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Looking over a scholar’s shoulder
Lavinia Byrne sits by Thomas Merton in the library as he prepares his lectures
An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Initiation into the monastic tradition 3
Cistercian Publications/Columba Press £24.99 (978-0-87907-013-7) Church Times Bookshop £22.50 PICTURE Thomas Merton the monk in 1961, sitting in the library at the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky — no internet, no Wikipedia, no Classics of Western Spirituality nor, indeed, Cistercian Publications to leaf through. None of the paraphernalia of scholarship that makes modern lecture-preparation such an easy task, moving seamlessly from text to the page, or even to memory-stick. In 1961, Merton, “Father Louis” to his fellow monks, had a commission, a charge. He had been novice master for six years, and had another four to run. And now he wanted to prepare a series of 18 lectures on mystical theology for the pastoral training of young priests in the monastery. His tools: a rigorous mind, a taste for scholarship, and a remarkable library — the star of this erudite book; for what we have here are the notes he wrote for the lecture series; and the best of the library’s wares are on display. They are prefaced by an introduction from his editor, Professor Patrick F. O’Connell of Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania, who has done an important job on the text by supplying all the necessary referencing, and extensive footnotes. These reveal to us Merton the scholar, a man born in France, brought up in France, England, and the United States, who studied at both Cambridge and Colombia Universities, and who converted to Roman Catholicism. He joined the Cistercians with a view to disappearing from the world, but his extraordinary gifts as a writer and communicator made him a household name in the post-Vatican II Church. Monica Furlong’s biography of 1980 brought him to Anglican consciousness. Yet before his untimely death by electrocution in 1968 — he was found dead in the bath of a hotel in Bangkok — he had been on the brink of another adventure altogether; for he had visited the Dalai Lama and wanted to explore relations with people of other faiths. In 1961, when he planned his talks, all that lay ahead of him. So what we have in this book is Merton the enquiring scholar at work. We visit him in the monastic scriptorium. He intended an introduction to Christian mysticism, from the Apostolic Fathers to the Council of Trent, in the understanding that “the Christian mystical tradition is something that has been handed down, not only to be talked about but to be lived.” He wanted the studies of the young monks he was to address to influence their lives. When he taught them about martyrs and Gnostics, or Spanish mystics, or the Beguines, he was inviting them to an experience; when he explored the meaning of spiritual direction within the life of a contemplative community, he insisted on the practical importance of what he had to say, and the need for proper scholarship. So is this a book about the history of the Christian mystical tradition, or a book about Merton? More the latter than the former, I suspect. In fact, he might be baffled by the prominence given to what, after all, are only lecture notes. He banned publication of his letters and written papers for 25 years after his death — and yet here are these, popping up as a text for serious study. What they reveal are the themes we expect from Merton: a deep concern for the humanity of every individual before God, a wonderfully playful regard for scholarship, and a quest for the pinnacle beyond every seven-storey mountain. Make of these notes what you will, and use the book where it began life — in a library. Lavinia Byrne is a writer and a broadcaster. To order this book, email the details to Church Times Bookshop (please mention "Church Times Bookshop price") |
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