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Mother Teresa of
Calcutta and the
“Express
Novena”

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and the “Express Novena”

Mother Teresa &

Me
I was blessed to spend two years in
religious formation with Mother
Teresa’s priests (The Missionaries of
Charity Fathers) in Tijuana, Mexico.
This was a while back. 1988 to 1990. I
was 18 when I arrived in Mexico. And I
still had hair back then.

Not only did I have the privilege to be

in formation with those priests, I was
also extremely blessed to meet
Mother Teresa on several occasions.
On one occasion, I had the
opportunity to repair her rosary,
which had broken in two. Presumably
from so much use. On another
occasion I was able to sit alone with
her in the chapel for about 15
minutes. We conversed about my
vocation and about my family, and
then we prayed together. It was a
most profound experience. I was very
cognizant of the fact that I was in the
presence of a saint… and of our
Eucharistic Lord.

Needless to say, Mother Teresa has

had a profound impact on my life and
my prayer. After spending two years
volunteering with the Missionaries of
Charity sisters in Baton Rouge and
two years in formation with the
Missionaries of Charity Fathers in
Mexico, it makes sense that I would
be naturally inclined to pray the “MC
way.” What do I mean by that? Well,
!rst of all, I mean that prayer is
something that permeates everything
else and !lls in all the “empty” spaces
of the day. The day begins and ends
with prayer and scripture. So do
meals. Driving or riding in a car is
always the perfect time to pray the
Rosary. Walking is also an excellent
time for the Rosary. Praying the “MC
way” means focusing on the presence
of the Lord at every moment of the
day. We encounter Jesus in the
Eucharist, in the brothers and sisters
in our community, and in the poor
and the rich that we meet throughout
the day. Every moment gives us a new
opportunity to love Jesus himself and
to quench his thirst.

Then there were the formal prayers of

the community. We prayed certain
rote prayers at speci!c times of the
day, and some we prayed just
whenever. Many of those formal
prayers sunk roots deep in my heart,
and they e"ortlessly form on my lips
at just the right time. The Memorare
is one such prayer. I can give you so
many examples of times that I have
been asked to lead a prayer or
someone asks me to pray for a
particular need and the !rst words
that come to mind are “Remember, O
most gracious Virgin Mary…” Without
even thinking, I launch into the
Memorare. The Memorare was a
favorite prayer of Mother Teresa.

There is a “funny” but powerful story

about Mother Teresa and this prayer,
the Memorare. She was known for
getting what she wanted (and what
she wanted was always for holy
purposes). Time and again, she would
overcome seemingly insurmountable
problems. The miraculous happened
around her every day. She was a
strong woman of prayer, a woman
very close to God, and a woman who
rarely took no for an answer. She had
boundless con!dence in God. She
knew that God answered her prayer.

The Memorare was one of her secret

weapons. She had a very deep love for
Our Lady, and she prayed the Rosary
all day long. Literally. Her rosary was
always in her hands. Her lips always
moving in prayer… whether silently or
out loud.

In times of great need, when there

seemed to be no solution to some
obstacle in her way, she turned to the
Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin

Mary, that never was it known that
anyone who !ed to thy protection,
implored thy help or sought thy
intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this con"dence, I !y
unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my
Mother. To thee do I come, before
thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O
Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions, but in thy
mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

When facing di#cult circumstances,

she did not pray this prayers just
once. No. She would o"er an
“express” novena. Nine Memorares
in a row. And, as you will read below,
she always prayed a 10th Memorare
in thanksgiving, con!dent that her
prayers would be answered.

Prayer is not magic. No. Prayer is a

relationship, a conversation with the
greatest friend in the universe. Mother
Teresa did not pray this express
novena as a magic formula, rather she
prayed from the heart knowing that
God would act. This repetitive prayer
was a tangible expression of her great
faith in God.

We can learn from Mother Teresa, and

we can be edi!ed and encouraged by
her simple yet great faith. She can
help us to grow in faith. That is why I
want to share this story with you. It’s
just one example of Mother Teresa’s
con!dence in Our Lady’s intercession.

Mother Teresa
and the “Express
Novena”
The following is an excerpt from the
book Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A
Personal Portrait by Monsignor Leo
Maasburg.

The “problem” in this story is that

Mother Teresa and another sister
were invited to meet with Pope John
Paul II in his private apartment. Msgr.
Maasburg was not invited. No matter.
Mother Teresa wanted him there. So
what was the !rst thing she did? She
prayed an express novena of the
Memorare.

Enjoy….

“ Mother Teresa sat in

the passenger seat, and
together we prayed the
!fteen decades of the
Rosary and a Quick
Novena. This Quick
Novena was, so to
speak, Mother Teresa’s
spiritual rapid-!re
weapon. It consisted of
ten Memorares — not
nine, as you might
expect from the word
novena. Novenas lasting
nine days were quite
common among the
Congregation of the
Missionaries of Charity.
But given the host of
problems that were
brought to Mother
Teresa’s attention, not
to mention the pace at
which she traveled, it
was often just not
possible to allow nine
days for an answer
from Celestial
Management. And so
she invented the Quick
Novena.

Here are the words of

the Memorare:

“Remember, O most
gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who $ed to
your protection,
implored your help, or
sought your
intercession was left
unaided. Inspired with
this con!dence, I $y
unto you, O Virgin of
virgins, my Mother. To
you I come, before you I
stand, sinful and
sorrowful. O Mother of
the Word incarnate,
despise not my
petitions, but in your
clemency hear and
answer me. Amen.”

