FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christine Valentine-Owsik • (215) 230-8095 • cowsik@osv.com
Coinciding with sainthood cause,
new edition of Dorothy Day’s
reflections released
HUNTINGTON, Indiana, March 23, 2015 – One of the most provocative
Catholic figures of the early 20th century was also one of its most
paradoxical. An enigma for Catholics and non-Catholics alike -- with a
personal story, conversion, and in-the-trenches life that didn’t fit the saintly
prototype -- the late Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a social activist and cofounder of New York’s Catholic Worker movement. House of Hospitality,
written during her first six years at the Catholic Worker, reveals both the
heroic sanctity and the daily struggles which tested her faith.
Now back in print in a special 75th Anniversary Edition, House of Hospitality, edited by Dr. Lance Byron Richey
(Our Sunday Visitor, 2015), includes a new preface by New York’s Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. Packed with
stories of sacrifice and kindness, strikes and protests, hunger and soup lines, rough tenement life, and the foul odor
of poverty, House of Hospitality profiles “a saint for our time,” says Cardinal Dolan. “Like Saul on the way to
Damascus, she was radically changed when she was introduced to Jesus Christ.” Recognizing her sanctity, in
November 2012 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted unanimously to forward her cause for
sainthood to Rome.
Though she is now on her way to sainthood,” says Dr. Richey, “her conversion and work on behalf of the poor
shocked many Catholics of her time, and ours.” “While she extended mercy toward others, most don’t realize she
practiced severity with herself. And she found a way to combine her deep-felt social values with the living of her
new-found faith.” Day believed that for each Catholic, personal faith and public action are two sides of the
same coin.
In the years leading up to her conversion, Day dropped out of college, had several love affairs and an abortion,
divorced, attempted suicide, went to jail for civil disobedience. After a subsequent pregnancy, Day chose to have
her daughter, Tamar, baptized in 1927 – abandoned her common-law marriage to an atheist, and converted to
Catholicism.
In summing up the reason for her work, Explaining her decision to live among and serve the poor, Day said, “By
fighting for better conditions…for the rights of workers, the poor, the destitute…we can, to a certain extent, change
the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in
the pond and be confident that its ever-widening circle will reach around the world.” (Dorothy Day. “Love Is The
Measure,” The Catholic Worker, June 1946)
House of Hospitality is being released in conjunction with an upcoming Dorothy Day conference being held at Fort
Wayne, Indiana’s University of St. Francis, May 13-15, and co-sponsored by Our Sunday Visitor. More
information: http://dorothyday.sf.edu
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For an interview with Dr. Lance Richey, please contact Christine Valentine-Owsik at: (215) 230-8095 or
cowsik@osv.com
ABOUT OUR SUNDAY VISITOR
The world’s largest English-language Catholic publisher, Our Sunday Visitor serves millions of Catholics globally through its
publishing, offertory, and communication services. Established in 1912, Our Sunday Visitor publishes a wide range of books
including Bibles, biographies of the saints, books by Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, children’s books, devotionals,
bible studies, inspirational works, and curriculum. Our Sunday Visitor is a not-for-profit organization, returning a portion of
net earnings back to the Catholic community through the Our Sunday Visitor Institute. For more information, visit
www.osv.com.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Dr. Lance Richey is Professor of Theology and Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Saint
Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana.