Catherine Doherty
1896-1985 20th century
The inner desert sought in the midst of an active life, where one falls silent to listen to God.
Who was Catherine Doherty?
A Russian aristocrat who fled the revolution, widowed then remarried, she knew the hunger of an émigré before giving everything to the poor and founding, in Canada, the Madonna House community. She opened to the West the 'poustinia', that inner desert to which one withdraws for a few hours with bread, a Bible, and silence.
In their own words
The poustinia is not a place but a state of heart, open to God and to men.
Arise, go! Sell all you possess, give it directly, personally to the poor.