Peter Maurin

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Peter Maurin
Born	May 9, 1877 Oultet, France
Died	May 15, 1949
Known for	co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
Religious beliefs	Roman Catholic

Peter Maurin (May 9, 1877 – May 15, 1949 born in Oultet, France) was a Catholic activist who co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement with Dorothy Day in 1933.

Maurin was born into a poor farming family in southern France, where he was the oldest of 21 siblings. After spending time with the Christian Brothers, he briefly moved to Saskatchewan to try his hand at homesteading, but was discouraged by the death of his partner. He then traveled throughout the American east for a few years, and eventually settled in New York, where he spent the rest of his life.^[1]

"Peter's Christian Philosophy of work was this. God is our creator. God made us in His image and likeness. Therefore we are creators. He gave us a garden to till and cultivate. We become co-creators by our responsible acts, weather in bringing forth children, or producing food, furniture or clothing. The joy of creativeness should be ours. But because of the Fall the curse is laid on us of having to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows, in labor. St. Paul said that since the Fall nature itself travaileth and groaneth. So man has to contend with fallen nature in the beasts and in the earth as well as in himself. But when he overcomes the obstacles, he attains again to the joy of creativity. Work is not then all pain and drudgery."
Dorothy Day on Peter Maurin's Philosophy of Work, from her Autobiography, The Long Loneliness^[2]

In the mid-1920's, Maurin was working as a French tutor in the New York Suburbs. It was at that time Maurin ceased to charge for his lessons, and asked only that students gave any sum they thought appropriate. Though it is unknown for certain, this was likely prompted by reading about the philosophies of St. Francis of Assisi who viewed labor as a gift to the greater community, not a lever of self promotion.

Maurin initially proposed the name Catholic Radical for the paper that was distributed as the Catholic Worker paper beginning May 1, 1933. Maurin began to see it as not quite radical enough, as it had an emphasis on political and union activity. Maurin believed the Catholic Worker should stress life in small agricultural communities, especially as “there is no unemployment on the land.” Likewise convinced that protest would not bring true change, he withdrew from New York to Easton, Pennsylvania, where he worked on the Catholic Worker-owned Mary Farm.

Following a seeming stroke in 1944, Maurin began to lose his memory, and his condition deteriorated until his death in 1949. The Staten Island Catholic Worker farm was named after Maurin following his death; it currently operates in Marlboro, New York.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

Ellis, Marc H. Peter Maurin: Prophet in the Twentieth Century. New York: Paulist Press, 1981
Day, Dorothy. “Maurin, Aristide Peter.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. 2003.
Peter Maurin Biography and Photos

[edit] References

^ Peter Maurin. Retrieved on April 27,2008.
^ Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness, 1952 p. 227

Persondata
NAME	Peter Maurin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Aristide Pierre Maurin
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
DATE OF BIRTH	May 9, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oultet, France
DATE OF DEATH	May 15, 1949
PLACE OF DEATH