ByCatholicWorker.org
Here is the full text of Two Agiators: Peter Maurin – Ammon Hennacy, a 56-page pamphlet published by the New York Catholic Worker in 1959. The pamphlet includes essays by Hennacy, “Easy Essays” by Peter Maurin, and an introduction by Dorothy Day.
ByBrian Terrell
In the July/August 2023 issue of The Regenerative Reader, Spencer Hess writes of “Maurin-ite” and “Hennacy-ite” Catholic Workers—those who farm and those who agitate. But does that distinction really make sense? For many Catholic Worker farmers, the work of the land and the work of resistance go hand-in-hand.
ByCatholicWorker.org
For this 90th anniversary episode, Theo and Lydia interview Rosalie Riegle about the origins of the Catholic Worker, the Catholic Worker’s early involvement with the labor movement, and why the contemporary Catholic Worker has turned to other issues.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Explains Peter Maurin’s ideal of “agronomic universities”–communal farms founded on a philosophy of work, especially manual labor. While an ideal, farm communities often suffered from too little skill and community conflicts. Lauds the new Peter Maurin farm on Staten Island and envisions deepening one’s spiritual life in work on the land. (DDLW #923). The Catholic Worker, Oct/Nov 1979, 1, 2, 7
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Reminisces about Peter Maurin and summarizes his program and repeats his favorite slogans. Snippets about books she’s reading, comings and goings, protests, and mail. Notes the Watergate scandal. (DDLW #599).The Catholic Worker, June 1979, 2, 6.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Snippets about her thoughts upon rising–from Scripture, Peter Maurin, dreams–and visitors during the month. (DDLW #596).The Catholic Worker, February 1979, 7, 8.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Recounts her first meeting with Peter Maurin in 1932, his teaching style, his personal example, and his platform for the Catholic Worker: “Roundtable Discussions, Houses of Hospitality and Farming Communes–those were the three planks in Peter Maurin’s platform.” (DDLW #256). The Catholic Worker, May 1977, 1, 9.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Responds to those who critique their work as a band-aid for a cancer. Reaffirms the necessity for the works of mercy. Tidbits of life at the worker: getting out the paper, a trip to the sea, books arriving. Travels to PA and OH and reflects on the work of miners. Visits house in Cleveland and Detroit. Is moved by a Pentecostal prayer meeting. (DDLW #905) The Catholic Worker, December 1969, pp. 1,2,5
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Reflects on the abilities of a woman to press on with the “business of living” even as life is mixed with joys and anguish. Details coming speakers at their Friday night meetings. Shares stories of time with her daughter and grandchildren in Vermont, what each is doing with their lives. Remembers two dear friends, Marie Langlots and Fred Lindsey, who have recently died. Key words: Peter Maurin, obituary, Tamar. (DDLW #898). The Catholic Worker, May 1969, pp. 2,8
ByDorothy Day
Summary: A chapter from Loaves and Fishes. Describes her meeting Peter Maurin and getting out the first edition of The Catholic Worker. Recalls how Peter’s program–roundtable discussions, houses of hospitality, and farm colonies–became the core Catholic Worker program. Extensive quotes from Peter Maurin, including an Easy Essay on utopianism and Christian communism. (DDLW #851). The Catholic Worker, May 1967, 5,6/
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Reveals that a pilgrimage in September 1932 to the shrine of the Jesuit martyrs and her later prayer for a vocation at the Blessed mother shrine combined to draw Peter Maurin to her. Resolves to halt travelling to complete writing assignments after two speaking engagements already agreed to. Notes the first wedding of a grand child and death of her brother Donald. Notes the sadness of November with nature dying around us until we rise again. (DDLW #845). The Catholic Worker, October-November 1966, 2, 7.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Recalls Peter Maurin’s philosophy of poverty and of work on this May Day issue of the paper. Grouses about old cars. Admires the Bill and Dorothy Gauchet’s hospitality to disabled and unwanted children. Laments the evils of the war in Vietnam. Praises the radical social critique of Saul Alinsky. Participates in a conference on nonviolence. Praises Cesar Chavez and the updates readers on the farm workers’ strike. (DDLW #839). The Catholic Worker, May 1966, 2, 6, 8.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Tells a story of Peter Maurin’s work at the Easton farm and goes on to summarize his principal teachings. Peter was a deeply religious man, a reader and constant student, who recommended books, especially the lives of the saints. He valued physical labor and wanted farming cooperatives, “clarification of thought”, and houses of hospitality. His faith was invincible, he exhorted a philosophy of poverty and the study of man’s freedom. (DDLW #914) The Catholic Worker, May 1965, pp. 1, 2, 5, 6
ByDorothy Day
Summary: An anniversary column reaffirming Peter Maurin as the founder and their trial and error approach to meet his ideals. Says they are a community of “wounded ones” and are not complacent about accomplishments. Appreciates a day of recollection. Describes their new farm at Tivoli and plans for retreats that will send forth others “to speak truth to power.” (DDLW #815). The Catholic Worker, May 1964, 2, 8.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Notes the assassination of President Kennedy. Says she wants to write a book about how the retreats of the 1940s strengthened her. Goes on to stress the need for spiritual training. Acknowledges Peter Maurin’s influence on her. (DDLW #810). The Catholic Worker, December 1963, 2, 6.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Stays with newly forming community of families while on a speaking trip to England and recalls Peter Maurin’s agronomic vision and support for the family farm. (DDLW #809). The Catholic Worker, November 1963, 1, 6.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Vignettes about gardens, movies, readings, tributes to helpful police, speaking trips, a visit to Tamar in Vermont, and her grandchildren’s hunting exploits. Reiterates Peter Maurin’s program of cult, culture, and cultivation. Distinguishes between poverty and destitution, natural and supernatural poverty. (DDLW #774). The Catholic Worker, December 1960, 2, 7, 8.
ByDorothy Day
In her introduction to the 56-page pamphlet “Two Agitators: Peter Maurin — Ammon Hennacy” (The Catholic Worker, New York, 1959) Dorothy Day sketches a portrait of Peter Maurin and Ammon Hennacy and provides some background on their place in the Catholic Worker Movement. She marks similarities and differences between the two men, noting that their humility expressed itself in very different ways. Both men believed in the power of ideas and lived in a way that communicated their ideas as powerfully as any of their words.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: Outlines Peter Maurin’s program for social reordering. Calls for a Green Revolution, a return to the villages. Finds his whole message embodied in personalism, which begins with oneself. Blames the C.W.’s problems in its lack of ability to limit itself. (DDLW #176). The Catholic Worker, May 1955, 2.
ByDorothy Day
Summary: An appeal asking for contributions for mounting bills. Describes their coffee and soup lines, and says there should be hospices in every parish, and “where in faith one sees Christ in the old, crippled, the mentally and physically destitute. (DDLW #927).