Mother Teresa used

this prayer constantly:
for petitions for the
cure of a sick child,
before important
discussions or when
passports went missing,
to request heavenly aid
when the fuel supply
was running short on a
night-time mission and
the destination was still
far away in the
darkness. The Quick
Novena had one thing
in common with nine-
day and even nine-
month novenas:
con!dent pleading for
heavenly assistance, as
the apostles did for
nine days in the upper
room “with Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and
the women” (Acts 1:14)
while waiting for the
promised help from the
Holy Spirit.

The reason why Mother

Teresa always prayed
ten Memorares, though,
is as follows: She took
the collaboration of
Heaven so much for
granted that she always
added a tenth
Memorare immediately,
in thanksgiving for the
favor received. So it was
on this occasion. We
prayed the entire
Rosary while we were
waiting in the car. No
sooner had we !nished
the Quick Novena than
the Swiss guardsman
knocked on the
steamed-up windshield
and said, “Mother
Teresa, it’s time!”
Mother Teresa and the
Sister got out. To keep
the guardsman from
chasing me out of the
beautiful courtyard, I
called after Mother
Teresa, “Mother, I’ll wait
here for you until you
come back down. Then
I’ll take you home.” But
it was to be otherwise.

For she turned around

and called, “Quick,
Father, you come with
us!” Was it the Quick
Novena that !nally
bring about this “Quick,
Father…”? I had no time
to re$ect, for Mother
Teresa was already on
her way to the elevator;
she swept aside the
timid protest of the
Swiss guardsman with a
charming “Father is with
us!” and a grateful
twinkle of her eyes.

I thought I knew why

the guardsman let me
go along with no further
objections. The rules
were unequivocal: Only
those who were on the
list of announced
guests could enter. And
only the names of
Mother Teresa and one
other Sister were on
that list. So it was
probably just as clear to
the guardsman as it
was to me that I had no
chance. Even in the
company of a saint I
would not get past the
elevator attendant —
much less the civil
police in front of the
entrance to the Holy
Father’s apartment.

Mother assured the

hesitant elevator
attendant no less
charmingly, but at the
same time quite
decisively. “We can start
now. Father is with us.”
Rather than contradict
such a clear instruction
from Mother Teresa,
the elevator attendant
obviously preferred to
leave it to the civil
police to put an end to
my intrusion into the
papal chambers. As we
got out of the elevator
it seemed as though
that was what he was
thinking as he waved to
the policeman.

I had already tried

again and again to
explain to Mother
Teresa in the elevator
that it is not only
unusual but absolutely
impossible to make
your way into the
Pope’s quarters
unannounced. But even
my resistance was
useless: She repeated,
“No, Father, you are
with us.” Well, since I
could not sink into the
$oor, there was nothing
left for me to do but
prepare myself for the
!nal “Out!” just before
we reached the desired
destination. In my mind
I could already hear the
elevator attendant and
the guardsman
whispering: “We told
you so,” when I crawled
back to the car. Would
they at least let me wait
in the courtyard?

There is a long corridor

on the third $oor of the
Palazzo Apostolico,
leading from the
elevator to the !rst
great reception hall of
the papal apartments.
Not long enough,
however, to convince
Mother Teresa that it
would be better for me
to turn around
immediately. I would
not mind at all, I tried
to explain timidly.

“You come with us!” she

replied !rmly. So
nothing could be done.
Some people called this
holy woman a
“benevolent dictator”.
And I was slowly
beginning to
understand why.

The walls of the

corridor that we were
now walking along in
silence were lined with
splendid paintings and
studded with
ornamentation. The
view out of the large
windows was simply
breathtaking: At our
feet, in the light
morning mist, lay the
Cortile San Damaso, St.
Peter’s Square, the
Gianicolo Hill with the
Ponti!cal Urbaniana
University and the
North American
College, and !nally, a
seemingly endless
ocean of roofs: the
Eternal City. I had little
time, however, to
absorb these
impressions. Mother
Teresa, the Sister and I
were coming closer and
closer to the door to
the papal apartments.
In front of it stood two
tall policemen in civilian
clothes — would this be
the de!nite end of my
morning excursion to
see the pope? I was
sure of it.

The expected “Out” was

!nally delivered in a
very friendly and
professional tone. The
older of the two
policemen greeted the
foundress of a religious
order courteously:
“Mother Teresa, good
morning! Please come
this way. The Padre is
not announced. He
cannot come in.” He
stepped aside for
Mother Teresa, whereas
I had stopped walking.
She gestured to me,
however, that I should
keep going, and
explained to the
policeman, “Father is
with us.”

But this time even the

supernatural charm of a
holy woman did not
prevail over a Vatican
security o#cial who was
faithfully following
orders. The papal
policeman now stepped
into Mother Teresa’s
path and repeated his
instruction kindly but
de!nitely, so that there
could be no remaining
doubt as to who set the
rules in this part of the
palace: “Mother, your
Padre has no
permission; therefore
he cannot come with
you!” Given such
courteous yet
unassailable authority,
it was quite clear to me
what my next step was:
make my retreat now
and as quickly as
possible!

In such situations the

di"erence between
success and failure
becomes clear: To
Mother Teresa the
solution to this problem
appeared altogether
di"erent from the way it
appeared to me. She
stood there calmly and
7
Shares asked the policeman in
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