By Msgr. Ambrose Sheehy

In 1985-1986, four priests assisted Mother Teresa in New York to establish an order of priests to assist the sisters in service of the poor. I was privileged to be one of them, as I was on a sabbatical year from my duties in the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Together with Mother Teresa, we visited the archdiocesan offices of New York's Cardinal O'Connor. After chatting a bit, she spotted a fine spread of tea cups and baked goods and immediately started serving everyone. She always used every minute.

He read the request to begin this work in New York. He was silent. Mother Teresa smiled and asked, "Have you seen the signature in the top right?" It was that of Pope John Paul II. Cardinal O'Connor responded positively: "Well I guess I don't have much choice!" There were big smiles from all in the room, especially from Mother Teresa.

Cardinal O'Connor then took us next door where he had a meeting with reporters about offering help to mothers considering abortion in his archdiocese. He asked Mother Teresa to speak as well. She gave a very powerful, impassioned talk filled with a kind of justifiable anger about abortion. This talk had a piercing conviction I shall never forget.

We accompanied her to JFK Airport when she left New York. She called me aside in the waiting area and with great compassion said, "You are caught up with the apostolate here and all that is new, but your mother is missing you terribly. Please give this rosary to her and tell her Mother Teresa is thinking of her."

Later, in Toronto, at the blessing of the order's local convent, she asked my parents and my sister Jo-Anne to visit with her privately. She asked everyone else to leave and then told my parents, "We have plenty of time. Let us chat." She had such care for each individual!

One day in Toronto, I was driving her around to find a building for her sisters here. Suddenly she said, "Stop the car, I see the building Our Lady wants for us." She sent me to inquire next door as the building was abandoned and in rough shape.

"Really?" I responded.

"Yes. Go in and tell them Mother Teresa would like that building."

Feeling foolish, I went in. They were astonished but when I said she was outside in the car, they all came rushing out to see her. Politely, they said it was to be renovated and used by them. In the meantime, we stood on the sidewalk and everyone from a local pub (some a little bleary-eyed) lined up to meet her. She graciously gave each one a Miraculous Medal. She had a great love for everyone she met.

Later, the owner of the building phoned me and asked if Mother Teresa still wanted the building, however the order had already purchased another.

I recall that before we would make any request, she would say, "Let us say the Mem​​orare prayer to Our Lady ten times."

Mother Teresa gave of herself to everyone around her and sometimes looked completely exhausted, yet never complained.

She would often sign books and papers for others and above her signature would invariably write: "Be humble like Mary so you can be holy like Jesus." She had totally consecrated herself and the Missionaries of Charity to Mary and believed that grace came through Mary's intercession.

She was a woman of extraordinary talents and keen ability in organizing. She was totally dependent on Jesus, calling herself a "little pencil in His hands."​

Photo from L. to R. Fr. Joseph Langford, Bishop Vaughan (auxiliary bishop of New York), Fr. Gary Duckworth, Fr. Brian Koloiejchuk (now postular of cause for Mother Teresa), Msgr. Ambrose Sheehy, Mother Teresa, Fr. Christopher Hartly, Cardinal John O'Connor. Taken at opening of novitiate of the MC Fathers in 1984.

Photo: Letter from Mother Teresa to Msgr. Sheehy: "Fr. Ambrose I am sending you to New York to be in charge of the Corpus Christi Movements and Economo [treasurer] of the M.C. house. God bless you. Mother." The sister's name at the bottom refers to the sister Mother had appointed to offer her whole life for graces for Msgr. Sheehy. The Missionaries of Charity extend this invitation to priests. Msgr. Sheehy wrote back asking for a more formal letter he could present to his bishop, ​​​​which she provided.