The sick always had a special place in Mother Teresa’s heart. Every human being experiences sickness to some degree at one time or another, and when someone is sick they are most vulnerable and in need. One’s own limitations and weakness are highlighted, and dependence on others becomes more pronounced. When she encountered someone in this condition, Mother Teresa offered that person all the care and love she could. She spared herself no effort in order to help, at the same time striving to make no one feel that they were a burden or an annoyance.
In particular, the chronically ill and the dying were an object of her delicate care. In the numerous homes that she opened throughout the world, she insisted that the sick be given proper medical help, but also that they be surrounded with tender loving care. She urged her sisters to be very kind and wholehearted in “nursing the sick and dying not only of the body, but also of mind and spirit.” She sought to provide for the well-being of each person in her care, and to find a remedy for her patients’ diseases. At the beginning of her work for the poor, she was very much dedicated to the care of those suffering from leprosy (a disease usually contagious at the time), but later faced other equally challenging situations. For example, she was the first to open a hospice for AIDS patients in the United States. Even if it meant danger to herself, she did everything she could to help a sick person.
Mother Teresa’s profound compassion for the sick had its origins in her childhood, when she learned to look after the sick from the example of her mother, who occasionally brought a sick woman to their house to enable her to recover. Her two daughters were instructed to assist the woman and look after her children while the mother rested and recuperated.
Mother Teresa’s compassion for the sick also had its roots in the fact that she too was not spared from physical illnesses. Though she had good health until she developed a heart condition in her seventies, there were many apparently minor but trying sicknesses that she had to face. One of her doctors reveals a significant detail: “She also had chronic headaches,…which she always minimized, but the very fact that she had them all the time meant that they were real and probably unremitting….I’m sure she offered it up as a gift to God. One other interesting thing, she referred to her headaches as this ‘crown of thorns.’ It was her way of being one with Jesus.”1 As she did with other trials, so with this physical suffering she offered them to the Lord for the good of souls. She could affirm with Saint Paul, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24).
Knowing the value of suffering if taken in the right spirit, Mother Teresa taught others to appreciate and accept suffering in the same way. With her characteristic resourcefulness in making the best use of everything, including suffering, she created a movement of Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, who would offer their prayers and sufferings for the fruitfulness of the apostolate among the poor. “Love demands sacrifice….Suffering in itself is nothing; but suffering shared with Christ’s Passion is a wonderful gift,” she explained. “I am very happy that you are willing to join the suffering members of the Missionaries of Charity….Everyone and anyone who wishes to become a Missionary of Charity—a carrier of God’s love—is welcome, but I want especially the paralyzed, the crippled, the incurables to join, for I know they will bring to the feet of Jesus many souls.”
This markedly different understanding of suffering is an alternative to the mind-set of the dominant secular culture of the West, which proposes death under many forms as a way to avoid suffering. By her tender and compassionate love for the sick and by her acceptance of unavoidable suffering while elevating it to a spiritual level, Mother Teresa upholds the importance, value, and dignity of each human life—unborn, newborn, young, old, sick, disabled—and the need to respect and protect it.
Though our first reaction might be to ignore and pass by those “wounded on the road,” as did the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:33–34), Mother Teresa’s example challenges us to be “filled with compassion” and “come near” those needing “a heart to love and hands to serve”2 them in their need.
HER WORDS
I Was Sick and You Visited Me
Your work with the sick is a beautiful means to help satiate their thirst for Jesus and His love. I think this is our Blessed Mother’s most beautiful gift to you.3
Jesus Had Become Like a Leper
We know what happened to Our Lady—the wonderful compassionate Mother full of love. She was not ashamed to claim Jesus as her Son. Everybody left Him, she was alone with Him. She was not ashamed that Jesus was scourged, was spat upon, that He had become like a leper, unwanted, unloved, hated by all, that He was her Son, Jesus. There too that deep compassion of her heart. Do we stand by our own people when they suffer? When they are humiliated? When the husband loses his job? What am I to him then? Am I full of compassion to him? Do I understand his pain? And [when] the children are led away and misled—do I have that deep compassion to search for them, to find them, to stand by them, to welcome them home, to love them with a deep loving heart? Am I like Mary to my sisters in my community? Do I recognize their pain, their suffering? If I’m a priest, the priest has the heart of Mary, that compassion to be the forgiveness, to bring that forgiveness of God to the suffering sinner in front of him, that deep compassion of Mary. She was not ashamed. She claimed Jesus as her own Son.4
