MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Pennington, M. Basil, Dom, O.C.S.O., 1931-2005
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Descriptive Summary
Record Group: Section A - Correspondence
Dates of materials: 1967-1968, 1970, 1973
Volume: 28 item(s); 36 pg(s)
Scope and Content
This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "Pennington, M. Basil, Dom, O.C.S.O.".
Biography
Dom M. Basil (Robert) Pennington was a Trappist monk, author, editor, lecturer and abbot. He joined St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in 1951. In the early 1960's, he studied canon law at Gregorian University in Rome and returned to teach at Spencer. He began correspondence with Merton upon appointment in 1967 to reform the Trappist order's constitution. He was instrumental in launching Cistercian Publications (later Cistercian Studies) in the late 1960's. In the 1970's, he visited the Orthodox monks at Mt. Athos and began writing about Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. During this time, he also became interested in Centering Prayer and became one of its proponents, conducting numerous workshops on the subject. He spent eight years at Our Lady of Joy on Lantao Island near Hong Kong beginning in 1991. He traveled much through Asia and furthered interfaith dialogue with eastern religions. In 1999, he came back to the United States, briefly serving as superior of monasteries in Ava, Missouri, and Conyers, Georgia, before returning to Spencer. In March of 2005, he was in an accident from which he never fully recovered. In June of 2005, he succumbed to complications from the accident. He left behind a large corpus of writings. He wrote some reflections on Merton, including a book about a retreat he made at Merton's hermitage. (Source: "Dom M. Basil (Robert) Pennington, OCSO". Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. website. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.centeringprayer.com/newsltrs/basil.htm›.)
Usage Guidelines and Restrictions
Related Information and Links
See published letters from Merton to Pennington in The School of Charity, pp. 339, 381-383, 393-395.
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.
Series List
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Container List
| Series | Date | Type | To/From | First Lines | Pub | Full Text | Notes |
| | 1967/07/20 (#01) | TLS | to Merton | Enclosed is a report on the first meeting of the Constitutional Renewal Commission. I believe you | |
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| | 1967/07/20 (#02) | other | to Merton | REPORT ON THE MEETING OF MONASTIC CANONISTS SPONSORED BY THE CONSILIUM | |
| [enclosed with 1967/07/20 letter (report from 1965/04/22) - includes handwritten note to Merton] |
| | 1967/07/25 | TL[c] | from Merton | Thanks for your letter and for the interesting enclosures. I am awed by the work you people are | Yes |
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| | 1967/11/22 | TALS | to Merton | A good sister up in Canada has translated your paper into French. Would you like to check it over | |
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| | 1967/12/16 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | As you see, I am way behind with correspondence. Thanks for your letter, for the translation of my | |
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| | 1967/12/16 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | As you see, I am way behind with correspondence. Thanks for your letter, for the translation of my | |
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| | 1967/12/20 | TANS | to Merton | Thanks for your letter of the 16th and the circular which was appreciated. A day or two before | |
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| | 1967/12/23 | HNS[x] | from Merton | Perfectly ok to go ahead with French text without corrections. Dom James was operated on for | |
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| | 1968/05/15 | TALS | to Merton | I hope you are bubbling over with paschal joy! As you might have heard (but then again might not) | |
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| | 1968/05/23 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Thanks for the letter about the publication of the Cist. Fathers in English. I would much prefer | Yes |
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| | 1968/05/23 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | Thanks for the letter about the publication of the Cist. Fathers in English. I would much prefer | Yes |
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| | 1968/06/05 | TLS | to Merton | Thanks for your letter of the 23rd. I received it only after the meeting was over and most | |
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| | 1968/06/07 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Fr Eudes came back from the Abbots' Meeting with a formal invitation for me to be editor in chief | |
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| | 1968/06/07 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | Fr Eudes came back from the Abbots' Meeting with a formal invitation for me to be editor in chief | |
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| | 1968/06/11 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Not to leave you letter lying around indefinitely: it evidently crossed with mine. I'll try to | Yes |
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| | 1968/06/11 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | Not to leave you letter lying around indefinitely: it evidently crossed with mine. I'll try to | Yes |
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| | 1968/06/13? | TLS | to Merton | I just got a note from Fr Louis Lekai accepting an invitation to the symposium and proposing | |
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| | 1968/06/15 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | As regards the symposium: I don't see why Louis Lekai wants to talk on eremitism if it is | |
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| | 1968/06/15 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | As regards the symposium: I don't see why Louis Lekai wants to talk on eremitism if it is | |
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| | 1968/08/14 | TLS[x] | from Merton | Thanks for your recent letter. And the enclosures, questions etc which I can't pretend to answer | Yes |
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| | 1968/09/02 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | I'll try to see Bob Imperato--depends on how things connect when I get down there to the monastery. | Yes |
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| | 1968/09/02 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | I'll try to see Bob Imperato--depends on how things connect when I get down there to the monastery. | Yes |
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| | 1968/12/06 | HPCS[x] | from Merton | It has been the custom for the abbot to sign all my contracts so I am returning the one for | |
| [postcard from Merton sent from Singapore, received by Pennington the day after Merton's death] |
| | 1970/11/09 (#01) | TLS | to Center from Pennington, Basil | Thank you very much for your letter concerning the developments of the Thomas Merton Studies Center. | |
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| | 1970/11/09 (#02) | other | to Center from Pennington, Basil | ...announcing new translations of Medieval Sources [-] The Works of the Cistercian Fathers | |
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| | 1970/11/09 (#03) | other | to Center from Pennington, Basil | Rev. M. Basil Pennington O.C.S.O., chairman of the Board of Directors of Cistercian Publications, | |
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| | 1973/05/11 | TLS[x] | to Center from Pennington, Basil | In cleaning out my file this week I ran into some letters from Tom Merton. I don't think I ever | |
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| | 1973/05/30 | TL[x] | from Center to Pennington, Basil | Thank you ever so much for the copies of Merton's letters to you. Tommie O'Callaghan, one | |
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