Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and its newspaper, The Catholic Worker, is depicted in a stained-glass window at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Staten Island borough of New York. CNS

Forty years after her death on Nov. 29, 1980, does the spirituality of Servant of God Dorothy Day offer COVID-era Christians assistance through a lengthy rough patch? Absolutely! Throughout her adult life as a Catholic, Day faced a variety of crises.

Conversion to Catholicism meant separating from the father of her child, who refused to marry, and finding a vocation that affirmed her faith and her desire to promote social justice. As leader of the Catholic Worker and editor of its paper, she faced daily crises involving unpaid bills, infestations, unruly guests and insubordinate coworkers, not to speak of racism and crafting a Catholic position of nonviolence, including during times of war. In meeting these challenges, she developed a resiliency rooted in her spiritual practices.

Today, the world seems to spin out of control. COVID-19, climate change, economic uncertainty, racism, political polarization and social confinement overwhelm us. Yet, in our socially distanced existence, we can adopt Day’s spiritual practices to deepen our faith, hope and charity, exactly what is needed to address what we find hardest to face.

The foundation of Dorothy Day’s spirituality included daily prayer and daily Mass with reception of Communion to become a follower of Christ. Day’s prayer included contemplation, praise and thanksgiving, as well as frequent prayers of petition. As we grow impatient with restrictions on social interaction, we recognize that we can engage in prayer anytime and anywhere. A click of a button allows participation in online or television Mass with spiritual communion, even if in-person attendance is unwise. To nourish our relationship with God, we can treasure reading of Scripture as Day did, understanding that it is the word of God.

Day reflected constantly on the implications of Jesus’ teaching of the two greatest commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. In prayer she expressed her love for God and nourished it in wide-ranging spiritual reading. Love of neighbor demanded a radical inclusivity. Each human being was created in the image of God. And, borrowing from St. Augustine, Day understood the Mystical Body of Christ to include not only Catholics, but potentially everyone. Everyone because St. Augustine included non-Christians as “potential” members of the Mystical Body of Christ. From Day’s perspective, the unlimited power of God’s gift of grace made every human being a potential member of the Mystical Body. Grace makes possible even the most unlikely of conversions.

For us, thoughtful consideration of Scripture or participation in online Bible study or the reading of popular works on Scripture might challenge us to reexamine God’s nature and people and groups who are unlike ourselves racially, ethnically, socially or politically. How might I learn more about their experiences and their views? How might I reach out to the other in a respectful and loving way? How might I address the needs of those I rarely encounter in my daily life?

Day regarded the works of mercy, corporal and spiritual, as essential practices. Some of us might volunteer at a hospice or food shelf. Others might donate to trusted organizations that provide for the needy. We could write to a shut-in or a prisoner. Studying the history of immigration and refugee policy and the reasons people seek asylum in the United States might encourage support for new policies or accompanying individuals as their cases are processed by authorities. Joining a discussion on racism might suggest ways to lose biases.

Only a few of Day’s spiritual practices were included in this article. Those wishing to learn more about her life and work can read her books, all of which have been reprinted. Here are two favorites. “The Long Loneliness” (1952) explains the events and people leading her to God. “House of Hospitality” (1938) relates the excitement and challenges in starting the Catholic Worker movement and its houses of hospitality, besides sharing stories of prayers answered.

The Dorothy Day Guild of the Archdiocese of New York has been assembling documentation of Day’s spirituality to send to Rome as one of the requirements to advance her cause for canonization. Information about Day and the canonization process can be accessed at dorothydayguild.org.

Klejment is professor emerita of history at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, specializing in the history of American Catholicism and the life of Dorothy Day. The Local Church is an occasional column featuring local voices.

CELEBRATING A LEGACY

A celebration of Dorothy Day’s legacy will be held online from 5-6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 by the Dorothy Day Guild of the Archdiocese of New York. It will feature New York Times political and cultural commentator David Brooks and his wife, Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief of public theology magazine Comment, and Paul Elie, senior fellow with Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Washington D.C. For more information and to register, go to dorothydayguild.org.