Thomas Merton Center
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#MertonMemoryMonday: 60 years ago, Dec. 15, 1965, Gemini 6 and 7 had a rendezvous mission in space. Merton saw television coverage of the event at his psychologist’s house and records his impressions of it the next day and implications for his stance toward the world.
December 15, 2025 at 9:22 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday: 60 years ago, Dec. 15, 1965, Gemini 6 and 7 had a rendezvous mission in space. Merton saw television coverage of the event at his psychologist’s house and records his impressions of it the next day and implications for his stance toward the world.
Quote—Turning toward the World: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume Four, edited by Victor A. Kramer (San Francisco: Harper, 1996): 71-2.
Photo—Thomas Merton Center Collection, Sub-section F.2a, nn-0021. Copyright © Merton Legacy Trust. Not to be used without written permission.
Photo—Thomas Merton Center Collection, Sub-section F.2a, nn-0021. Copyright © Merton Legacy Trust. Not to be used without written permission.
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Quote—Turning toward the World: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume Four, edited by Victor A. Kramer (San Francisco: Harper, 1996): 71-2.
Photo—Thomas Merton Center Collection, Sub-section F.2a, nn-0021. Copyright © Merton Legacy Trust. Not to be used without written permission.
Photo—Thomas Merton Center Collection, Sub-section F.2a, nn-0021. Copyright © Merton Legacy Trust. Not to be used without written permission.
#MertonMemoryMonday - Though a few months from Black History Month, we feature the last four Merton Center Black History Month Lectures now with transcripts. All online recordings : merton.org/research/AV/....
Recordings with newly syncronized transcripts: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
Recordings with newly syncronized transcripts: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday - Though a few months from Black History Month, we feature the last four Merton Center Black History Month Lectures now with transcripts. All online recordings : merton.org/research/AV/....
Recordings with newly syncronized transcripts: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
Recordings with newly syncronized transcripts: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago, Merton's journal of November 3, 1965:
"The comet! I heard about it yesterday in the monastery, went out to see it this morning, and went just at the right time. It is magnificent, appearing just at the ineffable point when the first dim foreshadowing light...
"The comet! I heard about it yesterday in the monastery, went out to see it this morning, and went just at the right time. It is magnificent, appearing just at the ineffable point when the first dim foreshadowing light...
November 3, 2025 at 4:48 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago, Merton's journal of November 3, 1965:
"The comet! I heard about it yesterday in the monastery, went out to see it this morning, and went just at the right time. It is magnificent, appearing just at the ineffable point when the first dim foreshadowing light...
"The comet! I heard about it yesterday in the monastery, went out to see it this morning, and went just at the right time. It is magnificent, appearing just at the ineffable point when the first dim foreshadowing light...
The first annual international Network Symposium: Where Interfaith, Ecology, and Education Meet in 2026, to be held in Makersdorf, Germany, and online, May 14-17, 2026.
The registration is now open: mindful-dialogue.org for online or in-person participation.
The registration is now open: mindful-dialogue.org for online or in-person participation.
October 31, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The first annual international Network Symposium: Where Interfaith, Ecology, and Education Meet in 2026, to be held in Makersdorf, Germany, and online, May 14-17, 2026.
The registration is now open: mindful-dialogue.org for online or in-person participation.
The registration is now open: mindful-dialogue.org for online or in-person participation.
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago, Jim Douglass wrote to Merton and spoke of meetings with bishops at the Second Vatican Council as a peace advocate. He writes, "Also in Rome Dorothy Day being wined and dined by the hierarchy (everything has become possible)"!
merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
October 7, 2025 at 12:18 AM
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago, Jim Douglass wrote to Merton and spoke of meetings with bishops at the Second Vatican Council as a peace advocate. He writes, "Also in Rome Dorothy Day being wined and dined by the hierarchy (everything has become possible)"!
merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
Worldview magazine of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs published Merton’s open letter in September 1965: web.archive.org/web/20240621.... It was published in one of Merton’s volumes of correspondence, Witness to Freedom (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux): 88-92.
September 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Worldview magazine of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs published Merton’s open letter in September 1965: web.archive.org/web/20240621.... It was published in one of Merton’s volumes of correspondence, Witness to Freedom (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux): 88-92.
