Thomas Merton,
known in the monastery as Fr. Louis, was born on 31 January 1915 in Prades, southern France. The young Merton attended schools
in
Following some
teaching at Columbia University Extension and at St. Bonaventure’s College,
Olean, New York, Merton entered the monastic community of the Abbey of Gethsemani at Trappist, Kentucky,
on 10 December 1941. He was received by Abbot Frederic Dunne who encouraged the
young Frater Louis to translate works from the
Cistercian tradition and to write historical biographies to
make the Order better known.
The abbot also
urged the young monk to write his autobiography, which was published under the
title The Seven Storey Mountain (1948) and became a best-seller and a classic.
During the next 20 years, Merton wrote prolifically on a vast range of topics,
including the contemplative life, prayer, and religious biographies. His
writings would later take up controversial issues (e.g., social problems and
Christian responsibility: race relations, violence, nuclear war, and economic
injustice) and a developing ecumenical concern. He was one of the first
Catholics to commend the great religions of the East to Roman Catholic
Christians in the West.
Merton died by
accidental electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand, while attending a meeting of
religious leaders on 10 December 1968, just 27 years to the day after his
entrance into the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Many esteem
Thomas Merton as a spiritual master, a brilliant writer, and a man who embodied
the quest for God and for human solidarity. Since his death, many volumes by
him have been published, including five volumes of his letters and seven of his
personal journals. According to present count, more than 60 titles of Merton’s
writings are in print in English, not including the numerous doctoral
dissertations and books about the man, his life, and his writings. Brother Patrick Hart, OCSO