Madonna House Apostolate

Mission

We are pilgrims proclaiming the Second Coming of Christ, when all things will be restored to him. Like all pilgrims, we travel in poverty to find security only in Christ; journey in chastity to love and serve Christ in every person; live in obedience to be concerned only with the will of God. We are totally given to Jesus Christ through Mary, belonging to the Catholic Church and faithful to her teachings and magisterium.

Charism

We are called to be a community of love, in imitation of the Holy Family in Nazareth. From this foundation flow the works of the community to ‘restore all things in Christ.’ It is a big vision, based on a deep encounter with God. Our foundress, Catherine Doherty, described this ‘encounter’ as follows: “To live in Nazareth we must, strange as it may seem, begin with Golgotha [the Cross] and the Tomb. Then, resurrected in Him, by His grace, we shall journey to Bethlehem with the knowledge of the resurrected Christ, and live in Nazareth in expectation of the Parousia. Having this grace of knowledge, we shall understand how to do God’s will perfectly.”

Our apostolic works include the following:

• Providing food, clothing and other basic necessities for those in need, while respecting their dignity;
• Listening, intercessory prayer, friendship;
• Creating beauty with music, drama, arts, crafts;
• Farming as apostles, witnessing to the sanctity of creation;
• Manual labour and study;
• Providing year-round apostolic formation;
• Offering spiritual formation and discernment for men considering the priesthood;
• Receiving priests for a time of renewal;
• Being a bridge between Christian East and West;
• Providing opportunity for ‘poustinia,’ a ‘desert’ time of solitude, prayer and fasting;
• Serving the local Church where our many missionary field houses are located (Canada, USA, Europe, Africa, South America, Russia, the Caribbean) through the mandate given by the Bishops;
• Evangelizing through the media;
• Promoting Christian family life.