Mother Teresa Abandoned by God?

Mother Teresa often felt abandoned by God during her prayer, the Chicago Tribune reported recently.

While she was caring for the most abandoned people in our world, she also struggled with feeling separated from God, the newspaper reported in a story that quoted from her private journals.

"I am told God lives in me - and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul," the newspaper wrote, quoting one of her writings. "I want God with all the power of my soul - and yet between us there is terrible separation."

Catholic Connections

Mother Teresa's struggles in prayer reflect one of the church's mystical traditions. Many Catholic mystics have written that they sometimes feel farther from God as they strive to draw closer. For many of them, the feeling of closeness to God that once came from prayer seemed out of reach as they progressed. St. John of the Cross called this experience the "dark night of the soul."

Some mystics have written that this experience can actually show great intimacy with God. Intimacy with God, some have written, doesn't quench our thirst for God, but can make our thirst even more extreme. Others have written that God makes us more selfless through "dark nights" because they teach us on a deep level to focus on others - including God - without seeking any reward, even good feelings.

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