This file includes documents allowing or banning publication of Merton's essays, books, and introductions to others' books. The standard procedure was to have him submit these works to two censors (who were to remain anonymous). If they saw nothing of d
| Series Number | Series Name | Total Records |
| 1 |
A Dream at Arles on the Night of the Mistral |
1 |
| 2 |
A Messenger from the Horizon |
1 |
| 3 |
A Picture of Lee Ying |
1 |
| 4 |
A Practical Program for Monks |
1 |
| 5 |
Absurdity in Sacred Decoration |
3 |
| 6 |
Active and Contemplative Orders |
2 |
| 7 |
Advent Mystery |
1 |
| 8 |
Advice to a Young Prophet |
1 |
| 9 |
Alone with God |
1 |
| 10 |
An Elegy for Ernest Hemingway |
1 |
| 11 |
An Elegy for Five Old Ladies |
5 |
| 12 |
And So Goodbye to Cities |
1 |
| 13 |
And the Children of Birmingham |
1 |
| 14 |
Apologies to an Unbeliever |
2 |
| 15 |
Approach to Creativity |
1 |
| 16 |
Art and Worship |
19 |
| 17 |
Artist Soul - Roger Durey [book by Dom André Malet; translated from the French by Mother Mary St. Thomas (of Tyburn)] |
1 |
| 18 |
Ascent to Truth |
23 |
| 19 |
Ash Wednesday |
3 |
| 20 |
Atlas Watches Every Evening |
2 |
| 21 |
Attente dans le silence: le père Marie-Joseph Cassant, O. Cist. S. O., by Marie-Étienne Chenevière with preface by Merton |
1 |
| 22 |
Balanced Life of Prayer |
4 |
| 23 |
Baptism in the Forest [introduction to anthology, "Mansions of the Spirit: Essays in Religion and Literature"] |
1 |
| 24 |
Baroque Gravure |
2 |
| 25 |
Barth's Dream [included in book "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander"] |
1 |
| 26 |
Basic Principles of Monastic Spirituality |
2 |
| 27 |
Behavior of Titans |
1 |
| 28 |
Black Revolution and Cold War [unpublished book in this form, see also "Seeds of Destruction"] |
6 |
| 29 |
Black Revolution: Letters to a White Liberal [included in book "Seeds of Destruction"] |
2 |
| 30 |
Blessed Are the Meek: the Roots of Christian Nonviolence |
1 |
| 31 |
Bread in the Wilderness |
4 |
| 32 |
Carmelite Sanctity |
2 |
| 33 |
Chant to Be Used in Processions around a Site with Furnaces |
2 |
| 34 |
Christian Action in World Crisis [part of unpublished "Black Revolution and Cold War"] |
4 |
| 35 |
Christian Ethics and Nuclear War [part of unpublished "Black Revolution and Cold War"] |
19 |
| 36 |
Christian in World Crisis [book, published as "Redeeming the Time"] |
1 |
| 37 |
Christian Life of Prayer [early draft section of "Contemplative Prayer"] |
3 |
| 38 |
Christian Perfection [article for "The Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home"] |
3 |
| 39 |
Christianity and Mass Movements |
1 |
| 40 |
Christmas Devotion |
2 |
| 41 |
Cistercian Contemplatives |
3 |
| 42 |
City of God by St. Augustine, preface for the Modern Library Edition by Thomas Merton |
1 |
| 43 |
Classic Chinese Thought |
1 |
| 44 |
Clement of Alexandria: Selections from the Protreptikos |
1 |
| 45 |
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander |
2 |
| 46 |
Contemplation |
1 |
| 47 |
Contemplation and the Priesthood |
1 |
| 48 |
Contemplation in a Rocking Chair |
1 |
| 49 |
Death of a Trappist |
2 |
| 50 |
Disputed Questions |
5 |
| 51 |
Early Legend |
1 |
| 52 |
Easter: The New Life |
5 |
| 53 |
Edifying Cables or Familiar Liturgies of Misunderstanding [book, published as "Cables to the Ace or Familiar Liturgies of Misunderstanding"] |
2 |
| 54 |
Elegy for James Thurber |
1 |
| 55 |
English Mystics |
4 |
| 56 |
Exile Ends in Glory |
1 |
| 57 |
Faith and Violence |
2 |
| 58 |
Few Questions - Fewer Answers |
1 |
| 59 |
First and Last Thoughts [preface to "A Thomas Merton Reader"] |
1 |
| 60 |
Gethsemani: The Life of Praise |
1 |
| 61 |
Gloss of the Sin of Ixion |
2 |
| 62 |
Good Samaritan |
2 |
| 63 |
Grace's House |
1 |
| 64 |
Hagia Sophia |
1 |
| 65 |
Herakleitos the Obscure |
1 |
| 66 |
Hermit Life |
1 |
| 67 |
Homily on Mary |
1 |
| 68 |
Human Way Out, The [preface to book, "Breakthrough to Peace"] |
2 |
| 69 |
Humanity of Christ in Monastic Prayer |
1 |
| 70 |
In Search of a Yogi, by Denys Rutledge [preface] |
2 |
| 71 |
Integrity |
1 |
| 72 |
Is Mysticism Normal? |
1 |
| 73 |
Jesuits in China |
2 |
| 74 |
Jorge Carrera Andrade |
1 |
| 75 |
