The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Collins, Angela of the Eucharist, Mother, O.C.D., 1917-2003

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1960-1968, 1970-1974

Volume: 114 item(s); 224 pg(s)

Scope and Content

Herein is a highly personal and lively correspondence between good friends and fellow religious. The extant file does not seem to be a complete set of their correspondence. Early letters, such as an original of what became the Cold War Letter, are not in the collection. Mother Angela was often seeking spiritual council through correspondence, which Dom James was opposed to Merton doing. Merton mentions that if she writes the occasional letter clearly marked as "Conscience Matter", it should get through. In much of the correspondence, she reports the struggles in keeping her small community together and asks for advice (sometimes asking a response via audio recording). She later returns to Kentucky from Georgia for a conference Merton holds with contemplative nuns. There are also many letters from John Howard Griffin to Mother Angela from the early 1970's.

Biography

Early in their correspondence, Sr. Angela of the Eucharist (née Viola M. Collins) was a Carmelite Prioress in Louisville, Kentucky. Between 1965 and 1966, she would became Mother Angela of the Eucharist, appointed superior of the Carmelite monastery in Savannah, Georgia.

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also: Cold War Letter #42, published in Witness to Freedom; letters from Merton to Mother Angela in Monks Pond, pp. 133-134, 255-257, 272-273, 323-324, 334-335, 353-355, 358-359, 361, 363-364; and see also a related discussion of Carmelite nuns in the "Antoniutti, Hildebrand, Cardinal." file. Newspaper and magazine clippings from an accession of records received in 2015 was transferred to a folder in Sub-Section D.7 under Mother Angela's name.

Other Finding Aids

If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
    31939

Series List

Series NumberSeries NameTotal Records
1 Correspondence between Sr. Angela and Thomas Merton. 64
2 Correspondence between Sr. Angela and John Howard Griffin. 29
3 Notes kept by Mother Angela during Meeting with Thomas Merton on the Future of Contemplative Life, May 1968. 2
4 Materials Related to Merton's Death and Funeral. 9
5 Other Materials Related to Published Correspondence and Conference on Contemplative Life. 10