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, September 22, 1965, Eileen Egan of American PAX (the predecessor of Pax Christi USA) writes to Merton thanking him for writing “An Open Letter to the American Hierarchy: Schema XIII and the Modern World”: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
September 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, September 22, 1965, Eileen Egan of American PAX (the predecessor of Pax Christi USA) writes to Merton thanking him for writing “An Open Letter to the American Hierarchy: Schema XIII and the Modern World”: merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite....
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago Merton gave his final address as novice master before becoming a full time hermit. (He was gradually given increasing time in the hermitage since its construction in 1960 before granted full-time residency.) merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
Art by Joe McGee.
Art by Joe McGee.
August 18, 2025 at 5:08 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday - 60 years ago Merton gave his final address as novice master before becoming a full time hermit. (He was gradually given increasing time in the hermitage since its construction in 1960 before granted full-time residency.) merton.bellarmine.edu/s/Merton/ite...
Art by Joe McGee.
Art by Joe McGee.
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, August 11, 1965: Dorothy Day writes a letter to Merton between having attended a meeting of PAX (U.S. Catholic peace group that became Pax Christi, USA), currently attending a Catholic Art Association meeting, and plans for a trip to Rome to speak with bishops.
August 11, 2025 at 6:41 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, August 11, 1965: Dorothy Day writes a letter to Merton between having attended a meeting of PAX (U.S. Catholic peace group that became Pax Christi, USA), currently attending a Catholic Art Association meeting, and plans for a trip to Rome to speak with bishops.
..This directive Merton received from his own Abbot in April of 1962." The condemnations of modern war from the popes of the time & Vatican II later gave Merton a theological justification from the teaching authority of the Catholic Church for the stance he took on modern warfare and atomic weapons.
August 4, 2025 at 3:13 PM
..This directive Merton received from his own Abbot in April of 1962." The condemnations of modern war from the popes of the time & Vatican II later gave Merton a theological justification from the teaching authority of the Catholic Church for the stance he took on modern warfare and atomic weapons.
Merton had mimeographed the article and sent it to the circle of friends receiving his "Cold War Letters." He didn't help his own cause by sending a mimeographed version to a Trappist censor, further emphasizing that Merton had already shared this piece.
August 4, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Merton had mimeographed the article and sent it to the circle of friends receiving his "Cold War Letters." He didn't help his own cause by sending a mimeographed version to a Trappist censor, further emphasizing that Merton had already shared this piece.
#MertonMemoryMonday - 80 years ago this week, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Merton wrote "Target Equals City" after having read Robert C. Batchelder's book, The Irreversible Decision: 1939-1950. Merton's friend Herbert Mason urged him not to publish the article.
August 4, 2025 at 3:13 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday - 80 years ago this week, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Merton wrote "Target Equals City" after having read Robert C. Batchelder's book, The Irreversible Decision: 1939-1950. Merton's friend Herbert Mason urged him not to publish the article.
having entrusted himself gladly to sleep and to night? Him the gentle voice will awake, all that is sweet in woman will awaken him. Not for conquest and pleasure, but for the far deeper wisdom of love and joy and communion…”
Covers of two books by Christopher Pramuk with artwork by Merton
Covers of two books by Christopher Pramuk with artwork by Merton
June 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
having entrusted himself gladly to sleep and to night? Him the gentle voice will awake, all that is sweet in woman will awaken him. Not for conquest and pleasure, but for the far deeper wisdom of love and joy and communion…”
Covers of two books by Christopher Pramuk with artwork by Merton
Covers of two books by Christopher Pramuk with artwork by Merton
#MertonMemoryMonday — 65 years ago, a hospital stay inspires Merton’s poem “Hagia Sophia” as noted by volume four journal editor, Victor A. Kramer. Merton’s journal of July 2, 1960 [St. Anthony’s Hospital, Louisville, The Feast of the] Visitation:
June 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday — 65 years ago, a hospital stay inspires Merton’s poem “Hagia Sophia” as noted by volume four journal editor, Victor A. Kramer. Merton’s journal of July 2, 1960 [St. Anthony’s Hospital, Louisville, The Feast of the] Visitation:
#MertonMemoryMonday - Another great Merton conference is now in the books. We are grateful to Chris Pramuk and the program committee, the wonderful people of beautiful Regis University, the plenary speakers and session presenters, and everyone who attended and joined in wonderful conversation.
June 23, 2025 at 3:11 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday - Another great Merton conference is now in the books. We are grateful to Chris Pramuk and the program committee, the wonderful people of beautiful Regis University, the plenary speakers and session presenters, and everyone who attended and joined in wonderful conversation.
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, Whit Tuesday: “The great joy of the solitary life is not found simply in quiet, in the beauty of peace and nature, song of birds, etc., nor in the peace of one’s own heart, but in the awakening and attuning of the heart to the voice of God—...
June 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
#MertonMemoryMonday — 60 years ago, Whit Tuesday: “The great joy of the solitary life is not found simply in quiet, in the beauty of peace and nature, song of birds, etc., nor in the peace of one’s own heart, but in the awakening and attuning of the heart to the voice of God—...
“This, then, is... the great function of my vocation…: to know America in its totality, to be a complete American, a man of the whole hemisphere, of the whole New World; to be a complete Christian, a complete contemplative, and through this, to help others to know Christ… in all His universality.”
May 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
“This, then, is... the great function of my vocation…: to know America in its totality, to be a complete American, a man of the whole hemisphere, of the whole New World; to be a complete Christian, a complete contemplative, and through this, to help others to know Christ… in all His universality.”
Seeing "the first American pope," I keep adding a mental asterisk. Most likely mean the first pope from the U.S. Pope Francis was the first pope of the Americas. Pope Leo's ministry to this point has taken him from Chicago to Chiclayo.
May 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Seeing "the first American pope," I keep adding a mental asterisk. Most likely mean the first pope from the U.S. Pope Francis was the first pope of the Americas. Pope Leo's ministry to this point has taken him from Chicago to Chiclayo.
"However, among those 82 cardinals there ought to be a good one. I wonder if there is not a possibility of Card. Agagianian being elected—some seem to think it possible. I doubt it.
I do not speculate much. I like the German cardinals but they do not have a chance. I like Card. Montini of course…
I do not speculate much. I like the German cardinals but they do not have a chance. I like Card. Montini of course…
April 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
"However, among those 82 cardinals there ought to be a good one. I wonder if there is not a possibility of Card. Agagianian being elected—some seem to think it possible. I doubt it.
I do not speculate much. I like the German cardinals but they do not have a chance. I like Card. Montini of course…
I do not speculate much. I like the German cardinals but they do not have a chance. I like Card. Montini of course…
Since that time, there have been popes from Poland, German, and Argentina. The cardinals created by Pope Francis now come from a wider geographic diversity than ever before. Merton writes: “The conclave begins tomorrow... I very much doubt if they will find anyone as good as Pope John.
April 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Since that time, there have been popes from Poland, German, and Argentina. The cardinals created by Pope Francis now come from a wider geographic diversity than ever before. Merton writes: “The conclave begins tomorrow... I very much doubt if they will find anyone as good as Pope John.
Two t-shirts and a sweatshirt are available to benefit youth/student scholarships to the upcoming Merton Society meeting in Denver. Attendees can save shipping and pick up shirt at the conference. Any order can be shipped.
keepmertonweird.deco-apparel.com
keepmertonweird.deco-apparel.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Two t-shirts and a sweatshirt are available to benefit youth/student scholarships to the upcoming Merton Society meeting in Denver. Attendees can save shipping and pick up shirt at the conference. Any order can be shipped.
keepmertonweird.deco-apparel.com
keepmertonweird.deco-apparel.com
Merton writes of Pessoa’s poems, “They lack the delicacy and suggestiveness of Japanese poetry, but contain something of the Japanese view of things, I believe. I have been reading the philosopher Nishida Kitaro, a great man, and these poems have something of his outlook.”
April 14, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Merton writes of Pessoa’s poems, “They lack the delicacy and suggestiveness of Japanese poetry, but contain something of the Japanese view of things, I believe. I have been reading the philosopher Nishida Kitaro, a great man, and these poems have something of his outlook.”
Merton read to the Hibakusha his poem “Paper Cranes” and remained in contact through correspondence with Hiromu Morishita. In March of 1965, Merton sent Morishita some books, including Seeds of Destruction, as well as his some of his translations of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.
April 14, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Merton read to the Hibakusha his poem “Paper Cranes” and remained in contact through correspondence with Hiromu Morishita. In March of 1965, Merton sent Morishita some books, including Seeds of Destruction, as well as his some of his translations of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.