Last of the Fathers |
5 |
| 76 |
Laudate Dominum [sound recording] |
2 |
| 77 |
Let the Poor Man Speak |
1 |
| 78 |
Letter to Pablo Antonio Cuadra Concerning Giants |
4 |
| 79 |
Letters in Time of Crisis |
1 |
| 80 |
Life and Holiness |
2 |
| 81 |
Light in Darkness |
1 |
| 82 |
Liturgy and Spiritual Personalism |
3 |
| 83 |
Living Bread |
1 |
| 84 |
Loretto and Gethsemani |
1 |
| 85 |
Love Winter When the Plant Says Nothing |
2 |
| 86 |
Macarius the Younger and Macarius and the Pony |
1 |
| 87 |
Machine Gun in the Fallout Shelter |
2 |
| 88 |
Miscellaneous Correspondence Concerning Censorship |
14 |
| 89 |
Monastic Peace |
5 |
| 90 |
Monk in the Diaspora |
1 |
| 91 |
Morte d'Urban, by J.F. Powers [book review] |
1 |
| 92 |
Mount Athos |
1 |
| 93 |
Mystery of the Church in St. Ignatius of Antioch (Church and Bishop in St. Ignatius of Antioch) |
3 |
| 94 |
Mystics and Zen Masters |
4 |
| 95 |
Name of the Lord |
1 |
| 96 |
Nativity Kerygma |
2 |
| 97 |
New Man |
5 |
| 98 |
New Seeds of Contemplation |
11 |
| 99 |
Night Flowering Cactus |
1 |
| 100 |
No Man Is an Island |
4 |
| 101 |
Notes for a Philosophy of Solitude |
5 |
| 102 |
Notes on Art and Worship |
3 |
| 103 |
Notes on Sacred Art |
3 |
| 104 |
Notes on the Lord's Prayer [book foreword] |
1 |
| 105 |
O Sweet Irrational Worship |
1 |
| 106 |
On Remembering Monsieur Delmas |
1 |
| 107 |
Original Child Bomb |
2 |
| 108 |
Pasternak, Boris (The Pasternak Affair in Perspective, and Boris Pasternak and the People with Watch Chains) |
6 |
| 109 |
Peace in the Post-Christian Era |
5 |
| 110 |
Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives |
5 |
| 111 |
Portait of Peter Damian |
1 |
| 112 |
Postulant's Guide |
1 |
| 113 |
Prayer for Peace |
1 |
| 114 |
Présence a Dieu et a soi meme, by Fr. François de Sainte-Marie, O.C.D. |
1 |
| 115 |
Primacy of Contemplation |
1 |
| 116 |
Primative Carmelite Ideal |
3 |
| 117 |
Prometheus |
5 |
| 118 |
Prophetic Ambiguities: Milton and Camus |
1 |
| 119 |
Rain and the Rhinoceros |
1 |
| 120 |
Reflections on the Character and Genius of Fenelon |
1 |
| 121 |
Russian Mystics, by Sergius Bolshakoff with a preface by Thomas Merton |
1 |
| 122 |
Sacred Art and the Spiritual Life (Sacred Art and Religion) |
2 |
| 123 |
Saint John of the Ladder |
2 |
| 124 |
Saints for Now, by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross |
8 |
| 125 |
Seasons of Celebration |
2 |
| 126 |
Secular Journal |
16 |
| 127 |
Seeds of Contemplation |
2 |
| 128 |
Seeking God |
1 |
| 129 |
Selections from Gandhi, selected and with an introduction by Thomas Merton |
3 |
| 130 |
Seven Archaic Images |
2 |
| 131 |
Sign of Jonas |
18 |
| 132 |
Signed Confession of Crimes against the State |
1 |
| 133 |
Some Poems of Raissa Maritain |
2 |
| 134 |
Song for Nobody |
1 |
| 135 |
Song for the Death of Averroes |
2 |
| 136 |
Song: If You Seek |
1 |
| 137 |
Soul of the Apostolate |
3 |
| 138 |
Spirit of simplicity |
3 |
| 139 |
Spiritual Direction [article for the New Catholic Encyclopedia] |
1 |
| 140 |
Spiritual Direction |
1 |
| 141 |
Spiritual Father in the Desert Tradition |
2 |
| 142 |
Spiritual Life |
1 |
| 143 |
Target Equals City |
5 |
| 144 |
Tears of the Blind Lions |
2 |
| 145 |
The Fall |
1 |
| 146 |
The Moment of Truth |
1 |
| 147 |
The Moslems' Angel of Death: Algeria 1961 |
1 |
| 148 |
The Ox Mountain Parable |
1 |
| 149 |
There Has to Be a Jail for Ladies |
1 |
| 150 |
Third Spiritual Alphabet, by Francisco de Osuna [book review by Merton] |
1 |
| 151 |
Thoughts in Solitude |
8 |
| 152 |
To Alphonso Cortes |
1 |
| 153 |
Tower of Babel |
4 |
| 154 |
Trappist Cistercian Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen) [meditation on the text] |
1 |
| 155 |
Trappists Go to Utah |
1 |
| 156 |
Tribute to Greatness |
4 |
| 157 |
Two Chinese Classics |
5 |
| 158 |
Universe as Epiphany |
2 |
| 159 |
Virginity and Humanism in the Fathers |
1 |
| 160 |
Vocation to Solitude |
4 |
| 161 |
Waters of Siloe |
1 |
| 162 |
Way of Chuang Tzu |
1 |
| 163 |
Way of Perfection |
1 |
| 164 |
What Are These Wounds? |
1 |
| 165 |
What Is Contemplation? |
1 |
| 166 |
What Is Meditation? |
1 |
| 167 |
Why Some Look Up to Planets and Heroes |
1 |
| 168 |
Wisdom in Emptiness: A Dialogue between Daisetz T. Suzuki and Thomas Merton |
1 |
| 169 |
Wisdom of the Desert |
6 |
| Series# | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| | y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
Series 124 #1.
«All Series« |
1952/03/17 |
TLS by Bourne, Paul |
Your brief sketch of St. John of the Cross is very nice except for one aspect which I hope you will |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - censor's comments from Fr. Paul Bourne, O.C.S.O. - concern about the Carmelite "prison incident, 'monastic incarceration'" and that, without fuller context, it would be confusing to readers and upsetting to the Carmelites - sent to Merton with note from Br. Alfred, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani of 1952/July/07
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #2.
«All Series« |
1952/03/17 |
TLS by Bourne, Paul |
Your brief sketch of St. John of the Cross is very nice except for one aspect which I hope you will |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - censor's comments from Fr. Paul Bourne, O.C.S.O. - concern about the Carmelite "prison incident, 'monastic incarceration'" and that, without fuller context, it would be confusing to readers and upsetting to the Carmelites - sent to Merton with note from Br. Alfred, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani of 1952/July/07
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #3.
«All Series« |
1952/05/02 (#01) |
TLS to Bourne, Paul |
Could you please look over these two works of art (?) and tell me if they are too scandalously bad |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - Merton submits two black ink brush drawings of St. John of the Cross and of St. Thérèse of Lisieux - reply by Fr. Paul Bourne is written on the bottom of Merton's letter (see Item #2 of the same date)
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #4.
«All Series« |
1952/05/02 (#02) |
HNS by Bourne, Paul |
I like St John very much but if the lady is St Teresa I think you've missed her character, a round |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - censor Fr. Paul Bourne reacts to Merton's two black ink brush drawings of St. John of the Cross and of St. Thérèse of Lisieux for inclusion in the book, written on the bottom of Merton's letter (see Item #1 of the same date)
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #5.
«All Series« |
1952/05/27 |
TLS by Malloy, Maurice |
"Transeant" is about all I can say for your sketches. If Sheed and Ward are willing to use them, |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - censor's comments from Fr. Maurice Malloy, O.C.S.O. regarding two black ink brush drawings of St. John of the Cross and of St. Thérèse of Lisieux for inclusion in the book
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #6.
«All Series« |
1952/06/18 (#01) |
TLS by Sortais, Gabriel |
The censors have sent me their appreciation on the book of Father Louis, concerning St. John |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - Imprimi potest by Abbot General Gabriel Sortais - sent to Merton with note from Br. Alfred, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #7.
«All Series« |
1952/07/07 (#01) |
TNS by Alfred, Br., O.C.S.O. |
Rev. Fr. sed [sic] to pass the 3 attached to you. yes. thru Mary, br. Mary Alfred PS: I have |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - note from Br. Alfred, O.C.S.O. of Gethsemani - encloses Item #2 of the same date from Fr. Maurice Malloy, Abbot General Gariel Sortais's letter of 1952/June/18, and Fr. Paul Bourne's letter of 1952/March/17
«detailed view» |
Series 124 #8.
«All Series« |
1952/07/07 (#02) |
TLS by Malloy, Maurice |
CENSOR'S CRITICISM OF "ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS," AN ESSAY BY FR. LOUIS MERTON, TO BE |
|
"Saints for Now" by Clare Boothe Luce with an essay by Merton regarding St. John of the Cross [essay in book] - censor's criticism and Nihil obstat from Fr. Maurice Malloy, O.C.S.O. / "A Prelude for the Feast of St. Agnes" [poem] - Malloy states there are liturgical inaccuracies but such poetic matters are not for censor's
«detailed view» |