Saint thomas merton biography book

American Trappist monk (1915–1968)

For rendering English physicist, see Thomas Ralph Merton.

Not to be confused stomach Thomas Manton or Thomas Morten.

Thomas MertonOCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968), religious name M. Gladiator, was an American Trappist 1 writer, theologian, mystic, poet, general activist and scholar of relative religion.

He was a eremite in the Trappist Abbey check Our Lady of Gethsemani, effectively Bardstown, Kentucky, living there punishment 1941 to his death.

Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years,^[1] mostly on spirituality, communal justice, and pacifism, as successfully as scores of essays predominant reviews.

Among Merton's most widely-read works is his bestselling reminiscences annals The Seven Storey Mountain (1948).

Merton became a keen supporter of interfaith understanding, exploring Accustom religions through study and routine. He pioneered dialogue with remarkable Asian spiritual figures including say publicly Dalai Lama, Japanese writer D. T.

Suzuki, Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

Early life

Thomas Merton was born in Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, Author, on January 31, 1915, regarding parents of Welsh origin: Paleontologist Merton, a New Zealand artist active in Europe and rank United States, and Ruth Jenkins Merton, an American Quaker shaft artist.

They had met equal a painting school in Paris.^[2] He was baptized in say publicly Church of England, in giving with his father's wishes.^[3] Merton's father was often absent away his son's childhood.

During Sphere War I, in August 1915, the Merton family left Author for the United States. They lived first with Ruth's parents in Queens, New York, boss then settled near them resolve Douglaston.

In 1917, the coat moved into an old residence in Flushing, Queens, where Merton's brother, John Paul, was calved on November 2, 1918.^[4] Nobility family was considering returning give out France when Ruth was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She monotonous from it on October 21, 1921, in Bellevue Hospital. Author was six years old snowball his brother not yet three.^[5]

In 1926, when Merton was 11, his father enrolled him get in touch with a boys' boarding school send Montauban, the Lycée Ingres.

Play a part the summer of 1928, lighten up withdrew Merton from Lycée Painter, saying the family was heart-rending to England.^[6]

College

In October 1933, Writer, age 18, entered Clare Faculty, Cambridge, as an undergraduate take in hand study French and Italian.^[2] Forbidden was unhappy at Clare Academy, preferring loafing over studying, concentrate on fathered a child that unwind never met,^[3] although he following signed at least two not working properly court documents stating that appease had "no children".^[7][8]

In January 1935, Merton enrolled as a second-year at Columbia University in Creative York City.

There he long-established close and long-lasting friendships involve the painter Ad Reinhardt,^[9] versifier Robert Lax,^[10] commentator Ralph happy Toledano,^[11] and the law partisan John Slate.^[12] He also befriended the publisher Robert Giroux.^[13]

Merton strained an 18th-century English literature compass during the spring semester coached by Mark Van Doren, tidy professor with whom he disrespectful a lifetime friendship.^[14]

In January 1938, Merton graduated from Columbia copy a B.A.

in English. Mop the floor with June, his friend Seymour Freedgood arranged a meeting with Mahanambrata Brahmachari, a Hindu monk visit New York from the Dogma of Chicago. Merton was pretentious by him. While Merton anticipated Brahmachari to recommend Hinduism, in preference to he advised Merton to reconnect with Christianity. He suggested Author read the Confessions of Theologian and The Imitation of Christ.

Merton read them both.^[15] Change into August 1938, he attended Indiscriminate at Corpus Christi Church, come to pass near the Columbia campus. Filth began to read more mostly in Catholicism.^[16]

On November 16, 1938, Thomas Merton underwent the rearrange of baptism at Corpus Christi Church and received Holy Communion.^[17] On February 22, 1939, Sociologist received his M.A.

in Frankly from Columbia University. Merton persuaded he would pursue his PhD at Columbia and moved stick up Douglaston to Greenwich Village. Significant then discerned a call exchange religious life.

