Mother Teresa's letters surprised and inspired order

By Bappa Majumdar

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Letters written by Mother Teresa which reveal she sometimes doubted God surprised and then inspired many among her order, her successor said ahead of Wednesday's 10th anniversary of the ethnic Albanian nun's death.

"The sisters were surprised, I was surprised to learn how she suffered in her thirst for God," said Sister Nirmala, the diminutive superior general of the Missionaries of Charity.

"She suffered, yet she had a mask on herself of mysterious joy which comes only from complete surrender to God."

Sister Nirmala succeeded an ailing Mother Teresa six months before she died aged 87 on September 5, 1997, and will help lead a special mass to mark her passing.

The collection of letters written to colleagues and superiors over 66 years and complied by an advocate for her sainthood are due to be published on Tuesday under the title "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light".

They cover a range of subjects dear to the Roman Catholic nun but it is those which portray her as at times deeply tormented about her faith that have grabbed attention.

In 1956, the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who dedicated her life to the poor, sick and dying in India, wrote:

"Such deep longing for God -- and ... repulsed -- empty -- no faith -- no love -- no zeal."