By Renée Wilson Catherine was born in Nizhny-Novgorod, Russia, on August 15, 1896 to wealthy and deeply Christian parents. She was baptized Orthodox and later became Roman Catholic. Both perspectives influenced her faith as she grew up. All throughout her life she knew Jesus and understood that we are called to live holy in our everyday lives. At the age of just 15 years old she got married to her cousin Boris, and soon after they were both sent to World War I. Catherine was a nurse and Boris an engineer.
Their lives were pretty much destroyed by the Russian Revolution because most of their family was killed and they lost the only place they knew as home. She blamed this on Christians who claimed to follow Jesus, but neglected to serve others in his name. Later she and Boris fled to Canada where their child George was born. In the years to come they experienced immense poverty which created struggles for Catherine to support her husband and her child. Eventually her marriage to Boris fell apart and was annulled by the church. She began travelling across North America as a speaker and started to become very wealthy. However, her soul was not at peace and she felt a call from the Lord saying “sell all that you have and come and follow me.” On October 15, 1930 Catherine decided to give her life to Jesus and she refers to this day as the day that she began her apostolate. A short while later she sold all that she had to support George and went to go live in the slums of Toronto living as a lay apostle of Christ among the poorest of people. After feeling convicted to share the gospel as her life’s mission others began to follow her way of living. The friendship house was then created which was a group of people who lived by the example of St. Francis of Assisi. They collected food and items for the poor and they even tried to speak out against communism. Unfortunately due to false rumours condemning the work of the friendship house, it had to close its doors in 1936. Catherine felt like her life’s work had failed and then left Toronto. Later a second friendship house was opened in Harlem, but sadly after a while that failed for Catherine as well. Catherine was destroyed by her failures with the friendship house. On May 17, 1947, a few years after marrying her second husband Eddie Doherty, they moved to Combermere, Ontario, where Catherine thought she would retire. However, she began to serve others as a nurse and with the help of Eddie established a training centre for those who wanted to live as a Catholic lay apostolate. Catherine’s passion to share the gospel with others pushed her forward in her life and once again was recognized by others who were inspired by her way of living. And in 1951 her and those who joined her were asked by the pope to consider making this a permanent commitment. In 1954, the people living in Combermere took to a permanent vocation of poverty, chastity and obedience. This resulted in the formation of the Madonna house. Later on Catherine and her husband took vows of chastity and stayed celibate for the rest of their lives. Catherine’s passion and vision of sharing the gospel and restoring the church led to many more Madonna houses being established all around the world. Catherine introduced the concept of poustinia which translates to desert. It refers to a place where an individual meets God through fasting, praying and solitude. Once not known or practiced by the western world but now recognized by most of the world. Later as a response to increasing individualism she called the Madonna house to sobornost which means deep unity of heart and mind in the Holy Spirit. Catherine Doherty died on December 14, 1985 after suffering a long term illness. She left behind a strong community and mission who is working to spread the gospel and be the hands of Christ all over the world. Her life’s work is considered as a beacon of hope for the new century. Catherine Doherty, Servant of God, pray for us!
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PulsePulse is our Jr High group (Grades 6-9) for those who want to be journeying to learn more about God and how He fits into this crazy thing called life! From Saint of the Day to talks to activities, we work to understand more about our faith and its importance in our everyday lives as we all work to become modern day saints. Categories
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