The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton

The Merton Annual, Vol 21, 2008

The Way, 2022

The Merton Annual, 2017

2016

This research project investigates the relevance of the spirituality of the well-known twentieth century Trappist monk, Thomas Merton (1915-1968), for a postmodern contemporary society. The research follows a phenomenological approach. This investigation is done especially in terms of his understanding of the inner journey which is, paradoxically, also the journey to God. The study commences with a short biography of Merton, highlighting the key events that shaped his life and that influenced his spirituality. Merton’s concept of the true self versus the false self is then analysed in relation to spiritual growth, psycho-spiritual development, or what Merton, towards the end of his life, referred to as ‘final integration’. This is followed by an analysis of contemplation, a major element in Merton’s spirituality. It includes an investigation of the relevance of contemplation for holiness, the world of technology, inter-religious dialogue, passivism and non-violence. Merton’s prophetic wisdom is also analysed especially in light of the value of contemplation within the work-place. The study is concluded by drawing together the threads of the research and extrapolating the major findings.

Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society, 2014

Thomas Merton: Monk on the Edge, 2012

In the 1960s Thomas Merton (at his Kentucky monastery) was probably the most well-known radical U. S. Catholic thinker. In regard to race relations, the Vietnam War, ecumenism, and much more, he wrote often. Central to Merton’s mature religious thinking was the concept of Sophia (or Holy Wisdom), or the Eternal Feminine, which he viewed as the potential unity of God with all his creation. Right after back surgery on 25 March, 1966 in a Louisville hospital, the 51-year-old Merton began falling in love with a flesh-and-blood female, a 25-year-old student nurse who helped care for him. In the journal that he kept until shortly before his accidental death in late 1968, he reveals the romantic agonies he suffered, especially for the remainder of 1966. Reading over these entries humanizes this important religious thinker, torn between his religious vows and his love of a woman, this monk who suffered from many of the same fallibilities, doubts, and agonies as do many of us humans.

1976

Theological Librarianship, 2014

These publications only include Merton's letters. Throughout the years both sides of a correspondence have been and continue to be published, for example the letters between Merton and Milosz and those between Merton and Leclercq noted in this essay.

Kenyon Review, 1986

THE KENYON REVIEW true in the case of writers such as Schwartz and Jarrell who move toward tragic ends. We read their letters with an awareness that a certain inevitability is at work. Despite all appearances -all plans, hopes, and wishes expressed in these letters -we know what will happen. We see a writer such as Jarrell, with his abundant gifts, his many friends, his zest for living, and -viewing him just two years before his death -wonder that he could commit suicide. We see a writer like Schwartz-consider the horrors of his final two decades-and marvel that he did not. Mifflin Company, 1984. 690 pp. $24.95.