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Housing 

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Praises God for May, the month of Mary and full of beauty. Recalls the Catholic Worker began in May sixteen years ago and summarizes their program and the many allied movements of the lay apostolate. Says their pacifism and distributism distinguishes them from other movements. Focuses on voluntary poverty as exemplified in Peter Maurin’s life, especially since he became ill. Reflects on holiness and the call to all to become saints. Includes quotations from her winter’s reading. Keywords: Gandhi, machine, philosophy of work (DDLW #480).

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The Case of Father Duffy

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Commentary on a case where a priest is silenced for his work with the poor. Expresses the tension of obedience and love of the Church with the demands of serving the poor and Church shortcomings. Affirms her acceptance of Church authority but notes the demands of conscience have caused Saints to be critical of even the Pope in the past. Reaffirms their lay mission to enlighten, arouse the conscience, and lead from the bottom up. (DDLW #497). The Catholic Worker, December 1949, 1, 4.

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The Story of Three Deaths: Peter Maurin, Lawrence Heaney, Willie Lurye

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: A loving obituary for Peter Maurin giving the details of his death and burial. Speaks of his last five years of illness, the day he died, his wake and funeral. Emphasizes the ways “He was another St. Francis of modern times.” (DDLW #495). The Catholic Worker, June 1949, 1, 2.

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What Dream Did They Dream? Utopia or Suffering?

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: A self-critical appraisal of the Catholic Worker movement’s first fifteen years. Readily accepts criticism of their ideals of voluntary poverty and pacifism, failure to implement Peter Maurin’s vision, of rigorous and demanding retreats, of internal dissent, and of their approach to helping the poor. Says they have not been good servants nor recognized the failure of the cross and the need to die to self. Says they are in a time of transition with only ten houses remaining. (DDLW #456). The Catholic Worker, July-August 1947, 1, 4, 6, 8.

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Love Is The Measure

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: In the face of a world in turmoil–atom bomb tests, food shortages, impending strikes, destitution–an exhortation to “love as Christ loved, to the extent of laying down our lives for our brothers.” Tells of a priest whose work made him “a perfect fool for Christ.” Says “we confess to being fools and wish we were more so.” (DDLW #425). The Catholic Worker, June 1946, 2.

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And There Remained Only the Very Poor

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: “Those of you who read this, those of you who have helped us before, help us.” A thousand poor people come for food each day–“. . .they are Christ appearing to you.” In spite of their dire straits, war and preparation for war, she calls for rejoicing in nature and for what they have and God sends. (DDLW #364). The Catholic Worker, July-August 1940.

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Catholic Worker Ideas On Hospitality

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Defends against the charge that they do more harm than good in providing hospitality to the undeserving. Asserts that doing the Works of Mercy is following Christ and a revolutionary technique. Points to the monastic tradition of indiscriminate hospitality. Other keywords: Communism, hospices, social order. (DDLW #358). The Catholic Worker, May 1940, 10.

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Disgraceful Plight Of Migrant Workers On California Farms

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Witnesses the struggles of migrant farm workers in the San Joachin Valley of California and the class war with the big business interests of the Associated Farmers. Is ambivalent about government help for the workers, preferring cooperatives and personal responsibility to corporation farming and birth control clinics for the rural proletariat. (DDLW #357). The Catholic Worker, May 1940, 1, 2.

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Pacifism

Dorothy DayByDorothy Day

Summary: Outlines The Catholic Worker pacifist position: opposition to class war, imperialist war, and war preparations. Calls for the courage to disarm. “It takes a man of heroic stature to be a pacifist and we urge readers to consider and study pacifism and disarmament in this light.” (DDLW #215). The Catholic Worker, May 1936, 8.