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Poustinia

Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer

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by Catherine Doherty

Read by Father Émile Brière

$29.95 USD

6 CDs (compact discs), 5 hrs. 30 mins.

Extended abridgement

Madonna House Publications, 2000

ISBN 0-921440-53-7

(Also available in Trade Paperback format.)

Poustinia — The modern spiritual classic for those seeking the open heart and listening soul of a silent contemplation.

Poustinia, a Russian word, means ‘desert’, a place to meet Christ in silence, solitude and prayer. Catherine Doherty combines her insights into the great spiritual traditions of the Russian Church with her very personal experience of life with Christ.

Men and women who desire communion with God can discover how the poustinia powerfully fulfils their yearning. Readers are invited to leave the noise and harried pace of daily life to enter a place of silence and solitude. Catherine writes from her own experience with refreshing and startling Christian authenticity and a strong personal sense of spiritual authority.

Catherine emphasizes ‘poustinia of the heart,’ an interiorized poustinia, a silent chamber carried always and everywhere in which to contemplate God within. Learn how our desert can be in the marketplace, in the midst of countless conferences, traffic jams, bus trips—or a hospital ward. Written by one who knows by experience, Poustinia brings consolation with its vision of a personal desert that can bloom in simple, profound prayer.

This audio edition of Poustinia is read by Father Émile Brière, a priest of Madonna House who is eminently suited for this oral presentation, since he was at the author's side from the very beginning of her inspiration to bring this spirituality to the Western world from her native Russia. Father Brière brings to the reading his own experience of living as a "poustinik" in recent years, and his deep understanding of Poustinia allows him to draw out the full meaning of Catherine's words.

Reviews

“This is important material for Christians.” — AudioFile Magazine

“Of the many books on prayer that have been published in recent years, this is simply the best.” — Richard K. Weber OP

“I believe anyone who starts this book will get caught up in the fascinating style and personality of the author. She is a great Christian who has immersed herself in a long life-time synthesis of the unique Russian spirituality that becomes purified and made extremely applicable for our modern times.” — George A. Maloney SJ

“Poustinia is not a book, it is a stream of life. Catherine de Hueck Doherty's words are tried by fire—a vision that has survived forty years—a movement now become a community. She speaks of the inner journey, but she carries it into the Trinity. She speaks of silence, but a silence that is the speech and silence of God. This book will speak richly to all... But perhaps it will touch most deeply the hidden poor and hungry who have no words for the gift that sustains them—the poustinia of the heart, His presence.” — Fr. Edward J. Farrell

“Catherine de Hueck Doherty has the gift of a great and joyous faith and of making life an adventure, a pilgrimage. Her book shows us a new way of growing in the spiritual life. I'm delighted!” — Dorothy Day

About the Author

Catherine de Hueck Doherty Catherine Doherty used her heritage as a Russian Christian as a matrix for responding to the needs of Christian life and work in the modern world. Her own personal pilgrimage led her to be “poor with the poor Christ” in the slums of Toronto and in Harlem; and later to the establishing of the world-wide Madonna House Apostolate. A dedicated wife and mother, Catherine was also a prolific writer of hundreds of articles, a best-selling author of dozens of books, a renowned national speaker, and a pioneer of social justice. Catherine Doherty's cause for canonization as a saint is now under consideration by the Catholic Church.

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