Mother Teresa’s prayer life centered on Jesus Christ, silence, Eucharistic devotion, surrender, and loving service to the poorest and most vulnerable. She described prayer as the source of her inspiration, strength, and love, and she sought to let Christ’s presence shine through her life.
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
Mother Teresa’s prayer “Radiating Christ,” adapted from John Henry Cardinal Newman’s “Meditations and Prayers,” was one of her favorite ones. She prayed it daily after Holy Communion, along with the Prayer for Peace, Anima Christi and Make us worthy Lord.
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.
Praying with Mother Teresa
“My secret is very simple, I pray,” Mother Teresa would answer to those who asked what the secret of her life was. Her relationship with God through prayer was indeed the source of her inspiration, strength and love that she shared with all she met.
Her words, “What blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul,” confirm her conviction of the vital importance of prayer. In spite of her busy schedule Mother Teresa spent about four hours a day in prayer, an indication of how essential prayer was for her.
The primacy she gave to prayer was an example and inspiration not only to the members of her own religious family but also to all those who came in contact with her. No matter how busy our life may be, contact with God in prayer must have the most prominent place.
As we pray with the words Mother Teresa used in addressing God, we unite with her and ask her to intercede for us. “Prayer is the best gift of love you can give anyone you love.” (Mother Teresa)
Mother Teresa’s Teachings on Prayer
Faith is a gift of God. Without it there would be no life. And our work, to be fruitful, and to be all for God, and to be beautiful, has to be built on faith - faith in Christ, who has said, I was hungry, I was naked, I was sick, and I was homeless, and you ministered to me.
On these words of His, our work is based. For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.
God thirsts to love and be loved by you-that is how precious you are to Him. He wants us to be more childlike, more humble, more grateful in prayer, to remember we all belong to the mystical body of Christ, which is praying always.
If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For God, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.
Love to pray. Feel often during the day the need for prayer, and take trouble to pray. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself.
Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and keep Him as your own. May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in. May I dwell in the breath of God.
Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts. Small things, done in great love, bring joy and peace.
Souls without prayer are like people whose limbs are paralyzed; they possess but can’t control them. Spend one hour each day in adoration of your Lord, and never do anything you know is wrong. Follow this and you’ll be fine.
There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers. Through prayer I become one in love with Christ.
To love, it is necessary to give. To give, it is necessary to be free from selfishness. We have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have, the more free you are.
We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature-trees, flowers, grass-grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… .We need silence to be able to touch souls.
When facing God, results are not important. Faithfulness is what is important.
The Spiritual Path of Silence, Prayer, Faith, Love, Service, and Peace
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.
Mother Teresa connected inward prayer with outward charity. The work we do is nothing more than a means of transforming our love for Christ into something concrete.
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.
Who Is Jesus to Me?
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.
Mother Teresa @ National Prayer Breakfast
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.
Humility in Prayer and Daily Life
God needs our poverty not our abundance. - Saint Teresa of Calcutta
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.
The “Do It Anyway” Prayer
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. 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.
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.
How to Pray the Novena More Fruitfully
“God speaks in silence.” (Mother Teresa) Before beginning, seek a silent place that will help you to pray, preferably in a church or chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Create silence within yourself, for God is the friend of silence. He is always waiting for us in silence - to speak to us and to listen to us. “In the silence of our hearts, God speaks of His love; with our silence, we allow Jesus to love us” (Mother Teresa).
Read some or all of the quotes provided for the day and allow them to penetrate your heart. Stay with Mother Teresa’s words for a while and let one of the thoughts grow in your heart and accompany you throughout the day.
Unite yourself with all your brothers and sisters throughout the world who are suffering in darkness and pain, then prayerfully recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa. You may also make some concrete act of charity toward someone in your own family, community or neighborhood as a way of living more profoundly the spirit and message of Mother Teresa during the Novena.
The Nine Days of the Novena
First Day: Know the Living Jesus
“Do you really know the living Jesus - not from books but from being with Him in your heart?” “Am I convinced of Christ’s love for me and mine for Him? This conviction is the rock on which sanctity is built.
