Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics) [Paperback]

Catherine De Hueck Doherty (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0921440545 | ISBN-13: 978-0921440543 | Publication Date: January 1, 2000 | Edition: 3rd edition

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 fulfills 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.

A timeless best-seller, published in 16 foreign editions around the world, the experience of poustinia has become a worldwide phenomenon following its publicity through this popular book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

Classics are rarer than precious gems, so it is a delight to discover a new one... One finds a refreshing and startling Christian authenticity in Doherty's writing. --Christian Century

About the Author

Catherine de Hueck Doherty was born in Russia on August 15, 1896. Her parents, Theodore and Emma Kolyschkine, who belonged to the minor nobility, were devout members of the Orthodox Church and had their child baptized in St. Petersburg on September 15.

Schooled abroad because of her father's job, she and her family returned to St. Petersburg in 1910, where she was enrolled in the prestigious Princess Obolensky Academy. In 1912, aged 15, she made what turned out to be a disastrous marriage with her first cousin, Boris de Hueck. At the outbreak of World War I, Catherine became a Red Cross nurse at the front, experiencing the horrors of battle firsthand. On her return to St. Petersburg, she and Boris barely escaped the turmoil of the Russian Revolution with their lives, nearly starving to death as refugees in Finland. Together they made their way to England, where Catherine was received into the Catholic Church on November 27, 1919.

Emigrating to Canada with Boris, Catherine gave birth to their only child, George, in Toronto in 1921. Soon she and Boris became more and more painfully estranged from one another, as he pursued extramarital affairs. To make ends meet, Catherine took various jobs and eventually became a lecturer, travelling a circuit that took her across North America. Prosperous now, but deeply dissatisfied with a life of material comfort, her marriage in ruins, she began to feel the promptings of a deeper call through a passage that leaped to her eyes every time she opened the Scriptures: "Arise, go... sell all you possess... take up your cross and follow me." Consulting with various priests and the bishop of the diocese, she began her lay apostolate among the poor in Toronto in the early 1930's, calling it Friendship House.

Because her approach was so different from what was being done at the time, she encountered much persecution and resistance, and Friendship House was forced to close in 1936. Catherine then went to Europe and spent a year investigating Catholic Action. On her return, she was given the chance to revive Friendship House in New York City among the poor in Harlem. After that she was invited to open another Friendship House in Chicago. In 1943, having received an annulment of her first marriage, she married Eddie Doherty, one of America's foremost reporters, who had fallen in love with her while writing a story about her apostolate.

Meanwhile, serious disagreements had arisen between the staff of Friendship House and its foundress. When these could not be resolved, Catherine and Eddie moved to Combermere, Ontario, Canada on May 17, 1947, naming their new rural apostolate Madonna House. This was to be the seedbed of an apostolate that now numbers more than 200 staff workers and over 125 associate priests, deacons, and bishops, with 22 field-houses throughout the world. Catherine Doherty died on December 14, 1985 in Combermere at the age of 89. Since then, the cause for Catherine's beatification has been officially opened.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Madonna House Pubns; 3rd edition edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0921440545
• ISBN-13: 978-0921440543
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once in a lifetime..., February 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics) (Paperback)

Catherine Doherty's book, 'Poustinia', is one of those one-in-a-million books which will change the way you look at life. This book has had a profound influnce on me -- my life as a Catholic Christian has blossomed, and my relationship with God has been profoundly deepened. I heartily recommend this book to all who seek peace.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find the quiet of the hermitage in the modern marketplace, August 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Poustinia: Christian Spirituality of the East for Western Man (Paperback)

This wonderful guide to the spirituality of the East has new meaning since the reopening of Russia and the rebirth of religious expression there. I bought this book several years ago and found the message both practical and uplifting. I just read the book again and have been amazed at the new level of meaning that has surfaced, a result of my life experience since the first read in the mid-1970's. If you seek peace and a method to share peace with those around you, this text will become a reference and guide.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Meditation, June 3, 2009

By 

J. C. Muller "JCM" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics) (Paperback)

This was my introduction to Catherine Dougherty - a real, joyful and sober saint of our times. Poustinia is an excellent reflection on prayer from the Eastern, Catholic tradition. There are many spiritual treasures and insights found within these pages, the Church is so rich! Anyone thirsting for contemplation and intimacy with the Lord would most certainly like this book. In Poustinia lies a pearl of great price.