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
11960/09/16 TLS[x]from MertonIt is about time I wrote you a few lines to congratulate you on your new solitude and leisure.Yes [photocopy of full letter added July 2016 from Sub-Section H.7, Hart Working Files - earlier copy in files was missing final page]
11962/02/no transcriptfrom MertonThe issue about Civil Defense concerns not only you but the whole community and since my opinion hasYes Cold War Letters #42
11964/12/26 (#01)TL[c]from MertonYou can guess why I have been so long answering your letter and commenting on the "documents".Yes  
11964/12/26 (#02)TLSfrom MertonYou can guess why I have been so long answering your letter and commenting on the "documents". IYes  
11965/04/01 TALSto MertonIn spite of the above date, this is no "April Fool's" joke! … The past several weeks have been very   
11965/04/03 (#01)TL[c]from MertonWell, anyway, congratulations on the new post! I am sure it is in some way or other providential.Yes  
11965/04/03 (#02)TALSfrom MertonWell, anyway, congratulations on the new post! I am sure it is in some way or other providential.Yes  
11965/06/24 TLSto MertonWhere have you been? …. Thought you were coming to Louisville the middle of May???? … Did you   
11965/06/27 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThanks for your good letter. I was really wondering what was going to become of you. I am so glad   
11965/06/27 (#02)TLSfrom MertonThanks for your good letter. I was really wondering what was going to become of you. I am so glad   
11966/03/16 TL[c]from MertonAs you supposed, your first letter never reached me. the second onl[y] got to me after considerable   
11966/04/03 HLSfrom MertonI am writing this in the hospital where I have had an operation on my back. It was quite  [dated "Palm Sunday 1966" (which was April 3) and postmarked April 4, 1966]
11966/11/14 TALSto MertonHow wonderful it was to have your good letter! …. the letter of last "Palm Sunday!" … really, I   
11966/12/01 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThanks for your good letter: it is indeed ages since I have heard from you. But I know howYes  
11966/12/01 (#02)TLSfrom MertonThanks for your good letter: it is indeed ages since I have heard from you. But I know howYes  
11966/12/15 TLSto MertonThis is in haste … but when in Baltimore, I met a darling little ole Nun … Sister Genevieve … up in   
11967/06/14 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI hope by now you have the tape I made, I asked the nuns of Loretto to make a copy and send it on toYes  
11967/06/14 (#02)TLSfrom MertonI hope by now you have the tape I made, I asked the nuns of Loretto to make a copy and send it on toYes  
11967/09/04 TALSto MertonGosh! I never knew you would be so mean …. so terribly mean as to do what <u>you</u> did! I don't   
11967/09/18 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI have at least a partial alibi about that tape. When you sent me the tape to fill I did not have a   
11967/09/18 (#02)TALSfrom MertonI have at least a partial alibi about that tape. When you sent me the tape to fill I did not have a   
11967/09/21 TALSto Merton…. and thank you <u>SO</u> much for <u>everything</u>! You are "an angel" really …. it was   
11967/10/06 TALSto MertonI am sending this Special Delivery because it is important and I do hope you will be able to respond   
11967/10/09 (#01)TL[c]from MertonHere is a quick reply to your question about the Little Hours. Certainly you are right about the   
11967/10/09 (#02)TLSfrom MertonHere is a quick reply to your question about the Little Hours. Certainly you are right about the   
11967/10/18 TALSto MertonI owe you many thanks for many things … most of all, for your letter which came last week regarding  two envelopes marked "Personal" and "Strictly Conscience Matter"
11967/11/17 TALSto MertonThis won't be "long" … but I do want to let you know that Sister Joseph <u>has</u> decided to ask   
11967/12/02 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThis morning I said Mass for you and the Savannah Carmel in the hermitage. I wanted to write beforeYes  
11967/12/02 (#02)TALSfrom MertonThis morning I said Mass for you and the Savannah Carmel in the hermitage. I wanted to write beforeYes  
11967/12/05 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI was just about to mail the enclosed when I got your special delivery letter. What a shame there   
11967/12/05 (#02)TLSfrom MertonI was just about to mail the enclosed when I got your special delivery letter. What a shame there   
11967/12/10 TALSto MertonYesterday turned out to be "Gaudete Saturday!" …. thank you ever, ever so much for the exquisite joy   
11967/12/26 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThis is not an adequate answer, just the essentials. What I have been thinking of planning is aYes  
11967/12/26 (#02)TLSfrom MertonThis is not an adequate answer, just the essentials. What I have been thinking of planning is aYes  
11967/12/26? (#03)otherby MertonMY CAMPAIGN PLATFORM for non-Abbot and permanent keeper of present doghouse.Yes  
