Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta

The profoundly intimate private writings of Mother Teresa—revealing her decades-long experience of spiritual darkness, doubt, and the hidden interior life of one of the 20th century's most beloved saints, offering a deeply human portrait of faith tested by absence and love sustained through darkness.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was known worldwide as a living saint, the embodiment of selfless love and service to the poorest of the poor. Yet this collection of her private letters and writings, published after her death, reveals a stunning secret: for nearly fifty years, from 1948 until her death, she experienced a profound spiritual darkness—a sense of God's absence, silence, and abandonment that she called her "dark night of the soul." These intimate writings transform our understanding of Mother Teresa from icon to deeply human spiritual seeker.

What you'll discover:

• Mother Teresa's private letters to her spiritual directors spanning five decades
• Her experience of profound spiritual darkness and God's felt absence
• The contrast between her public radiance and private desolation
• How she continued serving with joy despite interior emptiness
• Her early mystical experiences and the call to serve the poorest of the poor
• Reflections on suffering, faith, and love in the darkness
• The spiritual tradition of the "dark night" from John of the Cross to contemporary seekers
• A profoundly honest portrait of faith sustained not by consolation but by will and love

The letters reveal Mother Teresa's anguish: "Where is my faith? Even deep down... there is nothing but emptiness and darkness... If there be God—please forgive me." Yet she continued her work with radiant joy, serving the dying and destitute with a smile that became her trademark. This paradox—profound darkness within, luminous love without—makes her story all the more remarkable and human. She chose to love and serve not because she felt God's presence but precisely in the absence of that feeling.

What makes this book essential for your contemplative library is its unflinching honesty about the spiritual life. Mother Teresa doesn't offer easy answers or triumphant faith but reveals the reality of spiritual struggle, doubt, and perseverance. Her experience resonates with the Christian mystical tradition of the "dark night of the soul" described by John of the Cross and experienced by many contemplatives, yet it also speaks to anyone who has felt abandoned, questioned their path, or struggled to maintain faith and love in the face of silence.

The book includes commentary by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, her postulator (the priest responsible for her canonization process), who provides context for understanding her spiritual journey and places it within the tradition of Christian mysticism. The writings are organized chronologically, allowing readers to trace the arc of her interior life from early mystical experiences through decades of darkness to her final years.

Perfect for: Readers interested in Christian mysticism and contemplative spirituality, those experiencing spiritual darkness or doubt, students of the dark night of the soul tradition, anyone seeking honest accounts of faith and struggle, readers of Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Christian mystics, those interested in Mother Teresa beyond the public icon, seekers exploring the relationship between service and spirituality, and contemplative readers who appreciate spiritual honesty over triumphalism.

This paperback edition presents Mother Teresa's private writings—a profoundly intimate revelation of spiritual darkness, persevering love, and the hidden cost of sainthood that transforms our understanding of faith and service.