Robert_Wild_-_Catherine_Doherty_Servant_of_God

Combermere
Before she came to Combermere in 1947 she had
tried, by the spoken word and by her various works of
charity, to achieve this ideal of restoring all things in
Christ. But it was always fragmented and partial. When
she arrived in Combermere another vision loomed on her
spiritual horizon: the total restoration of a Christian culture
on a very small scale. In this new beginning she would
try, at least in one portion of the vineyard, to create a community
life totally immersed in the gospel.
Catherine’s way of discerning the Lord’s will was to follow
him one step at a time. She believed that he spoke in
persons and events. When she arrived back in Canada in
1947 with her second husband Eddie Doherty, she didn’t
have in mind the large establishment one presently sees.
But it was in the Lord’s mind.
Coming from Russia, she loved the rural aspect of
Ontario. She and her first husband had worked with the
British forces in Murmansk in 1918. When they arrived in
England they were given the choice of emigrating to any
country in the Commonwealth. They chose Canada
because it was the closest in climate and natural beauty to
their beloved Russia. In this context, Catherine often
mentioned “the birches.”
The Russians love space. In Canada, as in Russia, there
was plenty of it: space to plant a garden, trees, and have
bee hives; space to have cows and a farm; space to have
handicrafts and search for mushrooms. In short, an abundance
of space to create something like the estate she grew
up on in Russia. In fact, when her brother Andre came to
Combermere for the first time, one of his comments was:
“Why, this is just like Russia!”
The Christian vision she had carried with her into exile
now had the possibility of implementation. Just as her
mother taught her how to sew and cook and farm, and
that these tasks were holy, so now Catherine taught the
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