11968/01/02 (#01)TLSfrom MertonBy now you probably have my answer to the practical details of your letter. I just sent off a   
11968/01/02 (#02)TL[c]from MertonBy now you probably have my answer to the practical details of your letter. I just sent off a   
11968/01/02 (#03)TL[x]from MertonBy now you probably have my answer to the practical details of your letter. I just sent off a  [Collins comments on Merton's handwritten note "Confidential" - she writes "I personally don't know why this was marked 'confidential' except possibly for reference to Dom James!- I have no objection to its being published.."]
11968/01/02? (#04)otherby MertonMY CAMPAIGN PLATFORM for non-Abbot and permanent keeper of present doghouse.Yes  
11968/01/03 (#01)TL[c]from MertonMy letter went out just when yours came in. Making this one necessary-- and making me realize IYes  
11968/01/03 (#02)TLSfrom MertonMy letter went out just when yours came in. Making this one necessary-- and making me realize IYes  
11968/01/22 (#01)TL[c]from MertonMy Mass on Sunday the 14th was for your meeting. I hope it went well. I more than prayed for youYes  
11968/01/22 (#02)TLSfrom MertonMy Mass on Sunday the 14th was for your meeting. I hope it went well. I more than prayed for youYes  
11968/02/06 HLSto MertonAs you see I am still here in the hospital - I have really been quite sick - with <u>pneumonia</u>   
11968/02/10 (#01)TL[c]from MertonJust a quick note. Glad you are getting better. I was worried about you. Take care of yourself.   
11968/02/10 (#02)TLSfrom MertonJust a quick note. Glad you are getting better. I was worried about you. Take care of yourself.   
11968/02/26 TL[c]from Breitenbeck, JosephI wish to thank you for your letter of February 18, 1968 and the information you gave me relative to  [enclosed with Collins letter to Merton of 1968-03-03 - from the Most Rev. Joseph M. Breitenbeck, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit to Collins]
11968/03/03 TALSto MertonToday I am celebrating the anniversary (liturgically) of my Solemn Profession … it took place on   
11968/03/10 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter of last Sunday. I am willing to have Fr Kilduff come if you like. I met him   
11968/03/10 (#02)TALSfrom MertonThanks for your letter of last Sunday. I am willing to have Fr Kilduff come if you like. I met him   
11968/04/09 (#01)TL[c]from MertonAs soon as I got your telegram last week I offered Mass for you. I hope the operation went well   
11968/04/09 (#02)TLSfrom MertonAs soon as I got your telegram last week I offered Mass for you. I hope the operation went well   
11968/05/22 HLSfrom Benedict, Fr., O.C.D.My sincere thanks for your letter, the valuable information it contained and your trust in me  [to Collins from Fr. Benedict (last name Bishop?), who was, as a note by Collins states, former provincial of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers, Holy Hill, Hubertus, Wisconsin] upcoming retreat with Merton on the future of contemplative monasticism
11968/06/07 (#01)TLSfrom MertonIt is hard to realize that a week has gone by since you were all here. Things continue quite busy  [encloses letter to Pope Paul VI]
11968/06/07 (#02)TL[c] from Merton to Pope Paul VIIt is hard to realize that a week has gone by since you were all here. Things continue quite busy  [letter to Pope Paul VI dated June 4, 1968 and enclosed with June 7 letter - marked "good copy" but text is the same as item 3, "rough copy," different paper]
11968/06/07 (#03)TL[c] from Merton to Pope Paul VIIt is hard to realize that a week has gone by since you were all here. Things continue quite busy  [letter to Pope Paul VI dated June 4, 1968 and enclosed with June 7 letter - marked "rough copy" but text is the same as item 2, "good copy," different paper]
11968/06/29 TALSto MertonGuess what? I almost got arrested and put in jail and fined because of the little "gift" I told you   
11968/07/02 HLSfrom MertonThanks for your letter - I am afraid it would be useless to plan on my giving a talk   
11968/09/24? HPCSfrom MertonYour letter reached me in Alaska. I won't be able to come to Savannah- I'm on my wat to <u>India</u>  [no date, but postmarked September 24, 1968 - verso of postcard: "Winter in Alaska"]
11968/09/no? TLS[x] from Merton to FriendsAs you know, I have been cutting down more and more on letters and now my contacts will be almost  [a circular letter copied for friends, labeled "FALL 1968" - Merton's handwritten annotation on another copy, in "Circular Letters" states, "Please do not give this to printers before Sept 12th!!" (the day after his flight out of Kentucky for his travels to the American West and Asia)]
11968/11/09 other from Merton to FriendsThis newsletter is not a reply to mail because I have not been getting mail on this Asian trip  [mimeographed circular letter to friends, "Asian Letter 1"]
11968/12/19 (#01)TL[x]from Monks of GethsemaniWe are deeply moved by the countless expressions of sympathy which we have been receiving   
