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Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics Vol.1)
by
Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer
The renowned modern spiritual classic!
Catherine Doherty brings readers the profound traditions of Christian spirituality surrounding the Russian word poustinia, which means desert. Catherine combines her insights into the great spiritual traditions of the Russian Church with her very personal experience of life w
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Paperback, 199 pages
Published
January 1st 2000
by Madonna House Publications
(first published 1975)
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Start your review of Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics Vol.1)
Feb 13, 2009
booklady
rated it
it was amazing
Recommended to booklady by:
Jennifer D
Shelves:
autobiography,
hagiography,
education,
history,
non-fiction,
philosophy,
prayer,
psychology,
religion,
scripture
After spending several un-quiet weeks with this profoundly quiet book, I think/hope it is finally starting to exert a positive influence over my life. A ‘poustinia’—for those who may not be familiar with the term is a Russian word—literally translates, “desert”, but actually means many different things depending on how it is used. It can describe quiet, lonely places, set apart from the world where special people go to seek God and live out their lives in prayer and solitude. It is also the word
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Of the utmost importance. I would like to buy a crate full of volumes of this book. I would hand them out to everyone and say, "go find a silent hole and read man."
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Catherine Doherty offers insights into the contemplative life from a Russian perspective. Much of what she has to say is very good, but I have two strong criticisms. The first is that the book is too long by half. It is divided into four parts, and there is nothing said in the third and fourth that had not already been communicated in the first two. The other is that I fundamentally disagree with her repeated assertions that the Russian notion of contemplation is so very different than (and supe
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For the last few years I have been talking and writing a great deal about silence, solitude, and deserts, and I will continue to write about them because I think they are vitally important to our growing, changing, technological, urban civilization. It is obvious that humanity is facing many problems, will have to face many more, and that these problems are deeply disturbing the souls of all men. It is just as certain that we cannot, must not, reject the new, strange, adventuresome, frightening
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Another of my 'recovery' books. This books bears re-reading. It is a search into silence; God's silence and how to find it even when one is not a monastic type.
Doherty's style is compelling and really draws one into what she is saying. ...more
Doherty's style is compelling and really draws one into what she is saying. ...more
All (5?) of these are worth reading
Why doesn't Goodreads had a re-read category?
Have just re-read Poustinia.......
There is something in this book that really speaks to me.......
Will be re-reading the others in this series....... ...more
Why doesn't Goodreads had a re-read category?
Have just re-read Poustinia.......
There is something in this book that really speaks to me.......
Will be re-reading the others in this series....... ...more
I'll let you know when I'm finished, but at this point, this book has done more to awaken me to the seriousness of the Christian responsibility than any other book has.
...more
A splendid introduction to Russian Orthodox spirituality for those who may be unfamiliar with the tradition.
The book that changed my life forever. Literally.
A very beautiful and simple book. It shows through Catherine Doherty that God is found in the desert, but the desert takes a certain kenosis, or emptying of ourselves, to enter. Not only can the desert be a physical place we enter (a place of solitude and silence), but there can also be a desert of the heart. Very important book for all who seek closeness with God and who desire to love men as God lobes them!
I read while I was staying in a hermitage for 3 days. So powerful in my time of silence with God!
Although I have known of Catherine Doherty for a while, I had never felt drawn to find out more about her until I came across Thomas Merton's description of her in The Seven Storey Mountain. Curious about the woman who had so deeply impressed Thomas Merton and whose description had also impressed and intrigued me, I started reading up about her and eventually purchased this book to read her in her own voice.
This is a book of unvarnished and simple truths about encountering God in "the desert" (i ...more
This is a book of unvarnished and simple truths about encountering God in "the desert" (i ...more
Poustinia is a Russian word signifying desert, and in Russian Orthodoxy it is accepted practice for those called, to leave their life and to seek God in such a desert. These deserts are usually humble cottages where the poustinik prays, reads the Bible and seeks God's will.