At the Crucifixion, we see her standing—the Mother of God standing. What tremendous faith she must have had because of her living love for her Son—to stand there, see Him disowned by everybody, unloved by everybody, unwanted by everybody, one of the worst, and she stood. And she owned Him as her Son. She owned Him as one who belonged to her and to whom she belonged. She was not afraid to own Him. Do we own our people when they suffer, when they are thrown out, our people, our own people, our own family, do we know them, [do we know] that they suffer? Do we recognize their hunger for Jesus? This is the hunger of understanding love. This is why Our Lady is so great, because she had an understanding love and you and I, being women, we have that tremendous thing in us, that understanding love. I see that so beautifully in our people, in our poor women who day after day and every day meet suffering, accept suffering for the sake of their children. I have seen a parent—mother—going without so many things, so many things, even begging so that the child may have. I have seen a parent holding to the handicapped child because that child is her child, she had an understanding love for the suffering of her child.5
Jesus Brings Joy and Peace
When I see what God is doing with our sisters in the world…When [we were in Russia], one evening each week a priest came. We had Holy Mass in our little chapel, and he gave us Jesus. It changed the whole atmosphere of the hospital; the whole place looked quite different. After a week, the doctor came to me and said, “Mother Teresa, what’s happening in my hospital?” I said, “I don’t know, Doctor. What is happening?” He said, “Something is happening. The nurses and the doctors are much more kind, much more loving with their patients. The patients aren’t screaming with pain the way they were before. What’s happening? What are the sisters doing?” I looked at him and said, “Doctor, you know what is happening. After seventy years, Jesus came to this hospital. Jesus is in this place now. There, in that little chapel, He is living, He is loving. He has brought this joy and peace.”…He said, “Oh!” and he didn’t say one more word; he just walked away. He did not want to discuss such a great change! He couldn’t believe that great change came with us and the Blessed Sacrament!6
So Many Just Long for a Visit
“I was sick and you visited Me” were the words of Jesus. So many of our poor just long for a visit from someone. When you talk to them, put all your love and sweetness into your words—or rather ask Jesus to speak through you. [The proof] that Christ was divine, that He was the expected Messiah, [is] that the Gospel is preached to the poor—the proof that this work is God’s work is that the Gospel is preached to the poor. Pray and thank God for having chosen you to live this life and do this work.7
So Small That We Have No Time for Them
Yesterday, I was talking to our sisters in the place where they are. They visit a place where they have all these old people, people who have no one, people who are wanted by no one. They are just there. And they look forward and they count the time when Sunday will come, that the sisters may come and do simple things for them. Maybe just smile at them, maybe just straighten the sheet a little bit, maybe just lift them up a little bit, brush their hair, cut their nails, small things, so small that we have no time for them and yet these people, these are our people, our brothers and sisters.8
In India, for example, we have more and more Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists getting involved in the work. And what for? Why are they coming? Because they feel that presence. They want to serve God in their own way, and they’ve found that by sacrifice, by prayer, they can do that and they come with the poorest of the poor. For India especially, to touch lepers, to touch the dying is something very, very, very difficult. And yet [we] see these young people coming there and doing what they are doing—because in our Society we have only those humble works—just feeding Him in the hungry, clothing Him in the naked, giving Him a home in the homeless, taking care of Him in the sick, in the imprisoned.9
We are taking care of 53,000 lepers, and we have the best of medicine, very expensive, and we can cure the people. We can make the highly positive case [of leprosy] into a negative case [without leprosy] with this expensive medicine. So, where there is medicine, there is hope. We can bring back life and love and joy into the lives of our lepers. Everywhere the government has given us land. There is new life in their lives. But it is so different when it is that loneliness, that being unwanted, unloved.10
In our Nirmal Hriday and Shishu Bhavan, I want you to have morning and evening prayer. Begin the leprosy and medical work with a prayer and put in a little more gentleness, a little more compassion with the sick. It will help you to remember that you are touching the Body of Christ. He is hungry for that touch. Will you not give it?11
Cling to the humble works of the Society for the poorest of the poor. Our “homes” must be kept clean and tidy, but simple and humble. Our poor, sick, and dying patients must be given tender care; the old, disabled, or mentally sick inmates must be treated with dignity and respect, always keeping in mind Jesus’s words: “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to Me.”12
When serving the sick Christ in the poor, let us give wholehearted service—let us pay great attention to each sick person, and let no other preoccupation or occupation prevent us from touching and serving the Body of Christ.13
Some sisters are being driven by the moving forces of development and are slowly bypassing the sick, the dying, the crippled, the lepers, the unwanted. They will soon not have time or place for such as these. Our consecration to God is to the poorest of the poor—the unwanted.14
I Need Souls Like Yours
Suffering by itself is nothing, but suffering shared with Christ’s Passion is a wonderful gift to human life. It is the most beautiful gift that we can share in the Passion of Christ.
