(Book review) Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady, by Fr. Joseph Langford, MC

Anyone who has ever contemplated the image of Mother Teresa in action among the poorest of the poor is left, at some point, wondering: how did she do it? Recent revelations that she lived a profound interior darkness (the Dark Night of the soul) for much of her later life only make the question even more profound: how did she *keep* doing it, if all spiritual consolation itself was lost? Father Joseph Langford, co-founder with Mother Teresa of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers, offers at least part of the answer: she did it with Mary.

“Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady” is a little book, with only a few (rather small) pages. You almost get the impression that the chapters are inspired from talks Fr. Langford has given during a retreat, or perhaps as a set of spiritual conferences. And yet these pages pack a spiritual punch, that sometimes catches you by surprise. To use an analogy, this book that reads a bit like a meal with lots of items on the plate. In a meal, the potatoes don’t taste like the carrots; neither has the same texture as the beef. In theory, you could make do without some part of it all, and yet why would you, especially when it is all prepared with devotion and seasoned with love? This book is like that: the sections on the appearance of the Virgin Mary at Guadeloupe read quite differently from the sections on Marian consecration, and yet they do go well together as a single “reading meal”. Some sections are more pious, others more theological, but it is all held together by a solid dose of love and devotion. Even one instance of questionable exegesis, where Mary is identified with the ancient term “Wisdom” found in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament (an association traditionally made with Christ, not with Mary) can be forgiven given its obvious origin in tender devotion.

Let me open a personal sidebar here: I have myself gone through a minor form of the Dark Night, called the “dark night of the senses”. In this dark night I felt the ordinary consolations of spirituality taken away from me, and while it did not challenge my faith, hope or love it was very disconcerting. What I discovered during this dark night experience was that, while God seemed distant, Mary seemed closer to me than ever. I had actually been putting Mary aside for some time within my spiritual life, as I didn’t want anything to “interfere” with my relationship with Christ, and yet it is as though that Christ himself sent me to Mary to help get me through this purification. I have therefore learned, from personal experience, the genuine value of a relationship with Mary in terms of progress in the spiritual life.

I am therefore glad to be able to recommend this book. It is not perfect: I would have liked to have seen more practical suggestions for how to live the spiritual life, although even just the small example of how to do the Examen well is probably worth all the effort I put into reading the rest of the book. And do not get the impression that reading the book was any sort of a chore: as an example of the spiritual life I found it quite inspiring. In one short paragraph, for example, Fr. Langford opened up completely new perspectives for me on the mystery of the Visitation of Mary with Elizabeth. From a purely personal point of view, any book that can nourish both my reflection and my prayer life has got to be worth something. My rating: A-