Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk, and published by Doubleday in 2007. It was not one of the books assigned for the ILM program but was something I read during the summer of 2009. For me it was a little intimidating to read a book about someone that I've admired for so long. Especially because she had asked that all of her letters and notes be destroyed at her death, partly because she didn't want them to be shared with those that might not understand. She didn't want people losing their way because of her personal trails of faith. It was also because she felt that her work should stand on its own. In fact she would argue that it wasn't her work but God's work that she was doing. Therefor God deserved all of the credit and she shouldn't even be mentioned. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Mother Teresa or her work; it was easy to read, and I found it very interesting.

The jacket says, "During her lifelong service to the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to the people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of the sick, dying, and thousands of others nobody else was prepared to look after have been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world. This collection of her writings and reflections, almost all of which have never been made public before, sheds light on Mother Teresa's interior life in a way that reveals the depth and intensity of her holiness for the first time.

This book brings together letters she wrote to her spiritual advisors over decades. A moving chronicle of her spiritual journey, including moments, indeed years, of utter desolation. These letters reveal the secrets she shared only with her closest confidants. She emerges as a classic mystic whose inner life burned with the fire of charity and whose heart was tested and purified by an intense trail of faith, true dark night of the soul.

This historic work reveals the inner spiritual life of one of the most beloved and important religious figures in history. Published to coincide with the tenth anniversary of her death, Mother Teresa is an intimate portrait of a woman whose life and work continue to be admired by millions of people."

Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C. Ph.D. was born in Winnipeg, Canada. He met Mother Teresa in 1977 and was associated with her until her death in 1997. He joined the Missionaries of Charity Fathers at the time of their foundation in 1984. Fr. Brian is postulator of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and director of the Mother Teresa Center.