She was indeed a tortured soul. She saw things that most of us cannot even imagine!
“..'the saint of the gutters' for her work with the dying and destitute from India and Rwanda to the Gaza Strip and the South Bronx" (MSNBC).

"she felt no presence of God whatsoever" for a very long time, however, no matter what, she never gave up on helping people. Never.

See the poem Dark Night of the Soul of the Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic John of the Cross (16th century).

Christopher Hitchens was bang on about her.

I seen her in person at the local town cathedral a few years back

But the crisis of faith is not the same as lack of faith, is it? It made her a much more interesting figure.

crisis of faith is not the same as lack of faith

I agree.
This is what I wanted to call attention to by referencing to John of the Cross and his autobiographical Dark Night of the Soul.
Experiencing the Dark Night - when God retreats, and mantles and denies Himself - is interpreted by this mystic as the experience of sucklings who are being weaned by their mother. This experience is terrible, but it is necessary for attaining a new level in the relationship with God, because God wants His children to be partners, not infantile immatures.

God wants His children to be partners, not infantile immatures.

Hasn't really worked out so well in this regard, has it? Here's an easily found recent example.

the Dark Night...is
interpreted...as the experience of sucklings who are being
weaned by their mother

I think there is important truth in this, whether or not one is religious (I'm not).

Aus Martin Buber, Erzählungen der Chassidim (Tales of the Hasidim):

Ein Schüler fragte den Baalschem:
"Wie geht das zu, dass einer, der an Gott hängt und sich ihm nah weiß, zuweilen eine Unterbrechung und Entfernung erfährt?"
Der Baalschem erklärte: "Wenn ein Vater seinen kleinen Sohn will gehen lehren, stellt er ihn erst vor sich hin und hält die eignen Hände zu beiden Seiten ihm nah, dass er nicht falle, und so geht der Knabe zwischen den Vaterhänden auf den Vater zu. Sowie er aber zum Vater herankommt, rückt der um ein weniges ab und hält die Hände weiter auseinander, und so fort, dass das Kind gehen lerne."

(Sorry, I haven't found an English translation of this text yet.)