Saint Teresa of Calcutta's Daily Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, 1910-1997) said this prayer each day. The prayer was written by Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), and Mother Teresa changed the original singular to plural and said it with her Missionaries of Charity sisters:
Radiating Christ
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance
everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us
that every soul we come in contact with
may feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
so to shine as to be light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be ours.
It will be you shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
by shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
not by words, but by our example;
by the catching force –
the sympathetic influence of what we do,
the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen.
Mother Teresa’s Prayer to Mary
Mary, Mother of Jesus,
give me your Heart,
so beautiful, so pure,
so Immaculate,
so full of love and humility,
that I may be able to receive Jesus
in the Bread of Life,
love Him as You loved Him
and serve Him as you served Him,
in the distressing disguise of the
poorest of the poor.
Amen.
On a Wall in a Missionaries of Charity Children's Home in Calcutta
(Attributed to Mother Teresa)
People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centred; forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies; succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you; be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight; create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous; be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten; do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough; give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.
The fruit of silence is prayer.
The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love.
The fruit of love is service.
The fruit of service is peace.
- Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Short Novena Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus… [here make your request].
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for me.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me.
Who is Jesus to me - Saint Teresa of Calcutta's Prayer
Jesus is the Word made Flesh.
Jesus is the Bread of Life.
Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the Cross.
Jesus is the Sacrifice offered at the Holy Mass.
For the sins of the world and mine.
Jesus is the Word – to be spoken.
Jesus is the Truth – to be told.
Jesus is the Way – to be walked.
Jesus is the Light – to be lit.
Jesus is the Life – to be lived.
Jesus is the Love – to be loved.
Jesus is the Joy – to be shared.
Jesus is the Sacrifice – to be offered.
Jesus is the Peace – to be given.
Jesus is the Bread of Life – to be eaten.
Jesus is the Hungry – to be fed.
Jesus is the Thirsty – to be satiated.
Jesus is the Naked – to be clothed.
Jesus is the Homeless – to be taken in.
Jesus is the Sick – to be healed.
Jesus is the Lonely – to be loved.
Jesus is the Unwanted – to be wanted.
Jesus is the Leper – to wash his wounds.
Jesus is the Beggar – to give him a smile.
Jesus is the Drunkard – to listen to him.
Jesus is the Retarded – to protect him.
Jesus is the Little One – to embrace him.
Jesus is the Blind – to lead him.
Jesus is the Dumb – to speak for him.
Jesus is the Crippled – to walk with him.
Jesus is the Drug addict – to befriend him.
Jesus is the Prostitute – to remove from danger and befriend.
Jesus is the Prisoner – to be visited.
Jesus is the Old – to be served.
To me –
Jesus is my God.
Jesus is my Spouse.
Jesus is my Life.
Jesus is my only Love.
Jesus is my All in All.
Jesus is my Everything.
Jesus, I love with my whole heart, with my whole being. I have given Him all, even my sins, and he has espoused me to Himself in tenderness and love. Now and for life I am the spouse of my Crucified Spouse. Amen.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Prayer for Priests
Mary, Mother of Jesus, throw your mantle of purity over our priests.
Protect them, guide them, and keep them in your heart. Be a Mother to them, especially in times of discouragement and loneliness. Love them and keep them belonging completely to Jesus.
Like Jesus, they, too, are your sons, so keep their hearts pure and virginal. Keep their minds filled with Jesus, and put Jesus always on their lips, so that he is the one they offer to sinners and to all they meet.
Mary, Mother of Jesus, be their Mother, loving them and bringing them joy. Take special care of sick and dying priests, and the ones most tempted. Remember how they spent their youth and old age, their entire lives serving and giving all to Jesus.
Mary, bless them and keep a special place for them in your heart. Give them a piece of your heart, so beautiful and pure and immaculate, so full of love and humility, so that they, too, can grow in the likeness of Christ.
Dear Mary, make them humble like you, and holy like Jesus. Amen.
God needs our poverty not our abundance.
- Saint Teresa of Calcutta
A link to a sermon about Mother Teresa's advice on humility - Humility Challenge: Mother Teresa.
Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.
Learn to be humble by doing all the humble work and doing it for Jesus. You cannot learn humility from books; you learn it by accepting humiliations. Humiliations are not meant to torture us; they are gifts from God. These little humiliations—if we accept them with joy—will help us to be holy, to have a meek and humble heart like Jesus.
- Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Saint Teresa of Calcutta - “But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion.”
On 3 February 1994 Mother Teresa spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, before nearly 3,000 people including President Clinton and his wife, along with Vice President Al Gore and his wife, and various VIPs including Supreme Court justices and the highest-ranking members of Congress. The speech was also broadcast live on television.
Mother Teresa spoke truth to power and defended life in her courageous and wonderful speech. An article about this event and a full transcript of Mother Teresa's speech is on this website, along with a downloadable PDF version of the full transcript.
Christ the Redeemer Statue - Facade of St Peter's Basilica, and Banner of St Teresa of Calcutta, Day of Rite of Canonisation of St Teresa of Calcutta, Rome, 4 September 2016
Missionaries of Charity Sisters, Mass of Thanksgiving for Canonisation of St Teresa of Calcutta, Rome, 5 September 2016
This Webpage first posted on The Feast Day of St Teresa of Calcutta, 5 September 2021.
Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Immaculata Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis.
