On Pilgrimage: Foreword
Summary: Introduces the book as “a woman’s book, and for women,” dealing “with things of concern to us all, the family, the home, how to live, and what to live and what we live by.” (DDLW #475).
On Pilgrimage: January
Summary: Deep in winter at her daughter’s farm in West Virginia they await the birth of Tamar’s third child. Reflects on country life and a woman’s spirituality in the midst of small children and housework. Describes her efforts at prayer. Reflects on the handicrafts Tamar practices and the worth of a country economy, a way to be co-creators with God. Notes the duty to find joy and resist despair. Long quotes from Eric Gill on a decentralized economy. Keywords: family, poverty, personalism, distributism, capitalism, socialism, communism. (DDLW #476: Catholic Worker Books, New York, 1948, pp. 3-26.)
Advent Is a Time of Waiting
Summary: Reflects on the role of silence during the liturgical season of Advent as necessary for hearing the Word in our souls. Says it is a time to examine one’s conscience and a time “to see only what is lovable.” An excerpt from “On Pilgrimage” (DDLW #866). On Pilgrimage, 1948, pp. 166-175.
On Pilgrimage – January 1948
Summary: Describes a happy Christmas at the Newburgh farm–snow, good food, worship, but uneven heat. Peter Maurin can’t stay warm, receives the affectionate care of children, and needs a doctor. Urges all to keep the ideal of going “villageward.” (The Catholic Worker, January 1948, 1, 8. DDLW #462).
Letter On Hospices
Summary: Describes how Catholic Worker houses are run and the struggles with living the ideal of Christian love. Reflects on reconciling freedom and order. Maintains the primacy of the spiritual. Gives her positions on cooperation, house leadership, handling money, and the relation of the Catholic Worker to the hierarchy. Concludes by emphasizing the little way and voluntary poverty. (The Catholic Worker, Jan 1948, 2,8. DDLW #183).