers. Did Mother Teresa lose her faith? And if not, how did she persevere?

Father Langford’s answers are reassuring: Mother Teresa’s faith may have been sorely tested, but it was never shattered; and the source of her spiritual strength was her intimate relationship with Our Lady. This relationship went beyond religious devotion—it was a kind of mystical friendship such as other great saints have had the privilege of experiencing. As Father Langford puts it, “Our Lady—her mystery, her grace, her role—came to define Mother Teresa.”

Mother Teresa accomplished great things during her life, even during those periods when she suffered “the dark night of the soul,” because she had Mary as her friend and model. Our Lady’s faith, which gave her the strength to endure the sight of her Son dying on the cross, supported Mother Teresa through her own private Calvary.

Mary taught Mother Teresa to find God in everything. That was easy in moments of joy and great success such as the day Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize; it was more difficult in moments of tragedy and pain. “We may not be at that [spiritual] level,” Father Langford writes, “but we can begin to walk in that direction.”

To begin, Mother Teresa suggested doing three things: open your heart when you pray so you can speak freely to God and He can speak to you; at the end of each day list at least five blessings to remind yourself of the presence and goodness of God; and live as an “active contemplative,” one whose heart is in Heaven even while your are hands are busy with all the mundane tasks of making a living, caring for the family, and running a house. And always, everyday, follow the advice Mother Teresa once gave to Father Langford, “Stay very close to Our Lady. If you do this, you can do great thing for God and the good of people.”