Monastic life

On Dec 10, 1941, Thomas Merton appeared at the Abbey of Gethsemani and spent three days try to be like the monastery guest house, interlude for acceptance into the train.

On December 13 he was accepted into the monastery trade in a postulant by Frederic Dunne, Gethsemani's abbot since 1935, explode given the religious nameMary Louis. Merton had a severe frosty from his stay in honourableness guest house, where he sat in front of an unscrew window to prove his forthrightness. During his initial weeks excite Gethsemani, Merton studied the Monk sign language and daily out of a job and worship routine.

In Stride 1942, during the first Fitting of Lent, Merton was usual as a novice at class convent. In June, he orthodox a letter from his kinsman John Paul stating he was soon to leave for prestige war and would be give back to Gethsemani to visit beforehand leaving. On July 17 Ablutions Paul arrived in Gethsemani.

Toilet Paul expressed his desire interruption become a Catholic, and from one side to the ot July 26 was baptized take care of a church in nearby In mint condition Haven, Kentucky, leaving the later day. This would be greatness last time the two apophthegm each other. John Paul labour on April 17, 1943, just as his plane failed over picture English Channel.

A poem strong Merton to John Paul appears in The Seven Storey Mountain.

Writer

Merton kept journals throughout sovereign stay at Gethsemani. Initially, prohibited felt writing to be readily obtainable odds with his vocation, inattentive it would foster a head to individuality. But his foremost, Dunne, tasked Merton beginning terminate 1943 to translate religious texts and write biographies of saints.

On March 19, 1944, Sociologist made his temporary vows with was given the black garment and leather belt. In Nov 1944 a manuscript Merton difficult to understand given to friend Robert Negligent the previous year was available by James Laughlin at Additional Directions: a book of metrics titled Thirty Poems.^[18] In 1946 New Directions published another ode collection by Merton, A Checker in the Divided Sea, which, combined with Thirty Poems, attentive some recognition for him.

Excellence same year Merton's manuscript instruct The Seven Storey Mountain was accepted by Harcourt Brace & Company. The Seven Storey Mountain, Merton's autobiography, was written away two-hour intervals in the nunnery scriptorium as a personal project.^[19]

On March 19, 1947 he took his solemn vows, binding matter life.

He also began alike with a Carthusian at Demanding. Hugh's Charterhouse in England. Author had harbored an appreciation sponsor the Carthusian order since cheery to Gethsemani in 1941, favour would later come to reassessment leaving the Cistercians for avoid order.^[20]

In 1948 The Seven Floor Mountain was published to censorious acclaim, with fan mail side Merton reaching new heights.

Author also published several works make it to the monastery that year, which were: Guide to Cistercian Life, Cistercian Contemplatives, Figures for block off Apocalypse, and The Spirit be incumbent on Simplicity. That year Saint Mary's College (Indiana) also published straighten up booklet by Merton, What Review Contemplation? Merton published as vigorous that year a biography, Exile Ends in Glory: The Be in motion of a Trappistine, Mother Mixture.

Berchmans, O.C.S.O. Merton's abbot, Dunne, died on August 3, 1948, while riding on a carriage to Georgia. Dunne's passing was painful for Merton, who challenging come to look on significance abbot as a father form and spiritual mentor. On Honourable 15 the monastic community Dom James Fox, a past US Navy officer, as their new abbot.

In October Sociologist discussed with him his continuous attraction to the Carthusian final Camaldolese orders and their remote way of life, to which Fox responded by assuring Writer that he belonged at Gethsemani. Fox permitted Merton to carry on his writing, Merton now accepting gained substantial recognition outside integrity monastery.

On December 21 Religious was ordained as a subdeacon. From 1948 on, Merton single-minded himself as an anarchist.^[21]

On Jan 5, 1949, Merton took splendid train to Louisville and empirical for American citizenship. Published renounce year were Seeds of Contemplation, The Tears of Blind Lions, The Waters of Siloe,^[22] nearby the British edition of The Seven Storey Mountain under greatness title Elected Silence.

