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Urodivoi: Holy Fools
The prophetic call of a modern fool for Christ.
Learn why humility is the foundation of the spiritual journey, and how to become one forever with the humble, glorified Christ.
"Urodivoi" is a Russian word meaning 'holy foolishness', and in this book, inspired by her Russian upbringing and the words of St. Paul, Catherine Doherty expresses her calling to this aspect of Russian spirituality, and calls us to become fools for Christ.
-- Touch the folly of the Cross--God's wisdom.
-- Know the peace of a repentant heart.
-- Receive courage to proclaim the Gospel with your life.
The soul, totally in love with God and therefore humanity, is called to become a fool, one of the humiliati, despised, poor, rejected--like Christ. This fool has the courage to go anywhere to impart the Good News. Until the end of life the soul will preach the Gospel in every circumstance, becoming one forever with the glorified Christ, and in so doing will draw a multitude to the tenderness of the heart of God.
We are invited to open the doors of our hearts to the Lord of Love, to the foolishness of the Cross, becoming a fool for the sake of Christ, even as he became a fool for our sake. "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom."
Learn why humility is the foundation of the spiritual journey, and how to become one forever with the humble, glorified Christ.
"Urodivoi" is a Russian word meaning 'holy foolishness', and in this book, inspired by her Russian upbringing and the words of St. Paul, Catherine Doherty expresses her calling to this aspect of Russian spirituality, and calls us to become fools for Christ.
-- Touch the folly of the Cross--God's wisdom.
-- Know the peace of a repentant heart.
-- Receive courage to proclaim the Gospel with your life.
The soul, totally in love with God and therefore humanity, is called to become a fool, one of the humiliati, despised, poor, rejected--like Christ. This fool has the courage to go anywhere to impart the Good News. Until the end of life the soul will preach the Gospel in every circumstance, becoming one forever with the glorified Christ, and in so doing will draw a multitude to the tenderness of the heart of God.
We are invited to open the doors of our hearts to the Lord of Love, to the foolishness of the Cross, becoming a fool for the sake of Christ, even as he became a fool for our sake. "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom."
86 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2014
6 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Catherine de Hueck Doherty
82 books41 followersEkaterina Fyodorovna Kolyschkine Doherty, better known as Catherine Doherty, CM (1896-1985) was a social activist and foundress of the Madonna House Apostolate. A pioneer of social justice and a renowned national speaker, Catherine was also a prolific writer of hundreds of articles, best-selling author of dozens of books, and a dedicated wife and mother. Her cause for canonization as a saint is under consideration by the Catholic Church.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 12, 2019
I have had a devotion to the Holy Fools, particularly St. Francis, St. Alexis of Rome, and St. Damien of Molokai for a number of years. I’ve also visited St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow - the twisty turvy, gingerbread colored church named for an equally eccentric saint, and enjoyed hearing his story. For anyone interested in the holy fool spirituality I’d highly recommend a favorite movie, The Island, about a modern Russian fool.
Catherine answers, what is so attractive about the holy fools? Why are they still necessary in our modern world?
“I want you to be a fool, the likes of which was never seen before” – St. Francis.
As Catherine says, Christ is the greatest fool of all by the world’s standards. His crowning act is voluntarily dying on the cross for love of us, for a people who so little return His love. She says, the cross shows the depth of sin and the depth of forgiveness that no other act could. The cross is a reminder of a love so strong.
It’s true as Christians our greatest boasts about God are dismissed and ridiculed as absurd. That God would be born a baby in a stable, spend years as a carpenter, spend his ministry talking to ordinary people, and then be killed naked on the cross, humiliated like a criminal. As Chesterton would say, it’s the greatest paradox. The Christian God is unlike any other God. Those who followed after him, his apostles were men sentenced to death, and put on show in front of the universe (1 Cor 4). But the good news is God loves us without measure.
The attraction of following a greatly humbled, humiliated God is how much it makes sense. Our greatest desire in life is love and communion, with God and other people. To have communion – we must be defenseless and open. As Catherine calls, we must have a change of heart – having childlike hearts. Childlike love and trust. Through God’s grace in baptism we’re given the power to love God and neighbor. God’s love lives within us. If we deeply feel and know God's love for us, the great dignity and worth He bestows on us, we too can love like fools. If we did people would say, ‘see how Christians love one another, their families, communities…’
Catherine compares the world’s standard to Christ’s foolery. She sees modern secularism having a pragmatism that leads us to despair. If we attend to our own will we’re tied up with selfishness, apathy, and do not think about our brother enough. She identifies our competitiveness as a big part of the problem. People compete, trying to climb the pyramid because they’re concerned they’ll be rejected and be ‘nobodies’. Many people feel rejected, unloved, fearful, and lonely. The pain of loneliness shows how we lack communion. Neither Marxism nor capitalism, nor any economic/political theory is the answer. How do we find our place in the world? Is it through being valued by others?
