Forty years ago today, on December 14, 1985, Catherine de Hueck Doherty‘s vagarious life came to its end in a cabin in the remote town of Combermere, Ontario. Born in Russia, and living through the rigours of the revolution, Catherine fled to Finland, then London, England – where she was received into the Catholic Church from ‘Orthodoxy’ – before emigrating to Toronto, Canada, where she founded ‘Freedom House’, for the poor and downtrodden. From here, she went down to America, via New York and Chicago, then back to Canada, with her second husband, Eddie Doherty (her first marriage was annulled), to Combermere, three hours north of Toronto. It was in this little town, a hamlet really, of a few homesteads – that they began Madonna House, a lay apostolate, of men and women, along with some priests – whose work in prayer and ministry has spread across the world. I for one owe them a great deal of gratitude for their help in our own apostolate of education at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College, located just north of Madonna House, on the shores of Lake Kamaniskeg, in Barry’s Bay. Any guest can stay at Madonna House, freely, so long as they live their life of work and prayer. How many souls they have helped, and help save, is beyond measure.
Much more might be said – she was the author of over thirty books and innumerable letters – but Catherine may best be described as a ‘woman in love with God’. She has been declared a ‘Servant of God’, and her cause is in process. Whether she is ever canonized, we leave to the God whom she loved, but we may pray for her intercession, and follow her example of a life lived for others.