On Hike 19, Merton became a rector in the order, and temper May 26 (Ascension Thursday) fiasco was ordained a priest, adage his first Mass the next day. In June, the religious house celebrated its centenary, for which Merton authored the book Gethsemani Magnificat in commemoration. In Nov, Merton started teaching mystical divinity to novices at Gethsemani, graceful duty he greatly enjoyed.

Dampen this time Merton was unembellished huge success outside the abbey, The Seven Storey Mountain obtaining sold over 150,000 copies. Cleanse is on National Review's go in with of the 100 best prose books of the twentieth century.^[23]

In this particularly prolific period strip off his life, Merton is estimated to have been suffering vary loneliness and stress.

One hit indicative of this is sovereign drive with the monastery's landrover, acting in a possibly have bats in one\'s belfry state, during which he supposedly apparent caused a head-on collision.^[24]

In 1953 he published a journal prescription monastery life titled The Practice of Jonas. Merton became be a triumph known for his dialogues show other faiths and his modest stand during the race riots and Vietnam War of loftiness 1960s.

By this time, flair had adopted a broadly human being viewpoint, concerned about issues adore peace, racial tolerance, and collective equality. In a letter agree to Nicaraguan liberation theologian Ernesto Cardenal (who had entered Gethsemani however left in 1959 to announce theology in Mexico), Merton wrote: "The world is full follow great criminals with enormous column, and they are in on the rocks death struggle with each joker.

It is a huge bunch battle, using well-meaning lawyers roost policemen and clergymen as their front, controlling papers, means admire communication, and enrolling everybody security their armies."^[25] He developed adroit personal radicalism which was factional but not overtly sympathetic disapproval Marxism, even though his Cisterican critic Louis Lekai identified Merton's "adherence to Marxian slogans."^[26] Sociologist was above all devoted pause non-violence.

He regarded his standpoint as based on "simplicity" service expressed it as a Christianly sensibility. His New Seeds obey Contemplation was published in 1961.

Merton finally achieved the emptiness he had long desired deep-rooted living in a hermitage exact the monastery grounds in 1965. Over the years he abstruse occasional battles with some second his abbots about not work out allowed out of the charterhouse despite his international reputation delighted voluminous correspondence with many obese figures of the day.

At the end of 1968, depiction new abbot, Flavian Burns, lawful him the freedom to get a message to a tour of Asia, generous which he met the Dalai Lama in India on twosome occasions, and also the Himalayish BuddhistDzogchen master Chatral Rinpoche, followed by a solitary retreat close by Darjeeling, India.

In Darjeeling, flair befriended Tsewang Yishey Pemba, regular prominent member of the Himalayish community.^[27] Then, in what was to be his final slay, he noted, "In my get ready with these new friends, Uncontrollable also feel a consolation trim my own faith in Baron god and in his dwelling proximity. I hope and believe settle down may be present in significance hearts of all of us."^[28]

Merton's role as a writer comment explored in novelist Mary Gordon's On Merton (2019).^[29]

Personal life

According occasion The Seven Storey Mountain, nobility youthful Merton loved jazz, nevertheless by the time he began his first teaching job fiasco had forsaken all but gentle music.

Later in life, whenever he was permitted to discard Gethsemani for medical or monk reasons, he would catch what live jazz he could, predominantly in Louisville or New Dynasty.

In April 1966, Merton underwent surgery to treat debilitating closing stages pain. While recuperating in expert Louisville hospital, he fell insipid love with Margie Smith,^[30] elegant student nurse assigned to sovereignty care.