The author Catherine Doherty is a Russian emigre to Canada, and a convert to Catholicism. Here she explains the idea of the Poustinia, charts her own journey as a Poustinik, and draws out anecdotes from the Catholic Poustinia ...more
The author Catherine Doherty is a Russian emigre to Canada, and a convert to Catholicism. Here she explains the idea of the Poustinia, charts her own journey as a Poustinik, and draws out anecdotes from the Catholic Poustinia ...more
Listened to this on CD. Intriguing and lovely. Mystical , a bit rambling. So deep, I can't say I absorbed it all. But it is excellent Lenten reading. About spiritual deserts, physical or interior, and seeking God there. She is a fascinating woman. Somewhat akin to Dorothy Day. Converted from Russian Orthodox to Catholic. But very Eastern in her spirituality. Sought out the poor, chose to live with them and help them. Russian aristocrat who survived the revolution, got to England, then settled in
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This was an interesting invitation to meditation and I took it. She had me praying in ways I needed to pray. It was interesting to have the Russian practices of solitude highlighted. For those things I recommend it. Unfortunately, I had to overlook how much the book was about Catherine Doherty as she told her story. It seemed a bit too much about Catherine and I am not sure she warranted such scrutiny.
Somehow I encountered this book. Now having read it it am convinced that the Holy Spirit led me to it. It has transformed the way I view my life and prayer entirely. I have read many books on prayer but learning about the Poustinia of the Heart has left me in tears of joy and experiencing a deeper peace than I ever thought possible. I can’t recommend this book enough.
Catherine de Hueck Doherty comes from Russia. In here second marriage she came to Ontario and founded Madonna House a spiritual center. This book is really about her life and spirituality after founding this spiritual center. It is a book of Christian spirituality of the East for Western man. It has a lot of very good wisdom and is worth the read.
This book will always be in my top five. It came into my life at the right moment (literally held out my hand in the dark and asked God to guide me to a book the first night I arrived as a lay volunteer at a retreat house in Scotland). This book taught me how to pray.
Even for those who do not consider themselves " the silent type," this book is an important read. It exposes the cultural deficit of space and place necessary to our relationship with God and healthy interiority.
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From the first sentence to the last , this book was dry. I was constantly trying to enter into a conversation that felt circular and disjointed. How many times can you use the word ‘Poustinia’ in a paragraph?
Definitely not a writer, but very much a spiritual person. I enjoyed her reflections on the dark night of the soul, though much less so her style of writing.
Worth a read if you wish to enter into poustinia one day, but not the best spiritual writing out there.
Worth a read if you wish to enter into poustinia one day, but not the best spiritual writing out there.
One of the wisest books I've read in a long time.
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Amazing. Transformational. Need to re-read. And soak.
Marvellous - the most read book by one of my favourite spiritual teachers.
Excellent book calling us to deep prayer and solitude. I have not read it for many years but I think it is past time for me to reread it once again. It's message is very important for me.
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Ilvr his book. Probably read it twenty times!
Reminds me that simplified is better for my soul.and serenity!
Reminds me that simplified is better for my soul.and serenity!
Helpful aid to a practice of solitude and silence as vocation
An interesting account about how a historically Russian spiritual practice was brought to North America by the author. Part memoir part how-to.
An interesting account about how a historically Russian spiritual practice was brought to North America by the author. Part memoir part how-to.
Catherine drawing on what she learned as a child has a wonderful effect on her ministry and her love of humanity. This book filled with stories and heart-wrenching moments will move us all to a life of justice and peace.
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Ekaterina Fyodorovna Kolyschkine Doherty, better known as Catherine Doherty, CM (1896-1985) was a social activist and foundress of the Madonna House Apostolate. A pioneer of social justice and a renowned national speaker, Catherine was also a prolific writer of hundreds of articles, best-selling author of dozens of books, and a dedicated wife and mother. Her cause for canonization as a saint is un
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