What do you think?
On Retreat With Thomas Merton
"This is a challenging book. We are led to see God in all and through all with Merton as our guide". -- Sister Felicity
- GenresSpirituality
114 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
M. Basil Pennington
101 books26 followersDom M. Basil Pennington O.C.S.O. (1931–2005) was a Trappist monk and priest. He was a leading Roman Catholic spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, and director.
Pennington was an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Angelicum where he obtained a licentiate in Theology in 1959.[1] He also earned a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pennington became known internationally as one of the major proponents of the Centering Prayer movement begun at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, during the 1970s.
Pennington was an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Angelicum where he obtained a licentiate in Theology in 1959.[1] He also earned a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pennington became known internationally as one of the major proponents of the Centering Prayer movement begun at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, during the 1970s.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2022
In 1988 Pennington completed a week-long retreat at the hermitage that was once Thomas Merton's private residence within the walls of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. This book is a collection of his journal entries and private photographs from that week.
Like Merton, Pennington writes in a style that is at once simple and transcendent. This style is obviously deliberate and reflective of the greater theme of deconstruction that permeates both Merton's and Pennington's literary work.
Pennington was an acquaintance of Merton's later in life so there is a familarity in his frequent references to Merton's teachings, his worldview and his constan and transparentt self-assessment. Pennington is also obviously an admirer and spiritual acolyte of Merton's; and the book is full of anecdotes from Merton's own fascinating spiritual journey. It was here I learned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was set to meet with Merton at Gethsemani on the very day he was assasinated; the meeting had been rescheduled at the last minute due to changes in MLK's itinerary.
I tend to mark up my books, but I try to do so sparingly in the event that someone else ultimately ends up inheriting a book from my collection. This little book, however, is so full of wisdom I was constantly adding notes, cross-references and other marginalia to the point I feel I have ruined my copy for all other readers going forward.
To me that reflects the highest recommendation I can give.
Like Merton, Pennington writes in a style that is at once simple and transcendent. This style is obviously deliberate and reflective of the greater theme of deconstruction that permeates both Merton's and Pennington's literary work.
Pennington was an acquaintance of Merton's later in life so there is a familarity in his frequent references to Merton's teachings, his worldview and his constan and transparentt self-assessment. Pennington is also obviously an admirer and spiritual acolyte of Merton's; and the book is full of anecdotes from Merton's own fascinating spiritual journey. It was here I learned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was set to meet with Merton at Gethsemani on the very day he was assasinated; the meeting had been rescheduled at the last minute due to changes in MLK's itinerary.
I tend to mark up my books, but I try to do so sparingly in the event that someone else ultimately ends up inheriting a book from my collection. This little book, however, is so full of wisdom I was constantly adding notes, cross-references and other marginalia to the point I feel I have ruined my copy for all other readers going forward.
To me that reflects the highest recommendation I can give.
December 18, 2024
Clear, transcendent, holy, restful. So peaceful to be reading this during Advent: like looking at summer in the mirror. I fell in love with Merton during the craziest weeks of ordinary time and these meditations on Merton's life offer the prophetic, hopeful, joyful, vigilant responses to his work through the lens of a different season. Most struck by M. Basin Pennington's obsession with correspondence and wanting less correspondence - probably because I am feeling those same tensions!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews