When Catherine de Huek Doherty, the exiled Russian Baroness turned Canadian Mother Theresa speaks about the Gospel without compromise, she means it literally. There is no compromise with Catherine when it comes to submitting oneself to Christ and serving him through the poor while deepening one's life of prayer in humble obedience to the Church. Okay, that last sentence was a handful; but so is this book.

In this work, Catherine calls us first to prayer, secondly to submission to our legitimate Church authority, and thirdly to serve the poor. In so doing, we live the Gospel without compromise. As she broadens these themes, Catherine's Russian background combines with her experience serving the poor in North American inner cities as well as her silent spiritual retreats in the Canadian wilderness to provide the reader with fresh insight into the spiritual life. From this, a theme of servitude emerges, in which we serve both God and our fellow man out of love of the cross.

I strongly recommend this book.

This book left my family and I breathless with regards to its noble simplicity, spiritual depth and excellent story-telling. It is truly one of Catherine's classics. This book is divided into three parts, each of them equally soulwarming, all of which build upon Christ's usage of the parable to teach a spiritual truth.

The first part retells a number of Russian spiritual parable Catherine remembers from her youth before the Communist revolution forced her from her home.

The second part is series of tales recounting God's providence and men's conversion during the the Great Depression era when Catherine ran Friendship House in the inner cities to feed (both physically and spiritually) the poor and homeless. From the touching story of a young couple with a baby who showed up homeless like the Holy Family on Catherine's doorstep Christ Mass Eve to the atheist who, after God answered his challenge, discerned a vocation to priesthood -- the reader is left spiritually inspired.

The third part is a series of parables dealing with Christian virtue which Catherine wrote to assist a holy Trappist monk who was recuperating at Madonna House after suffering a series of severe seizures.

All are heartwarming stories which can be shared with the family.

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.

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.

Born at the turn of the century into the wealth and luxury of Russian nobility, condemned to death during the Bolshevik Revolution, an immigrant to North America, friend of the rich and famous, victim of an unhappy marriage and divorce, foundress of the Friendship Houses of America and the Madonna Houses throughout the world, a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement and a woman passionately in love with God, Catherine de Hueck Doherty remains an enigma ten years after her death. Considered a saint by some (her cause is under consideration) and a charlatan by others, hers is an undeniably extraordinary story.