Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) Despite the numerous and notable Catholic witnesses, martyrs, and heroes in the troubled and violent history of faith in the 20th century, Thomas Merton is one of the most striking examples of the struggle to find God in the most godless centuries. Merton was born in France in World War I to bohemian artist parents of no genuine faith. When he lost his mother at an early age, he traveled with his painter father or was shunted off to boarding schools and grandparents on the continent and Staten Island. Merton embarked on a life of pleasure and rebellion when his father died. When he entered Columbia University, he lived in the frenzy of cigarettes, alcohol, jazz, and novel writing. He became serious about his literary vocation and, after reading a book about medieval philosophy, first began to explore and then, in 1938, converted to Catholicism. At the outbreak of World War II, Merton was attracted to the monastic life, entered the austere Trappist Abbey of G