As you perhaps listen to our podcast for Catholic Vitamin M — Moments — you’ll hear the unfolding of the life of Catherine Doherty and the founding of Madonna House in Combermere, Canada. Catherine was a genius — a holy and provocative genius in her writings and teachings about how to live an intentional life — moment upon moment filled with the love of God.
Now — any busy, busy person who reads this might say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can’t stop the noise and commotion and tasks in my life. There is nothing I can do to sacramentalize the moments of my life.” And then I ask you to please listen to the interview with Fr. Pat McNulty — a priest of Madonna House. He shares some simple, foundational concepts for what can become a radical reorientation of your life from ‘busy, busy, busy’ to ‘thank You, love You, praise You’! And we can do this by making basic changes in the way we see the moments in our lives.
As we get to our home base, I’ll update this blog page with some additional thoughts on time and moments… and I’ll also share the Madonna House website links and the book titles mentioned by Fr. Pat.
Madonna House Information & Links
The formation house for Madonna House is located in Combermere, Ontario in Canada. They do welcome visitors although it isn’t a ‘retreat house’ in the typical understanding of that term. Whether for a few days or a month, you enter Madonna House and you join in their beautiful days of worship, work, meals and fraternity. Deacon Tom has been to the HQ of MH twice and to other field locations. Dee has been to HQ and we both loved it and look forward to our next visit, God willing.
To plan a visit or to discuss a possible calling to the MH way of life — here is their contact information:
2888 Dafoe Rd., Combermere, Ontario Canada K0K1L0
Phone 613-756-3713
Web address: www.madonnahouse.org
To look at the various books and audio and video publications, go to
www.madonnahouse.org/publications/index.html
Here are many of the books discussed on this show’s podcast. They are wonderful!!
Fragments of My Life: A Memoir by Catherine Doherty
Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude & Prayer by Catherine Doherty
Living the Gospel without Compromise by Catherine Doherty
Grace in Every Season Through the Year with Catherine Doherty
Donkey Bells: Advent and Christmas by Catherine Doherty
Just in this moment that these words are being typed… I am in prayer for you. Blessings.
deacon tom