Living the Word [antikvár]

Introductory Reflection interviewer: Mother Teresa, you love people whom others regard as human debris. What is your answer? mother teresa: My secret is simple, I pray. In the year marking the one thousandth anniversary of the introduction of Christianity into Russia, the Millennium, a small woman of seventy-eight years, bent with age, received an invitation to carry out a function unprecedented in the history of the Soviet Union since its Revolution. Mother Teresa was asked to bring a team of the Missionaries of Charity to carry out a charitable work. The Soviet Union had eliminated programmes of private charity, and in particular, programmes under religious auspices. The needs of citizens were in theory to be met by various state-run organizations. Yet the formal invitation had reached her, and on 15th December 1988, Mother Teresa, accompanied by Sister Mala, the Indian Sister who was to be Superior of the team, were in Moscow to prepare for the coming work among children with various disabilities. Before leaving for the Soviet capital. Mother Teresa talked with me about the new venture. "The invitation was signed December eighth", she said. "We will sign a contract, and then I can bring in the other Sisters. They are in Rome, and they have been studying Russian. The Soviet authorities sent them grammar books some time ago. Someone at the Soviet Consulate helped them to practise the language. 1