Madonna House
Toronto, Ontario
Madonna House Toronto was founded in 1982, three years before Catherine Doherty's death. The invitation by Cardinal G. Emmett Carter for Madonna House to open a field house in the Archdiocese of Toronto meant coming “full circle” for Catherine, returning to her apostolic roots where her vocation began 50 years ago with the founding of Friendship House in the Toronto slums. It was there that her call to identification with the poor began to unfold with a soup kitchen, clothing room, library, and discussions on the social encyclicals of the Popes.
Three staff members opened the Toronto Madonna House at Pape and Danforth, where we were located for about five years before moving to our present site in West Toronto. The usual quickly became the unusual for us! In 1982, we introduced the concept of a food bank to Toronto and stayed on the founding committee until its constitution was completed. Today this is the largest food bank in Toronto.
Our apostolic outreach has expanded as people learned “Catherine Doherty's people” had returned. With five members on staff now and a happy blend of prayer and work, we are here for all those whom we can serve in any way.
In this mobile society there is a need to extend friendship and support to the lonely, the disadvantaged, single parents, and young couples. Moral support is needed for those who are going through difficult periods in their lives such as family break-ups, sickness, death, or other problems. We listen a lot! One of our staff members learned sign language in order to be available to hearing impaired people of our archdiocese.
Many people come to learn more about Catherine, our Madonna House spirituality, and the Catholic faith. Evangelization by all available means has always been a major focus of our work. We believe consecration to the united hearts of Jesus and Mary is the best expression of our Mandate to “live the Gospel without compromise.”
We share our lives, our prayer, our books and tapes -— whatever we have — to enable Madonna House Toronto to be, as Catherine said, “a place where people come in contact with God. The very essence of our vocation, so hidden, so humble, so glorious, is to love God passionately by loving others.”
