A HOLISTIC WHOLE
The theology that Mother Teresa followed is rooted in Church teach-
ings prior to Vatican II. This doctrine emphasizes the spirit over the flesh;
as such, it is the spirit that must be taken care of first. This attitude
stressed the glory of suffering, as the human body was often identified as
weak and sinful. Modern Catholic theologians have modified this view
and speak of the importance of good health for both body and soul. Glo-
rified suffering serves no purpose and is thought to be an evil in which no
good is found. To suffer is only good if there is a purpose and the possibil-
ity of turning it into something worthwhile.
For Mother Teresa, by contrast, suffering was the expected path one
must travel in order to reach heaven. This attitude helps explain how
such places as Nirmal Hriday, which became the home for the dying,
would be run. In caring to the very ill and dying, Mother Teresa was draw-
ing on the traditional practice of offering solace and comfort instead of
medical aid. This practice dates from the medieval period when religious
orders ran hospices for pilgrims or sanctuaries for the poor. There was, at
best, limited medical care available; what the sisters did in these places
was help to prepare the dying person’s soul for heaven.
By the nineteenth century, this attitude underwent a dramatic trans-
formation with sisters such as Mother Mary Aikenhead, founder of the
Irish Sisters of Charity, whose work helped lay the foundation for the
modern hospice movement. There were others too such as Dame Cicely
Saunders or Sister Frances Dominica, who helped change the way that re-
ligious orders treated the seriously ill and dying. Their work is often over-
shadowed by Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, whom many
in the West believe had done the most to transform the way the dying are
cared for. In India and other Third World countries, there is little choice
in how one dies. Because of that, Mother Teresa’s work had been elevated
and in some cases misunderstood. It was an approach that would make her
an easy target in later years.
But for now, many of these criticisms were far in the future. Clearly, the
Missionaries of Charity had struck a resounding chord within the Cal-
cutta community. For Mother Teresa, there was still much to do. She and
her order had only just begun their work.
NOTES
- Kathryn Spink, Mother Teresa(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1997),
p. 44.
64 MOTHER TERESA
