Consolations and My Experience With the Communion of Saints

When I began learning about the Catholic faith 14 years ago, I was introduced to many beautiful concepts that were totally new to me. One of these that I found remarkably easy to accept was the communion of saints. The idea that our fellow believers who are now perfected in heaven can (and do) pray for us seemed to me natural and sensible. How beautiful it was to learn that the prayers of the saints, rising from a completely holy heart, can be offered for us with the purest of intentions (Revelation 5:8). It was also invigorating to learn that the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us (Hebrews 12:1) is infinitely larger than I previously imagined. I was certainly blessed to learn these truths, but it wasn’t until many years later that the communion of saints bore any personal significance to me.

This is where St. Teresa of Calcutta comes in. 

Growing up, Mother Teresa, as she was known at the time, was frequently in the mainstream news and likely the most visible missionary at the time. My interest in overseas missions was alive and well from missionaries who visited our church, but Mother Teresa played a huge role in fanning this flame. I was so moved by her exemplification of Christ’s compassion. She embodied Biblical commands concerning care for the poor and detachment from worldly goods in a more complete and concrete way than I had ever witnessed. She became my biggest role model. My admiration grew further upon reading several of her books and learning of her great love for Jesus and fervent commitment to her calling.

A few examples of my affection: I had a Mother Teresa calendar hanging in my room, I was given several books about her for Christmases and birthdays, and I still remember where I was when my friend, Rachel, told me that Mother Teresa had passed away. While I’ve been blessed by the witness of many other spiritual heroes over the years (Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, St. Therese of Lisieux, who feels like a spiritual sister to me, and St. Gianna, who, like me, was a working mother and physician), Mother Teresa always retained a special place in my heart. (You can see I utilized a photo of Hudson Taylor and St. Teresa in a prior post.)

It was this picture of her smiling at a young boy that I put in a prominent place in my first office as a physician. It served as the perfect daily reminder of why the Lord had called me to be a doctor—namely, to serve him on the mission field. 

Now, back to the communion of saints. Despite my esteem for St. Teresa, it had oddly never occurred to me to ask for her intercession—and I certainly never imagined that she was praying for me. However, about 2 years ago I felt the Holy Spirit direct me to ask for her intercession specifically for our mission work. At this prompting I chided myself, thinking “I can’t believe I never thought of that before! It makes perfect sense!” I also felt that we should invite our supporters to ask for her intercession along with us. I shared this direction with Nic, who heartily agreed, and we added this request to our website and online videos.

Since that time, the Lord has been blessing us with multiple consolations and encouragements related to St. Teresa. 

First, I had totally forgotten that she was officially canonized a saint on my birthday in 2016! Rediscovering this filled me with a child-like sense of being quite special. 😂 An even more beautiful consolation relates to her feast day. (This is a story I have shared briefly on Facebook.) When we made the decision to leave for Cambodia in September, I chose our exact date of departure simply by picking the first Monday in September, which was the 5th. A few months later I remembered that St. Teresa’s feast day is in early September, and told Nic we just had to change our departure date to her feast day. At that moment we looked it up and were delighted to find that the day we had chosen to embark upon our missionary journey was in fact her feast day of September 5th! I was so blessed by this that I immediately shared it with my family text group, friend text group, our teacher, Sabrina, and pretty much anyone else I thought would be slightly interested. 😂

When we shared this encouragement with Fr. Will, who has been our primary contact in Cambodia, he blew my mind with another consolation. He informed us that St. Teresa of Calcutta is the only known saint to have ever set foot in Cambodia! I had no idea she had any connection to Cambodia! 🤯 I have since learned that her influence here is still remembered and treasured. Upon our first visit to a Cambodian church, I was simply amazed (once again!) to see a series of posters highlighting the work of Mother Teresa in Cambodia.

I took several pictures and immediately sent them to my dad, exclaiming, “Yet another connection to Mother Teresa!”

That same Sunday I had the privilege to speak with one of the Sisters of Charity who works here in Siem Reap. This order, founded by Mother Teresa in 1950, is less prominent in the US and it was the first time I had personally met a Sister of Charity. I admit I behaved like a star-struck groupie and asked if she would take a photo with me. She graciously complied and I proudly shared this photo with my text groups as well. 😂 

Since our arrival in Cambodia, the Lord has continued to bless us with spiritual encouragements related to St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Just last week the Sisters of Charity invited me to pray with them on the 72nd anniversary of the founding of their order. It was an incredible blessing to join them in adoration. While sitting in their beautiful chapel I was filled with peace and assurance that Nic and I, as well as our children, are exactly where the Lord has called us.

I find it hard to express how meaningful these consolations have been—my heart overflows with them. The other effect brought by these connections to St. Teresa is the awe-inspiring realization that my spiritual hero actually IS praying for little old me, my family, and our mission work. All the blessings the Lord has sent us related to St. Teresa have moved me from a simple belief in the communion of saints to a personal experience of being borne up by this great cloud of witnesses. 

I extend heartfelt gratitude to all who have joined us in asking for the intercession of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Let us continue to do so together! I will close with one of the many beautiful quotes from St. Teresa, one which I included in the announcement of my medical school graduation:

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”