On Pilgrimage: December
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On Pilgrimage: December

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Meditation on the spiritual weapons of voluntary poverty and manual labor. Lists work to be avoided and personal practices of nonparticipation while exploitation in labor continues. Calls for decentralized living. Recommends growing in acceptance of God’s providence and seeing good in others. Reflects on silence during Advent, a time of waiting and a time to examine one’s conscience, a time “to see only what is loveable.” (DDLW #486). On Pilgrimage , Catholic Worker Books, New York, 1948.

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On Distributism: Answer to John Cort 

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Repudiates John Cort and other Catholics who see distributism as an agrarian visionary dream. Quotes from Pius XI, Pius XII and Leo XIII in support of small and medium-sized businesses, employee ownership, and a back to the land movement. Discusses the evils of capitalistic industrialism and urges the long-range plan of distributism. (See DOC #159 and DOC #160) (The Catholic Worker, December 1948, 1,3. DDLW #161).

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On Pilgrimage – November 1948

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Briefly summarizes recent Friday night talks at the Catholic Worker on Ireland, worker priests, use of force, and conscientious objection to conscription. Lists many visitors, tells of pleasant days at Maryfarm, and describes conditions in city-run homeless shelters. (The Catholic Worker, November 1948, 1, 2. DDLW #471).

On Pilgrimage: November
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On Pilgrimage: November

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: An essay and meditation about love in its many forms, human and divine. Quotes scripture, saints, secular writers, and especially Soloviev on love. Concludes that the Catholic Worker is “still trying to work out a theory of love, a study of the problem of love so that the revolution of love instead of that of hate may come about and we will have a new heaven and a new earth wherein justice dwelleth.” Includes a poem whose theme is dying and rising. Deeply personal account of being with her dying mother. Includes prayers and meditations on death and dying. Prays to the Little Flower for her mother. Evidence of answered prayer came in a variety of roses from different sources. (DDLW #485).

On Pilgrimage: October
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On Pilgrimage: October

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Vivid description of the pulsing sounds of worship and smells of death in a black neighborhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Admires the works of mercy at Mary Frecon’s house of hospitality, and example of “the little way.” Recalls the wonderful time children had at their labor day retreat and laments their expenses on the farm and for the breadline in the city. (DDLW #484).

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The Trial 

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Attends the trial of Catholic Worker Bob Ludlow who was arrested for picketing with others outside a school. Notes how the judge handles numerous cases of public drunkenness and vagrancy related to homelessness. The judge dismisses the picketers after voicing his opposition to their views. She thinks of Thomas Moore’s trial and martyrdom. (The Catholic Worker, October 1948, 1, 7. DDLW #488).

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Harrisburg Story

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Graphic account of Mary Frecons work in a black section of Harrisburg, PA,–the spirited church services, the smell of rats, the care for the dying sick. Emphasizes the unity of body and soul and the need for “blind faith” in such conditions. “How little it all is, as obscure as the life of the Blessed Mother, and as ‘little’ as the life and sufferings of the Little Flower!” (The Catholic Worker, October 1948, 6, 8. DDLW #490).

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Notes 

CatholicWorker.orgByCatholicWorker.org

Summary: Praises the Catholic Arts Quartrly edited by Ade Bethune and says it portrays Peter Maurin’s synthesis of Cult, Culture, and Cultivation. Urges readers to buy her books. (The Catholic Worker, October 1948, 7. DDLW #491).