Her Welcome to Priests

Her way of welcoming priests: She was always happy to see us. Whenever I entered a room where she was, she stopped whatever she was doing and came to greet me. And taught by her, the members of Madonna House stand up when we priests come to the dinner table.

Her great example helped me, not only to live my life as a priest with great confidence and joy, but also to give support to other priests.

Because of her inspiration, I welcomed into the rectory where I was pastor for twelve years many priests with different kinds of problems. I have never regretted doing so. And whenever a group of priests or deacons invites me to give them a spiritual talk, I never refuse.

Her Writings

Through her writings and talks: Convinced of the infinite treasure that our poor flesh was hiding, she would tell us priests over and over, “Don’t give us human knowledge. Other people can do that. Give us God in his Word and his sacraments.” She asked a lot of us in our call to follow Christ and live the Gospel without compromise.

Every year, before she became too ill to do so, she would give an evening talk to the associate priests during our meetings in Combermere. We were happy to listen to her, and we left Madonna House strengthened by her words which were full of fire.

She also gave witness to a living faith in the blessings of a priest. Once, when she wrote to me, she asked me to bless her when I wrote to her. Because of this, I still bless people whenever I write to them.

Her Great Faith

Catherine was a woman of great faith. It poured out from every cell in her, in what she was saying, in what she was doing, in her times of prayer, and in her silence. I don’t ever remember a conversation with her at the dinner table in which she didn’t touch the subject of faith at one moment or other.

This faith was so powerful that it touched her whole life in every ordinary aspect of it. She lived the spirit of Nazareth. It was at Madonna House, at the age of 21, that I learned that weeding in the fields on my knees under the hot sun could become a prayer if I did it in a spirit of prayer, out of love for God and my neighbor.

For her all work must be restored through a faith vision. This teaching about the life of Nazareth has guided me through all the manual and intellectual works I have done ever since then (1964).

Her Love for the Poor

Catherine had a passionate love for the poor and for evangelical poverty. The first part of the Little Mandate is about poverty, and it is obvious that, for her, solidarity with the poor is not optional for the Christian.

It was after reading about her experiences with the poor in Harlem in New York City that I was first attracted to Madonna House. And her teaching has been a light that opened my eyes to the presence of Christ in the people that a great number of people reject.

It was through the example of Madonna House and its foundress, that I was led to work with the poorest of the poor in Quebec City for twenty wonderful years.

Catherine also inspired me to give away some of my possessions. I know that I still have a long way to go on the road to poverty, but I am sure that Catherine Doherty will inspire me in the next steps I need to take.

Her Love for the Church

Her love for the Church was humble and beautiful. Catherine knew that the Church was going through a very difficult time, and she was ready to give her life for it.

Unlike many religious writers and theologians, she refused to get into “eternal” debates about the various subjects dividing the right and the left, and the “centers” and the “extremes.” And she didn’t take part in the endless criticisms of the Church.

She taught us to love the pope, the bishops, and the Church, and to offer our sufferings for the Church. And she told us that if we would change our own lives, we would brighten the life of the Church.

She continually worked for sobornost, the unity that comes from God—in her community, in other religious communities, and in the Church. Her work towards this unity through prayer inspired me to work together with the parish council and administrative bodies in making lasting decisions for our parish.

Her Eastern Spirituality

She gave a wonderful gift to the Western Church—Eastern spirituality, and she worked for the unity of East and West. The Church has two lungs, and Catherine has led every person who was ready to walk with her, to breathe with the two lungs of East and West.

She and Archbishop Raya introduced us to such Eastern realities as poustinia, sobornost, icons, urodivoi, Byzantine liturgies, and pysanky.

For me, the poustinia has become an extraordinary school in which to listen to the voice of God in silence. For more than fifteen years I have been going to the land of one of my brothers once a month for a day of prayer and fasting. This has helped me in many ways to be more conscious of the presence of Christ and his mother in my priestly life.

These are only a few of the things that I have learned from this Russian woman sent by the Lord to this land, which is in such great need of spiritual depth.

It is easy to remember what Catherine has done and been when we look at her daughter, the Madonna House community. Like mother, like daughter.

May the Church use all the ways she has in her power to use, to help both the baptized and the unbaptized from around the world to know the richness of the heritage of Catherine Doherty, a heritage which is hidden from the proud.