Dorothy Day (1897–1981) was a founder, with Peter Maurin, of the Catholic Worker Movement. Throughout her life she sought to apply the Church’s teachings on social justice to modern economic conditions. She founded a group of Catholic Worker homes across the country where Catholics lived and worked among the poor. Dorothy Day was a lifelong pacifist and was arrested several times for her anti-war activities. She is also known for her writings on prayer and the spiritual life.
Before Sharing this Reading
In this reading Dorothy Day makes two points. First, in her description of a neighbor at prayer, she illustrates that contemplation is not a form of prayer that can only be attained in convents and monasteries. She believed that the highest form of prayer and the closest union with God occurs in the factory, the office, and the home. Second, she underscores the fact that material possessions don’t bring satisfaction. She held that our hearts yearn for the infinite riches that only God can offer, and that the fight for economic justice for all can help us to attend to the spiritual realities of human life.
The Reading
It was in Chicago, where we moved to afterward, that I met my first Catholic. It was the first time we had been really poor. We lived in an apartment over a store, on Cottage Grove Avenue. There was no upstairs, no garden, no sense of space. The tenement stretched way down the block and there were back porches and paved courtyards with never a touch of green anywhere. I remember how hungry I became for green fields during the long hot summer that followed. There was a vacant lot over by the lakefront, and I used to walk down there with my sister and stand sniffing ecstatically the hot sweet smell of wild clover and listening to the sleepy sound of the crickets. But that very desire for beauty was a painful delight for me. It sharpened my senses and made me more avid in my search for it. I found it in the lake that stretched steel gray beyond the Illinois Central tracks. I found it in a glimpse of supernatural beauty in Mrs. Barrett, mother of Kathryn and six other little Barretts, who lived upstairs.
It was Mrs. Barrett who gave me my first impulse toward Catholicism. It was around ten o’clock in the morning that I went to Kathryn’s to call for her to come out and play. There was no one on the porch or in the kitchen. The breakfast dishes had all been washed. They were long railroad apartments, those flats, and thinking the children must be in the front room, I burst in and ran through the bedrooms.
In the front bedroom Mrs. Barrett was on her knees, saying her prayers. She turned to tell me that Kathryn and the children had all gone to the store and went on with her praying. And I felt a warm burst of love toward Mrs. Barrett that I have never forgotten, a feeling of gratitude and happiness that still warms my heart when I remember her. She had God, and there was beauty and joy in her life.
All through my life, what she was doing remained with me. And though I became oppressed with the problem of poverty and injustice, through I groaned at the hideous sordidness of man’s lot, though there were years when I clung to the philosophy of economic determinism as an explanation of man’s fate, still there were moments when, in the midst of misery and class strife, life was shot through with glory. Mrs. Barrett in her sordid little tenement flat finished her breakfast dishes at ten o’clock in the morning and got down on her knees and prayed to God.
The Harrington family also lived in that block of tenements, and there were nine children, the eldest a little girl of twelve. She was a hard-working little girl, and naturally I had the greatest admiration for her on account of the rigorous life she led. I had a longing for the rigorous life. But I had a tremendous amount of liberty compared to little Mary Harrington. It was not until after the dishes were done that she could come out to play in the evening. Often she was so tired that we just stretched out on the long back porch, open to the sky. We lay there, gazing up at the only beauty the city had to offer us, and we talked and dreamed.
I don’t remember what we talked about, but I do remember one occasion when she told me of the life of some saint. I don’t remember which one, nor can I remember any of the incidents of it. I can only remember the feeling of lofty enthusiasm I had, how my heart seemed almost bursting with desire to take part in such high endeavor. One verse of the Psalms often comes to mind: “Enlarge Thou my heart, O Lord, that Thou mayest enter in.” This was one of those occasions when my small heart was enlarged. I could feel it swelling with love and gratitude to such a good God for such a friendship as Mary’s, for conversation such as hers, and I was filled with lofty ambitions to be a saint, a natural striving, a thrilling recognition of the possibilities of spiritual adventure.
Comprhension Questions
1. What was it that Dorothy missed most when she moved into her tenement apartment?
2. What did Dorothy discover when she went to her friend’s apartment for a visit?
3. What were Dorothy’s feelings for Mrs. Barrett?
4. Describe Dorothy’s thoughts as she lay on the porch in the evening talking with her friend, Mary Harrington.
Reflection Questions
1. Both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dorothy Day were giants in bringing about social change in the United States. Where do you think they got the energy and strength to pursue goals of justice and to withstand hatred and imprisonment for their views?
2. Thomas Merton, the great American Trappist monk and writer, wrote a book titled Contemplation in a World of Action. How does that title aptly describe the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dorothy Day?
3. Read Matthew 6:6. How does Jesus’ teaching on prayer apply to the actions of Mrs. Barrett?
Activity
A retreat is a time for people to step out of the routine of their daily lives and go away and spend some quiet time with God. Many people go to monasteries in the country for a few days each year for this experience. Research the types of retreats that are available to your school or your parish. Select the one that appeals most to you and explain why it attracted you.
This material is adapted from The Catholic Spirit: An Anthology for DIscovering Faith Through Literature, Art, Film, and Music (Ave Maria Press 2010).