This file contains letters to or from unknown correspondents. The letters are arranged chronologically. Herein are letters with no name. For those addressed by a first name, see "Unidentified First Names", including those in the religious life addressed by their first name. See "Unidentified Priests and Monks" and "Unidentified Nuns and Religious Sisters" for religious whose names (first and last) are unknown.
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.
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Click icons for links: ✓="Published | Library Record", ✉="Scanned" | 🗷="Scanned, Viewable Only at Merton Center"
| # | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| | y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
| 1. |
1943/02/26 |
HLS to Merton? |
[..] fear trying for some time to [..] seems that every time I started [..] prevented it. However |
|
[see Sub-Section E.1, "Principia. Notes." for a partial scrap of original with Merton's notes on verso / mentiones John Paul Merton and could be Margaret May Evans Merton (John Paul's wife) or another friend family member who knew both Thomas Merton and John Paul and was still in contact with Thomas Merton]
«detailed view» |
| 2. |
1952/01/30 |
TLS to Merton |
Muy Reverendo Padre: Acabo de recibir su hermoso libro "The Ascent to Truth", que ha tenido |
|
[from the Praepositus Generalis of the Discalced Carmelites]
«detailed view» |
| 3. |
1953/09/08 (#01) |
TALS to Merton |
C'est Notre-Dame et St Bernard qui nous amènent à vous. Avec l'approbation et les encouragements |
|
[from a Trappist at the Secretariat St. Bernard at Notre-Dame de Mistassini in Village-des-Pères, Quebec, Canada] asking Merton to write for the magazine Marie an article on "St Bernard inspirateur de la dévotion mariale des temps modernes" (St. Bernard, inspiration for Marian devotion in modern times)
«detailed view» |
| 4. |
1953/09/08 (#02) |
other to Merton |
Marie et Saint Bernard [-] La Revue "MARIE": Sommaire du numéro de mars-avril 1954 [-] Éditorial. |
|
[proposed table of contents for edition of the magazine Marie on St. Bernard of Clairvaux]
«detailed view» |
| 5. |
1953/09/08 (#03) |
TAL[d] from Merton |
Deeply regret my inability to accept your invitation which would have been an honor and a pleasure. |
|
[reply to 1953/09/08[1] letter on envelope - Merton handwrites "I'll sign" after his typed message] refuses invitation - has been forbidden to write for magazines by his abbot, who was visiting Citeaux Abbey at the time of writing
«detailed view» |
| 6. |
1953/09/09? |
HPCS to Merton |
Cette picture vous rappellera des jours déjà |
|
[verso: black and white photograph of Montauban, France]
«detailed view» |
| 7. |
1954/03/24 |
TL[c] from Merton to "Dear Biemel" |
Forgive me for delaying so long in my answer to your letter about the St Bernard book. |
|
Merton's book The Last of the Fathers: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the Encyclical Letter, Doctor Mellifluus / new regulations for censorship / French edition of Exile Ends in Glory passed censor's review
«detailed view» |
| 8. |
1960/01/06 |
HPCS to Merton? |
|
|
[handwriting is not clear - verso of postcard has a black and white photograph and the text: "MARSEILLE. - Couvent des Père Dominicains - Porte principale de la Chapelle du Rosaire]
«detailed view» |
| 9. |
1962/03/29 |
HLS to Merton |
Votre lettre m'est bien parvenue et j'en suis heureux ne sachant comment vous remercier. |
|
[stationery of "L. Germond Apiculteur" a beekeeping business - envelope states it is from the Institut Paridaens in Louvain, Belgium]
«detailed view» |
| 10. |
1962/11/04 |
HC to Merton |
I would like to have seen you when I was there a few days ago but Fr. Mathew [sic] said that you had |
|
[bottom of card cut off with more of the letter and signature / verso: oriental brush painting of a horse / seems to have been a prospective Gethsemani novice] needs more Latin to enter Gethsemani / talked with Fr. Henderson at Loyola University in Chicago
«detailed view» |
| 11. |
1963/05/04 |
TL[c] from Merton |
