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This week’s missionary hero is Servant of God Dorothy Day, a twentieth century American who did all her mission work “at home” in the United States.
Dorothy was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 8, 1897. When she was 6-years old, her father moved the family to San Francisco, California to take a job as a sports writer. Unfortunately, 3 years later, his job was eliminated by the great earthquake that destroyed much of the city, so the family moved to Chicago, Illinois.
The move to Chicago was a great shock to Dorothy, for the family went from living a comfortable lifestyle in California to a very poor one in Chicago. In addition to poor living conditions, Dorothy was strongly influenced by literature highlighting the plight of the poor. She was especially touched by the works of Thomas Cooper, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Sinclair Lewis, and Robert Louis Stevenson. She developed strong passions against the economic inequality, and this led her to become a socialist.
Though she started college at the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1914, she left school after two years and took a job at The Call, a socialist newspaper in New York City. In 1918, Dorothy started nursing school, but she discovered that was not her calling. However, she was deeply touched by her three Catholic nursing student roommates and their strong Catholic faith.
Dorothy lived a chaotic life for a time, in and out relationships with men, having an abortion, and raising another child.
One day, she met a former Christian Brother from France, Peter Maurin. With him, they established a newspaper called The Catholic Worker in 1933 dedicated to pacifism, hospitality, fighting for human and civil rights, and practicing the works of mercy. Soon, Peter and Dorothy founded houses of hospitality for the poor.
As a result of her activism, Dorothy was frequently thrown in jail. This in no way stopped her. In fact, it probably made her commitment stronger.
Dorothy was in contact with many leading Catholic lights of the Twentieth Century such as Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, César Chávez, and the Berrigan Brothers. But she was also greatly influenced by the lives of non-Catholics leaders who preached non-violence such as Mahatma Gandhi of India and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the United States.
Dorothy died from a heart attack in the early evening of November 29, 1980 with her daughter, Tamar, at her side. She was declared Servant of God by the Church in March 2000.
Dorothy wrote much about the conditions of the poor, her ideas, and her faith. Many of these writings were published in The Catholic Worker which, even today, is still one penny per copy. Her autobiography is called The Long Loneliness. Two films about Dorothy are: Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story, and Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story. Additionally, there are many books and articles about this amazing woman.
