Testimony of Bill Mansfield
When my daughter was nine months old, she contracted infant botulism and became deathly ill. She went into a coma for three weeks. On the first day, her mother and I were told that she was expected to die …
The next morning was my first Father’s Day. And my child wasn’t dead! The best present I could ask for!
They informed us initially that she would still probably die; then that she might live but would certainly never come out of her coma; then that she might come out of the coma, but would likely have severe brain damage.
And then one day she woke up. And was, seemingly, fine. She’s still fine today.
The doctors were very good and had access to an experimental treatment. So that may have been the cause.
But I also prayed. Every day I prayed with her for hours. And having just finished books about Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero, I often asked for them to ask God for healing for my child …
I remember clearly that I did pray for intercession by both Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero. In my mind, these two are always linked. I see them as two sides of the same coin. They are (in my mind) the masculine and feminine of modern martyrdom. Saint Romero, after a very intense three years of standing up to the abuse of earthly power, had a violent and quick martyrdom – very masculine. But Dorothy Day had a much more interesting and feminine martyrdom (in my opinion—and I am certainly no authority). She spent years and decades doing the hard work God called her to do. It was exhausting and eventually she died – still faithfully serving God.
We understand Saint Romero’s path – it is (especially for an American) clear. But we underestimate Dorothy Day’s path. It is less cinematic, but in many ways much more difficult. It is hard to die for the Truth, but in many ways even harder to live for it.
So I always think of the two of them in tandem and love them both.
But while I asked for the intercession of both, I mainly petitioned Dorothy Day in those sad days. She was a mother and had cared for a child. She had the strength to walk a long, difficult road. I had been told that my daughter was to die, and then told she would never wake up, and then told she had brain damage. But regardless of what happened – I knew the road would be long and hard. She is who I wanted by my side. I wanted my daughter to fight – and Saint Romero was a fighter to be sure – but our struggle was more one Dorothy Day would understand (again – just in my opinion). So my petitions were probably split 90% to Dorothy and 10% to Saint Romero.
I have been putting off the request for my daughter’s medical records out of fear … I am terrified that they will show that she recovered due to clear and ordinary medical reasons. I’m afraid I will lose something that has been clear to me for two decades – the possibility that her healing was a miracle.
Regardless of how she was healed, my faith got me through a terrible time. And as is often pointed out – the Lord works in mysterious ways. He could have just as easily worked through the doctors.
The wonderful news is that she is doing so much better! She has a job, a relationship, and is acting with kindness to others.
Reflecting on her, I realize now how much I leaned on Dorothy Day regarding my daughter well past just the coma. I often spoke of Dorothy to my daughter and used her as an example of kind and long-suffering behavior to others who need help. As she grew up in her mother’s house, and her mother is left-leaning atheist, I used Dorothy Day to show a side of the Church that can be ignored by some. Even when we were estranged and she moved to Florida I told her to go find a Catholic Worker house if she needed help.
Testimony of Todd DeMitchell
I am a friend of Casa Juan Diego in Houston, and Louise Zwick and I have been petitioning Servant of God Dorothy Day through our prayers to intercede on behalf of another friend … She was diagnosed with very serious bone cancer and had been undergoing treatment in Boston. I recently received the following message from her husband that her condition improved remarkably, and she is now eligible for a bone marrow transplant.
She is in complete remission and is scheduled for her transplant October 14. She has made remarkable progress, going from a low of 98 pounds to 121 pounds (she was 126 before the cancers struck) and she is walking over a mile. She had 82% leukemia in her bone marrow originally, it is down to 0.4 … I believe Terri’s dramatically improved condition is a result of Dorothy’s intercession. I pray nightly for the canonization of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin … I am not a very good Catholic but I believe with all my heart that American Catholics desperately need the inspiration, the intercession, and the prayers of Dorothy Day and that her canonization would be a consolation and a blessing to all of us.
From the patient’s husband:
Just prior to the start of the transplant, the hospital’s minister blessed the cells and the transplant. It was really quite nice. We were very appreciative of her participation.