11968/12/19 (#02)TL[x] from Trappists in Bangkok / to Flavian BurnsThe news of the sudden and unexpected death of your beloved son, Father Louis, has already been  [from six Trappist delegates at the conference in Bangkok to Dom Flavian Burns, Abbot of Gethsemani, in response to Merton's death - copies sent to Merton's friends and enclosed with letter of December 19, 1968]
1undated/no/no otherby MertonFOUR FREEDOM SONGS Comissioned by Robert L. Williams (Words by T. Merton [-] Music by A. Peloquin)  [typed text of the Merton's "Four Freedom Songs"]
21970/07/01 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardAs you may know, I am preparing the authorized biography of Thomas Merton. I have found found [sic]   
21970/07/20 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you for your wonderful letter of July 18th. I will look forward with relish to your   
21970/10/27 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you with all my heart for your wonderful letter and your prayers. They had to put the surgery   
21970/11/13 (#01)TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardA week here in Tom's hermitage, working on the book before I have to return to enter the hospital   
21970/11/13 (#02)otherby MertonJuly 2 (1965) Visitation [-] This morning I had a long morning up at the hermitage. The main event  Griffin had first access to Merton's journals as the original authorized biographer and sends, for personal use, an entry where Merton references watching for Mother Angela's airplane as it flies from Louisville to Georgia
21970/12/06 TLfrom Griffin, John HowardI am just home from the hospita, and am dictating this but will not be able to sign it. I wanted you   
21970/12/25? TCSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you for your wonderful note and Christmas greetings. Yes, this will be our finest Christmas   
21971/02/24 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardYour card came this morning just as we were headed for Mass and reception of ashes, so we promptly  [dated "Ash Wednesday" - postmark was February 26, 1971 - Ash Wednesday February 24, 1971]
21971/06/28 TALSfrom Griffin, John HowardIt is early (5:30 a.m.) here at the hermitage. I came in last evening for another work session here   
21971/07/07 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you for your marvelous letter and your prayers; what a joy to have such a letter in this   
21971/07/27 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardWe celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel here with our old friend, Fr. J. Stan Murphy,   
21971/08/18 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you for your lovely letter. It is the purest kind of joy to hear from you. Now, I have   
21971/09/02 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardAt the end of the longest and one of the tiredest days of my life, but I did want to thank you with   
21971/09/03 TCSfrom Griffin, John HowardThis hasty note to tell you that the tape arrived in perfect condition this noon. Thank you with all   
21971/09/05 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardHere are the letters and thank you so much for them. They helped to clarify some of the things I had   
21971/09/09 HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardAm returning your photos of TM, plus some prints in color I had made from them. A great thanks   
21972/11/27 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardHow good to have your news. I, too, have thought of you so much in these past weeks and days.   
21973/04/17 HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardHappy Easter to Mother Angela and the Sisters of the Savannah Carmel. John and all the family   
21973/04/17? HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardHappy Easter to Mother Angela and the Sisters of the Savannah Carmel. John and all the family  [includes a photograph of birds]
21973/05/19 TALSfrom Griffin, John HowardWhat a great joy to hear from you again, especially when I was regretting so deeply that I could not  [sends photographs of his children and a reproduction of the cover of his book about Jacques Maritain]
21973/06/29 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardThank you for your lovely letter. I was beginning to fear you might be ill. Thank God you aren't.   
21974/05/22 TALSfrom O'Callaghan, TommiePerhaps you remember me as a friend of Father Walsh's and Thomas Merton. I am writing in my capacity   
21974/08/25 TLSfrom Griffin, John HowardYour blessed letter just came. I, too, have been thinking of you and promising myself the pleasure   
21977/09/21 TLSfrom Noonan, JoeJohn Griffin asked me to tell you how much he appreciated the letter you sent to Father George.  [Joe Noonan was staff cartoonist at this time for <u>The Way</u> in San Francisco and a good friend of John Howard Griffin]
21977/12/27 TLSfrom Noonan, JoeIt did my soul good to get your Christmas note. I'd like to report that John is better, but I can  [Joe Noonan was staff cartoonist at this time for <u>The Way</u> in San Francisco and a good friend of John Howard Griffin - includes hand drawn cartoon, "Every day is mother's day with me."]
