Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire
Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire
The Encounter that Changed
St. Teresa of Calcutta’s Life,
and How It Can Transform Your Own
Joseph Langford, MC
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat: Rev. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
August 25, 2008
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat or Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
Mother Teresa’s words © 2008 Missionaries of Charity c/o Mother Teresa Center, exclusive licensee throughout the world of the Missionaries of Charity for the works of Mother Teresa. Used with permission.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2008, 2016 by Joseph Langford, MC. Published 2016
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Write:
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
200 Noll Plaza
Huntington, IN 46750
ISBN: 978-1-68192-048-1 (Inventory No. T1797)
eISBN: 978-1-68192-053-5
LCCN: 2007933561
Cover design: Tyler Ottinger.
Cover art: Tekee Tanwar/Getty Images; Marie Constantin.
Interior design: Sherri L. Hoffman.
Interior art: Magnum Photos;
Missionaries of Charity Fathers; Mother Teresa Center.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
“I came to bring fire to the earth,and how I wish it were already kindled!”
Luke 12:49
(NRSV)
For all those rich and poor,
empty in spirit, pummeled of heart,
who mark the hours
of long inner night —
a night this saint of the gutters traversed
and overcame
before you, and for you:
May these pages reflect
the light that overtook her
one September day,
plunging her, for love’s sake,
into the dark
homes and hearts of the poor.
May her gentle, guiding light
born of the heart of the Almighty
be yours:
A light that flies not from darkness —
But ever towards it.
Contents
Section One: Fire in the Night
Three — Calcutta: Backdrop to an Epiphany
Mother Teresa’s “Varanasi Letter” (Excerpts)
Seven — “I Thirst”: A Window on the Heart of God
Eight — A Legacy of Light: Part I
Nine — A Legacy of Light: Part II
Ten — Meditation: Entering the Light
Guided Meditation: “I Thirst for You”
Twelve — The Beauty of God Within
Thirteen — Encounter: Seeking His Face
Fifteen — Drawn Into the Light
Sixteen — Naming the Darkness, Choosing the Light
Seventeen — Conversion: Thirsting for God
Eighteen — Joining the Thirst of God and Man