January Summary #2

I read and reviewed:

Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady
by Joseph Landford, MC
Our Sunday Visitor
2007
Huntington, Indiana
frjosephmc.book@yahoo.com

Fr. Landford is the author and co-founder of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers
Perhaps this would not be consider a scholarly work but it seems to me it could be used as a primary resource on the presence of Mary in the life and works of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. We recently had Fr. Landford speak on our Morning Show at KVSS Catholic Radio.

I loved this book!!

Fr. Landford writes:
From dawn to dusk, decade to decade, Mother Teresa's life had been spend, in every sense of the word, in the shadow of Our Lady. Our Lady was a core element in Mother Teresa's own self awareness, and day by day that intimacy became transformation.

Our lady helps us, as Mother Teresa found in her vision, to become contemplatives at the foot of the Cross - to discover God's presence and love even in the midst of our trials and dark nights. Nothing was impossible for Mother Teresa while she clung to Our Lady, and as Mother Teresa tells us, "nothing is impossible for all who call Mary mother."

He writes again:
Through thirty years of knowing her, Mother Teresa became for me the one book on Our Lady that I could never put down; one that continues to teach me, to fascinate me, to draw me beyond myself into God. Here are the lights and lessons I have learned from pages of her life."

The "method" of Fr. Landford is one of lectio on the life of Mother Teresa. He reads and re-reads her experience of Mary in light of her life and her works. He quotes her constitutions as well as records conversations that he had with her. He reveals some of the following points:

1. First Chapter: Her vision of 1947 and Mary's place in it from the beginning. "Few have know that the idea and initiative of the whole of it belonged to Our Lady." pg. 19

2. Wrapped in Her Powerful Presence (2nd chapter) outlines Mother's relationship with Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. - He bases much on his personal experience her of Mother and her sharing with him: "Mother Teresa had long since intuited - the deep parallels between Our Lady's role in the mission of Juan Diego and in her own." pg 28

3. From the Beginning, Our Lady (3rd Chapter) Overview of the original rule of MT and the place of Mary from the beginning:
"That the Society may more easily attain its end, let each Sister choose the Immaculate Queen of Haven for her Mother. She must not only love and venerate Her, but fly to Her with child like Confidence in all her joys and sorrows." Excerpt from her Rule pg 39

4. All Her Confidence (4th Chapter) - Mother Teresa asked that Our Lady "lend her her heart" that she might love the Lord and her neighbor in the way Mary did. -- concrete lived reality for Mother Teresa (pg 48). This is how she did what she did (pg. 48). "We give her our heart in consecration, that she might "led us her heart," and prepare our soul for the unimagined gifts of the Spirit" (pg. 49).

5. Living our Lady's Spirit (5th chapter) "If we stand with our Lady, she will give us her spirit of loving trust, total surrender and cheerfulness." (Mother Teresa pg. 51)

6. In Silent Prayer with Mary (6th Chapter) - covers her prayer and the power she gave to the Rosary prayer in her life.

7. Contemplatives in the Heart of the World (7th Chapter)- standing with Mary and pondering as she did are two main characteristics of Mary in her spirituality.

8. Consecration to Mary (8th Chapter) - "She (Mary) as the First Missionary of Charity went in haste to help Jesus sanctify John - so it will be with you and me if we only love her unconditionally and trust her fully. the more we abandon ourselves to her totally and without reserve, the greater will be the number of great saints in our Society - for nothing is impossible for those whose Mother she is. Often during the day, let us raise our heart to her and ask her how she would do this or that or that now if she was in our place - and above all how to love God as she loved him, that we too may love him with her heart." pg 71

The rest of this short book covers biblical foundations of Mother Teresa's Relationship with Mary.
Echoes of Our Lady in the Old Testament and
The story of Juan Diego ...the Nican Mopohua.

What an excellent little book! A cross between a primary reference and a applied meditation for the reader. It teaches much and stays true to the person of Mother Teresa and reveals clearly her relationship with Mary and the influence Mary had on Mother Teresa
Is this a method?? I think so; it certainly is my kind of method.