Madonna House
Roanoke, Virginia
In 1979, Bishop Walter F. Sullivan invited Catherine Doherty to open a prayer house in Roanoke, Virginia. He asked that it be a visible prayer presence among the people of the Diocese of Richmond. That “prayer presence” describes our mandate here.
We call ourselves a prayer-listening house. Many people come to visit, share their concerns with us, and ask for our prayers. We try to love by carrying all who contact us in our hearts, with their struggles and joys.
We offer poustinias in our house: they are sparsely furnished rooms where one can come for 24 hours to fast and pray with bread, water, and the word of God in the Bible. Our house is located in the midst of a busy downtown neighbourhood, so we are a “poustinia in the marketplace,” a “desert in the city.”
We have monthly Mass in our chapel, thanks to the kindness of local priests. The Mass is open to anyone. We then share a potluck breakfast and discuss the Sunday Mass readings together. We often host Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) groups as well as other parish groups for their meetings.
Our community and family life centers around our prayer and the Eucharist. We also cook, clean, garden, answer the phone, visit with people, and try to stay alert to the heartbeat of Our Lord in our daily lives. Our lives are very simple and very hidden. We live in the Nazareth which is the true realm of any Madonna House, no matter what our “work” might be.
