TERESA MOTHER: (1910-1997) Saint Teresa of Calcutta sends thanks for helping ´the little children in India to be ...

TERESA MOTHER: (1910-1997) Saint Teresa of Calcutta sends thanks for helping ´the little children in India to be happy & smile´

TERESA MOTHER: (1910-1997) Albanian Roman Catholic nun, Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1979. Canonised by the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in September 2016. An extremely rare A.L.S., M. Teresa MC, one page, 8vo, n.p., 5th November 1972, to Samantha Mace (´My dear child Samantha Mace´), on the printed stationery of the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa writes, in full, ´God love you for all the love you give all arround (sic), for all the joy you spread by accepting the suffering with a smile, and for all the work you have done to help the little children in India to be happy & smile. Pray for me´. Accompanied by the original envelope, addressed in another hand and for personal delivery. Together with an interesting T.L.S. by Bunty Watts, one of the co-workers of Mother Teresa in England, three pages (separate leaves), 8vo, Brighton, Sussex, 13th January 1972, to Miss. Samantha Mace, on the printed stationery of the Missionaries of Charity, Co-Workers of Mother Teresa. Watts writes an informative letter to her young correspondent (´I understand that you are only six years old so I find it very encouraging to know there is such a young Co-Worker in our midst´) who had been collecting used postage stamps in order to sell to aid the work of Mother Teresa, in part, ´I think that you would like to know that just 5 new pence will give a child a meal of curry and rice which is the diet they like and are accustomed to. This meal is supplemented by a cup of milk, a slice of bread and a vitamin pill each day. Once a week perhaps, they will be given a banana or a piece of melon......The milk is donated by the children of Denmark, they send 350 cases of tinned milk to Calcutta every month, this is thinned down and every child in Mother Teresa´s Homes receives a cup. The bread is donated by the children of Great Britain and sent forward in the form of flour via Australia, where they pour special vitamins into it and so make it more nutritious. It is then baked in huge Government ovens in India......The children of Germany provide the vitamin pills and this is a great aid to their diet, extra vitamins!! Children in many countries of the world help Mother Teresa´s work and they carry out all kinds of projects which they think up themselves, just like you have thought out the wonderful idea of collecting stamps from customers in The Royal Oak......When Mother Teresa comes to England and visits Sussex again, I will send you an invitation to come and meet her, wouldn´t that be lovely?......I worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta; my three sons were born in India and they helped in her Homes when they were quite small. It was a sad job but most worthwhile......thank you for your love and interest in your hungry, suffering and homeless brothers and sisters in far away countries.´. Also including a printed small 4to official programme for the presentation of The Templeton Foundation Prize for 1973, awarded to Mother Teresa for progress in religion, at the Guildhall, London, 25th April 1973, in the presence of Prince Philip (who also made an address), featuring various portraits of Mother Teresa to the inside pages, and an extract from Malcolm Muggeridge´s book Something Beautiful for God, the back cover signed and inscribed by Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990) English journalist whose 1969 BBC documentary Something Beautiful for God had helped catipult Mother Teresa to international fame. Accompanied by an invitation card and admittance card issued by The Trustees of the Templeton Foundation for the presentation of the first Templeton Foundation Prize at the Guildhall, London, on 25th April 1973. Further including two related newspaper articles, one featuring a photograph of Samantha Mace collecting postage stamps and reporting that she had met her heroine, Mother Teresa, at the Guildhall in London, and also referring to Mother Teresa´s personal letter as being one of Mace´s ´most prized possessions´. A charming, small collection of letters and associated ephemera relating to Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Some very light, minor age wear, and the programme with some light foxing and creasing (G). Generally VG, 7

Autograph letters signed by Mother Teresa are very rarely offered at auction, most examples of her signature appearing instead on brief typed or printed notes and prayers, and the present example is enhanced by the additional provenance.