What is a saint?

A saint is someone who can, precisely, channel powerful eros in a creative, life-giving way. Soren Kierkegaard once defined a saint as someone who can will the one thing. Nobody disputes that Mother Teresa did just that, willed the one thing—God and the poor. She had a powerful energy, but it was a very disciplined one. Her fiery eros was poured out for God and the poor. That—total dedication of everything to God and poor—was her signature, her spirituality. It made her what she was.—The Holy Longing, 8 (emphasis original)