Praying with Thomas Merton


Book Description

"The rich complexity of Thomas Merton is rendered clear and accessible. The reader is invited to that transformation of life which is at the heart of Merton's message". Sr. Donna Kristoff, Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, Ohio




Praying the Psalms


Book Description

Merton shows us how to draw out the richness of worship from the psalter and to use it to achieve "the peace that comes from submission to God's will and from perfect confidence in him".......Catholic Review Service




Thoughts In Solitude


Book Description

Thoughtful and eloquent, as timely (or timeless) now as when it was originally published in 1956, Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. Thomas Merton writes: "When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority. But when men are violently deprived of the solitude and freedom which are their due, the society in which they live becomes putrid, it festers with servility, resentment and hate." Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most uring and popular works. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.




Contemplative Prayer


Book Description

In this classic text, Thomas Merton offers valuable guidance for prayer. He brings together a wealth of meditative and mystical influences–from John of the Cross to Eastern desert monasticism–to create a spiritual path for today. Most important, he shows how the peace contacted through meditation should not be sought in order to evade the problems of contemporary life, but can instead be directed back out into the world to affect positive change. Contemplative Prayer is one of the most well-known works of spirituality of the last one hundred years, and it is a must-read for all seeking to live a life of purpose in today’s world. In a moving and profound introduction, Thich Nhat Hanh offers his personal recollections of Merton and compares the contemplative traditions of East and West.




Dialogues with Silence


Book Description

An intensely personal devotional book from Thomas Merton, the ultimate spiritual writer of our time, showing his contemplative and religious side through his prayers and rarely-seen drawings. The only Merton gift book available. Dialogues with Silence contains a selection of prayers from throughout Merton's life--from his journals, letters, poetry, books--accompanied by all 100 of Merton's rarely seen, delightful Zen-like pen-and-ink drawings, and will attract new readers as well as Merton devotees. There is no other Merton devotional like this, and the paperback edition will be elegantly designed and packaged.




No Man is an Island


Book Description

This volume is a stimulating series of spiritual reflections which will prove helpful for all struggling to find the meaning of human existence and to live the richest, fullest and noblest life. --Chicago Tribune




A Book of Hours


Book Description

Thomas Merton was the most popular proponent of the Christian contemplative tradition in the twentieth century. Now, for the first time, some of his most lyrical and prayerful writings have been arranged into A Book of Hours, a rich resource for daily prayer and contemplation that imitates the increasingly popular ancient monastic practice of "praying the hours." Editor Kathleen Deignan mined Merton's voluminous writings, arranging prayers for Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Dark for each of the days of the week. A Book of Hours allows for a slice of monastic contemplation in the midst of hectic modern life, with psalms, prayers, readings, and reflections.




Merton & Hesychasm


Book Description

This profound work introduces the West to Eastern Christian spirituality through the lens of Thomas Merton, as practiced from the time of the Desert Fathers. Contributors to this volume present the riches of Christian contemplative methods and experience dating back to their original Christian source.




New Seeds of Contemplation


Book Description

A collection of thirty-nine short essays in which Thomas Merton examines what true contemplation is and how it can impact one's spirituality.




The Making of an Ordinary Saint


Book Description

Nathan Foster has lived with the spiritual disciplines all his life, but has had to find his own unique path. As he sought - sometimes rebelliously - to develop habits that would enable him to live more like Jesus, he encountered problems both personal and universal. Gradually he discovered creative new ways to practice disciplines such as fasting, meditation and simplicity, to live as Jesus lived. With a foreword from Nathan's father Richard, who provides a fresh introduction to each of the disciplines, The Making of an Ordinary Saint invites us to be formed into the likeness of Christ's character.