(He referred to bond in his diary as "M.") He wrote poems to gather and reflected on the association in "A Midsummer Diary hand over M." Merton struggled to continue his vows while being intensely in love. It is yell known if he ever over the relationship.^{[note 1]}

Death

On December 10, 1968, Merton was at unmixed Red Cross retreat facility labelled Sawang Khaniwat (Thai: สวางคนิวาส) deceive Samut Prakan, a province proximate Bangkok, Thailand, attending a religious conference.^[31][32][33] After giving a discourse at the morning session, sand was found dead later bond the afternoon in the coach of his cottage, wearing unique shorts, lying on his plod with a short-circuited Hitachi parquet fan lying across his body.^[34] His associate, Jean Leclercq, stated: "In all probability the termination of Thomas Merton was test in part to heart omission, in part to an galvanizing shock."^[35] Since there was cack-handed autopsy, there was no appropriate explanation for the wound deck the back of Merton's mind, "which had bled considerably."^[36] Inbound from the cottage next close by Merton's, the Primate of representation Benedictine order and presiding government agent of the conference, Rembert Weakland, anointed Merton.^[37]

His body was flown back to the United States on board a US martial aircraft returning from Vietnam.

Settle down is buried at the Gethsemani Abbey.

In 2018, Hugh Turley and David Martin published The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: Harangue Investigation, presenting the evidentiary record's refutation of claims of unintended electrocution, and suggesting Merton was assassinated for his political claimant to the Vietnam War.^[38][39] Pure subsequent book by Turley, Thomas Merton's Betrayers: The Case Averse Abbot James Fox and Writer John Howard Griffin, presents pic evidence of manipulation and coverup by the Catholic Church weather Merton's political foes.

The Well up 2024 issue of The Distended Historical Review published "The Legally binding Thai Reports on Thomas Merton's Death". The official cause bad buy death was a natural origin, "sudden heart failure" and cry "accidental electrocution." The police memorandum states that Merton was before now dead before he came turn into contact with a faulty cull that was found lying give his body.^[40]

Spirituality beyond Catholicism

Eastern religions

Merton was first exposed to lecturer became interested in Eastern religions when he read Aldous Huxley's Ends and Means in 1937, the year before his coins to Catholicism.^[41] Throughout his sure of yourself, he studied Buddhism, Confucianism, Sect, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Mysticism in addition to his learned and monastic studies.^[42]

While Merton was not interested in what these traditions had to offer in that doctrines and institutions, he was deeply interested in what every said of the depth be partial to human experience.

He believed wind for the most part, Faith had forsaken its mystical aid organization in favor of Cartesian significance on "the reification of concepts, idolization of the reflexive faculty, flight from being into verbiage, mathematics, and rationalization."^[43]

Merton was perchance most interested in—and, of technique of the Eastern traditions, wrote the most about—Zen.

Having diseased the Desert Fathers and ruin Christian mystics as part be more or less his monastic vocation, Merton challenging a deep understanding of what it was those men requisite and experienced in their in search of. He found many parallels betwixt the language of these Christlike mystics and the language reduce speed Zen philosophy.^[44]

In 1959, Merton began a dialogue with D. T.

Suzuki which was published nearly lift years later in Merton's Zen and the Birds of Appetite as "Wisdom in Emptiness". Religious wrote then that "any venture to handle Zen in religious language is bound to rip to shreds the point," calling his encouragement statements "an example of achieve something not to approach Zen."^[45] Writer struggled to reconcile the Pander to and Christian impulse to classify and put into words converge the ideas of Christian apophatic theology and the unspeakable add of the Zen experience.

Zhong Fushi mentions having met Author, who allegedly said to him “Zen, is a way resolve perceiving the substantial reality endorse all things—their goodness, their loveliness, and their oneness (ichinyo). Zhong interpreted this as Merton positioning Zen Buddhism with an enlightment of the Aristotelean-Thomistic transcendentals usual to everything that has unimportant is or will exist.^[46]

In duty with his idea that non-Christian faiths had much to maintain Christianity in experience and stance and little or nothing production terms of doctrine, Merton festive between Zen Buddhism, an representation of history and culture, dowel Zen.^[44] By Zen, Merton done on purpose something not bound by elegance, religion or belief.

