A Harsh and Dreadful Love: Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement

I first learned about the Catholic Worker when I stumbled across a copy of the newspaper in a dorm lounge while I was still in college. The front page included a story about St Julian of Norwich and how she was one of the first mystics to view God as both Father and Mother. I don't remember if this was before or after I had made the decision to become Catholic, but it stuck with me. The Catholic Worker has managed to continue to haunt my life. The priest who welcomed me into the church was/is deeply involved with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, although I found my way there independently of his influence--in fact the first time I met him there was a bit of a surprise. My first visit to the LACW also turned up a friend from college, surprisingly enough. The Catholic Worker differed from other liberal Christian movements in that for them, religion was not merely something on which to hang a liberal doctrine. Rather, there doctrine flowed out of the spring of religion, and has a depth that other groups which I have worked with lacked. This book gives an accounting of the history of the movement from its founding by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day until the early seventies. Always a fascinating story, this accounting is a bit drier than the others since it places a bit of distance between itself and its subject (as opposed to Rosalie Troester's Voices from the Catholic Worker which is as close to the subject as can beaccomplished). Still, as a comprehensive account, it does a lot to help establish the broader contexts of many of the events in the history of the Catholic Worker. An interesting note for the hagiographers: The parallels between the development of the Catholic Worker and the early years of the Franciscans are astounding.