It has been said that Christianity is unthinkable without sinners, unlivable without saints. At Vatican II, the Church declared that all are called to be holy: sanctity was not the domain of the few. Still, year after year a few are chosen to be publicly recognized for their holiness.
In his richly researched book, Making Saints, Kenneth Woodward suggests that saint making can be regarded as one of the most democratic processes in the Church, “a process by which God Himself makes known through others the identity of authentic saints.” In the widest sense, he explains, “others” refer to current and future generations of believers.
Moreover, long established Church tradition holds that every “cause” must originate among “the people,” that is, the faithful of the local church, and continue for decades to elicit their prayers and other forms of devotion. A “Guild” is the traditional association formed to garner and track the popular groundswell of support essential to the “success” of any candidate.
The Dorothy Day Guild was established in 2005. Housed in the offices of the Archdiocese of New York, its purpose is to: 1) spread the word of Day’s life work and sanctity; 2) identify the growing devotion to her by Catholics and non-Catholics; and 3) document healing attributed to her intercession.