21978/12/20 HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardYour prayers mean everything. The heart is almost not functioning. Surgery next month. Peace   
21979/12/25? HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardI think of you so often but am totally bedridden now and can scarcely write at all. When the pain is  [Collins notes that he references the coming year, 1980 ("May 1980 be good for all of us") and that "he died Sept. 9th of this year. (1980.)
2undated/12/25? HCSfrom Griffin, John HowardSeasons Greetings to Sister Angela and all the Sisters of Savannah, from the John Howard Griffin  [undated Christmas card with a photograph of a lamb on the front]
2undated/no/no transcript Excerpts taken from Father Louis' essay "Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives." (I) The tragedy   
31968/05/no (#01)other Organization - preforably not under Sacred Congreg. 5 points of critical needs of contemplation.  [spiral notebook with handwritten notes from conferences with Merton on the contemplative life]
31968/05/no (#02)other Areas of concern to be presented to Bishop Breiterbeck:- 1. For contemplative life to survive  [handwritten page of notes for a bishop written on Gethsemani letterhead]
41968/12/11 (#01)otherby Burns, FlavianHOMILY AT THE MASS FOR FATHER M. LOUIS (THOMAS MERTON) by Father M. Flavian Burns, Abbot  [homily for a Mass for Merton at Gethsemani the day after he died]
41968/12/11 (#02)otherby Loftus, JohnThomas Merton is dead. Let the world maintain his celebration. As few men did, Merton sought God as  [poem written the day after Merton's death by Fr. John Loftus, Dean of Bellarmine College, and friend of Merton]
41968/12/17 (#01)other POEMS TO BE READ DURING THE THOMAS MERTON MEMORIAL SERVICE December 17, 1968 ST. AGNES CHURCH  [homily for a Mass for Merton at Gethsemani the day after he died]
41968/12/17 (#02)other MERTON-BARTH CELEBRATION [-] A. Dick Sisto in Vibraphone Recital [-] B. Gathering in Sacristy - 6:30   
41968/12/17 (#03)other MASS FOR THOMAS MERTON [-] INT. "Enter Rejoice and come in" Enter, rejoice and come in, lift up your   
41968/12/17 (#04)otherby Walsh, DanielHOMILY for The Funeral Mass of Father Louis Merton, o.c.s.o. [-] December 17, 1968   
41968/12/17 (#05)other[x] VESPERS FUNERAL MASS and BURIAL SERVICE for Our Brother among Those Who Sleep in Christ FATHER LOUIS  [copy of the program with prayers and music used at the Burial Mass and Vespers for Merton at Gethsemani Abbey]
4undated/no/no (#01)other THOMAS MERTON (Curriculum Vitae) [-] 1915 Jan. 31. Born at Prades (Pyr. Or.) France,  [includes death date - produced after December 10, 1968]
4undated/no/no (#02)other BOOKS BY AND ABOUT THOMAS MERTON [-] The following list of books by and about Thomas Merton contains  [created by Paul Wilkes]
51980/09/no? (#01)HLSfrom Gumula, StanislausHere I am, as promised, in my little scrawl. I know it is not all that personal- makes it so hard to  [dated "St. Polycarp, 1981" (old feast date in January and new feast in February) - from, at the time, Br. Stan Gumula, later a priest and Abbot of Mepkin Abbey, South Carolina, Dom Stanislaus Gumula - he was a novice under Merton]
51980/09/no? (#02)other[x]by Gumula, StanislausJUNIORATE PROGRAM --- ADVENT, 1980 Monday -- The Fathers with Br. Stanislaus * obligatory 2:15 p.m.  [schedule / syllabus of Juniorate program at Mepkin Abbey]
51984/11/19 TLSfrom Hart, PatrickHow good it was to hear from you after such a long silence. I'm becoming the world's worst  [from Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani Abbey] publishing Merton's letters to Collins
51986/02/15 TLSfrom Hart, PatrickIt has been a long time since I last wrote. As you might guess, I've been very busy with a number  [from Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani Abbey] publishing Merton's letters to Collins
51987/02/02 TLSfrom Hart, PatrickLong time no hear-- are you well? I missed your usual Christmas greeting, and it made me wonder if  [from Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani Abbey] publishing Merton's letters to Collins
51987/03/04 TLSfrom Hart, PatrickHow good it was to hear from you with the NOTRE DAME stationary! You have been very much in my  [from Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani Abbey] publishing Merton's letters to Collins
51987/07/22 TLSfrom Hart, PatrickGreetings from Gethsemani! And I rejoice in the new letterhead which will bring you glad tidings  [from Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani Abbey] publishing Merton's letters to Collins / <i>Merton Annual</i> letterhead
51994/12/05 (#01)HLSto Downey, MichaelAs you see, I am enclosing travel directions to Savannah for you. I am presuming you will be driving   
51994/12/05 (#02)other 1995 - 1915 would be:- 80 years old this Jan. 31st. 78 in 1995 - May 29th - 2 yrs. Difference.   
5undated/no/no other[x] BIOGRAPHY Sister Angela Collins, ocd entered the Carmelite Monastery of Louisville, Kentucky  [biography of Sr. Angela Collins sent for use by Br. Patrick Hart in his introduction to the letters of Merton to Collins]
        

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