“It made sense to me. I was known as Brother Roy for a number of years and wore a black habit and traveled all over the world doing spiritual retreats and silent retreats.”
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Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, theologian, mystic, poet, and social activist. He was a professed member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
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culture · American Trappist monk (1915–1968) · theologian · poet · essayist · autobiographer · journalist · peace activist · Catholic priest · writer · literary historian · monk · also Thomas Merton, Thomas Feverel Merton, Father Louis, Merton
Born 31 January 1915 · Died 10 December 1968 · Q335011
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2026· 2 entries
“any attempt to handle Zen in theological language is bound to miss the point”
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2025· 1 entry
JSTOR Daily: Thomas Merton and the New World: God's Messenger on the Road
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2024· 1 entry
JSTOR Daily: Thomas Merton and the Individual Witness: Kingdom Making in a Post-Christian, Post-Truth World
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2023· 1 entry
Columbia University opened the Thomas Merton Institute for Catholic Life at the Church of Notre Dame
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2022· 1 entry
America Magazine: Nukes, contemplation and vocation: An introduction to Thomas Merton for young Catholics
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2021· 1 entry
National Catholic Reporter: Thomas Merton's wisdom for a church in crisis
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2020· 1 entry
Publishers Weekly: Books by Thomas Merton and Complete Book Reviews
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2018· 2 entries
The Irish News: Thomas Merton - a monk for all seasons
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The Irish Times: Reconsidering Thomas Merton, who died 50 years ago today
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2015· 4 entries
The Irish Times: Thomas Merton: from wayward youth to man of God
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CNN: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton: Pope gives nod to two controversial Catholics
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Psychology Today: Thomas Merton at 100
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Honored his life and work with Sacred Journey's the Legacy of Thomas Merton
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2014· 1 entry
Helped finance the production of the play in New York
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1968· 3 entries
Died 1968-12-10.
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Merton was at a Red Cross retreat facility named Sawang Khaniwat (Thai: สวางคนิวาส) in Samut Prakan, a province near Bangkok, Thailand, attending a monastic conference
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“The biggest human temptation is … to settle for too little.”
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1959· 2 entries
Merton began a dialogue with D
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To study theology in Mexico), Merton wrote:The world is full of great criminals with enormous power, and they are in a death struggle with each other
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1953· 1 entry
Published a journal of monastery life titled The Sign of Jonas
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1949· 1 entry
Merton took a train to Louisville and applied for American citizenship
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1948· 1 entry
The Seven Storey Mountain was published to critical acclaim, with fan mail to Merton reaching new heights
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1947· 1 entry
Took his solemn vows, binding for life
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1946· 1 entry
New Directions published another poetry collection by Merton, A Man in the Divided Sea, which, combined with Thirty Poems, attracted some recognition for him
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1944· 1 entry
Merton made his temporary vows and was given the black scapular and leather belt
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1943· 2 entries
When his plane failed over the English Channel
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To translate religious texts and write biographies of saints
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1941· 2 entries
Thomas Merton arrived at the Abbey of Gethsemani and spent three days at the monastery guest house, waiting for acceptance into the order
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And would later come to consider leaving the Cistercians for that order
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1938· 1 entry
Thomas Merton underwent the rite of confirmation at Corpus Christi Church and received Holy Communion
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1937· 1 entry
The year before his conversion to Catholicism
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1926· 1 entry
When Merton was eleven, his father enrolled him in a boys' boarding school in Montauban, the Lycée Ingres
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1917· 1 entry
The family moved into an old house in Flushing, Queens, where Merton's brother, John Paul, was born on November 2, 1918
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1915· 2 entries
To parents of Welsh origin: Owen Merton, a New Zealand painter active in Europe and the United States, and Ruth Jenkins Merton, an American Quaker and artist
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Born 1915-01-31.
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