Dorothy Day

The Long Loneliness

Initial Religious Interest

College

Dorothy's Arrest

Becomes a Mother

Peter Maurin

The Catholic Worker Movement

* St. Thomas Aquinas

* St. Augustine

* St. Teresa of Avelia

* St. John of the Cross

Key People

Does she choose her husband and no religion?

OR

Does she choose God and leave her husband?

Catholic Culture & Politics

>>> "I certainly believed this, but I wanted to be poor, chaste and obedient. I wanted to die in order to live, to put off the old man and put on Christ" (Day, 149).

>>> "Romano Gaurdini said the Church is the Cross on which Christ was crucified; one could not separate Christ from His Cross, and one must live in a state of permanent dissatisfaction with the Church" (Day, 150).

>>> "The scandal of businesslike priests, of collective wealth, the lack of a sense of responsibility for the poor, the worker... and even the oppression of these" (Day, 150).

Discussion/Activity

Look at your worksheet and follow those instructions once we say go.

Dorothy Day

Dorothy's Life with the Saints

- Poor. Chaste. Obedient. = marks of a monk

- Die in order to live = martyr = Black Robe

----- this was martyrdom in the sense of releasing yourself from your body and living through Christ and removing all earthly desires

- Die in order to live = Katherine Tekawitha = flagellation = suffering

Mrs. Barrett

- was her neighbor

- the beginning to her adventure in Catholicism

- taught her what to do, and began Dorothy's lengthy prayers

- "I felt a burst of love toward [her]," said Dorothy (Day, 25).

- Even if you disagree with Church structure or politics at times you still believe in it's values. She realized the Church's organization is needed.

- Bus nuns are a good example of this

----- Sister Simone Tamble was a member of the Church, but strongly dissagreed with the leadership and was apathetic towards the Pope

* Mrs. Barrett

* Rayna Simmons

* Tamar Teresa

* Forster Batterham

* The Catholic Family

* Peter Maurin

Rayna Simmons

- friend in college she lived with

- jewish

- dated Raph who was jealous of their friendship

- both were studying writing

- first taste of hardship and voluntary poverty

- 1st glimpse of community and love

Tamar Teresa and Forster Batterham

Husband

Child

- agnostic and doesn't believe in organized religion

- he thinks that religion is an opiate for the people

- Dorothy wanted her child to be baptised and after the baptism, Dorothy's interest and desire for religion grew strong

Peter Maurin

Represents a huge decision in her life

- huge inspiration in her life

- he defined the rest of her life

- was exuberant in everything he did

- never made derogatory remarks

- Dorothy doesn't know "How to describe Peter and the effect he had on [her]" because it was so great (Day, 169).

Catholic Family

- Dorothy used to eat with them

- first pangs of missing out on religion

- thought Catholicism was rich and interesting but felt left out

- an expression of her loneliness

- relates to how the Protestants presented Catholic leaders as devils who were planning to take over America

- Lyman Beecher's son wrote, "Papal Conspiracy Exposed"... the image on the front built a dichotomy where Protestants were more heavenly and closer to God than the Devil-like Catholics

Important People and their Significance

Major Events/Changes

Now let's talk...

a.Around age 8, Dorothy began reading the bible and going to church with the neighbors

b.“Disgustingly, proudly pious” p. 20

a.Dorothy began to lose faith, stopped associating with organized religion

b.She saw all the bad things in the world and wondered how anyone could have faith

c.She lived very poorly during these times

o Day writes, “I thought of death and was overwhelmed by the terror and the blackness of both life and death.” What do you think this means? How can we use this sentence to explain many of the actions she took in her lifetime?

o Day states, “He cried out against my attitude that there would be nothing left of that love without a faith.” Knowing that she leaves her husband soon after this time, compare and contrast how religion has played a role in her other relationships.

o Day was an activist for the majority of her life, fighting for many causes. Do you think her affiliation with the Catholic Church helped or hurt her efforts for social justice? How so?

a.She was arrested for protesting suffragists

b.While in jail she couldn’t help the strong feeling of Faith she had when reading the psalms but she refused to succumb to it.

c.After they were released she, again, turned away from her religion.

a. “It was at this time that I began consciously to pray more,” (Day, 116).

b.Led to the baptism of her and her baby

c.She left her husband

a.Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and lived a life of voluntary poverty

b.Promoted and lived by the doctrines of the Catholic Church

c.Inspired and encouraged Dorothy to start a newspaper

a.The newspaper - influence Catholics who were criticized for a lack of social and political morality

b.Effects of the Spanish Civil War and World War II

c.Catholic Worker Houses

d.She stayed with the Catholic Worker Movement until her death on 29 November 1980

Religious life provided a community between families.

"Community-- that was the social answer to the long loneliness," (Day, 224).

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community," (Day, 286).

Peter described the family they represented as "an organism," (Day, 182).

They were alive, together as a community, together in love through faith.

Dorothy Day established this community with Peter Maurin. They made love possible for those who never had any, those who needed to escape from the long loneliness.