Devotion

Mother Teresa became such a saintly icon during her lifetime that many people forgot she was a flesh-and-blood human. But this particularly well done A&E Biography segment examines the temporal reality as well as the good works of the nun who devoted her life to the poorest of the world's poor. The video traces her life from her birth in Macedonia in 1910 to her death--forever entwined with that of Princess Diana--in September 1997, as well as all the milestones in between: her unwavering devotion, even as a child; her founding of the Missionaries of Charity; her work among the castoffs in India's worst slums; and her Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Interviews with many who worked with her help round out the familiar images--Mother Teresa caressing a dying child; Mother Teresa lecturing a spellbound UN Assembly; Mother Teresa visiting with virtually every contemporary head of state. In the end, the segment underscores how much prayer and utter devotion to God were Mother Teresa's guiding forces, and how the rest of her life's work were merely earthly manifestations of them. It's not surprising that thousands of young women have flocked to Mother Teresa's Spartan order while other orders are dwindling--sources of true inspiration are hard to come by in this day and age, but Mother Teresa is the genuine article. --Anne Hurley