farming communes

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    The Long Loneliness

    Avatar photoByDorothy Day

    Summary: Eight excerpts from The Long Loneliness around the themes of community and work as envisioned by Peter Maurin: the meaning of liturgy in revolutionary times; Peter Maurin’s vision of community in farming communes; a community of families as a lay form of religious life; mutual aid and giving to increase love; Peter’s emphasis on work over wages and ownership; importance of a philosophy of work based on being made in the image and likeness of God; self-sufficiency in food; the difficulty of restoring community on the land. (DDLW #628). The Catholic Worker, February 1952, 3.

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    TO CHRIST—TO THE LAND!

    Avatar photoByDorothy Day

    Summary: Presents Peter Maurin’s three-point program: Round Table Discussions, Houses of Hospitality, and Farming Communes, and highlights the movement’s activities in pursuit of the first two facets. Announces a plan to pursue the third facet with the start of a farming commune outside of New York City, to further the personalist and communitarian revolution. Addresses the necessity of returning to the land in order to increase ownership among the population, as promoted by Pope Leo XIII and the U.S. bishops. Acknowledges the likely difficulties involved, and articulates the reasons for the move. Reassures the reader that efforts to serve the downtrodden in the city will continue. (DDLW #143) The Catholic Worker, January 1936, 1-2.