Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronology -- Pt. I. The Thirties -- Pt. II. The Forties -- Pt. III. The Fifties -- Pt. IV. The Sixties -- Pt. V. The Seventies -- Pt. VI. The Final Diary: 1980.

"Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, has been called "the most significant, interesting, and influential person in the history of American Catholicism." For almost fifty years, through her tireless service of the poor and her courageous witness for peace, she offered an extraordinary example of the gospel in action. Now the publication of her diaries, previously sealed for twenty-five years after her death, offers a uniquely intimate portrait of her daily struggles and concerns." "Beginning in 1934, soon after the founding of the Catholic Worker, and ending in 1980, just days before her death, these diaries reflect her response to the vast changes in America, the church, and the wider world." "Most of her life was spent in the discipline of prayer and worship that structured her days; and in her efforts to find God in all the tasks and encounters of daily life. The record of this pilgrimage displays a rare balance between radicalism and tradition, action and contemplation, the transcendent and the everyday. Ultimately it challenges readers to imagine what it would be like to live as if the gospel were true."--BOOK JACKET.