I hope you are better—very often I think of you and I unite the work with your sufferings—and so I have you close to me. Today I am going to tell you something which I am sure will make you very happy. You have been longing and are still deep in your heart a Missionary. Why not become spiritually bound to our Society—which you love so dearly? While we work in the slums, etc., you share in the merit, the prayers, and the work with your suffering and prayers. The work is tremendous and I need workers, it is true, but I need souls like yours to pray and suffer for the work. Would you like to become my spiritual sister and become a Missionary of Charity in Belgium, not in body, but in soul—in India, in the world, where there are souls longing for Our Lord, but for want of someone to pay the debt for them, they cannot move toward Him? You be a true Missionary of Charity and you pay their debt, while the sisters—your sisters—help them to come to God in body. You pray over this and let me know what is your desire. I need many people like you, who would join the Society like this; for I want to have (1) a glorious Society in heaven, (2) the Suffering Society—on earth—the spiritual children, and (3) the Militant Society—the sisters on the battlefield. I am sure you would be very happy to see the sisters fighting the devil in the field of souls. They count nothing as too hard when there is a question of souls….
How are you? Are you still on your back? How long will you have to be like that? How Our Lord must love you to give you so much a part in His suffering. You are the happy one. For you are His chosen one. Be brave and cheerful and offer much for me—that I may bring many souls to God. Once you come in touch with souls, the thirst grows daily.15
I am very happy that you are willing to join the suffering members of the Missionaries of Charity—you see what I mean—you and the others who will join will share in all our prayers, works, and whatever we do for souls, and you do the same for us with your prayers and sufferings. You see the aim of our Society is to satiate the thirst of Jesus on the Cross for love of souls by working for the salvation and sanctification of the poor in the slums. Who could do this better than you and the others who suffer like you? Your suffering and prayers will be the chalice in which we, the working members, will pour the love of souls we gather round. Therefore, you are just as important and necessary for the fulfillment of our aim. To satiate this thirst, we must have a chalice and you and the others—men, women, children, old and young, poor and rich—are all welcome to make the chalice. In reality you can do much more, while on your bed of pain, than I running on my feet, but you and I together can do all things in Him who strengthens us.16
We could get a few prayers we say, for you to say them also, so as to increase the family spirit, but one thing we must have in common—the spirit of our Society: total surrender to God, loving trust, and perfect cheerfulness. By this you will be known as a Missionary of Charity. Everyone and anyone who wishes to become a Missionary of Charity, a carrier of God’s love, is welcome, but I want especially the paralyzed, the crippled, the incurables to join, for I know they will bring to the feet of Jesus many souls. In our turn, the sisters will each one have a sister who prays, suffers, thinks, unites to her, and so on—a second self. You see, my dear sister, our work is a most difficult one. If you are with us, praying and suffering for us and the work, we shall be able to do great things for love of Him—because of you.17
Personally I feel very happy, and a new strength has come in my soul at the thought of you and others joining the Society spiritually. Now with you and others doing the work with us, what would we not do? What can’t we do for Him?18
Prayer and Patience
I am glad to hear you are offering your prayers and sacrifices and the suffering of your illness for the Missionaries of Charity. Accept your illness as a gift of God’s special love for you. It is a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can draw you to Himself on the Cross. It is no longer you suffering, but Christ suffering in you. So continue to offer up your illness in prayer and patience and so make it fruitful for souls.19
HER EXAMPLE: THE TESTIMONIES
You Have a Chance to Carry the Dying Jesus
One day Mother came to visit the families of those who were sick in bed. Mother called a rickshaw and made me sit in it. With the help of a sister, Mother brought a very sick man of about forty-five years old. This man had tuberculosis, as he was coughing and vomiting blood. His clothes were so dirty; he must have been lying in the gutter. Mother told the rickshaw man where to go to the TB hospital. Mother was walking before us along with a sister. I can never, never in my life forget that incident and my terrible reaction to a man so sick, vomiting blood. Then Mother told me, “You have a chance to carry the dying Jesus. Take Him and care for Him. Don’t be frightened. I am arranging for his admission in the hospital.” I was struggling so much, thinking, “If my father or my relatives would meet me on the road, with a young man, sick and dying on my lap, what would be the result?”…I just said a prayer in my heart to Our Lady.