What must we do to get this conviction? We must know Jesus, love Jesus, serve Jesus. Knowledge will make you strong as death. We know Jesus through faith: by meditating on His Word in the Scriptures, by listening to Him speak through His Church, and through the intimate union of prayer.
“Seek Him in the tabernacle. Fix your eyes on Him who is the Light. Bring your hearts close to His Divine Heart and ask Him to grant you the grace of knowing Him.”
Thought for the day: “Don’t search for Jesus in far lands; He is not there. He is close to you; He is in you.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace of an intimate knowledge of Jesus. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Second Day: Jesus Loves You
“Am I convinced of Christ’s love for me, and mine for Him? This conviction is like the sunlight which makes the sap of life rise and the buds of sanctity bloom. This conviction is the rock on which sanctity is built.”
“Jesus loves you tenderly, you are precious to Him. Turn to Jesus with great trust and allow yourself to be loved by Him. The past belongs to His mercy, the future to His providence, and the present to His love.”
Thought for the day: “Do not be afraid - you are precious to Jesus. He loves you.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to be convinced of Jesus’ unconditional and personal love for you. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Third Day: Hear Him Say to You: “I Thirst”
“In His agony, in His pain, in His loneliness, He said very clearly, ‘Why have You forsaken Me?’ He was so terribly lonely and forsaken and suffering on the Cross.…At this most difficult time He proclaimed: ‘I thirst.’…And the people thought He was thirsty in an ordinary way and they gave Him vinegar straight-away; but it was not that He thirsted for-it was for our love, our affection, that intimate attachment to Him, and that sharing of His passion.
“And it is strange that He used such a word. He used ‘I thirst’ instead of ‘Give Me your love’.” “Follow His footsteps in search of souls. Carry Him and His light into the homes of the poor, especially to the souls most in need.
Spread the charity of His Heart wherever you go and so satiate His thirst for souls.”
Thought for the day: “Just think! God is thirsting for you and me to come forward to satiate His thirst.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to understand Jesus cry of thirst. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Fourth Day: Our Lady Will Help You
“How much we need Mary to teach us what it means to satiate God’s Thirsting Love for us, which Jesus came to reveal to us. She did it so beautifully. Yes, Mary allowed God to take possession of her life by her purity, her humility, and her faithful love.
Let us seek to grow, under the guidance of our Heavenly Mother, in these three important interior attitudes of soul that delight the Heart of God and enable Him to unite Himself to us, in and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is in doing so that, like Mary our Mother, we will allow God to take full possession of our whole being-and through us God will be able to reach out His Thirsting Love to all we come in contact with, especially the poor.”
“If we stand with Our Lady, she will give us her spirit of loving trust, total surrender, and cheerfulness.”
Thought for the day: “How close we must keep to Our Lady who understood what depth of Divine Love was being revealed as she stood at the foot of the Cross and heard Jesus cry out: “I thirst.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to learn from Our Lady to quench Jesus thirst as she did. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Fifth Day: Trust Jesus Blindly
“Trust in the good God, who loves us, who cares for us, who sees all, knows all, can do all things for my good and the good of souls.”
“Christ accepted to die because He trusted His Father. He knew that from that apparent failure God will work out His plan of salvation. For us, too, we must have that deep faith and trust that if we are doing God’s will, He will work out His plan of salvation in us and through us in spite of any failure we may meet.”
“Jesus never changes. Trust Him lovingly, trust Him with a big smile, always believing He is the Way to the Father, He is the light in this world of darkness.”
“Do not be afraid to love Jesus tenderly. When you trust Him, He will do great things for you.”
Thought for the day: “Confidence in God can do all things.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to have an unshakable trust in God’s power and love for you and for all. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Sixth Day: True Love Is Surrender
“ ‘I thirst’ has no meaning unless through total surrender I give all to Jesus.”
“Today I will do whatever Jesus wants. And you will see that oneness. That surrender to God, to use you without consulting you. That accepting is a great sign of union with God.
Holiness is that total surrender to God. Totus tuus. Completely yours. Totus tuus. Completely surrendered. Very clear! Complete. That accepting whatever He gives. That giving whatever He takes. You need much love to be able to see the hand of God.”