The holy fool is foolish *especially* because he does not care about being valued and esteemed by others. Catherine asserts it’s the vocation of all Christians to be indifferent to ridicule. Holy fools are non-conformists. They take a stance different that the world. A holy fool is a fool about money, giving away what they don’t really need. They’ll take courses of action you’d never dream of imagine. They forgive others generously. They’ve overcome the fears of pain, rejection, and failing. They put aside others regard for their character. They’re poor in spirit, or humble. They’re self-emptying like Christ.
A huge goal of the Christian is to experience this interior spiritual freedom. The freedom from fear, and an indifference to worldly human respect and judgments (of course they still are very concerned with what God thinks of them). A spiritual martyr of sorts. These ‘humiliati’ may be the dispossessed, forgotten, unrecognized, and rejected. They even go so far as being eccentric and enjoy practical jokes. They’re the outcasts Christ invited to the feast when the worldly rejected Christ’s invite.
They’re able to proclaim the truth in spiritual deserts. Because of their humility they can tell unpleasant truths, even correct kings. They’re the Old Testament prophets (Jonah, Nehemiah, Jeremiah), and court jesters in medieval tales. They find the courage to speak to truth when it could lead them to death – at least death to their ego. Often it’s a bitter truth of reproach. That we’ve traded in God’s love and spiritual richness for mediocrity. We should turn towards God, in need of tears of repentance.
Historically, many holy fools were more extreme in their acts of poverty. They practiced asceticism, abstinence from food & sleep, and some had an indifference to the elements. Often are poor, outcasts, with hidden personalities. They’re defenseless and accept their lowly position readily.
I think my favorite line was ‘foolishnss is a lantern to light our paths’. Catherine says to become a fool we must approach all our actions with prayer, let the waves of God’s love immerse us, and identify ourselves with Christ. We all have the strength to be fools, as Christ chose to be one for love of us. We have received without charge, now must give without charge. With the faith of a fool, we have great expectations – that miracles can take place. That a richer joy is found in giving.
The greatest heroes even the world revers are fools. They’re those who risk their lives for others, including strangers. Policemen, firefighters, soldiers, or civilians who act seemingly on impulse to save strangers.
Catherine is a fiery, passionate writer. She definitely chastises the reader a bit in her call for Christians to be fools for Christ, but she’s taken a difficult path in following Christ and has earned respect for that. She has a number of meditations of being with Christ on the cross, waiting alone in the wilderness, and climbing a mountain to look down on the loveless state of the world. She makes no qualms about feeling the pain of the cross – the pain of disconnection and rejection she experiences from people. But she says she experiences the joy of Easter, Christ’s eternal love too. There is the Christian spiritual cycle in life of the pain of the cross and the joy of Easter communion.
Catherine answers, what is so attractive about the holy fools? Why are they still necessary in our modern world?
“I want you to be a fool, the likes of which was never seen before” – St. Francis.
As Catherine says, Christ is the greatest fool of all by the world’s standards. His crowning act is voluntarily dying on the cross for love of us, for a people who so little return His love. She says, the cross shows the depth of sin and the depth of forgiveness that no other act could. The cross is a reminder of a love so strong.
It’s true as Christians our greatest boasts about God are dismissed and ridiculed as absurd. That God would be born a baby in a stable, spend years as a carpenter, spend his ministry talking to ordinary people, and then be killed naked on the cross, humiliated like a criminal. As Chesterton would say, it’s the greatest paradox. The Christian God is unlike any other God. Those who followed after him, his apostles were men sentenced to death, and put on show in front of the universe (1 Cor 4). But the good news is God loves us without measure.