Right after this prayer, that dying man looked at me with such a painful gaze, with tears in his eyes. In one second a flash of light came in my heart, and in my eyes I saw, “It is Jesus who was taken into the arms of Mary from the Cross.” The words of Mother—“This is your chance to carry Jesus dying. Carry Him with love. Don’t let Him get hurt. Ask Our Lady to help you”—became such a reality to me; my initial repugnance turned into a supernatural love. This experience of Jesus in reality, present in the sick and dying, in such a disguise, will never leave me. The faith that was implanted in my soul, this reality of Jesus in such a distressing disguise, is something rooted by Mother within me from that day.20
We Go and Start the Work
So there was this global concern that she operated, and of course this was the simple way where she and her sisters would act. I would often say, “How do you know what to do? Let us say, there was a cyclone or a fire, how do you know what to do?” She would say, “We have plenty of practice, no? So we go and start the work. Everybody joins us. Everybody gives help and then the work gets done.” On one level she makes it sound very simple. At another level I think she came to realize that since she and her sisters stood for a kind of dispassionate goodness, it attracted the goodness of ordinary human beings—and we have all some goodness in us—to join the effort and the work would get done.21
Mother’s Request Was Not to Cut My Leg
Once I [an orphan boy, brought up by Mother Teresa] had an accident at school. I fell down from the roof of the school while I was flying a kite. My leg was broken. The school authority arranged my treatment at a hospital [in Calcutta] and informed Mother. As she got the news, she came to see me along with my sponsors. After one month of treatment at the hospital, she took me to another hospital as she was not satisfied with the treatment. [An orthopedic doctor] told Mother that my leg had to be amputated due to gangrene. Mother’s request was not to cut my leg but to try the best for me. Mother and my sponsor used to come to see me in the hospital. It was a miracle to me that after having three operations, it was fully cured, although it took time, nearly one and a half years in the hospital.22
Mother’s Generosity Surpassed Everyone Else’s
I remember once arriving in Tijuana with her and having a celebration. And she and everyone were tired. It was late and the sun was going down. Somebody just came in from the barrio [neighborhood] and said: “Mother, there is somebody in the hospital and they need a priest.” Mother said, “Father, let’s go.” I must confess I was tired. We had just landed, and I began to make excuses which were reasonable, but not generous: “Mother, when you come into a diocese, you can’t just go in. You have to get permission and things like that.” And Mother cut me off. “Oh, sure,” she said, “we’ll get permission,” and we got into the car. We went over to this hospital and to the parish next door. She went into the parish and met the parish priest. “Father, could we visit someone in the hospital.” He said, “Fine” and she visited this person whom she did not know. That person was beyond her immediate responsibility.23
The Biggest Job That She Had in the World
If one would go to Kalighat [a hospice in Calcutta] and see the dying man on one of the beds, with the big hole that maggots have dug into his body, and you see the maggots moving around inside him, the average person couldn’t even go close. But for Mother Teresa, one of her fondest memories was when she talked about how the work began. She would never cease to tell people how she sat with this man, with his head on her lap, and pulled out maggots from his body totally oblivious to the stink, the smell, where for her the biggest job that she had in the world was to take those maggots out of his body, knowing fully well that taking those maggots out of that body was not going to stop this man from dying. The natural human thing would be, well, he is going to die, so let us forget about it. We just clean him up and cover him up, and we can give him a dignified burial; but no, she sat there, did something for hours, taking out those maggots. When I used to hear those stories, it didn’t mean as much as when I actually went to Kalighat and saw a situation similar to that. Seeing maggots moving inside a person, your whole being, your hair stands up. You don’t want to be around. You are afraid. Everything in you says, “Don’t be here.” And yet hour upon hour, she would be doing that because she saw in him Jesus, and she wanted to love Jesus in him.24
He Needs Help
I remember one day walking out of Mother House with Mother. We were going to an event where she was being given a water tanker for water for some of the areas. As we walked out of Mother House, lying right in the little alley was a man in a very critical condition. You could see he really needed attention. She immediately forgot about the fact that she was going to this function where she was going to be the chief guest, to be honored and given the tanker. She knelt right down beside him, picked him up, and said, “We need to look after him. He needs help. He needs to be taken to the hospital.” And her whole attention was on him. Her whole position, her not being on time, not being there to receive the water tanker, totally disappeared, because for her, her neighbor who was lying on the street needed her attention. We finally convinced her to go, that we would look after him, we would get him to the hospital. Very reluctantly she left, and kept looking back to see if we would fulfill what we had promised to do. Because for her, that was more important than that she go for the water tanker.25
Even the Police Were Really Frightened of Him
We have a home for the AIDS patients in New York, and Mother used to go and visit these people….There was a man brought there. His name was D. He was a criminal, and even the police were really frightened of him. He was converted from his ways, and he loved Mother so much. He was very sick, and we took him to the hospital. Those days Mother came to visit. This man sent word that he wanted to see his friend, that is, Mother. So Mother went to see him. Then this man said, “I want to see you alone.” So we all went out and he was alone with Mother. Then he said, “You know, Mother, I have terrible pain in my head; I unite it with the crown of thorns of Jesus. I have terrible pain in my hand. I unite it with the wounded hands of Jesus. I have terrible pain in my leg. I unite it with the wounded feet of Jesus.” For every part of his body, he was expressing how he was uniting it with the pain of Jesus. Then he said to Mother, “Mother, I have one desire.” And Mother said, “What?” He said, “Take me to the home of the sisters. I want to die there.” And Mother brought him home. And Mother told us, as soon as she came, “I went to the chapel and looked at Jesus, and the man was there for a few minutes. He was speaking to Jesus on the Cross.” And afterward Mother told us with a big smile, “You know, I told Jesus, ‘See, Jesus, this D., he loves You so much.’ ” So I tell this story, how these people who had been far away from God had come very, very close to God because of Mother’s love for Jesus, which Mother put into living action by sharing this love with the people.26
Mother Rushed to Help Him
In 1969 I was traveling with Mother. We were at the train station in Bangalore, walking along the platform to our train. Mother was on my right and the train tracks were on my left. As we walked I was speaking to Mother, leaning toward her so she could hear me in the noise around us. Periodically I would look down, watching our steps as we walked among the baggage lying around. Once I turned back to Mother, but she had disappeared. I began to look around, but I couldn’t see her. There was a crowd gathering at the edge of the platform near the track. Suddenly Mother appeared in the middle of the crowd. I rushed over to her. A one-legged beggar with a crutch had been crossing the train tracks. An electric train was coming down that track rapidly, and the beggar would not have made it safely across. Mother saw him and rushed to help him. Leaning down, she had given him her hand and was trying to pull him up, but Mother was being pulled down. People on the platform saw what was happening and rushed to help, pulling them both to safety up on the platform. I was amazed that Mother had seen that beggar through the crowd, while talking to me and picking her way through the baggage. I think her gift of self was so complete, her charity so deep, that she was a magnet of love that attracted the chance to serve God in others.27
I Will Never Forget This Tender Love
I personally have a beautiful experience of Mother’s tender love and care for me when I was suffering from very bad asthma….I went to Mother for a special blessing and asked her to pray for me. Mother looked at me with so much love and told me to come to her for nine days daily with Lourdes water and a spoon. Mother would put her hands on me and we prayed together one Memorare. Then she would make me drink one spoonful of Lourdes water. I will never forget this tender love of Mother toward me.28
Mother Went into Action
I introduced…a woman from my home diocese who was the mother of twelve children. Mother said to her, “Give me one to help serve the poor!” As the two of them were speaking about the children, a woman nearby fell over and went into an epileptic fit, which brought on convulsions. Mother quickly went into action and put her arms under the woman to have her stretch out on the ground. She sent her sisters for blankets and something warm for the woman to drink. Then Mother kneeling there began to pray. She invited me to join her, and she took a Miraculous Medal from her pocket and asked me to hold it on the woman’s forehead. We said the Hail Mary together. In but a few moments the woman calmed down, sat up, and smiled at both of us with a sense of peace. Mother looked at me with a smile and said, “See, Father, you always work miracles!”29
If Mother Teresa Came to Visit You…
I was a hospital chaplain then and arranged for Mother to visit some patients in the hospital. After she had spoken in St. Christopher’s Cathedral to the largest crowd ever in that church, she did visit three patients. One man was to have a heart transplant and said he didn’t know if he could bring himself to make peace with God. I had visited him several times and in the end I said, “Look, if Mother Teresa came to visit you, would that be enough for you to come back to God?” He said, “That would never happen.” Well, when Mother came and visited him, he sat up in bed, took the medal from Mother, who said a simple prayer, and afterward he made his confession. He went on to have his transplant and survived for some years.30
A Coming of Jesus Himself
I had open-heart surgery in a hospital, in Calcutta. On the third day after the operation, I had just been brought back from the intensive care, when suddenly from my bed I heard a nurse calling out: “Mother Teresa is coming….Mother Teresa is here!” And there was at once running outside in the corridor. I remember wondering, “Why does Mother come here?” But a moment later she was there by my side, bending over me!…I was overwhelmed, so much so that I could hardly answer her….I was possessed by an intense feeling that her coming was in some way a coming of Jesus Himself, a sign of His personal love!…One thing struck me at that time, in a few moments in a room filled with people: the director of the Heart Center was there, the chief surgeon, who had operated on me, had come running from the operation theater in his surgical gown and many other doctors, nurses, and even patients. They were all looking at Mother and smiling affectionately, reverently. One felt how happy they were to have her among them! A small incident? Yes, but wherever Mother went, the same thing happened, the same outburst of spontaneous reverence and love. People longed to see her, to speak to her, to be blessed by her. I myself have seen it on quite a few occasions.31
Nothing Could Be Done for Him
On another day, there was a young man, recently wed, who was totally paralyzed because of an accident in the mine. Nothing could be done for him. The family, in desperation, brought the man on the bed to be placed in front of the altar during Mass. Mother became immediately concerned about him and asked me to bless him. Mother then arranged for the sisters to get him medical attention in Tirana [Albania]. This is one more example of Mother’s concern that made sure something concrete be done to help someone in need. When she or her own sisters could not actually do the needful, she would try to get others to do what they could do.32
The Joy of My Life
In August 1979, we walked with our Mother in the poor areas of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Mother saw how the sick and dying people were just left there to die. I saw how rats were eating their flesh. One poor man had diarrhea and was put near the drain outside. After seeing this, Mother said Haiti is poorer than Calcutta. Mother decided to open a house. There were two rooms with cemented floors and a roof. Mother herself was cleaning hard and painting the house….There was no water, no electricity, no transport. But God’s Providence was there: the CRS [Catholic Relief Services] director came to see Mother. Mother told him, “Please, I need a car for the transport of the sick and dying people.” It worked out at once and by the 5th of August, seventy sick and dying people were brought to our house from the General Hospital of Port-au-Prince….
