Their apostolates covered roughly the same historical period—from 1930-1980. Both were women of prayer, lovers of the poor, conditioned by the Great Depression, and totally loyal and obedient to the Church. Both were founders of movements that continue to this day.

1933 was a significant year for the lay apostolate. In New York Sheed and Ward opened their office, and Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin published the first issue of The Catholic Worker newspaper, and in Toronto Catherine Doherty began a lay group whose purpose was to study and implement the social encyclicals of the popes.

As soon as Catherine read the first issue of The Catholic Worker, she wrote to Dorothy for copies. Catherine and her associates used to pass them out on street corners and after Mass on Sundays.

December 12, 1933
Dear Miss Day,

Your Catholic Worker came to me through Fr. Stroech of Toronto where I work amongst the foreign-born Canadians, which is easy because I am Russian myself. There is nothing as yet that has aroused as much interest in my people as your paper. I am anxious to get it because it does so much good. It makes them realize that the Church is interested in the worker.

Thank you for the splendid work you are doing.
Catherine de Hueck

 

December 19, 1933
Dear Mrs. De Hueck,

Your letter made us very happy, and we are sending the paper as you suggested to the place you mentioned…. If you can use more copies to distribute among your friends, we will be very glad to send you a dozen.

Trusting that you will remember us in your prayers, and we need them especially for the house of hospitality.

I am, sincerely,
Dorothy Day

In the summer of 1934 Catherine attended a summer school of Catholic action in Stamford-in-the-Catskills, N.Y. Both Peter Maurin and Dorothy spoke there. In her diary for August 10, 1934, Catherine wrote: "O Jesus, I am happy today. I thank you for having allowed me to meet Dorothy Day. Bless her and keep her."

After this initial contact, Dorothy came to Toronto on several occasions. From Catherine’s diary, February 12, 1935: "Dorothy Day arrived at 12:30. It was lovely to see her again. She has such a wonderful spirit."

Their contacts were more frequent in the 1930s and 1940s. Their love, support, and friendship with one another never waned, but the growing demands of their individual and unique apostolates did not allow them much time for personal contact.

Their letters best convey their friendship in the Lord, but besides their correspondence we are fortunate to have several early eye-witness accounts. Stanley Vishnewski, one of Dorothy’s earliest and most faithful followers, wrote a book about his life in the Catholic Worker. In it he said:

"The baroness [Catherine] came to pay us a visit. Dorothy and the baroness sat around the round table in the privacy of the kitchen. They talked at length about the work they were both doing. The baroness told
Dorothy about the opposition that was being raised against her in Toronto. ‘I’ve been accused of being a Communist. I don’t know how long I will be able to continue the work.’

"Dorothy tried to console her by telling her of the many slanderous attacks she had suffered since starting the Catholic Worker."

They not only consoled one another and exchanged experiences about their apostolates; they were also good enough friends to challenge one another and call one another to higher ideals.

The closing of Friendship House in Toronto was very devastating to Catherine. It was during this trial, more than at any other time in their relationship, that the friendship, support, and love of Dorothy was lavished upon Catherine.

In one of her most significant letters, Dorothy wrote:

Written with a million interruptions c. Nov. 1936
Dear Catherine,

Got your last two letters and cannot really make head or tail of the whole thing. If they are closing Friendship House, it is really disastrous….

But this is the kind of thing which is always happening in the history of works such as ours. I’m always expecting I’ll be asked to leave the work for the good of the cause, and I’m more or less prepared for it. All the kind of gossip and rumors that have gone around about you have gone around about me, too, these last years.

I’m supposed to be an immoral woman, with illegitimate children, a drunkard, a racketeer, running an expensive apartment on the side, with money in several banks, owning property, in the pay of Moscow, etc., etc.

I should think you would feel privileged and happy to be sharing in some of Our Lord’s sufferings and above all not surprised as though it were something entirely unexpected.

What in the world do you expect? The very fact that there is all this obstruction and hindrance and trouble shows the work must be succeeding beyond your wildest hopes. Otherwise the devil would not be putting so many hindrances in the way and trying to break down your morale. For that is surely what is being done….

I wish to goodness I were up there to talk to you. You will think I am cold and unsympathetic, but really, darling, I am not at all. I have been thinking of you constantly for the past week.

What I am wondering about is why you are fleeing. I should think you would hold your head up through it all, and if you are deprived of any work to do, abandon yourself completely to Divine Providence, try to keep to ordinary routine as much as possible and leave things in God’s hands to work out….

I would not flee from the scene of strife and persecution. I’d stay right there and face them out. Besides, you are making a decision right in the heart of things, which is never good.

I purposely make this letter frank and as sane as possible, because you are in such a state of mind. But at the same time, if you do not believe you have our love and sympathy, you are lacking in faith in us.

We most truly believe though, that the devil makes all this hullabaloo just when the work is accomplishing the most good, so for that you should be most happy.

Much much love,
Dorothy

The next prolonged and intense period of their friendship was when Catherine opened her second house, Friendship House in Harlem, the large African-American ghetto in New York City.

She spent several weeks at the Catholic Worker before she rented an apartment on 138th Street. After that, though the apostolates were distinct, there were frequent visits between Catherine, Dorothy, and those who worked in both apostolates.

As Stanley Vishnewski put it, "In those early days, Friendship House and the Catholic Worker were considered by many to be sister movements."

Catherine and Dorothy would meet at Child’s Restaurant in midtown Manhattan for lunch to discuss the various problems of their respective apostolates.

Catherine wrote about one of these visits in her diary of May 3, 1939: "Went to Child’s. Had a lovely visit with Dorothy. Always consider her wonderful, more convinced than ever that she is a saint. What a joy to be with her! She shines with an inward light that no one can suppress.

"Her difficulties are as mine—mostly with the human beings and their blindness and self-love and ability to put second things first."

to be continued