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I was fixing supper one evening, with the TV blaring in the background, when I heard a woman’s voice say, "There’s no phone, no radio, no TV, and it’s quiet for twenty-four hours." That caught my attention, and I turned to watch.
The speaker was from Madonna House, a community founded by Catherine de Hueck Doherty, whose cause for canonization was opened in 2000. She was explaining a type of quiet, solitary retreat called a poustinia, a Russian word meaning “desert.” She lived at a nearby Madonna House outreach that offered a quiet place where people could come to fast, pray, and meet God in silence. You needn’t be Catholic to make a poustinia, she added. Everyone was welcome.
My life was filled with noise, and a quiet respite sounded appealing. And so, though I had abandoned my Catholic faith, I called the next day to arrange for my own poustinia. It turned out to be calming, restful—and more. A simple room was provided, containing only a bed, table, chair, and a Bible. I fasted on tea and bread. There was…
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