Malcom Uggeridge closed his biography of Mother Theresa of Calcutta with this word: “It will be for posterity to decide whether she is a saint. I only say of her that in a dark time she is a burning and shining light; in a cruel time, a living embodiment of Christ’s Gospel of love; in a godless time, the Word dwelling among us, full of grace and truth” (Something Beautiful for God, p. 146).

I assume Muggeridge is using the word saint in a specialized way. For me there is no question left for posterity. Mother Theresa is a Saint. The Christian saint is a Christian individual in full degree. That is the end toward which we all move – to be Christian in full degree, to be a Saint and that means to be alive in Christ. Jacopnone da todi put it clearly: “a saint is one in whom Christ is felt to…