One of the “secrets” to Mother Teresa’s success as a missionary of charity was her commitment to a daily holy hour in front of the Eucharistic Jesus.
She did not waver in her belief that prayer before Jesus was essential to her work among the most vulnerable of society.
Mother Teresa gave a powerful speech to those assembled for the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976, and reiterated this simple fact.
To be able to live this life of vows, these four vows, we need our life to be woven with the Eucharist. That’s why we begin our day with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. With him, we go forward. And when we come back in the evening we have one hour of adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and at this you will be surprised, that we have not had to cut down our work for the poor.
In fact, she firmly believed that she could love the poor more, because of her time in adoration.
It has brought us so close to each other. We love each other better, but I think we love the poor with greater and deeper faith and love.
The Missionaries of Charity that she founded continue this tradition, and always devote time to prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It remains a foundation to their day, and an anchor for their work among the poor.
Mother Teresa believed that if you want to love the poor in a more intense way, you need to spend more time in Eucharistic adoration.