Peter Marin, the French peasant-philosopher, who inspired Dorothy Day to start the Catholic Worker, and whom she always credited as the founder of the movement, d. May 15 1949. He was the answer to her prayer for a way to relate her faith to the cause of the poor.

They would start first with a newspaper to promote the radical social message of the gospel. Then houses of hospitality to practice the works of mercy. Then they must model a vision of a society based on alternative values—working for a society “where it is easier to be good.”

“The future will be different if we make the present different,” he said. Dorothy called him a second St Francis, the holiest person she ever knew. His vision and call for a new relationship with the earth takes on a new practical urgency in our current age. (See Laudato Si’)