STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — To commemorate the anniversary of Dorothy Day’s death, the Catholic Worker of Staten Island will gather for a memorial Mass on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 11 a.m. in St. Peter’s R.C. Church, New Brighton. The event will include prayers devoted to Day’s canonization.
Day, who died at age 83, continues to be evaluated for sainthood in the Catholic Church and is recognized as a Servant of God, the first step in the multi-stage canonization process.
The Dorothy Day Guild is conducting an extensive review of her written works — a process slowed by the quantity of material, said Ann-Louise DePalo, co-president of the Catholic Worker of Staten Island.
“Dorothy was an incredibly prolific writer,” DePalo explained. “Her contributions include everything from reflections and columns to numerous books.”
The canonization process includes four stages: Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed and Saint. Beatification — the third stage — requires an officially verified miracle attributed to Day’s intercession.
A stained glass window depicting Dorothy Day can be seen inside of Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church in Tottenville.(Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)
A Brooklyn Heights native, Day maintained strong ties to Staten Island throughout her life. She was baptized at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Tottenville following her conversion to Catholicism in 1927.
She spent her summers at Annadale Beach and lived at her house on the corner of Zephyr and Poillon avenues. Along with Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin, she ran a cooperative farm on Bloomingdale Road in Pleasant Plains from 1950 to 1964. Later in life, she spent summers at Spanish Camp in Annadale.
The Catholic Worker Movement began in 1933 during the Great Depression when Day, influenced by Peter Maurin’s philosophy and her Catholic faith, published the first issue of “The Catholic Worker.”
Sold for a penny, the paper became a voice for economic justice, pacifism and workers’ rights. It helped spark a nationwide movement focused on direct service and nonviolence.
As the movement expanded, Day, a professed anarchist, became regarded as one of the most influential Catholic lay leaders of the 20th century. She embraced the church’s “preferential option for the poor” and supported distributism as an alternative to both socialism and capitalism. During World War II, The Catholic Worker promoted pacifism and backed conscientious objectors.
Day died of heart failure on Nov. 29, 1980, at the House of Hospitality on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. She is buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Pleasant Plains.
The Dorothy Day, an Ollis-class ferry in the NYC Department of Transportation’s Staten Island Ferry fleet, commissioned in November 2022 and began regular service in April 2023.(Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)
Today, more than 200 Catholic Worker houses operate worldwide, each shaping its programs based on local needs. The Staten Island chapter, founded two years ago by Deborah Sucich, is headquartered at St. Peter’s Church.
The organization hosts a monthly community meal for residents facing financial hardship. Volunteers serve lunch every Wednesday after the food pantry closes, and members distribute sandwiches at Tappan Park in Stapleton on the last Saturday of each month.
Bishop Peter Byrne provides spiritual direction for the chapter and will lead Saturday’s Mass. DePalo said the group has also been in contact with Councilman Frank Morano to discuss several potential proposals to honor Day’s legacy, including a street sign, a commemorative marker and a community garden.
The group welcomes donations and volunteers as it works to secure a permanent home, DePalo noted.
“We’re working to bring more attention to Dorothy’s life and cause, encourage prayers for her beatification, and highlight the ongoing mission of the Catholic Worker,” DePalo said.
St. Peter’s R.C. Church is located at 53 St. Marks Pl.
A second saint from Staten Island?
Father Vincent Capodanno (1929–1967) was a Staten Island native, Maryknoll missionary, and U.S. Navy chaplain renowned for his courageous service to Marines in Vietnam. Known as the “Grunt Padre,” he ministered to troops under fire and was killed while aiding wounded soldiers during battle, earning the Medal of Honor posthumously for his extraordinary valor and selflessness.(Advance/SILive.com)
Day is not Staten Island’s only Servant of God; Father Vincent Capodanno, a Maryknoll missionary priest and Navy chaplain killed in Vietnam, is also under consideration for sainthood.
His cause, led by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, has advanced to the stage of “Venerable” as the Vatican reviews evidence of a possible miracle attributed to his intercession.
The Elm Park native participated in seven combat operations before dying at the age of 38 on Sept. 4, 1967.
Also known as “the grunt padre,” Capodanno was shot 27 times in the back, neck and head on the battlefield in Que Son Valley when he refused to seek cover during the battle known as Operation Swift.
Despite his own injuries, the chaplain prayed with a young Marine he saw lying mortally wounded in an open field and fell by his side as he was ministering last rites.
“It’s a fascinating process,” Mary Preece, of the Father Vincent Capodanno group, previously told the Advance/SILive.com. “And it has to be methodical, because otherwise, we are saying definitively that this man, this good and holy priest, missionary and chaplain, is indeed in heaven — well, that’s a pretty big deal.”