Today, January 31, 2015, would have been the 100th
birthday of Father Louis Merton, OSCO; better known to the world as Thomas
Merton. The Catholic, Christian
blogosphere is abuzz with reports, stories, and reflections on the life of this
Trappist monk, one I read on Crux, by Dennis Sadowski, of the Catholic News
Service; another by Margery Eagan, On Spirituality columnist for Crux, and
finally a very moving post by Father Dan Horan, OFM on his blog.
I do not know how many will share this opinion, but I think
of Thomas Merton, as the one person who brought Christian spirituality,
especially contemplative spirituality to the modern American Catholic
population. After him, I think we see an
increase in the number of books on spirituality, and prayer, geared for the
Catholic laity, and new authors, like Thomas Keating, M. Basil Pennington,
Richard Rohr, and Emilie Griffin. I know for myself, my spiritual life became
much deeper, more enriched by reading his writings. He showed me a path to walk, and encouraged
me to seek out other spiritual fathers and mothers, for inspiration and
guidance.
I am still discovering new things about Merton, especially
as heretofore unpublished journals, books, and essays are becoming public. This has given a much more rounded view of
Merton, his life, his struggles, and his achievements. Now there are some facts
that I was not aware of until I recently read Father Dan Horan, OFM book on Merton, was that Thomas Merton had some deep Franciscan roots. After his conversion to Catholicism, he felt
a call to the Order of Friars Minor, and had applied to the Order, and was
initially approved to enter into formation as a friar. Before he was to enter, something happened;
scholars are not completely sure what, that caused Merton to withdraw his application. Still attracted to Franciscanism, he found
himself at the Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure’s, in western New York. There, he joined the faculty as an instructor
in English. It was during his time
there, that he became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, now known as
the Secular Franciscan Order. This bit
of information floored me. Now I knew
that Merton had a Franciscan connection.
When I was once a Franciscan novice myself, and attended some summer
classes at St. Bonaventure’s, I daily would look up at a hillside clearing,
known as “Merton’s Heart.” But to learn
that Merton had been a Secular Franciscan, “Wow!”
Of course, this brings a whole bunch of questions: what
fraternity did he belong to? Is the
fraternity still in existence? Is the
fraternity’s register, with his name listed in it, still available? Did he attend monthly fraternity meetings, or
was he an isolated tertiary, attached to a fraternity, but unable to make the
meetings? Maybe someday, some scholar,
maybe even a Secular Franciscan, will be able to find answer to these
questions.
I owe a debt of thanks to Father Louis, for prodding me to
go ever deeper into my relationship with God.
May he rest in peace!
