The book “Mother Teresa: A Call to Mercy,” edited by Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, the postulator of her cause for canonization, contains the following account from the saint about dying and death and compassion:
“Last Sunday…there was a man dying there, and he didn’t want anything. He said, ‘Just hold my hand and with my hand in your hand, I am ready to go.’ There he sat, he was lying there all cold, only his face was still bright, but that’s all that he wanted. He didn’t want me to say anything or to do anything, only to just sit on his bed and hold his hand, and he felt quite ready to go. Maybe you will have that experience somewhere someday. This is very beautiful how much people trust us and how much they love us that they can trust themselves with us like that. We have this experience continually all over the place.
“Those who are materially poor can be very wonderful people. One day we went out and we picked up four people from the street, and one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the sisters, you take care of the other three, I will take care of the one who looks worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand and she said one word only—‘Thank you’—and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience before her, and I asked myself what would I say if I were in her place, and my answer was very simple: I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said, ‘I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain or something,’ but she gave me much more. She gave me her grateful love and she died with a smile on her face.”
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