... Great holiness attracts great evil. ...
I agree. Many saints had to overcome great trials. Certainly the evil ones do not want the holy ones to succeed.
There is a story of Saint Jean Vianney that he went to stay with some other priests. He warned them before he went to bed that if they heard some noise in his room to ignore it.
That night, there was a noise in his room that sounded like he was being killed. The priests got up and went into Jean Vianney's room -- where he was fast asleep. (Either he had time to roll over and go back to sleep or the commotion did not bother him.)
The next morning the priests asked Saint Jean Vianney about the night before. His response was that when he would have a big catch (in the confessional -- a hardened sinner repenting), the day before or night before Satan would attack him. I guess Satan knew the person had thought of going to confession or God gives Satan knowledge of future events.
There are also many examples of this sort thing in the life of Saint Padre Pio that are documented (such as the time Saint Padre Pio was protecting a seminarian from temptation -- probably with angels he asked for).
In this particular case of Saint Padre Pio, the devil took a curtain rod and was beating Saint Padre Pio with it.
The next morning, Saint Padre Pio was injured (and frightened) from the attack.
Some of these stories would make better press than the information in the letters of Mother Teresa...
Christians who have read the writings of and stories about the Desert Fathers are familiar with the sorts of experiences you refer to. These events continue to this very day at monasteries around the world. I myself have heard such stories from monastics down in the old country who have had these experiences. But of course, modern, sophisticated and by all means enlightened Westerners would find these reports hard to credit.
Demons are very real. Among the Evil One’s greatest successes has been to convince the world he doesn’t exist.
The point is not to tell a good story. The point for the media is to slander Mother Teresa, because she was pro-life.
There's added entertainment value for the anti-Catholic fringes, who get to flatter themselves that Mother Teresa wasn't "saved," while they are.
**There are also many examples of this sort thing in the life of Saint Padre Pio that are documented (such as the time Saint Padre Pio was protecting a seminarian from temptation — probably with angels he asked for).
In this particular case of Saint Padre Pio, the devil took a curtain rod and was beating Saint Padre Pio with it.
The next morning, Saint Padre Pio was injured (and frightened) from the attack.**
There are many such stories in the book I just finished about Padre Pio, author is Ruffin. Excellent documentation in it.