A REVOLUTION NAMED DAY | KAIROS GLOBAL | JUNE 2024

Author: Neha Antony Akkara

Intro: Kairos Global is happy to announce a new series on famous converts to Catholicism, written by Neha Antony Akkara. In this first article, she writes about Dorothy Day.

Dorothy Day

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

Dorothy Day was born on 8 November 1897. She did not belong to a religious household. Even though her father always carried a Bible and frequently quoted verses from it, he lacked faith. Her mother had little to no influence on her spiritual life. Her most meaningful spiritual encounter occurred when she visited a neighbour’s home. She had gone to her friend Kaytlin's house to invite her out to play but when Dorothy entered the house, she noticed that the front porch was empty. She entered the house and noticed that the kitchen was clean and the dishes were done. Dorothy entered the front room after realising the house was empty. Mrs Barrett, Kaytlin's mother, was on her knees saying her prayers. When she saw Dorothy, she told her that the kids had gone to the store before turning to continue praying. Dorothy Day later describes in one of her books about the flood of gratitude and happiness she feels when she thinks of that family. She later realised that God had been pursuing her long before she herself was aware of it.

Years passed and at the age of 16, she enrolled at the University of Illinois and joined the university’s socialist party. Even though the literary works she read helped her keep her faith in God, she rejected religion, believing it did nothing to alleviate the plight of the poor and desperate. Dorothy was imprisoned after accompanying a group of female suffragists to the White House to protest the mistreatment of fellow suffragists in jail. She participated in a hunger strike and suffered from severe mental and emotional distress. ‘What was right and wrong? I lay there in complete confusion and misery’ (Long Loneliness, p. 78). Dorothy then turned to religion and requested for a Bible and read the book of Psalms. Despite receiving the much-needed comfort, she did not want to return to God in her defeated state. She abandoned religion following the hunger strike's success.

Dorothy lived a bohemian lifestyle during these years. The suicide of one of her close friends devastated her. She had relationships with several men and even had an abortion, fearing that the man she loved would abandon her. She writes in her books that she would occasionally visit churches, as she felt haunted by God.

Natural Happiness

Soon she published her autobiographical novel, The Eleventh Virgin, which was a huge success. With her earnings from the book, she purchased a beach house where she could both study and write. Later, she married Forster Batterham, a man who shared her political views. Until then Dorothy believed that she was barren due to the trauma of her previous abortion. She was overjoyed when she discovered she was pregnant. Dorothy's spiritual awakening occurred during her pregnancy. She desired two things: to appreciate creation and to have a relationship with God. Her pregnancy made her feel clean and refreshed, allowing her to start all over. In the soil of her gratitude, the seed of her faith grew. However, Foster opposed bringing children into the world, which caused friction between them. During her pregnancy, she decided to baptise her child, Tamar Teresa. Dorothy felt compelled to pursue religion during this peaceful period. She kept a rosary in her pocket and even had a statue of Mother Mary with her. Forster became dismayed when she started attending Sunday Mass. According to Forster, religion was a form of morbid escapism.

One day, Dorothy happened to meet a nun, Sr Aloysia Mary Mulhern while walking down the street. Dorothy inquired about how she could be baptised. Sr Aloysia taught Dorothy the catechism and gave her religious magazines to read. On 28 December 1927, Dorothy Day was baptised into the Catholic Church at the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians. Sister Aloysia was her godparent. Following Tamar and Dorothy's baptisms, the relationship between Forster and Dorothy grew more stressed. He would frequently leave them for extended periods of time. He remained silent whenever she mentioned religion. She describes it as a heartbreaking experience to leave her partner so that her child could grow in faith. 

Dorothy writes in one of her books that she went to the national shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. ‘There I offered up a special prayer, a prayer which came with tears and with anguish, that some way would open up for me to use what talents I possessed for my fellow workers, for the poor’ (Long Loneliness, p. 166).

Love is the Measure

Shortly after, Dorothy went to New York where she met Peter Maurin, a man who was inspired by St Francis of Assisi. They co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement, which aimed to help those suffering because of the Great Depression. Maurin also played a pivotal role in completing her Catholic education. Through the newspaper Dorothy found a medium to express the vision that they shared.

The Catholic Worker Newspaper was first published on 1 May 1933. Peter and Dorothy hoped that the newspaper would have an impact on the Catholic workers, who were chastised for their lack of morality and suffered from poverty. The newspaper's success was evident when donations of all kinds started to pour in. With the help of these donations, Peter and Dorothy soon established the movements’ very first hospitality house. As time passed there were 33 Catholic Worker farms and houses throughout the country. These houses provided food and shelter to people suffering during the depression. Dorothy was very much inspired by Christ's Sermon on the Mount. She tried to live her life according to the Beatitudes. In one of her personal letters she mentions that everyone should try to be peacemakers.

When the Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption was destroyed in a fire many were against spending so much money and rebuilding the church. They felt that the church should spend its finances elsewhere. In response, Day said, ‘The Church has an obligation to feed the poor, and we cannot spend all our money on buildings. However, there are many kinds of hunger. There is a hunger for bread, and we must give people food. But there is also a hunger for beauty – and there are very few beautiful places that the poor can get into. Here is a place of transcendent beauty, and it is as accessible to the homeless in the Tenderloin as it is to the mayor of San Francisco. The Cathedral in San Francisco is one of the few places where the poor can go and sit down and be with God in beauty.’ Dorothy Day was a wonderful woman who was well aware of these hungers.

Keeping her weak health aside Dorothy went to India and met Mother Teresa. Her last speech was delivered at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. Deviating from the prepared text, she talked about her love for God. Following her speech, she had a heart attack and was confined to her bed. She died on 29 November 1980 at the age of 83, with her daughter Tamar at her side. Dorothy’s funeral was held at The Nativity Church in New York and she was buried in the Resurrection Cemetery at New York. Her gravestone has a design of loaves and fishes engraved on them. The words Deo Gratias or 'Thanks be to God' has been written on her tomb. Due to her revolution of love the Church conferred upon her the title of ‘Servant of God’ in 2000.

‘We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes from the community.’ These are the words of Dorothy Day. Throughout her life Dorothy Day inspired ordinary people to love each other by following Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

Neha Antony Akkara lives in Kerala, India. She is a literature enthusiast who is currently pursuing her master’s.