The Dorothy Day Guild asks its members and others to “spiritually gather” (in the words of Pope Francis) to pray a novena for solidarity and compassion in this challenging time. It was Dorothy’s reading of muckraking literature like Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, that first awakened her social consciousness. She never forgot its story of the lives of immigrant stockyard workers in the Chicago of her youth, a story of exploitation she heard again and again as a reporter for socialist newspapers in New York. Early on she was in love with the masses of struggling workers, she later enshrined their name in the movement she co-founded, and dedicated to them the first issue of its paper.

We pray for the repose of the loved ones we have lost during this tragic time and the consolation of their families and friends.Today, we also pray for all the essential workers who risk their lives to keep us fed and supplied with what we need. We ask that the recognition of their fundamental dignity — their true “essentialness” — extend beyond the grateful clapping of the present crisis.

“For those who are sitting on park benches in the warm spring sunlight…. For those who think that there is no hope for the future, no recognition of their plight — this little paper is addressed. It is printed to call their attention to the fact that the Catholic Church has a social program — to let them know that there are men of God who are working not only for their spiritual, but for their material welfare.”
– Dorothy Day, 1st issue of The Catholic Worker , May 1, 1933

Let us pray…Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be OR the Holy Rosary

Prayer for the Canonization of Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897 – 1980)

God our Father,
Your servant Dorothy Day exemplified
the Catholic faith by her life
of prayer, voluntary poverty,
works of mercy, and
witness to the justice and peace
of the Gospel of Jesus.
May her life inspire your people
to turn to Christ as their Savior,
to see His face in the world’s poor, and
to raise their voices for the justice
of God’s kingdom.
I pray that her holiness may be recognized by your Church
And that you grant the following favor that I humbly ask through her intercession:
(here mention your request)
I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.