The Message
Lesson Thirteen — The Spirituality of St. Therese, St. Faustina, and Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa believed that it is not how much we do or how great our accomplishments are, but rather how much love we put into the doing of them. She said that we should do all things with great love. Saint Therese said that the Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions or even at their difficulty, but at the degree of love with which we do them. Saint Faustina wrote, "Great love can change small things into great ones, and it is only love which lends value to our actions" (Diary, 303).
Saint Therese's ideal was simple. She wanted to be a saint. She wrote, "Love proves itself by deeds, and how shall I prove mine? The little child will scatter flowers whose fragrant perfume will surround the royal throne, and in a voice that is silver-toned, she will sing the canticle of love" (Diary of A Soul, page 202). She wrote about the "Little Way," that is, that the little things done out of love of God are what is important. This concept dramatized the truth that great love, not great deeds, is the essence of sanctity. She wrote in her memoirs that we should not be afraid of God even though we sin. We should rise to our feet and continue our advance to God.
Having advanced and undiagnosed tuberculosis, St. Faustina suffered much throughout her life. She wrote on Sept. 24, 1936, "Mother Superior ordered me to say one decade of the Rosary in place of all the other exercises, and to go to bed at once. As soon as I lay down I fell asleep, for I was very tired. But a while later, I was awakened by suffering. It was such a great suffering that it prevented me from making even the slightest movement; I could not even swallow my saliva. This lasted for about three hours. I thought of waking up the novice sister who shared my room, but then I thought, 'She cannot give me any help, so let her sleep. It would be a pity to wake her.' I resigned myself completely to the will of God and thought that the day of my death, so much desired, had come. It was an occasion for me to unite myself with Jesus, suffering on the Cross. Beyond that, I was unable to pray. When the suffering ceased, I began to perspire. But I still could not move, as the pain would return at each attempt. In the morning, I felt very tired, though I felt no further physical pain. Still, I could not get up to attend Mass. I thought to myself, if after such suffering death does not come, then how great the sufferings of death must be!" (Diary, 696).
Another form of suffering a holy person experiences is the so-called "dark night of the soul." Saint John of the Cross coined the term, and it refers to the journey a soul experiences as it gets closer to God. Like St. Faustina, Mother Teresa, went through her own periods of spiritual dryness. For two people so close to God, it was a most difficult and trying form of suffering. It is but a taste of what Christ experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is hard for us to imagine how people so close to God could go through such interior trials, even at times questioning the existence of God. Letters between Mother Teresa and her spiritual director and various confessors are detailed in Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday, 2007). Her letters detail periods of fear and doubts and alienation from God. It can give one great hope that holy saints like Faustina and Mother Teresa had doubts, emptiness, and darkness.
Saint Therese realized that her life was nothing but a sweet song in the midst of trials. She realized that to become a saint one must suffer a great deal, always seek what is best, and forget oneself.
She also understood the goodness of God. She knew that we cannot be afraid of God even though we sin. Saint Therese did not minimize the gravity of sin but insisted that we must not be crushed by it. She also realized that God, in His great mercy, will come out to meet us. We can see this in the story of the Prodigal Son as the son was returning home: "While he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (Lk 15:20).
Like Mother Teresa, St. Faustina loved Jesus in the Eucharist. As we have seen, she added to her religious name, "of the Most Blessed Sacrament," because of this love. She knew that living the mercy of God was paramount in her life, and doing all things out of love of God was what mattered. Saint Therese of the Little Flower never traveled to distant lands, yet is the Patroness of all Missionaries. Saint Faustina, like St. Therese, stayed put in Poland, yet this uneducated nun is known the world over as the "Great Apostle of Divine Mercy."
It is important to note that Eucharistic Apostles and all the faithful worldwide received a personally signed special Apostolic Blessing from the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on the Feast of the Incarnation, March 23, 2003.
Let us close by reflecting on the words of our Lord to Saint Faustina:
My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy ... Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity" (Diary, 699).
Questions for Discussion:
The spiritualities of Blessed Mother Teresa, St. Therese, and St. Faustina are interrelated and similar. All loved the Eucharist, had a longing to save souls, and performed deeds of mercy out of love of God. They suffered much and kept their focus on God as they traversed life through this valley of tears. They are excellent contemporary role models for all of us.
1. Discuss Divine Mercy as a Way of Life and the Little Way of St. Therese.
2. Compare the Eucharistic love of St. Faustina and Mother Teresa.
3. Discuss the physical and emotional suffering of St. Faustina and St. Therese, and also the pro-life attitude of Mother Teresa in this context.