Question 8.137

8.137 The greatest saints, like Saint Thérèse of Lisieux or Mother Teresa of Calcutta, experienced trials of faith in which they felt abandoned. …

Yes, Saint Thérèse had very painful experiences. When she was at the Carmel, it happened that she doubted the very existence of Jesus, the savior of mankind. She experienced terrible moments, dark nights in which God seemed strangely silent. Nevertheless, Thérèse always knew that she was not alone, that the light would finally appear at the end of the tunnel. She knew that God would not leave her indefinitely in darkness. All the saints experienced moments of great doubts. This feeling of abandonment resembles what went through the Heart of Jesus on the Cross: Golgotha alone is the summary of all our dark nights.

Doubt is a moment of purification and strengthening. Hence, just one question arises: Do we still believe when the night remains desperately dark? Do we keep hoping even beyond the easy times? Faith is trust or else it does not exist.

Mother Teresa regarded doubt as a way to discover God’s true face. It is not possible to understand God in abundance and easy blessings. After her rebellion against the trials of poverty that she was experiencing every day, she understood that God never comes to console us for our little despairs or our selfish rebellions. God is absolute love; therefore he can reveal himself only in love.

As I traveled so often to battlefronts, to places of famines or earthquakes, I kept thinking, together with Thérèse of Lisieux, that the little voice of unfailing confidence in divine love was the only possible way.

Yes, we must believe, despite the horrible suffering and violence connected with human folly. Faced with so much pain, we have two options. Rebellion, which will always cause additional difficulties, and love, which will lead us closer to God.

Mother Teresa saw the worst atrocities. But she also understood that suffering could bring about new solidarity, unheard-of blessings, indomitable hope.

Incidentally, we often blame God for many evils without admitting our own responsibility. … Without God, the world would be a lasting hell. With God, there is grace; it is the tenderness and the caress of heaven.