January 26, 2017

Granddaughter of Dorothy Day shares her story at Mount Holyoke

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Carolee McGrath

SOUTH HADLEY – More than 150 people gathered at Willits Hallowell Center on the campus of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. to hear from Kate Hennessy, the granddaughter of Dorothy Day, a possible candidate for sainthood. Hennessy just released a new book, Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of my Grandmother.

“The saints were the most influential on her, as far as who she read and who she was inspired by,” Hennessy told the crowd. “She absolutely believed in the communion of saints … she believed firmly that we are all called to be saints.”

Hennessy is the youngest of Day’s nine grandchildren. Day (1887-1980) was a journalist, a pacifist, and activist who fought for women’s right to vote. She married and divorced and had an abortion before converting to Catholicism in 1927. Day had one daughter, Tamar Teresa. After her conversion, she co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper, during the Great Depression, and later the Catholic Worker Movement, which promoted church teachings and social justice. Day opened homes and soup kitchens to help the poorest of the poor.

“She’s influenced every aspect of my life. It hasn’t been easy. It’s hard to be an ordinary person when you have an extraordinary grandmother,” Hennessy told iObserve.

When asked about one of countless lessons learned from her grandmother she said, “I think it’s pretty simple. No matter how hard things are, there is always hope.”

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan opened the canonical inquiry on the life of Day in 2012; the sainthood cause for day was first undertaken by the late Cardinal John O’Connor, one of Cardinal Dolan’s predecessors in New York.

The U.S. bishops also endorsed the sainthood cause of Day in a voice vote at its annual fall assembly in 2012.

“We fail in so many ways. The danger is giving up. My grandmother faced so many dangers and she never gave up,” Hennessy said.

Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski was among those in attendance.

“Dorothy Day’s significance as a major Catholic figure permeates the church in the 21^st century,” said Bishop Rozanski. “Her call to conversion, to serving the poor, and living the Gospel, is really a call to all of us living in today’s world.”

The talk was sponsored by Catholic Communications ministry for the Diocese of Springfield as well as the Odyssey Bookshop; Mount Holyoke Department of Religion; American Friends Service Committee of Western Massachusetts; Daughters of the Heart of Mary; Elms College; Dorothy Day Guild; Great Barrington Catholic Workers; Our Lady of the Valley Church of Sheffield; Father Bruce N. Teague; Pax Berkshire; and the Sisters of St. Joseph Justice and Peace Committee. 

Sister of St. Joseph Annette McDermott, dean of religious studies and spiritual life at Mount Holyoke College, organized the event. Before the evening talk, Hennessy held an event for students on campus.

“Kate’s book is a powerful moment. She read to our students and they just loved it. They really heard the value of Dorothy Day’s journey,” said Sister McDermott.

Diocesan director of communications, Mark E. Dupont, was also in attendance. He said he felt like this was a unique opportunity to learn more about the legendary Day from those who knew her during her life.

“Too often, over the course of time, the lives of these great persons get flattened into two dimensional historic figures, without a more compete understanding of who they were as a person But here we were able to get a fuller sense of what Dorothy Day was actually like, an authentic person, with her pluses and minuses, all based on the remembrances of a granddaughter,” he commented.

Light refreshments were served after the evening talk at Mount Holyoke. The book, published by Simon & Schuster, is available online at Amazon and at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley.