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DESCRIPTION:Life\nThomas was born in Prades\, in the French Pyrenees to a N
 ew Zealand-born father and an American-born mother who was a Quaker. Thoma
 s’ wanted him to be baptised in the Church of England.  Unfortunately\,
  both parents died when he was young\, his mother when he was six years ol
 d\, and his father ten years later. After some restless years\, travelling
  between Alerica and France\, Thomas converted to Roman Catholicism in 193
 9 while at Columbia University\, and in 1941 arrived at the Abbey of Geths
 emani in Kentucky\, USA which was run by a strict order of Cistercian monk
 s known as Trappists.\nHe believed himself to be a writer\, and after his 
 autobiography\, ‘The Seven Storey Mountain’ was published in 1948\, be
 coming a best-seller and increased the number of postulants joining monast
 eries across the country. When he found it difficult to write and maintain
  his other workload\, eventually he was allowed to become a hermit\, livin
 g in a remote corner of the property.\nHe spent 27 years at Gethsemani whe
 re he became the voice of social activism on issues regarding race\, peace
  and civil rights\, and in his later years\, promoting East-West religious
  dialogue. He died during a trip to the Far East on December 10\, 1968\, o
 n the 27th anniversary of his arrival at Gethsemani.    \nMost well know
 n saying\n\nMy Lord God\, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see th
 e road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I 
 really know myself\, and the fact that I think I am following your will do
 es not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to 
 please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all t
 hat I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desir
 e. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road\, thoug
 h I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I 
 may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear\, for you 
 are ever with me\, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.\n\
 n“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956\, 1
 958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Used by permission of Farrar S
 traus Giroux.\nSome Merton Quotes\n\n“The beginning of love is the will 
 to let those we love be perfectly themselves\, the resolution not to twist
  them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are
 \, but only their potential likeness to ourselves\, then we do not love th
 em: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them” ― No Man
  Is an Island  \n“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves a
 t the same time.” ― No Man Is an Island  \n“Love is our true destin
 y. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with
  another.” ― Love and Living  \n“Our job is to love others without
  stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our busin
 ess and\, in fact\, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to
  love\, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors 
 worthy.” \n“We thank Him less by words than by the serene happiness o
 f silent acceptance. It is our emptiness in the presence of His reality\, 
 our silence in the presence of His infinitely rich silence\, our joy in th
 e bosom of the serene darkness in which His light holds us absorbed\, it i
 s all this that praises Him.” ― New Seeds of Contemplation\n“The sp
 iritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be know
 n and studied\, it is to be lived.” ― Thoughts in Solitude  \n“Your
  life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what
  you desire.”   \n"Do not be one of those who\, rather than risk failu
 re\, never attempts anything."  ― New Seeds of Contemplation\n"PRAYER 
 and love are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and
  your heart turns to stone." ― New Seeds of Contemplation\n\nBooks\n•
         The Seven Storey Mountain (1948) - Merton’s autobiograph
 y and most renowned book\n•        New Seeds of Contemplation (f
 irst published in 1949 as Seeds of Contemplation\; revised in 1962) - in 
 this book Merton develops the distinction between the true self and the fa
 lse self - the most essential of his teachings\n•        No Man i
 s an Island (1955)\n•        Thoughts in Solitude(1958)\n•  
       Love and Living (1979)      \nSome more resources\n\nThe Mer
 ton Prayer | Reflections (yale.edu)\nThe Modern Monkhood of Thomas Merton 
 | The New Yorker\nThomas Merton Quotes (Author of The Seven Storey Mountai
 n) (goodreads.com)\nThomas Merton's Life and Work - Thomas Merton Center\n
 Thomas Merton | Friends of Silence\n\nThe Dean's sermon at the Diocesan Or
 dination of Deacon's and Priests 2022 featured Thomas Merton. The sermon c
 ommences at 36minutes into the Video. 
LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T122447
LOCATION:Remember
SUMMARY:Holy Hermit Thomas Merton
URL;VALUE=URI:https://holyhermits.tithelysetup2.com/events/holy-hermit-thom
 as-merton/2026-12-13
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