But something happened; the local people were unhappy to see all the sick people arriving, and so they dug a ditch in front of our gate so that no car was able to enter. In the midst of this problem, our Mother arrived. Mother did not say a single word. Mother joined her hands and her silent prayer worked wonders: the same people filled the ditch again and there was peace; the house could be opened. At the end of the official opening, Mother recited Gandhi’s words: “He who serves the poor, serves God.” Mother continued, “I spent hours and hours serving the poor, the sick, and the dying, the unloved, the unwanted, the lepers, the mentally handicapped because I love God and I believe His word: ‘You did it to Me.’ This is the only reason and the joy of my life, to love and serve Him in the distressing disguises of the poor, the homeless, the unwanted, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and naturally, in doing it, I proclaim His love and compassion for each one of my suffering brothers and sisters.”33
The First to See and to Get Up
The shrine is a huge church and it was packed with people. So many people, of course, were attending in order to see Mother. A lot of sisters were there from other houses, also all of the people from our home for the elderly and sick, and those with AIDS. It was Communion time and José, one of the men from our home, who is unsteady on his feet, got up and was going for Communion. José fell and hit his head on the marble steps and it was bleeding. Though there were many people there, it was Mother who immediately got up and went right to José (who is at least twice Mother’s size) and walked with him, took him over to one of the side altars in the church. Mother was rubbing his face and head and wouldn’t leave him. It struck me so much that it was Mother who was the first to see what had happened and to get up, and she insisted on staying with him until the ambulance came—even though the ceremony was going on. She never sees herself as being important—she completely forgot herself…the handmaid of the Lord, ever ready to go in haste to serve Jesus in the poor.34
I Felt Someone Standing Close to Me
One late night I was suddenly awakened by a severe toothache. I was on the fourth floor right at the last bed, sitting pressing my face with my hand. All the others were fast asleep. I didn’t know whom to wake up at midnight, so I sat in that huge dormitory of sleeping sisters waiting anxiously for the morning, pressing my tooth to soothe the pain. All of a sudden I felt someone standing close to me, her hand on my shoulder. She inquired what had happened to me. I looked up. It was Mother. I told her what had happened. She said, “I don’t have medicine, but I’ll get you a glass of water,” and she disappeared. I remained sitting. I didn’t even realize that Mother would have to go up and down four floors. Anyway, she came with the glass of water and before giving it to me she said, “Let’s say three Hail Marys.” So we both said the prayers. I drank the water. Mother tucked me in bed, blessed me, and said, “Sleep, now you will be all right.” And sure enough, I went into deep sleep, and the pain disappeared and never appeared again for months.35
Mother Rushed to the Gas-Stricken City
Just after the gas leak disaster in the year 1984 that had taken a heavy toll of lives in Bhopal, Mother rushed to the stricken city with a planeload of [supplies] along with doctors and the Missionaries of Charity. It was a time when even the staunch champions of humanity were waiting for someone to come to the rescue. Immediately after her arrival, Mother Teresa and the sisters got themselves busy with the rescue operations. Her appearance in Bhopal and the initiative taken by her [prompted] others to join her brigade to take up the uphill task of extending help to people affected by the gas leak. Mother along with the sisters knocked on each and every door of the affected localities where even the government officials were scared to reach. The relentless job done by Mother’s brigade was a real miracle that inspired people to join the task. During Operation Faith, when the people were sitting behind the closed doors fearing anything awful happening to them, Mother was out in the roads distributing supplies to the affected people and filling them with the courage to fight the aftermath conditions.36
With So Much Love and Care
I was on leave on that day when I heard from my house surgeon that Mother was anxiously waiting for me for the treatment of [an MC sister who had met with an accident]. I immediately rushed into the hospital and, coming to the bedside of the sister, found Mother wiping up the blood coming out from the sister’s mouth, who was pulseless, bleeding profusely, and almost gasping. Mother very painfully looked at me and said, “Are you Dr. X? I am waiting for you. Please save the life of my child. I will pray for you.” I was spellbound to see Mother, who with her motherly appearance was praying for her sister’s life. I felt an amazing power and inexpressible sensation, which aroused a strong determination in my mind to save the sister. Already every effort was made by starting intravenous fluid, and several bottles of blood were given, and a group of doctors helped me. Mother was very anxiously and eagerly watching the sister’s face….Gradually the pulse was palpable and the respiration became to some extent quiet. We became a bit hopeful, and Mother was also relieved of her anxiety.
