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Dorothy Day’s Reflections on Advent

Advent is a time of waiting, of expectation, of silence.  Waiting for our Lord to be born. A pregnant woman is so happy, so content. She lives in such a garment of silence, and it is as though she were listening to hear the stir of life within her. One always hears the stirring compared… continue reading

Conference at St. Francis College in Indiana: DOROTHY DAY AND THE CHURCH MAY 13-15, 2015

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was famously eulogized as “the most significant, interesting and influential person in the history of American Catholicism.” Her life embodied the recent call of Pope Francis to build “a poor Church for the poor”—and her combination of political radicalism with Catholic orthodoxy has the potential to lead the Church beyond the categories… continue reading

Pope Francis and Peter Maurin on Usury

Pope Francis Calls Usury a Scourge, a Plague, as Did Peter Maurin On January 29, 2014, Pope Francis greeted the National Council of Anti-Usury Foundations, speaking strongly about the scourge, the plague of usury, the charging of interest, especially exorbitant interest, calling it a dramatic social ill: “I hope that these institutions may intensify their… continue reading

International Interest in the Canonization of Dorothy Day

International interest seems to be growing in Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. We are receiving requests from various countries for our new translation in Spanish of The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins. We wondered what was in the package from Germany. When we opened it, we found a copy of Concilium in German with a blue… continue reading

Dorothy Day and Pope Francis on Advertising

Dorothy Day famously said, “There have been many sins against the poor which cry out to high heaven for vengeance. The one listed as one of the seven deadly sins is depriving the laborer of his share. There is another one, that is, instilling in him the paltry desires to satisfy that for which he… continue reading

Priest’s Brother Healed Through Prayers to Dorothy Day: A Letter

Greetings Friends at the Houston Catholic Worker, I just thought I’d tell you of my brother’s healing. Last year, doctors said my 72 year old brother Paul had a serious heel-bone infection which caused the achilles tendon to tear off the heel bone. Doctors said they needed to do a biopsy to confirm their diagnosis…. continue reading

The Real Presence(s) of Christ in the Life and Thought of Dorothy Day, Key to Her Canonization

Tom Loome and his wife, Karen, are founding members of the Stillwater Catholic Worker in Minnesota. For many years, Tom had the largest and best scholarly Catholic bookstore in the United States. Dorothy Day (1897-1980), founder of the Catholic Worker movement, and known for her personal identification with the poor and dispossessed through the practice… continue reading

Miracle After Prayers to Dorothy Inspires New Convert: My Long, Circuitous Journey into Catholicism

At Casa Juan Diego we all rejoiced when we learned that Sarah Maple’s aggressive brain cancer had been cured through prayers to Dorothy Day. This past Easter, Sarah came into the Catholic Church. When she received the sacrament of Confirmation, she chose Dorothy as her confirmation name (there are several saint Dorothy’s). This is her… continue reading

Habemus Papam – We Have a New Pope Francis – What Does This Mean For the Catholic Worker?

 Not only do we have a new Pope, we have a new, new Pope. Everything about him is unique. He is the first non-European Pope since the 8th century. He is the first Jesuit Pope Even more significantly, however – he is the first Pope Francis. The very first thing the new Pope did was… continue reading

“Take Away My Heart Of Stone and Give Me a Heart Of Flesh”

I picked up Thomas Merton’s last book, Contemplative Prayer, which I am starting to read, and the foreword by our good Quaker friend Douglas Steere brought back to my memory a strange incident in my life. He quotes William Blake: “We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear… continue reading