The title of the book displays prominently the names of St. Francis, St. Paul, St.Augustine and Mother Teresa. I was expecting to discover seldom found gems of these saints thoughts. I was quite disappointed to find only the very smallest snippets or their best know words and endless, ponderous ramblings of the author. It was as though he used their names to hook me into listening to him dissect their words in infinite detail.

This wonderful and beautiful trilogy sheds new light on classic Christian texts and individuals. If you're allergic to Christianity, these books will allow you to view the religion in a more tolerant and enlightened perspective. Easwaran's Eastern take on the subjects will both give Christians a different approach to their tradition, and non-Christians a more accessible outlet in which to understand these traditions.

It is a good idea to write a book about Mother Teresa for kids 9-12 years old.
There is one bad thing though. When you write a book ,especially about someone's life, you have to do good research. Mother Teresa is not born in "Skopje, small serbian town", but in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia with littlte less then one million people.
Her father's name is Nikola- and that is not Albanian name and I will not say that is Macedonian too-it can be serbian, romanian.... but not albanian.

Macedonia was given away to Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Albania in 1913 and before that it was 500 years under the Turks-Otoman Empire. Skopje has never been under Albania, and it has surely not been "serbian town" just because it was given away to them by the "big forces" by the Bucurest Peace Agreement in 1913.

Nations are proud when they have big souls born on their soil and that is the only reason I am writing this: Mother Teresa was born on Macedonian soil, in the capital(then and now) of Macedonia-talking about what she was by her nationality is another matter.

You don't have to be Catholic or Christian to appreciate this survey of the life and works of St. Teresa of Avila. She had some great insight on how to pray. The author does not tell the reader what specific prayers to say. She shares St Teresa's overall approach to prayer, "not with the noise of words, but with longing". Her ideas have helped me to develop my prayer life. Tessa Bielecki did a formidable job presenting this Saint from port-Inquisition Spain in a way that is accesable and instructional for even this Jewish alcoholic in recovery. While some portions of the book contain numerous references to Christianity, her description of a broken person approaching prayer is universal in tone, and has helped me immensely.

The idea of a tribute to Mother Teresa composed of commemorations of those who were inspired by her limitless altruism sounds very enticing. And while this short collection includes some moving panegyrics, it falls short of what it could have been.

A handful of movers and shakers offer their salutes, but with such a small assortment of power players featured, the curious choices of Hilary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, and Andrew Greeley seem unbefitting. In many ways these eulogizers are the antithesis of everything Mother Teresa embodied. While their respectful words may have blended in among a book devoted solely to the memories of the rich and famous, here they comprise a significant portion of the represented bigwigs, and their selection fails to furnish the approbation Mother Teresa so richly deserves.

The placement of those three misfits might have suggested that Susan Crimp had some axe to grind but many of the other vignettes strongly indicate that is not the case. Cardinals Basil Hume and John O'Connor and Bishop Patrick Ahern celebrate the Saint of the Gutters for accentuating their own vocations. Many ordinary citizens tell how her indomitable example impacted their lives. While the sympathetic treatment bestowed upon a death row inmate who was profoundly moved by his visit from Mother Teresa could imply a politically correct attitude, the vignette by Joseph Morales implies the opposite. Morales was an AIDS patient and fallen away Catholic who was given a medal once owned by Mother Teresa. In his encomium of India's most beloved adopted daughter he encompasses the daring comment, "for the past thirty years I was a homosexual, but since I got my medal, my faith has been restored, and I have taken a vow of chastity in honor of Saint Joseph." He too is presented in a positive light.

The chosen comments from royalty are another strange aspect. Princess Caroline of Monaco's testimonial is one sentence long. England's Prince Philip laudatory remarks while suitable are far from timely. The passage is taken from a speech he delivered in 1973-nearly three decades before the book's publication.

Despite the volume's frequent shortcomings, the section submitted by businessman Kevin McMahon is an absolute gem. He describes his meeting with Mother Teresa, her words of encouragement, and the many coincidences that lead to the adoption of his daughter shortly after her death. Obviously well intended and marginally satisfying, the book ultimately fails to reach the magnitude of tribute Mother Teresa earned.

I am asking myself why Ms. Sebba would devote an entire book to criticizing a woman who has given up any material possessions she may have had, located herself in an area stricken with poverty and disease (such as leprosy), and spent her life helping the destitute. It is offensive to read this knowing that the author sits in a comfortable residence in England as she searches to find fault with Mother Teresa. Has Ms. Sebba done more for the poor and destitute than Mother Teresa?

By way of preface the author wrote the piece before Mother Teresa died and I read the book before publication. I have not seen it since the death of Mother Teresa. Secondly I am not a Catholic nor am I particularly fond of the dogma. However I enjoy biographies that are submissive to the subject and not patronizing to the reader or make me have to think why the author wrote what they did. The good bios are the ones where I am a witness to a person's life and do not even know the shade of the lens or the style of the frame of the glasses through which I am priviliged to observe. As I don't have the time to write with greater detail I wil summarize as follows:

A crack in the sidewalk may be insurmountable to an ant. It does not mean it is insurmonuntable. Mother T. Did what she had to do to save starving people in the most horrible of conditions. Do you judge her because she used every means possible to accomplish this? Do you fault her because her method is more the method of one born in 1910 and a stranger to the political exigencies of the author's agenda or the agenda of those others whom she intimidated by her plainess. To even give print to her very passable shortcommings in the face of her most ordinary training and the enormity of the task she was courageous to undertake is snobbery. Sebba is a snob. She wrote her piece to be counter to the then existing general satisfaction for the work of Mother T. She didn't write her piece to be a biographer.

I already knew much about the life of Mother Teresa so I was particularly interested in reading about how her order works in various countries. I have had some experience here in Slovakia with the Missionaries of Charity. They are wonderful people who work with those that gov't organizations usually ignore. But I agree with the author that treating people in western countries as though they were living in Indian poverty (e.g., no a/c in the hospice in Washington, D.C., no washing machine here for young mothers to use for washing baby diapers and clothes)is to commit these people to a lifestyle which may do wonders for the nuns' souls but not much for those they help. I thought the book bent over backwards to present all sides of controversial issues and to show why Mother Teresa took the stands that she did. No human who ever lived on this earth was perfect (Jesus was both human and divine)and we should understand that even saints had their flaws. It's just that nowadays we can know more about them. I think this was an excellent book; I read it through in a weekend because I found it so interesting.

Christian Feldman, in "Mother Teresa: Love Stays", does not do justice for the life and work of Mother Teresa. Writing from an apparently distant and impersonal perspective, Feldman lacks the affectivity vital in capturing the tremendous love of a woman so devoted to Christ and his suffering children. "Love Stays" is, however, sufficient as a newpaper-like account and may serve as a worthy general introduction.

The documentaion is somewhat thorough and accurate. Events and interviews in which she participated are quantitatively well covered. Frequently, Feldman inserts quotes from Mother Teresa; however, it would be much more effective and informative if all of these sources were footnoted. Perhaps off-setting this, Feldman does include comments from those who had the pleasure of meeting her and working with her - complete with the context of the situation in which the quotes were taken.

Betraying his generally objective writing style, Feldman not infrequently inserts his own subjective commentaries. He proposes thoughts and connections Mother Teresa may have had without any real evidence, such as the suggestion that she was thinking of her own second calling when speaking about the Annunciation. He misleads the reader by putting words on Mother Teresa's lips, using quotation marks followed by such clarifications as "she seemed to be asking." (p. 24) He puts feelings in her heart that many would not find compatible with the loving woman's long-standing reputation, such as diagnosing her with "profound depression" in one section and, further on, describes her as "hissing" at some would be attackers. Such conclusions need backing up and should be left for the reader to determine.

To his credit, Feldman opens the book with a heart wrenching prologue which so beautifully captures the spirit of Mother Teresa and her selfless work with the abandoned and dying. Unfortunately, the rest of the book does not always follow true to this initial picture. Perhaps his intent was to paint a more human picture of Mother Teresa complete with connections to the secular and non-Christian worl. But this denies the splendid reality of the greatness of this little woman and even, at times, seems painstakingly fabricated. For those of us who wish to share a close spiritual affinity with her, this book leaves us dry.