A great Hindu writer, Tagore, has said the following: "A fish was kept in a glass jar. |
|
needs to "swim for [him]self" and think for himself about matters of religion and not feel artificially confined
«detailed view» |
| 12. |
1963/08/08 |
HPC to Merton |
With grateful thanks and prayers, -- a Convert. |
|
[verso: color photograph of ruins of St. Mary's Chapel, Glastonberry Abbey, Bath, Somerset, England]
«detailed view» |
| 13. |
1964/06/03 |
HPCS from ? / to Miss V. Gregory |
[..] with this photo of S. Benedict's picture, which you can see in this postcard. |
|
[much of card scratched out - possibly forwarded to Merton from someone else - name of recipient seems to be Miss V. Gregory of Wales - verso: black and white photograph of "The Oratory, St. Benedict's School"]
«detailed view» |
| 14. |
1964/08/21 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Je ne peux pas ordinairement répondre a toutes les lettres, mais je vais tacher de vous dire un mot. |
|
[writing to a young man in a minor seminary] Merton responds to questions about the religious life - maintaining fiends outside the monastery, celibacy (Merton's desire to have children but feels his work as a novice master is a similar calling) / the Church and capitalism / Dom Colomban Bissey at Melleray Abbey
«detailed view» |
| 15. |
1964/12/29 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Te agradezco tu libro con sus meditaciones hondas y amargas. Me conmovieron. Si, hay siempre |
|
[Merton's journal entry of the same date mentions the Peruvian poets Blanca Varela and Jorge Eduardo Eielson and he addresses the letter to "Cuerido poeta de noches y de selvas" / Maria Barrera-Agarwal advised that it could be Spanish poet Jacinto Herrero Estéban, whose books are held at the Center]
«detailed view» |
| 16. |
1967/01/23 |
HL to Merton |
I'm glad you exist |
✉ |
«detailed view» |
| 17. |
1967/07/25 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Il y a longtemps que j'ai reçu votre lettre sur le jeune de sept jours proposez pour le mois |
|
«detailed view» |
| 18. |
1967/11/24 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Thanks for everything, poems, stamps, and above all the sumptuous desk book to prepare my executive |
|
«detailed view» |
| 19. |
1968/03/06 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Je réponds très brièvement a votre aimable lettre car j'ai très peu de temps pour une grande |
|
«detailed view» |
| 20. |
1968/04/07 |
HLS to Merton |
Dans votre livre "Direction spirituelle et méditation" à la page 117 - vous avez si bien parlé des |
|
«detailed view» |
| 21. |
1968/06/19 |
TL[c] from Merton |
J'ai reçu hier vos deux lettres a la fois-- sans doute les troubles en France les ont il fait |
|
«detailed view» |
| 22. |
undated/no/no |
other to Merton |
The Sign of Jonas + livre interessent, du moment qu'il se vend.- Garle un peu de tout, comme |
|
[review of The Sign of Jonas]
«detailed view» |
| 23. |
undated/no/no |
HPCS to Merton |
L'abbaye des Bénédictins construite du Xie siècle. Située sur une masse de |
|
[verso: black and white photograph of the Benedictine abbey at Tyniec, west of Krakow, Poland]
«detailed view» |
| 24. |
undated/no/no |
HPCS to Merton |
Matką Polskich Kościołów |
|
[verso: black and white photograph of the cathedral at Gniezno, Poland]
«detailed view» |
| 25. |
undated/no/no |
other to Merton |
Quelques précitions et rectifications sur la fondation des Monastères de Vaucluse[?] et de Maubec. |
|
[from a monk of the Abbaye de Maubec in Montélimar, France]
«detailed view» |
| 26. |
undated/no/no |
HPCS to Merton |
Recevez mon cher Père, une |
|
[verso: color art reproduction from the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach in Germany]
«detailed view» |
| 27. |
undated/no/no |
HPCS to Merton |
This church is a good example of early gallic architecture in Sweden. The Cistercians exerted |
|
[visitor to Sweden / verso: color photograph of the interior of a church in Sweden] lack of church attendance in Sweden
«detailed view» |
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