About Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day's life and legacy is a radical movement, faithful to the Gospel and the church, immersed in the social issues of the day, with the aim of transforming both individuals and society. In an age marked by widespread violence, impersonal government, shallow interpersonal commitments, and a quest for self-fulfillment, Dorothy Day's spirit fosters nonviolence, personal responsibility of all people to the poorest ones among us, and fidelity to community and to God.
Although Dorothy spurned the suggestion that she was a saint, she took seriously the importance of becoming one; saintly people could heal the ills of this world. God created the Mystical Body of Christ for holiness, wholeness, and sanctity. Jesus took on humanity to show people how to be godly through acting justly, loving tenderly, and walking humbly. The Holy Spirit continually invites all Christians to holiness.
Dorothy Day provides a contemporary model of the qualities of holiness: solidarity with and service to God's poor, promoting and being willing to suffer for justice, acting in charity, living in community, integrating faith and action through prayer, sacred ritual, and meditation. Dorothy Day may not always be a comfortable companion on the spiritual journey, but she will certainly be a wise, caring, and challenging one.
from catholicworker.org
“Few Christians in the twentieth century lived their lives as devoted to the common good as (Servant of God) Dorothy Day. She served the poor, homeless, and hungry in New York City for decades. Her steadfast belief in the dignity of the poor as bearing the presence of Christ inspired her persistent action, manifest as both charity and justice.”
– Richard Rohr
OFM
"The biggest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution that has to start with each one of us."
“People say, what is the sense of your small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time.”
– Dorothy Day
catholicworker.org
“[Dorothy Day’s] witness continues to prod me out of the deep ruts in today’s political and ideological discourse. Her daily, radical faithfulness dares me to imagine a world made new.”
– Tish Harrison Warren
The New York Times