St. Teresa of Calcutta made a deep impression on me as a young girl as I watched her on tv and in news. Who doesn’t remember the iconic picture of Mother Teresa with Princess Diana splashed across all magazines, newspapers and news shows? To me, Saints were people who lived a long time ago, but here she was, a saint in the making. Mother Teresa was a role model of how to become a Saint in our modern world, by giving her life to God through her dedication to the poor.
On her feast day, I want to share with you a few of my favorite quotes from St. Teresa of Calcutta. Her words are seemingly simple and straightforward but packed with meaning. My selection comes out of a new favorite book I picked up called, Mother Teresa: Her Essential Wisdom by Carol Kelly-Gangi. This little book contains hundreds of quotes from St. Teresa of Calcutta centered around specific themes as well as a summary of her biography and quotes about her from others.
“God does not demand that I be successful. God demands that I be faithful.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Holiness is not the luxury of the few; it is a simply duty, for you and for me.” St. Teresa of CalcuttaHoliness is for everyone of us as a simple duty – the acceptance of God with a smile…” St Teresa of Calcutta“You have to be holy where you are- wherever God has put you.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Holiness grows fast where there is kindness. I have never heard of kind souls going astray. The world is lost for want of sweetness and kindness.” St Teresa of Calcutta“Try to put in the hears of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Love to pray. Take the trouble to pray. Prayer opens your heart until it is big enough to hold and keep God. We must know Jesus in prayer before we can see Him in the broken bodies of the poor.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depths of our hearts.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Prayer is as necessary as the air, as the blood in our bodies, as anything to keep us alive – to keep us alive to the grace of God.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other, naturally we want to do something.” St. Teresa of Calcutta“Let us pray that we women realize the reason of our existence: to love and be loved and through this love become instruments of peace in this world.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
Do you have a favorite quote from Saint Teresa of Calcutta?
