Chapter 4
OUT OF A CESSPOOL—HOPE
Shortly after his visit with Mother Teresa and the Medical Mission Sis-
ters, Father Van Exem wrote to Mother Teresa that the archbishop had re-
lented and given his permission for her to return to Calcutta. He had also
found a place for her to live with the Little Sisters of the Poor. She arrived
at the St. Joseph’s Home for the elderly, located at 2 Lower Circular Road,
on December 9, 1948. It had been barely four months since she had left
the Loreto convent in Entally and started her training in Patna. Prior to
her leaving Patna, Mother Teresa spoke with one of the nun-doctors in
the cemetery of the convent grounds. Remarking that she had no idea
how she was going to proceed or where she would even begin, Mother
Teresa nonetheless remained confident that God would direct her. And
with that thought, she made her way back to Calcutta to undertake her
life’s work.
Although Calcutta had the third highest per-capita income in India,
it was a vast sea of suffering and despair. The streets, where people were
born and died hourly, were crowded with beggars and lepers, together
with a host of refugees from the countryside who had never known a
home. Unwanted infants were regularly abandoned and left to die in
clinics, on the streets, or in garbage bins. There were thousands of
pavement dwellers within the city itself; 44 percent of the city did not
have sewers. It was into this sea of misery that Mother Teresa now
came.
The St. Joseph’s Home proved to be a good choice for Mother Teresa.
The Little Sisters of the Poor lived in strict poverty. Although they
worked through other institutions, they had no regular source of income