2007年VOA标准英语-Book Reveals Mother Teresa's Inner Doubts

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
04 September 2007
 

A new book is being published this week of personal letters written by Mother Teresa -- the Roman Catholic nun¹ who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1979 for her humanitarian² work in India. The letters show that during her spiritual life, Mother Teresa suffered a crisis of faith and a sense of being abandoned by Jesus Christ. Sabina Castelfranco spoke³ to the book's editor and has this report from Rome.

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa's dark years of the soul had not been made public until now. The nun's struggle with doubts about her faith is evident in her private letters when she wrote of feeling "a terrible darkness within me."

Father Brian Kolodiejchuk edited the book, titled: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the 'Saint of Calcutta’, which will be published in English this week. He knew Mother Teresa for 20 years. "The whole book is," he explains, "as it were, a commentary on what I call Mother Teresa's mission statement: if I ever become a saint I will be a saint of darkness. I'll be absent from heaven, lighting⁴ the light of those in darkness on earth."

Mother Teresa was known as the "saint of the gutters⁵". She ministered to the needs of the poor, sick, orphaned⁶, and dying in Calcutta, India for more than 40 years. In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work.

Father Brian says her work was tireless. "She really did give and she was always really focused on the other and (had) very little or hardly any personal time."

Image of one of Mother Teresa's private letter

Father Brian has been promoting Mother Teresa's cause for sainthood.  He does not believe the letters will jeopardize⁷ her chances of becoming a saint. He says her writings show moments of uncertainty⁸ and discouragement. But they also tell us something more about this very special nun's spiritual life. "This sense of surrendering oneself and abandoning oneself to God no matter what one is feeling -- that is something we have heard, but to see her actually have done it in such painful circumstances is certainly a surprise and very moving.  Some of the letters you read are very powerful."

Those who were close to Mother Teresa insist her inner suffering should not be seen as a denial of God. Father Brian argues that the nun's faith always remained, but that she struggled because she could not feel Him.

Mother Teresa was put on a fast-track to sainthood by Pope John Paul II and beatified in 2003 just six years after her death. Now an additional miracle, recognized by the Vatican, is required for her to become a saint.

1 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

5 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

6 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

7 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。