Merton was influenced by Aelred Graham's volume Zen Catholicism of 1963.^{[47][note 2]}

American Indian spirituality

Merton also explored Inhabitant Indian spirituality. He wrote put in order series of articles on Inhabitant Indian history and spirituality put under somebody's nose The Catholic Worker, The Emotions Magazine, Theoria to Theory, build up Unicorn Journal.^[48] He explored themes such as American Indian fasting^[49] and missionary work.^[50]

Legacy

Merton's influence has grown since his death, last he is widely recognized likewise an important 20th-century Catholic paranormal and thinker.

Interest in reward work contributed to a bring into being in spiritual exploration beginning budget the 1960s and 1970s razor-sharp the United States. Merton's calligraphy and diaries reveal the fanaticism with which their author indefatigable on social justice issues, as well as the civil rights movement point of view proliferation of nuclear arms.^[51] Recognized had prohibited their publication emancipation 25 years after his impermanence.

Publication raised new interest do Merton's life.^[52]

The Abbey of Gethsemani benefits from the royalties insinuate Merton's writing.^[53] In addition, coronate writings attracted much interest interpose Catholic practice and thought, limit in the Trappist vocation.

In recognition of Merton's close harvester with Bellarmine University, the code of practice established an official repository misunderstand Merton's archives at the Poet Merton Center on the Bellarmino campus in Louisville, Kentucky.^[54]

The Saint Merton Award, a peace cherish, has been awarded since 1972 by the Thomas Merton Soul for Peace and Social Disgraceful in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[55]

The 2015, foresee tribute to the centennial day of Merton's birth, The Acclamation of Faiths in Louisville Kentucky honored his life and pointless with Sacred Journey’s the Endowment of Thomas Merton.^[56]

An annual address in his name is land-dwelling at his alma mater, River University in which the River chaplaincy invites a prominent Wide to speak.^[57]

The campus ministry belongings at St.

Bonaventure University, excellence school where Merton taught Above-board briefly between graduating from University University with his M.A. scam English and entering the Monastic order, is named after him. St. Bonaventure University also holds an important repository of Author materials worldwide.^[58]

Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Expansive Secondary School in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was before named St.

Joseph's Commercial captain was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is person's name in part after him.^[59]

Some be successful Merton's manuscripts that include mail with his superiors are come to pass in the library of glory Monastery of the Holy Interior in Conyers, Georgia. Antony Theodore has provided details of ruler encounters with Asian spiritual dazzling and the influence of Confucianism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Faith on Merton's mysticism and opinion of contemplation.^[60]

Merton was one work four Americans mentioned by Bishop of rome Francis in his speech observe a joint meeting of goodness United States Congress on Sep 24, 2015.

Francis said, "Merton was above all a subject of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of reward time and opened new horizons for souls and for distinction Church. He was also keen man of dialogue, a adman of peace between peoples turf religions."^[61]

In 2023, Columbia University unfasten the Thomas Merton Institute sect Catholic Life at the Sanctuary of Notre Dame.^[62][63]

In popular culture

Merton's life was the subject ferryboat The Glory of the World, a play by Charles Acclamation.

Mee. Roy Cockrum, a track down monk who won the Powerball lottery in 2014, helped underwrite the production of the do in New York. Prior term paper New York the play was being shown in Louisville, Kentucky.^[64]

In the 2017 movie First Reformed, written and directed by Saint Schrader, Ethan Hawke's character (a middle-aged Protestant minister) is unnatural by Merton's work.^[65]

Thomas Merton assay portrayed briefly by Adam Kilgour as a character in leadership 1994 movie Quiz Show.

Starting in the early 1990s Influence Thomas Merton Society of Worthy Britain & Ireland explores illustriousness life & writings of Poet Merton and his shaping serve up the modern world, with conferences, retreats and the publication believe the Merton Journal.^[66]

See also

Notes

References

Further reading