The attraction of following a greatly humbled, humiliated God is how much it makes sense. Our greatest desire in life is love and communion, with God and other people. To have communion – we must be defenseless and open. As Catherine calls, we must have a change of heart – having childlike hearts. Childlike love and trust. Through God’s grace in baptism we’re given the power to love God and neighbor. God’s love lives within us. If we deeply feel and know God's love for us, the great dignity and worth He bestows on us, we too can love like fools. If we did people would say, ‘see how Christians love one another, their families, communities…’
Catherine compares the world’s standard to Christ’s foolery. She sees modern secularism having a pragmatism that leads us to despair. If we attend to our own will we’re tied up with selfishness, apathy, and do not think about our brother enough. She identifies our competitiveness as a big part of the problem. People compete, trying to climb the pyramid because they’re concerned they’ll be rejected and be ‘nobodies’. Many people feel rejected, unloved, fearful, and lonely. The pain of loneliness shows how we lack communion. Neither Marxism nor capitalism, nor any economic/political theory is the answer. How do we find our place in the world? Is it through being valued by others?
The holy fool is foolish *especially* because he does not care about being valued and esteemed by others. Catherine asserts it’s the vocation of all Christians to be indifferent to ridicule. Holy fools are non-conformists. They take a stance different that the world. A holy fool is a fool about money, giving away what they don’t really need. They’ll take courses of action you’d never dream of imagine. They forgive others generously. They’ve overcome the fears of pain, rejection, and failing. They put aside others regard for their character. They’re poor in spirit, or humble. They’re self-emptying like Christ.
A huge goal of the Christian is to experience this interior spiritual freedom. The freedom from fear, and an indifference to worldly human respect and judgments (of course they still are very concerned with what God thinks of them). A spiritual martyr of sorts. These ‘humiliati’ may be the dispossessed, forgotten, unrecognized, and rejected. They even go so far as being eccentric and enjoy practical jokes. They’re the outcasts Christ invited to the feast when the worldly rejected Christ’s invite.
They’re able to proclaim the truth in spiritual deserts. Because of their humility they can tell unpleasant truths, even correct kings. They’re the Old Testament prophets (Jonah, Nehemiah, Jeremiah), and court jesters in medieval tales. They find the courage to speak to truth when it could lead them to death – at least death to their ego. Often it’s a bitter truth of reproach. That we’ve traded in God’s love and spiritual richness for mediocrity. We should turn towards God, in need of tears of repentance.
Historically, many holy fools were more extreme in their acts of poverty. They practiced asceticism, abstinence from food & sleep, and some had an indifference to the elements. Often are poor, outcasts, with hidden personalities. They’re defenseless and accept their lowly position readily.
I think my favorite line was ‘foolishnss is a lantern to light our paths’. Catherine says to become a fool we must approach all our actions with prayer, let the waves of God’s love immerse us, and identify ourselves with Christ. We all have the strength to be fools, as Christ chose to be one for love of us. We have received without charge, now must give without charge. With the faith of a fool, we have great expectations – that miracles can take place. That a richer joy is found in giving.
The greatest heroes even the world revers are fools. They’re those who risk their lives for others, including strangers. Policemen, firefighters, soldiers, or civilians who act seemingly on impulse to save strangers.
Catherine is a fiery, passionate writer. She definitely chastises the reader a bit in her call for Christians to be fools for Christ, but she’s taken a difficult path in following Christ and has earned respect for that. She has a number of meditations of being with Christ on the cross, waiting alone in the wilderness, and climbing a mountain to look down on the loveless state of the world. She makes no qualms about feeling the pain of the cross – the pain of disconnection and rejection she experiences from people. But she says she experiences the joy of Easter, Christ’s eternal love too. There is the Christian spiritual cycle in life of the pain of the cross and the joy of Easter communion.
January 7, 2024
“In our daily, nitty-gritty life there are a thousand possibilities a day to be fools for Christ.“
This was the perfect book to kick off the year. In the midst of reflection and goal setting, it reminded me of what’s most important and is helping realign my heart to God’s priorities.
This was the perfect book to kick off the year. In the midst of reflection and goal setting, it reminded me of what’s most important and is helping realign my heart to God’s priorities.
June 11, 2022
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3
November 16, 2009
THis book is a must read for anyone who is or who has ever found themselves feeling foolish for their belief in God and His Church.
And who hasn't?
This book is an explanation of what being a fool for Christ is about.
And who hasn't?
This book is an explanation of what being a fool for Christ is about.
March 1, 2014
Wonderful little book. Feels like you're sitting in the room with Catherine listening to her one on one. Almost too short, but easier to read again and again. Especially good for anyone going through struggles and feeling exhausted trying to fight the good fight.
March 6, 2016
It is asked..."who can ascend the mountain of God?" Well the author answers that question quite well. She also shows the consequences of not ascending that mountain. Truly this is a voice calling out in the wilderness.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews