Dorothy Day: Original Watercolor Painting

This painting has sold.

This is an original 5”x7” watercolor painting on watercolor paper of Dorothy Day by Leanne Bowen. First come, first serve. Owning an original is an absolute treat, they will ship separately from other items directly from Leanne's studio.

I heard a story about Dorothy Day that has always stuck with me. During the 70’s, some priests were becoming rather casual with the liturgy. One afternoon, a priest came into the soup kitchen that Dorothy Day was working at. He wanted to offer a liturgy for the homeless. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a mug to use for the chalice.

Dorothy, although frustrated at the irreverent use of houseware for the liturgy, prayed throughout the mass with the priest. After the liturgy ended, she quietly got up and started to cleanse the vessels. After the sanctuary was clean, she walked outside with the mug and a shovel.

A man followed her and asked her what she was doing. It is said she kissed the mug and then buried it. She told him that it was no longer a mug, but a chalice. It was no longer suited for coffee- it had held the Blood of Christ. She didn’t want anyone to mistake it for a mug again. Once something holds the Body of Christ, it is no longer what it was. When the mug held the Blood of Christ, it changed its vocation forever. It could no longer hold anything less than Christ again.

“True love is delicate and kind, full of gentle perception and understanding, full of beauty and grace, full of joy unutterable… With such a love one would see all things new; we would begin to see people as they really are, as God sees them.” - Dorothy Day

We were common mugs. Simple, functional, practical, and good people. We had a capacity to hold good things. But when Christ entered our lives, we became more. He chose us. We became Chalices. We started to hold divinity Himself within our hearts. Now that we have held the Body of Christ within our bodies, we are no longer common, but rather extraordinary.