When 20-year-old Susan Conroy arrived at the doors of Mother Teresa's hospice in Calcutta there was no one to greet her or to show her what to do.

The volunteers were all too busy caring for the dying.

 

Caring for the dying.

 

So Susan watched closely, and began to do the same: bathing and feeding these poor souls, cleaning their wounds (and picking out maggots), massaging their fevered limbs, and sometimes simply holding them as they slipped from this life into eternity.

So begins the remarkable saga of young Susan Conroy and her 11-year friendship with Mother Teresa --- a tale you can hear on Mother Angelica's EWTN religious network.

 

Susan with Mother Teresa

“When I came to India," says Susan, "all I had was myself to give. Mother Teresa welcomed anyone with hands to serve, a heart to help, and love to give."

 

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Wednesday night, June 30th, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Fr. Mitch Pacwa will speak with Susan about her friend Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the vocation of service to the poorest of the poor.

 

EWTN Live poster

 

Susan will also tell of her seven-year quest to find a copy of the book that St. Thérèse of Lisieux called "one of the greatest graces of my life": The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life.

Thérèse first read this book by Fr. Charles Arminjon in May of 1887, when she was only fourteen years old. She said that it "immersed her in a happiness not of this world." It gave her a "presentiment of what God reserves eternally for those who love Him."

It inspired her to love our Lord Jesus even more ardently --- to love Him, she said, "with passion."

St. Therese Very shortly after reading this book, with her heart aflame with the desire to give everything to God, Thérèse requested and obtained her father's permission to enter the cloistered Carmelite Monastery in Lisieux.

Yet, mysteriously, soon after Thérèse entered the convent, Fr. Arminjon's book fell into obscurity. One hundred years after Thérèse read it, it took Susan Conroy almost a decade to find even one single copy!

But time had not diminished its force. Reading that French edition enkindled in Susan a spiritual fire akin to that experienced by Thérèse, and Susan devoted the next eleven years to getting it translated into English and finally published.

 

 

End of the Present World - book cover

 

 

On Wednesday the 30th, Susan will speak with Fr. Pacwa about The End of the Present World and the two Teresas who transformed her life: her spiritual mother, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and her friend and inspiration, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

 

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

 

 

 

 

EWTN LIVE

8 p.m Eastern Time
Wednesday, June 30th

To watch it online,
click here
and select your
internet connection speed.

Don't miss it!

 

EWTN Live poster

 

 

Susan with the Pope.

 

When I asked Susan about her involvement with The End of the Present World and about the impact the book has had on her, she replied via email:

 

Dear John:

You know that I searched for seven years, and only found one copy, written in its original French. When I discovered it was not available in English, I set out to translate it myself! Now that it is published here in America, I sometimes look Heavenward and ask the Little Flower: "in over 100 years, couldn't you have found a more qualified person to translate this masterpiece?" I sense that after a century of waiting, she chose me to bring this book to life for English-speaking readers, not based on my skills as a translator, but simply based on my love for her and for our dear Lord Jesus! It's all about Love!

The impact that this book is having on my life is twofold. The first is spiritual. It inspires me to raise my eyes to Heaven and prepare for everlasting life. It causes me to reflect on "all the great truths of religion and the mysteries of eternity." It gives me more courage to face challenges and difficulties in life as it reminds me that the sacrifices and sufferings in this life are as nothing compared to the endless and infinite rewards of everlasting life. If we strive to love and serve Our Lord faithfully in this brief and passing life, He will take loving care of us for all eternity. God Himself will be our great and eternal reward. We give so little, and we receive so much!

It also has a very practical impact on my life, in the sense that I feel compelled to travel and speak and share this "lost treasure" with English-speaking readers everywhere -- with the hope that it may have the same beautiful effect on souls of our time as it did on the soul of Saint Thérèse over 100 years ago.

I am convinced that this book helped to make Saint Thérèse "the greatest saint of modern times," and I hope and pray that it will inspire us here and now to become great saints. May we serve our Lord well and greet each other in Heaven!

This book was indeed a "lost treasure." I believe that Divine Providence brought it back to life at this particular time in history for a very good reason. We are meant to pay attention to these words about the end of the present world and the mysteries of the future life. Reading this book inspired Saint Thérèse to love Our Lord Jesus even MORE and to pray for the salvation of souls. May it do the same for each of us!

Susan

 

 

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The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life
by Fr. Charles Arminjon.
336 pgs ppbk $17.95

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Fire of Love
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Contents:
End of the Present World

1.
The End of the World:
The Signs that Will Precede and the Circumstances That Will Accompany It

2.
The Persecution by the Antichrist and the Conversion of the Jews

3.
The Resurrection of the Dead and the General Judgment

4.
The Place of Immortal Life and the State of Glorified Bodies after the Resurrection

5.
Purgatory

6.
Eternal Punishment and the Unfortunate Destiny

7.
Eternal Beatitude and the Supernatural Vision of God

8.
Christian Sacrifice, the Means of Redemption

9.
The Mystery of Suffering in its Relationship with the Future Life

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