Book excerpt: Author Sophfronia Scott rambles the grounds of the Abbey of Gethsemani and contemplates the connections in The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton.
I had a glimpse of Thomas Merton's "open heart" when I was researching an article for NCR that would run on Dec. 13, 1967. Not long after my piece ran, Merton let his dislike be known.
As the anniversary of Merton's death is being marked by events around the world, his prophetic take on spirituality and social justice is still relevant today, say his admirers.
Before he left for a Trappist abbey, Merton spent three terms at St. Bonaventure, whose campus stretches to the Allegheny foothills, where he climbed frequently to find silence and prayer.
Updated with details on the funeral and memorial services. Trappist Fr. Thomas Keating, who died Oct. 25, was one of the chief architects of the centering prayer movement and spearheaded formation of the Snowmass Interreligious Conferences.
A bishop, seven Trappist monks and 11 other religious men and women killed by extremists in Algeria in the 1990s will soon be recognized as martyrs, the postulator for their causes said.
