Catherine de Hueck Doherty > Quotes

“What you do matters — but not much. What you are matters tremendously.”
― Catherine Doherty

“The duty of the moment is what you should be doing at any given time, in whatever place God has put you.

You may not have Christ in a homeless person at your door, but you may have a little child.

If you have a child, your duty of the moment may be to change a dirty diaper.

So you do it.

But you don't just change that diaper, you change it to the best of your ability, with great love for both God and that child....

There are all kinds of good Catholic things you can do, but whatever they are, you have to realize that there is always the duty of the moment to be done.

And it must be done, because the duty of the moment is the duty of God.”
― Catherine Doherty

“It's through the cross that we reach the resurrection. We should be absolutely sure of this truth, and we should keep this cross hidden and not place it on the shoulders of others. It is our cross we have to carry. It is the one God has given us to go through into His resurrection. This is the one we should keep hidden.

But there are crosses and crosses, some of our own making. These we should immediately discard. Some permitted by God for our sanctification. These we can share for they are also for the sanctification of others. True, we can help to carry other people's crosses and they can help to carry our crosses, but the operative word is "hidden."

The Lord said, "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men," and "When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Mt 6:16-18)

Our very hiddenness becomes a light if we do not complain, if we carry our cross manfully, ready to help in the carrying of other people's crosses. Then we become a light to our neighbour's feet because we become an icon of Christ—shining!”
― Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Sobornost: Experiencing Unity of Mind, Heart and Soul

“The endless pursuit of new life styles or academic degrees and recognition is not the way to priestly happiness.”
― Catherine Doherty

“There is no sobornost without crucifixion, because it is through pain that one acquires that deep knowledge that has nothing to do with books and education… that deep knowledge that is given by God and by God alone that builds the foundation of unity. People thus united are transparent, and it is in those depths that one finds, I repeat, the foundation of sobornost… of unity.”
― Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Sobornost: Experiencing Unity of Mind, Heart and Soul

“For those who have ears to hear, the ‘fiat’ she constantly repeated at the foot of the cross was not only a song of mourning but also a hymn of gladness. For she must have understood that, by becoming the mother of God, she had become the mother of all men and women. Perhaps this was just a nebulous thought in her mind at the moment. But suddenly his voice sounded above her, confirming it by saying to John the Beloved, who was standing there with her, “Behold your mother!” And to her he said, “Behold your son!” And her nebulous thought was clarified. She knew, with her whole being, that she was the mother of all men and women, as well as the mother of God. And then her son, bowing his head, gave up his spirit. There, before the cross, she tasted martyrdom. That is why tradition calls her the Queen of Martyrs. She sat down. On what? A stone? A piece of wood? We don’t know. They put her dead son in her arms and she became the Pietà. Her human heart might have been broken, but her face was serene, because now she knew! She knew who she was and why the Son of God had been born to her. She must have known that she was going to be the ultimate example of sobornost—going to be sobornost itself. Adam and Eve had walked with God in the cool of the evening and talked to him in the garden, in wonderful sobornost. But Mary was the new Eve, who held God in her arms; and her will and his will were one! Yes, she had become sobornost itself, for to be plunged into the divine will of God is the very essence of sobornost. If we listen carefully, we will hear The Prayer of the Presence of God and The Jesus Prayer blending into one in Mary’s heart. They become a song in which ‘fiat’ and ‘alleluia’ blend constantly, because Mary has shown us how to live sobornost deeply, both in profound sorrow and in profound joy.”
― Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Sobornost: Eastern Unity of Mind and Heart for Western Man