NEWBURY PARK GOSPEL SINGER INSPIRED BY MOTHER TERESA TO PERFORM AT FUNERAL.

Byline: Michael Coit / Daily News Staff Writer

Inspired by a decadelong friendship with Mother Teresa, gospel singer Marlene Elias has been a prolific performer who donated album sale proceeds to the venerated nun's Calcutta, India, congregation.

Elias always knew her most memorable performance was yet to come. The moment has arrived, with Elias set to sing two inspirational selections at Mother Teresa's funeral Saturday.

``She taught me how to put everything in perspective and how to love more deeply,'' Elias said Wednesday as she completed last-minute preparations for an afternoon airline flight bound for India.

The Newbury Park resident was introduced to Mother Teresa in 1987 when Elias joined her brother, Monsignor John Esseff of Scranton, Pa., on a mission to Calcutta.

Working daily alongside the frail nun popularly known as ``the saint of the gutters,'' Elias witnessed lepers, orphans and street people turn to the charitable missionaries for food, water, and medical care. The experience provided a stark contrast to Elias' comfortable life in suburban Ventura County.

``It was just so incredible, the devastation and the poverty there. It hasn't changed, but her philosophy was to do the best they could,'' Elias recalled. ``It changed my life.''

Elias, a receptionist at the Pierce Brothers Mortuary in Thousand Oaks, found her calling singing inspirational songs in churches, at receptions and other events across the nation.

The singing has helped Elias, now 64, spread Mother Teresa's goodwill, as many of the songs were inspired by the nun's work. Elias often includes a 60-minute slide show on Mother Teresa.

Going further, Elias has donated all proceeds from any album sales to charitable pursuits Mother Teresa led.

``She deepened my feeling of everything,'' Elias said.

Their friendship would continue to grow through letters, occasional phone calls and memorable visits together when Mother Teresa traveled in the United States. Elias recalled last visiting with Mother Teresa two years ago in Washington, D.C., where she sang at the dedication of a home for unwed mothers.

Then there was the surprise birthday greeting.

``Just a few years back, she called me on my birthday,'' Elias recalled, noting that the nun phoned from Albania. ``She had a heavenly voice.''

Mother Teresa often told Elias that she wanted her to sing to mark the nun's death when that time came.

So Elias was at home waiting when the invitation from the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta followed soon after Mother Teresa died Friday.

The songs Elias will perform - ``Am I My Brother's Keeper?'' and ``See Jesus'' - are her favorites among the collection of more than 100 she has written and recorded with her husband over nearly 14 years.

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PHOTO (color in Conejo edition only) Marlene Elias, who has known Mother Teresa for 10 years, was invited to sing Saturday at the funeral in Calcutta, India.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News