MOSAIC Fall 2016 | Page 15

us his Mother as our Mother at the foot of the cross.
As Father Langford makes clear, in the Constitutions
of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa “constantly
presented the Spirit of the Society as an extension of and
participation in Out Lady’s spirit.” This is why Mother Teresa wished all her sisters to pray the Rosary as a contemplative prayer; to cling always to Our Lady; and to make the
Total Consecration to Our Lady according to St. Louis
de Montfort.
According to Father Langford, Mother Teresa’s “personal daily encounter with Our
Lady” was something real. It was not something “extra, peripheral, or marginal.”
Mother Teresa’s devotion to Mary sustained her in her ministry to the poor
and helped her grow in humility and
charity. Mother Teresa saw the need for
all followers of Christ to stand with Mary
at the foot of the cross.
In the words of Father Langford, “All are
called to entrust themselves to Mary, who stands
mystically at their side.” Such a consecration enables
Mary to “lend us her heart” and “prepare our soul for
unimagined gifts of the Spirit.”

“Take care of them,”
the Blessed Mother
said to Mother
Teresa. This statue at
the National Shrine
of the Immaculate
Conception shows
Teresa fulfilling that
request.

Mediatrix of All Grace
Mary’s role in the spirituality of Mother Teresa allowed
her to recognize Mary “as our Coredemptrix with Jesus”
because Mary “gave Jesus his body and suffered with
him at the Cross.” It prompted Mother Teresa to speak
of Mary as “the Mediatrix of all grace” because Mary
“gave Jesus to us, and as our Mother she obtains for us
all his graces.”
Finally, Mother Teresa saw Mary as our Advocate because “it is through the Heart of Mary that we come
to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.” Mother Teresa even
favored a formal papal definition of Mary as “Cordemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate” because she believed such
a definition “will bring many graces to the Church” (Letter to Dr. Mark Miravalle, August 14, 1993).
Some Christians (and even some Catholics) fear that too
great a devotion to Mary will distract us from Christ. The
life of St. Teresa of Calcutta shows that there is no basis to
this fear.
This great saint and servant of the poor drew
closer to the Heart of Jesus because of her devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Dr. Robert Fastiggi is professor of
systematic theology at Sacred Heart.

© Serge Melki

shms.edu

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