In this perceptive and engaging history, Brigid O'Shea Merriman, O.S.F., studies the spiritual development and religious vision of Dorothy Day, a pioneer of American social Catholicism and co-founder of the Catholic Worker and the Catholic Worker movement. Merriman explores Day's spiritual roots in literature, especially the Scriptures, along with her sensibility and her aesthetic vision. The impact of Christian personalism, monasticism, and the retreat movement on her spirituality is also examined, including new material on Day's association with Thomas Merton and a critical analysis of the Lacouture retreat movement. Friendship was an essential component of Day's spirituality, and the final chapter discusses Day's devotion to and enduring friendship with the saints, as well as her warm relationships with a number of her contemporaries.