Everything Starts from Prayer

At the Home for the Dying in Calcutta, Mother Teresa often cared for the residents as they approached the end. As she was ministering to one illness-ravaged man, a visitor overheard her whisper a few words to him. These few words embody Mother Teresa’s spiritual wisdom. This is what she said: You say a prayer in your religion, and I will say a prayer as I know it. Together we will say this prayer and it will be something beautiful for God.

These gentle words of solace and care provide us with a glimpse at a Mother Teresa we’ve often overlooked: Mother Teresa the universal teacher of prayer. The world has admired the Mother Teresa who devoted her life to caring for the poorest of the poor everywhere. But, her close associates knew that all of Mother Teresa’s outer activity of caring and action was the natural consequence of her devotion, the overflow of her deep inner life. They witnessed her reliance upon contemplative practice, and they recognized Mother Teresa not only as a devout Catholic, but also as a great ecumenical teacher of prayer.