Catherine Doherty brings readers the profound traditions of Christian spirituality surrounding the Russian word poustinia, which means "desert."

Men and women who desire communion with God can discover how the poustinia powerfully fulfills their yearning. Readaers are invited to leave the noise and harried pace of daily life to enter a place of silence and solitude. The author writes from her own experience with refreshing and startling Christian authenticity and a strong personal sence of spiritual authority.

Learn how to create a hermitage in which you can taste the joy of Christian solitude, and meet God face to face in the midst of a godless world.

Catherine emphasizes 'poustinia of the heart,' an interiorized poustinia, a silent chamber carried always and everywhere in which to contemplate God within. Learn how our desert can be in the marketplace, in the midst of countless conferences, traffic jams, bus trips -- or a hospital ward. Written by one who knows by experience, Poustinia brings consolation with its vision of a personal desert that can bloom in simple, profound prayer.

An essential guide to Eastern Christian spirituality for westerners.

"Of the many books on prayer that have been published in recent years, this is simply the best." -- Richard K. Weber, O.P.