Graces Favors and Miracles

Praying with Dorothy

Praying with the saints is an ancient Christian practice. As sisters and brothers who have gone before us to God, the saints are our friends in heaven, ready to help and intercede for us. You can help further Dorothy’s canonization cause by bringing your needs and the needs of our world before God with the following prayer:



What is considered a grace, favor, or miracle?

As part of the canonical process of recognizing saints, the Church looks for trustworthy signs that someone like Servant of God Dorothy Day is indeed in heaven, praying for those of us here on Earth. The official requirements for canonization include a life of heroic virtue and evidence of holiness as well as two miracles. In this process, a miracle serves as confirmation from God Himself that this person is in heaven, as it is a sign that no human can work. 

The historic evolution of the Church’s canonization process has led to incredibly strict criteria for verification of those miracles. Typically, this means that an official miracle is a healing that cannot be explained by medical science. For a healing to count as miraculous, the sick or injured person must be completely cured, in one definitive moment, with no later return of the disease or injury. These healings are thoroughly investigated by medical doctors and Church officials to determine if there is any natural explanation for the patient’s recovery. The Church goes to great lengths to make sure that there is no uncertainty around miracles ascribed to a potential saint’s intercession.

However, the Church also believes that the wider communion of saints constantly brings our prayers before God, and that these prayers are effective! God’s love, mediated through the intercession of our friends in heaven, is active in all areas of our lives– in the workplace, in our personal relationships, in the social causes to which we devote our time and energy, and in the wider affairs of the world. Even in cases where no miraculous healing occurred, God may grant special graces and favors through our prayers to a particular saint. A grace is a strengthening of faith or a positive change in the interior life of an individual as a result of petitionary prayer, and a favor is a beneficial occurrence that was specifically requested by a petitioner and granted through the intercession of someone like Dorothy.

The Dorothy Day Guild has received hundreds of reports of graces and favors attributed to Dorothy Day’s intercession. These are the reports from which, we hope, a confirmed miracle might come. Yet even without a miracle confirmed by the Vatican, these stories are a testament to how God continues to pour out grace through Dorothy’s intercession, inspiring us all to greater holiness.