The next day, the sister could speak and was more or less stable, and Mother was greatly consoled, and her face became bright and cheerful. She gripped my hands in gratitude and said, “Doctor, please try to hasten Sister’s recovery by all means, because she has to take her vows within two months.”…The sister had two major operations on her jaws (mandibles) and forearm bones. Within a short time, she was out of danger, and Mother asked me to release her from the hospital as she did not feel it desirable and justified to keep that bed occupied in a busy hospital where many poor moribund patients might be refused admission….She took the vows on the scheduled date in St. Mary’s Church, and I was present at that ceremony.37
Like a Mother Feeding Her Own Child
Mother was very happy to go to Kalighat whenever she got a chance. Mother used to sit and talk to the patients, feed the very sick ones, sometimes with her own hands, like a mother feeding her own child, with so much love and care.38
Mother Held My Hand
As an aspirant, my apostolate was in Nirmal Hriday (Kalighat). The first few days, I was so afraid to touch the old people. One man had a very big wound on his leg and it was full of maggots. I was so afraid. Then Mother passed that way. She saw me standing with the dressing tray and struggling without knowing what to do, and she knew I was afraid….She held my hand, took the tray from my hand, and she started to clean the wound, and took out all the worms. Then she put the forceps in my hand and she held my hands and made me clean the wound. I did a little, and then Mother continued and finished the dressing by herself. With that my fears disappeared. Then Mother ran and got a cup of hot milk for the patient and made me pour that milk into his mouth little by little, and Mother stood close by watching me and smiled. Then we moved on to another patient, and Mother herself did for each patient whatever was necessary….From that day onward I had no fear. Mother remained at my side that whole morning teaching me.39
Her Joy in Doing All the Dirty Work
I was waiting for Mother to do the dressing, but she did not come, so I went to search for her. Then I saw Mother cleaning the [toilet]. I wanted to help, but she told me, “You do the work inside. Mother will do this.” Still I wanted to help Mother, so I took a broom and went to help her. By the time I [returned], she had already cleaned the toilet and was rubbing the drain. Then she emptied the dustbins into a trolley. Mother herself pushed it and took it across the road. She allowed me to hold one side and threw the dirt in the common dustbin outside. Seeing Mother’s tender love for the inmates and the dying people, and the joy with which she did all the dirty work (cleaning toilets, washing the bedpans, urinals, the container where the patients used to spit, etc.), which she never allowed anybody else to do, was a big inspiration for me.40
Deep Interest in the Person
Mother always manifested love for her fellow human beings by deep interest in a person. If she went to Kalighat, she would go down on her knees, sit beside that patient; she would pat the patient and ask what he or she needed. If that person asked for a rasgulla [a typical Bengali dessert] or something, she would see that the person got it. She would go from bed to bed, touching each one of them, smiling, talking.41
Where Is My Friend?
During my postulancy in Prem Dan, I was working in the female ward. Whenever Mother came, she used to visit all the patients first, then the sisters. Whenever Mother came, she used to ask, “Where is my friend?” It was…a deaf and dumb lady, found near the jungle, and Mother had picked her up and brought her to Dum Dum first, and from there [she] came to Prem Dan. And [she] was very happy when Mother came. Mother used to go to each patient. Mother was so holy, she cared for each one. Mother’s great love touched me. I saw for the first time in my life someone so loving, to each patient, each child, each sister, etc.42
I Accept This Gift for the Poor
From the beginning, Mother had the art of begging for the poor. She would pass the word around to those who wished to help her. In this way, she collected books, pencils, clothing, medicines, etc. When she went directly to beg for medicines, she succeeded at times but she also had refusals. I remember an occasion when she took me with her to a doctor in one of the big buildings. She was looking for medicines and help for a little girl, Marcella, who had bone tuberculosis. The doctor was aggressive in his refusal to help. Then Mother got up, joined her hands, smiled, and said graciously, “Thank you.” She took the doctor completely by surprise and as she reached the door a message came for her to return to his chamber. The doctor said to Mother, “I gave you nothing and still you said ‘thank you.’ What if I gave you this?” He handed her what she required. Mother said, “What you did not give the first time was for me, now I accept this gift for the poor.” You could see the doctor had never experienced anything like this before.43
Carrying the Cross of Christ
When they finally X-rayed my back properly, it became apparent that my spine was badly damaged….I passed the news on to Mother Teresa….I received a letter from her asking me to offer everything for her and the work and to find others to do the same….For me, suffering in itself was nothing. I was a failure and my suffering was…destructive. But suffering shared with the Passion of Christ has become a precious gift. The very center of my life is Jesus Christ, and I know that, through his Passion and the Cross, comes a message of supreme hope: our redemption through the resurrection. When I seek an explanation for suffering, I look at my model Jesus Christ, and when I see him tread the way of Calvary, I know that I must simply follow in his footsteps. I try really to live what Mother Teresa tells us to do: to “accept what God gives and what He takes with a big smile.” When I’m in pain, when my back is aching, I really feel that I am carrying on my shoulders the Cross of Christ.44
