Thank you for sharing this story with the world

I love this book! I could hardly put it down. Having spent some time in a religious community myself, I could relate to many of the incidents between the sisters - and especially between sisters and their superiors. The Missionaries of Charity are so well known throughout the world. It was fascinating to see what really goes on behind the scenes.

I used to think Mother Teresa's "dark night of the soul" was genuine, but now I'm not so sure. It seems more like something she brought on herself by not being open to the working of the Holy Spirit. Of course, she thought she was open - but in many ways, she allowed herself to be controlled by the Pope, by Church teachings/traditions and by the wishes of certain senior sisters. While we think of her as so holy, she had her weaknesses like anyone else.

MCs have collected many millions of dollars in donations for their work over the years. I really don't understand why there's millions of dollars sitting in banks instead of being used to care for the poor. Sure, the sisters should live in poverty as suits their vows, but why not use the monetary donations to make a real difference in people's lives rather than attempting quick fixes for problems that require more investments? Mary gives several good examples of situations where nothing (or very little) was done to make a real, lasting difference in people's lives.

Mother Teresa's comment about how she and the sisters should just "hurry up and die" (to become saints) reminded me of something I heard from the mother superior at a monastery of Visitation Nuns. She and I were discussing the possibility of me joining the community. She said, "I think maybe we should wait." I said yes. Then she said something about how we're all just waiting to get to heaven anyway. It sounded like such a cop out: a good excuse to run away and ignore the real problems of this world. I wondered if she and the other sisters thought they were "safer" than the rest of us because they're locked away from the world, preserved from contact with "sinners" out in the world.

Overall, I kept wondering how the sisters could really be happy. They were basically brainwashed from the beginning of their training as aspirants - not allowed to think for themselves. I was happy to see Mary continuing to question MC practices that seemed stifling or harmful while continuing to cultivate love in ways that felt meaningful for her.

Bravo, Mary! Thank you for sharing this story with the world.

Lisa M. Drago works as a fitness instructor and yoga teacher. She writes poetry, serves as Treasurer for Hampton Roads Writers and maintains a blog on spiritual themes at Soaring with God.