Dorothy Day

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My wife and I watched Fr. Barron’s “Catholicism” DVDs, and he mentioned her a few times.

I seem to remember some bad things about her, but some quick reading seems to indicate she no longer agreed with Communism, free love, etc., after she converted to Catholicism.

Is that correct?
 
Dorothy Day was a most devout Catholic, once she became Catholic, and is currently under consideration for canonization. Yes, she had a checkered past before her conversion, and her pacifist views were a problem for many in authority when she was alive, including many in the Church.
 
Dorothy Day was a holy woman who currently has the status of “Servant of God” and may one day be St. Dorothy. I think the only thing we need to worry about is not living up to the kind of example she set.
 
Day and the Catholic Worker movement had some considerable popularity in the 1930’s but that ended when Day remained a pacifist after Pearl Harbor and opposed US involvement in WWII. She continued to openly sympathize with Communists although not endorsing their violence.
 
triumphguy said:
She was a better Catholic than me.
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Far better than I, as well!

She had the courage to live out her convictions, however unpopular they might have been in certain circles. Her dedication to the poor and disenfranchised, as well as her position on nonviolence, have long been an inspiration for me. My mother, however, who actually lived through Dorothy’s life and times, still remembers the pacifist controversy during the war years, and how she was denounced by some in the Catholic press here.
 
Larry1700 said:
My wife and I watched Fr. Barron’s “Catholicism” DVDs, and he mentioned her a few times.

I seem to remember some bad things about her, but some quick reading seems to indicate she no longer agreed with Communism, free love, etc., after she converted to Catholicism.

Is that correct?
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If you look hard enough, you can find some “bad things” about everyone, even the most noble or saintly. She was a good woman, at least after her conversion. She was not a perfect one - none of us are.
 
Corki said:
If you look hard enough, you can find some “bad things” about everyone, even the most noble or saintly. She was a good woman, at least after her conversion. She was not a perfect one - none of us are.
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I certainly concur with that. I have a lot of repetitive sins I need to overcome. On the other hand, I was not mentioned several times in an internationally-marketed DVD compilation on the teachings of Catholicism as a model for others to emulate.

As I recall (and at age 54 my recollection about things is declining) Fr. Barron didn’t say anything to qualify his positive remarks about her, such as, “Prior to her conversion, she was a strong supporter of the Communist movement in America. However, she gradually realized it was wrong.” (Or some such statement.)

Should he have? From what little I know, perhaps he should have, but I’m posting this thread to hear the opinions of others.
 
Larry1700 said:
I certainly concur with that. I have a lot of repetitive sins I need to overcome. On the other hand, I was not mentioned several times in an internationally-marketed DVD compilation on the teachings of Catholicism as a model for others to emulate.

As I recall (and at age 54 my recollection about things is declining) Fr. Barron didn’t say anything to qualify his positive remarks about her, such as, “Prior to her conversion, she was a strong supporter of the Communist movement in America. However, she gradually realized it was wrong.” (Or some such statement.)

**Should he have? ** From what little I know, perhaps he should have, but I’m posting this thread to hear the opinions of others.
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No, I don’t recall that particular passage of Fr. Barron’s CD but I have watched several and he doesn’t spend more than a few minutes talking about anyone other than Jesus and Biblical figures. Even you said he “mentioned her a few times”. If this was an autobiographical piece on Dorothy Day, it would be important to cover her earlier life and her conversion. But this was a mention of her in the context of her life as a Catholic. If she had been a notorious criminal, that would be one thing but she was much more well-known for her later work, especially the Catholic Worker movement, than she ever was for anything in her early life.
 
Larry1700 said:
I certainly concur with that. I have a lot of repetitive sins I need to overcome. On the other hand, I was not mentioned several times in an internationally-marketed DVD compilation on the teachings of Catholicism as a model for others to emulate.

As I recall (and at age 54 my recollection about things is declining) Fr. Barron didn’t say anything to qualify his positive remarks about her, such as, “Prior to her conversion, she was a strong supporter of the Communist movement in America. However, she gradually realized it was wrong.” (Or some such statement.)

Should he have? From what little I know, perhaps he should have, but I’m posting this thread to hear the opinions of others.
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And…
Prior to her conversion she had an abortion and another child out of wedlock. Far more serious than supporting communism - which any of us might have done in the 19430’s given that so many people were starving to death in the “dirty thirties.”

Also, prior to her conversion she was not baptized.

At her conversion she was baptized.

Have we forgotten that baptism wipes away all sin?

Do we categorize St. Augustine’s prior sins when we quote him?:confused:
 
Dorothy Day was baptized in the Episcopal Church on 12 March 1911.
 
Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin both had a devotion to St. Benedict Joseph Labre. Certainly there are many today who might look at the life of this 18th century saint and declare, “What a worthless tramp. He contributed nothing to society. Civilization as we know it would crumble if left to the likes of him.” Yet the Church declared him a saint. No one is required to have any sort of devotion to St. Benedict Joseph Labre or to Dorothy Day, Servant of God, but there are many who do. The Church is big enough for all of us, and thank God for that!

God willing, Dorothy Day will be a saint for our times, and she will no doubt continue to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
 
I now this is an old post, and I know you probably have the answer already. But in case someone cares to see it I am writing this. Dorothy Day prior to her conversion was an atheist, Marxist, pro-abortion activist in America. After her conversion to the Catholic church she became pro-life and renounced Marxism for GK Chesterton’s Distributism. She refused to pay taxes and opposed FDR’s government welfare programs (a clear sign she wasn’t Socialist) but she also cared about helping the poor and valued private property. For more information about distributism and how it developed from Catholic Social teaching here is a website.
www.distributistreview.com and look up frequently asked questions.
 
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