St. Teresa Calcutta

"Conversations with Mother Teresa" is a lively and personal portrait of this modern-day saint that captures Mother Teresa's vision, energy, determination, and great love for Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Italian Journalist Renzo Allegri relates his impressions upon meeting this "diminutive woman in love with God" in a way that makes us feel as if we were there with him. He also includes lesser known stories about her life: her Albanian family and the hope she never realized of seeing her mother and sister again; her successful plan to place a miraculous medal in the Kremlin; and the suffering she felt when leaving her convent to launch her new mission. All who read this book will share Allegri's admiration and amazement of Blessed Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity she founded, which he calls "an army that defies the impossible."

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle is a Catholic author, a radio and television host, and an inspirational speaker known and admired from coast to coast. Yet with all of her public exposure, she has revealed very little about her personal history, that is, until now. When she discovered that sharing her struggles gives encouragement to others, she was persuaded to write this story of her life.

Growing up in a Polish-American Catholic family, Donna-Marie was blessed with hard-working parents who provided a stable home for their eight children. At times her childhood was golden and carefree, but other times it was tarnished by pain that she felt was best left unspoken as she sought God for help and strength.

After she left home after high school, her path took some harrowing turns. A Vietnam veteran fiancE snapped and held her against her will. She suffered pregnancy loss, serious illness, divorce, and single motherhood. Perhaps her greatest trial was an epic custody battle in which she needed to defend both her reputation as a mother and the safety of her five children.

Yet through all the dark valleys, Donna-Marie kept the fire of her faith burning. Helping her to see the beauty of the crosses in her life, and to rely on the presence and the providence of God, were saintly souls who became her friends and mentors. One of these was Blessed Mother Teresa, who was her confidant and spiritual mother for ten years.

The countless sweet photos of her smiling at babies showed Mother Teresa to be a single-minded advocate for the poor. But she was a woman with a will whose strength has been matched by few souls in history. Mother Teresa broke death's stranglehold on the poor of Calcutta, and she showed us how to conquer the sin and darkness in what she called the "slums of the hearts of modern man."

Part biography and part spiritual reading, these pages bring to light little-known stories from Mother Teresa's life that will help you to grow in your love of God. You will learn her approach to reading Scripture, what enabled her to persevere through agonizing nights, and the remarkable some would say mystical events that led her to start the Missionaries of Charity.

Many young men and women entertain idealistic thoughts of traveling to a poverty-stricken corner of the world to work with the poor. Susan Conroy, a Dartmouth junior, didn't just think about it -- she did it, journeying on her own to Calcutta to spend a summer volunteering with Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. In her moving, first-hand account of Mother Teresa and her work, Susan learned to find incredible peace and happiness in a city where she also found hell on earth. Her experience in Calcutta changed her life forever. Now you can share her account of life in Calcutta, her never-before seen photographs, and her remarkable profile of a modern saint -- the woman we soon will call St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Praying with Mother Teresa brings us into the heart of Mother Teresa's prayer life! Author Susan Conroy, a personal friend of Mother Teresa, gives us a meditative look at Mother Teresa's insights on suffering, joy, peace, humility, and poverty, and brings us right into the prayer life of one of the most beloved women of our time, Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Each prayer has been carefully, and prayerfully, selected for use in daily prayer. Mother Teresa gave Susan her blessing and approval to share these words and prayers with others "to bring them peace and joy too."

Illustrated introduction to the life and faith of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, including transcripts of the author's conversations with Mother Teresa.