416 / 665
388 • Part III. Christian Morality: The Faith Lived
people have had such an impact on my life, even though we
never met.
A number of new books are appearing now, because of the
centenary of her birth, but I still find her own book on St. Thérèse
of Lisieux to reveal as much about Dorothy Day as anything else
that I have read. Most particularly she seems clearly to recognize
that Thérèse’s “little way” was the way of suffering, and to under-
stand with Thérèse that all suffering united with that of Christ on
the Cross is of inestimable value for souls.
I wish every woman who has suffered an abortion . . . would
come to know Dorothy Day. Her story was so typical. Made preg-
nant by a man who insisted she have an abortion, who then
abandoned her anyway, she suffered terribly for what she had
done, and later pleaded with others not to do the same. But
later, too, after becoming a Catholic, she learned the love and
mercy of the Lord, and knew she never had to worry about His
forgiveness. This is why I have never condemned a woman who
has had an abortion; I weep with her and ask her to remember
Dorothy Day’s sorrow but to know always God’s loving mercy and
forgiveness.
Not everyone who knew Dorothy at a distance is aware of
her meetings with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or of the esteem
in which Mother Teresa held her. A new book by Jim Forest,
Love
is the Measure
, includes a portion of a Mother Teresa letter writ-
ten for Dorothy Day’s seventy-fifth birthday: Mother Teresa wrote
to her, “So much love—so much sacrifice—all for Him alone.
You have been such a beautiful branch on the Vine, Jesus, and
allowed His Father, the Vine dresser, to prune you so often and so
much. You have accepted all with great love. . . .”
I wish I had known Dorothy Day personally. I feel that I know
her because of her goodness. But surely, if any woman ever loved
God and her neighbor, it was Dorothy Day! Pray that we do what
we should do. (
Catholic New York
[November 13, 1997]: 13-14)
The Vatican has begun proceedings that may lead to her canoniza-
tion. She went down many blind alleys before she found the road that
Christ was pointing out to her all the time.