Zenit, the Vatican's news service, had its own little article on Mother Teresa and her dark night of the soul. They had more quotes from her.
The writer of the Times article must not have read much about/by Catholic saints, because this is a common spiritual phenomenon. Therese (of Liseaux) Martin writes of it in her Autobiography of a Soul. John of the Cross coined the phrase, "Dark Night of the Soul," and his autobiography speaks of it. Teresa of Avila speaks of it.
Partly it may be that we don't always hear when/how God is speaking. I went on a retreat recently on reclaiming your passion. The nun leading it made a bunch of us realize that we had all had mystical experiences, whether we had known/labeled them as such or not. She went through the various signs, such as being overcome by tears and a sense of awe.
Teresa of Calcutta was a tough cookie and not everyone's cup of tea -- I've met one of her ex-nuns from India and she said she was tough. But that's part of being the Body of Christ, I figure. (My apologies to non-Christians -- skip on by if you haven't already.) Some of us are loving hearts, some are helping hands, some are kind words, and some of us are those dog-gone fingernails that pick at things and irritate you!
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Date: 2007-08-28 11:11 pm (UTC)The writer of the Times article must not have read much about/by Catholic saints, because this is a common spiritual phenomenon. Therese (of Liseaux) Martin writes of it in her Autobiography of a Soul. John of the Cross coined the phrase, "Dark Night of the Soul," and his autobiography speaks of it. Teresa of Avila speaks of it.
Partly it may be that we don't always hear when/how God is speaking. I went on a retreat recently on reclaiming your passion. The nun leading it made a bunch of us realize that we had all had mystical experiences, whether we had known/labeled them as such or not. She went through the various signs, such as being overcome by tears and a sense of awe.
Teresa of Calcutta was a tough cookie and not everyone's cup of tea -- I've met one of her ex-nuns from India and she said she was tough. But that's part of being the Body of Christ, I figure. (My apologies to non-Christians -- skip on by if you haven't already.) Some of us are loving hearts, some are helping hands, some are kind words, and some of us are those dog-gone fingernails that pick at things and irritate you!