Musings, Insights & Briefings

Mother Teresa's Final Letter

Mother Teresa of Calcutta died on September 5, 1997, and was highly regarded for her generosity and love of the "poorest of the poor". Her ministry was very difficult, and it was only through her deep love of Jesus that she was able to stay close to Him for many decades. When the Catholic Church canonized Mother Teresa in 2016, the Office of Readings for her feast chose her final letter written hours before her death.

Mother Teresa's Letter

This brings you Mother's love, prayer and blessing that each one of you may be only all for Jesus through Mary. I know that Mother says often - "Be only all for Jesus through Mary" - but that is because that is all Mother wants for you. If in your heart you are only all for Jesus through Mary, and if you do everything only all for Jesus through Mary, you will be a true Missionary of Charity. Thank you for all the loving wishes you sent for the Society Feast.

We have much to thank God for, especially that He has given us Our Lady’s spirit to be the spirit of our Society. Loving Trust and Total Surrender made Our Lady say “Yes” to the message of the angel, and Cheerfulness made her to run in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth. That is so much our life -- saying “Yes” to Jesus and running in haste to serve Him in the poorest of the poor.

Let us keep close to Our Lady and she will make that same spirit grow in each one of us. September 10 is coming very close. That is another beautiful chance for us to stand near Our Lady, to listen to the Thirst of Jesus and to answer with our whole heart. It is only with Our Lady that we can hear Jesus cry, “I Thirst,” and it is only with Our Lady that we can thank God properly for giving this great gift to our Society.

And now I have heard that Jesus is giving us one more gift. This year, one hundred years after she went home to Jesus, Holy Father is declaring Little Flower to be a Doctor of the Church. Can you imagine – for doing little things with great love the Church is making her a Doctor, like St. Augustine and the big St. Teresa of Avila! It is just like Jesus said in the Gospel to the one who was seated in the lowest place, “Friend, come up higher.”

Mother Teresa left us this touching letter that is now read each year during the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Shared from Aleteia with Catholic Vote

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Musings, Insights & Briefings

St. John of God

By Terrie Legein • March 12, 2025

St. John of God People thought this saint was going mad … Turns out, it was just the Holy Spirit. Meet John Ciudad. A man who would one day be a saint. However, on this day, he wasn’t a saint yet—not even close. The day we’re meeting him, St. Sebastian’s Day, January 20th, 1537. At this time, he was a Spanish soldier turned bookseller, running a shop in Granada, and living a fairly ordinary life. But late in the afternoon on that January day, something happened. On this feast day, a famous preacher, St. John of Ávila was giving a sermon. John Ciudad listened in when suddenly, something about it struck him so deeply that he publicly broke down in tears. John ran through the streets confessing his sins loudly and began to immediately give away all his belongings. People thought he had lost his mind. Authorities took action. They sent John to the Royal Hospital of Granada and locked in a ward for the insane. It wasn’t a pleasant place. Patients were restrained, beaten, and neglected under the belief that this would drive out their madness. Rather than despairing, John was relieved at this sudden change of events. The conversion that the Holy Spirit had given him on St. Sebastian’s Day left him longing to serve God and to give to others. Looking around at the harsh conditions of this psych ward he was unwillingly placed in, John was pleased. He saw the suffering around him and realized that these were the people Christ was calling him to serve. Rather than resenting his captors, he began to comfort the other patients, helping them however he could. Eventually, St. John of Ávila visited and advised him to temper his zeal with wisdom. John took this to heart, left the hospital, and dedicated the rest of his life to serving the sick and poor. John later founded a hospital where he cared for the very same kinds of patients—including those considered mentally ill—giving them dignity, attention, and medical care long before such treatment was common. So, meet John Ciudad, although he was not a saint when we first met him a few paragraphs ago, he is now, and he more commonly is known as St. John of God. So, meet St. John of God! We’re not often like St. John of God. When we are in uncomfortable or unimpressive places, we don’t often look around with pleasure. More often than not, we sigh and ask, “God, what am I supposed to do with this?!” But you can be like St. John of God! In fact, you are called to!

Musings, Insights & Briefings

Mother Teresa's Final Letter

Musings, Insights & Briefings

St. John of God

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