Catherine Booth 
(1703-1791)

“I see more than ever the need of making righteous people true in their inward parts. Let us be more thorough than ever with souls under conviction. Let us not be afraid to wound too deeply. Thousands of professors have never been truly convinced of sin, much less truly converted. Sin to them is being found out!”
--Catherine Booth
 

More Online Resources

Biography on Wikipedia

Salvation Army USA

Writings
including "Women's Right to Preach"

 Godliness by
Catherine Booth

Catherine Booth:  Salvation Army Mother

The Salvation Army was founded by William (1829-1912) and Catherine Booth (1829-1890). This husband and wife were such people of faith and so filled with the hope and vision of God that they could see the potential in people whom others called the worst dregs of society. Their lives were dedicated to others’ salvation.

One day Catherine received word from her doctor that she had terminal cancer. She went home and told her husband. He said later, “I was stunned. I felt as if the whole world were coming to a standstill. Opposite me, on the wall, was a picture of Christ on the cross. I thought I could understand it then, as never before. She talked to me like an angel; she talked as she had never talked before. I could say little or nothing. I could only kneel with her and try to pray.”

During the final months of her life, she tried to continue her work as long as she was able, until finally weakness forced her to be confined to her bed. Delegations of Salvation Army recruits came to hear her words of wisdom and witness her incredible peace as she waited to pass on.

Catherine Booth died at the age of 61 after a lifetime of dedication to others for the cause of Christ. As she passed, she was full of hope, fearless, and ready for the next world she knew so well. She said:

“My dear children and Friends, I have loved you so much, and in God’s strength have helped you a little. Now, at His call, I am going away from you. The War must go on. Self-Denial will prove your love to Christ. All must do something. I send you my blessing. Fight on, and God be with you. Victory comes at last.
I will meet you in Heaven.” 
 
Her son Bramwell Booth wrote of his mother’s passing:

“Soon after noon, I felt the deepening darkness of the long valley of the shadows was closing around my dear mother, and a little later I took my last farewell. Her lips moved, and she gave me one look of inexpressible tenderness and trust, which will live with me for ever. Again we sang:

“ ‘My mistakes His free grace doth cover,
My sins He doth wash away;
These feet which shrink and falter
Shall enter the Gates of Day.’ ” 

Her family had seen her dedication to her family, her Lord, other Christians, and sinners who were lost. She served each day as if it could be her last, and one day it was.

You prepare for heaven by creating the environment of Heaven in your heart. You have private fellowship with God. You grow in the character of Christ, preparing to be His Bride. You submit to authority and stay in fellowship with a local church (the Salvation Army is a church). As you read through this book, you write in your journal about God’s Word and document how you spend your time each day.

When Catherine Booth died, everything in her life had been written in a book in heaven. Imagine her rewards when she met the Lord and He said, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).