HAUNTED BY GOD: THE LIFE OF DOROTHY DAY
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But I suppose that’s part of her charm. Her influence reaches the halls of the Vatican and the Pentagon, but she remains largely unknown outside a small circle of anarchists, socialists, liberal Catholics, peaceniks, skid-row alcoholics, and homeless people. And she probably wouldn’t mind.
Her influence comes from a potent mix of socialist thought and Catholic doctrine that started a small but significant social revolution in the U.S. Working with a Frenchman named Peter Maurin, she created what are known as Catholic Worker houses of hospitality. These houses are based on two principles: opposing works of war and carrying out works of mercy. “Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, care for the sick, bury the dead.”
Though her faith solidifies, she feels alienated from the communists and socialists. “The communists led me to the poor, and the poor led me to you,” she prays in frustration, unable to come to grips with the differences between her religion and the communists’ social conviction. One fateful day Peter Maurin stops in for a talk, and things start sorting themselves. From that day on Maurin pesters her with his ideas about faith-based houses of hospitality, collective farms, and roundtable discussions of his utopian ideas.