“I only want to do what God wants. Let us have the courage to do what God wants, even if it is difficult.”
Thought for the day: “Allow God to use you without consulting you.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to surrender your whole life to God. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Seventh Day: God Loves a Cheerful Giver
“Joy, to be fruitful, has to be shared.”
“By this joy I mean that inner depth of joy in you, in your eyes, look, face, movements, actions, swiftness, etc. ‘That My joy may be in you,’ says Jesus. What is this joy of Jesus? It is the result of His continual union with God, doing the Will of the Father.
‘I have come that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.’ This joy is the fruit of union with God, of being in the presence of God. Living in the presence of God fills us with joy. God is Joy.”
“Joy shines in the eyes, comes out in the speech and walk…when people see the habitual happiness in your eyes, it will make them realize they are the loved children of God.”
Thought for the day: “We may not be able to give much, but we can always give the joy that springs from a heart that is in love with God.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to find joy in loving and to share this joy with everyone you meet. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Eighth Day: Jesus Made Himself the Bread of Life and the Hungry One
“He proved His love to us by giving His own life, His own being. ‘He being rich became poor’ for you and for me. He gave Himself totally. He died on the Cross.
But before He died, He made Himself the Bread of Life to satisfy our hunger for love, for Him. He said, ‘Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you cannot have life eternal.’
And the greatness of that love of His made Him the hungry one, and He said, ‘I was hungry and you fed Me, and unless you feed Me, you cannot enter eternal life.’ That is the giving of Christ.
And today God keeps on loving the world. He keeps on sending you and me to prove that He loves the world, that He still has that compassion for the world. It is we who have to be His love, His compassion in the world of today.”
Thought for the day: “Believe that He, Jesus, is in the appearance of Bread and that He, Jesus, is in the hungry, naked, sick, lonely, unloved, homeless, helpless, and hopeless.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace see Jesus in the Bread of Life and to serve Him in the distressing disguise of the poor. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Ninth Day: Holiness Is Jesus Living and Acting in Me
“Our works of charity are nothing but the overflow of our love of God from within. Therefore, the one who is most united to Him loves her neighbor most.”
“We must become holy not because we want to feel holy, but because Christ must be able to live His life fully in us.”
“Let us spend ourselves with Him and for Him. Let Him see with your eyes, speak with your tongue, work with your hands, walk with your feet, think with your head, and love with your heart.
Is this not perfect union, a continual loving prayer? God is our loving Father. Let your light of love so shine before man that seeing your good works (the washing, sweeping, cooking, loving your husband and the children), they may glorify the Father.”
“Be holy. Holiness is the easiest way to satiate Jesus’s Thirst, His for you and yours for Him.”
Thought for the day: “Charity for each other is the surest way to great holiness.”
Prayer intention: Ask for the grace to become a saint. Recite the Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
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.
Additional Prayer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Jesus called you to bring the light of His love to those who live in darkness. By tender, loving care for the poorest and the neediest, you became the sign of God's presence, His love and compassion in the midst of suffering and pain.
Following your example, help us to recognize the face of Jesus in our suffering brothers and sisters and to serve Him with humility and joy. Teach us to be carriers of God's tender love and mercy and so bear witness that God still loves the world through each one of us. Amen.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, You showed us the beauty of a life lived in and for love and you never stop reminding us that we are all “created for greater things, to love and to be loved. ”Help us to live a life of love that is worthy of our calling as children of God. Amen.
Prayer as the Source of Service
Mother Teresa was a wonderful woman of God who gave her life for the poor and sick in Calcutta. She is known for her deep faith and commitment to love and prayer.
Faith is a gift of God. Without it there would be no life. And our work, to be fruitful, and to be all for God, and to be beautiful, has to be built on faith - faith in Christ, who has said, I was hungry, I was naked, I was sick, and I was homeless, and you ministered to me.
The work we do is nothing more than a means of transforming our love for Christ into something concrete. The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
To love, it is necessary to give. To give, it is necessary to be free from selfishness. We have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have, the more free you are.
Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier. Small things, done in great love, bring joy and peace.