My wife has had a long journey to get to this point. She confronted this serious challenge with grace, strength, and resolve. Your positive thoughts and prayers have been greatly appreciated, and I am sure they have aided the journey. The destination is closer, even though there will still be twists and turns, the path is being smoothed.
With great gratitude for your prayers (we have joined you in our prayers thanking Servant of God Dorothy Day for interceding on my wife’s behalf).
Your support for my wife as she confronted her leukemia has been greatly appreciated. She recently had her one-year anniversary check-up from the date of her bone marrow transplant and her twelfth bone marrow biopsy. She is cancer free!!
Twenty months ago she had a 20% survival chance. The one year marker is important in that there is a significantly decreased chance of relapse and/or the emergence of graft versus host disease, however they could still occur. We are buoyed and optimistic for her future.
Please know how grateful my wife and I are and how much she has benefitted by your support of Servant of God Dorothy Day’s advocacy for her. Dorothy Day and you made a difference in our lives.
Testimony of Greg Walgenbach
I have had an admiration for and devotion to Dorothy Day for many years, as a fellow convert coming into the Catholic Church (in which she played part as well) and as a Director of the office of Life, Justice, and Peace for the Diocese of Orange, CA.
On October 5, 2020, I was hospitalized with what turned out to be metastatic germ cell cancer that had gone into my lymph nodes and the L-2 vertebra of my spine (making it so porous that my doctor feared my spine would break). During the Covid pandemic, I underwent spine surgery and orchiectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
Throughout my illness I sought the intercession of Servant of God Dorothy Day and Sister Thea Bowman. These two sisters in the Lord both had their own closeness to suffering, their own and others. Not only did I ask Dorothy to intercede for my healing from cancer but also to show me how to be close to others in their suffering as well. I spent a great deal of time reading her works and reflecting on and with her.
During my hospital stays I was able to spend time ministering to nurses, doctors, and hospital staff and praying for so many people who sent me their prayer requests after I solicited them in conversation. Indeed I saw my hospital room and later my time at home with my family during the pandemic as houses of hospitality. Even when guests could not be received during the pandemic, we ourselves were recipients of the “hospitality” of so many providing meals and prayers for our family and prayed for so many others in our lives during that time.
In fact, during my recovery and treatment I was invited by my pastor to give a Lenten retreat at our parish via Zoom and I spoke on the life of Dorothy for one of those sessions. From one week to the next I was able to announce what the doctors told me: that my cancer was in full remission!
Grateful to God and to Dorothy Day for her intercession as well, I was cleared to return to work. I am now six months in remission and continue my work in the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace. I am also in formation for the priesthood through the Pastoral Provision and Dorothy has been a help and encouragement in that process as well. May God continue to lead us all and bless and challenge us through Dorothy’s example and hope in Jesus!
From early days in the hospital I asked hundreds of friends and family for prayer for healing, asking the intercession of Servants of God Thea Bowman and Dorothy Day (the latter was invoked to and with me by a friend, Leia Smith from the Isaiah House Catholic Worker in Orange County, CA). Dorothy has been significant to me throughout my life and especially as I came into the Catholic Church and in my work in the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace. Her reminders of not judging and not letting it get to us when others judge were utmost in my mind and her radical hospitality and acceptance not of injustice but of life and persons as they come to us were important to me as I underwent my ordeal. I remember her words throughout her diaries of finding strength in the Lord and dealing with her tiredness, as I sought to be a patient “patient” in the hospital, during the pandemic, in relative isolation (although modern social media and connection was truly a blessing!). Her commitment to Mass, the Hours, and Prayer were a reminder to me that in the middle of night when I could no sleep or during the long days when I was frustrated, saddened, or in pain, I could and did turn to the Lord in recitation of the Divine Office and crying out to the Lord.
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Our deep thanks to
Bro. Martin Erspamer, OSB, for the use of his iconic images (preceding columns for “Good Talk,” “Breaking Bread,” “Sowing Seeds,” “Signs of Holiness”)
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