Even After Her Death
Mother Teresa—faithful to her mission statement: “If I ever become a Saint, I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven, to light the light of those in darkness on earth”—continues her works of mercy even now. Many times patients reported to have seen her at their bedside. Here are two examples:
Thank You, Mother Teresa
Hi, my name is Miguel. I am thirty-four years old. I come from another religion, not Catholic. On June 23, I underwent a surgery on the spine. I entered the surgery room at 1:15 p.m., and I came out at 5:45 p.m. approximately. I woke up out of the general anesthesia about 7:00 p.m….I fell asleep and during my dream I felt that somebody came near my bed and touched my right leg. I opened my eyes and there was nobody. For the second time, hands were placed on the same leg. Again I opened my eyes and there was nothing. The third time, I felt only one hand. I opened my eyes and I saw a hand but only the left hand. I knew whose hand it was because of the border of the sari and her rosary; yes, it was the hand of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and I opened my eyes more. I could not believe what I was seeing. I could see her wrinkles, her rosary, a little stain bigger than the others, those stains which usually the old people have. I could also see the edge of the nail of the (fat) finger, and I felt how she touched my leg with the palm of her hand. A little bit later my doctor came and said, “I only came to tell you not to be frightened because you won’t be able to move your feet, so that you can be calm”; and I, moving my feet, told him, “No! Look, I am moving them,” and he was surprised and left. Next Saturday, the doctor came back and told me to try to stand up, and I told him: “I got up already last night to go to the bathroom,” and he was surprised again, and he told me, “But someone helped you.” I answered him, “No, I did it by myself,” and he congratulated me and went. He had planned to discharge me on Tuesday, June 27, and my doctor sent me home on Sunday the 25th. Thank you, Mother Teresa.
Yes, She Is the One!
We are from a very poor ranch [in Mexico]. In spite of our poverty and the fact that we do not have any money, we do not ignore the things about religion. We have a tricycle, and my daughter, Dolores, and I go to sell eggs filled with confetti and some sweets. We get enough money to eat tortillas with salt or chili, rarely for soup. On one occasion when we were reaching another ranch, a car hit my daughter and threw her to the ground. She was unconscious. I tried to help her to come back by striking her face, but nothing. Without knowing any prayer, I asked Mother Teresa that nothing may happen to her, that she may not get a blood clot. I prayed an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and ejaculations to [Mother Teresa]. My daughter regained consciousness eighty minutes after the accident. Later on, my daughter told me that she had seen a very loving, little old lady, and she said that she caressed her hair and gave her the blessing, her dress was white as snow, and smiling she disappeared. We did not know Mother Teresa [and have not even seen her in a photo], and we do not have even television. Afterward a young man (the one who helped us to write our testimony) gave us a picture of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and my daughter shouted with joy: “Yes, she is the one!”
REFLECTION
“I was sick and you visited Me.” (Mt 25:36)
“Be an angel of comfort to the sick.”45
“They are sick, [longing] for medical care, and for that gentle touch and a warm smile.”46
I will remember the feeling that I had when I was ill and will act with kindness and consideration toward the sick.
How can I alleviate the sufferings of someone who is sick? Can I get him or her the medicine needed? What small act of kindness can I do for someone who is ill: pay a visit, spend some time in conversation, do a small service, like throwing out the trash, reading a newspaper for a blind person, sending get-well wishes, and so forth? Even if I have to overcome my own feelings, how can I move forward to help the sick in their need? Small things done with great love can make a big difference in someone’s life.
If I am sick, what can I do to live in a way that my present weakness and limitations do not affect negatively my relationship with others?
How can I help a sick person to see the value that their suffering can have if it is united with Christ’s and offered for some good intention? Can I facilitate the sacrament of the anointing of the sick for those I know?
PRAYER
Dear Lord, the Great Healer, I kneel before you, since every perfect gift must come from You. I pray, give skill to my hands, clear vision to my mind, kindness and meekness to my heart.
Give me singleness of purpose, strength to lift up a part of the burden of my suffering fellow men, and a true realization of the privilege that is mine.
Take from my heart all guile and worldliness, that with the simple faith of a child, I may rely on You.
Amen.
—A Physician’s Prayer, anonymous, prayed daily by Mother Teresa