Some books change our view of reality and help us face life with optimism. This is one of them. The contemporary saint, in her autobiography, unveiled what was behind her fragile body and sympathetic smile. Nevertheless, that book is not for everybody, and requires a certain knowledge of Christian asceticism and mysticism. But Fr. Maasburg’s book is for all audiences, even for non-believers. It can be read at different levels and on each of them the lector is presented with varied and profound questions. But Mother Theresa’s answer is always the same: the message of Christ, incarnated in the life of a woman, "extraordinarily normal, despite her extraordinary life", using the words of the author.
Leo Maasburg is a Catholic priest from Austria who lived closed to Mother Theresa: he was her translator, and celebrated Mass for her during her trips. The book contains numerous anecdotes (more than fifty unknown stories about her life, as stated on the front cover) of Mother Theresa and her sisters, of which the author himself was a witness. Through these stories, the author describes in a very clear and simple way the spirit which animated Mother Theresa's works. The book is very interesting, but also very profound: it shows how the message of Christ was received by the rich soil of Mother Theresa's soul, and thus it gave fruit in works of loving God and loving the poorest of the poor.
J.G.R.P. (Spain, 2015)