| Series | Date | Type | To/From | First Lines | Pub | Full Text | Notes |
| | 1956/12/26 | TLS | to ? | Alice Catherine tells me that you have offered Christmas Mass for me and the Catholic Worker at the | Yes |
| [possibly to Fr. Urban Snyder and not addressed to Merton - the name of the addressee is scratched out on both the letter and the envelope / found in Gethsemani Archives] Christmas at the Catholic Worker - beautiful but sober and serious - past times when "the entire kitchen force got drunk" |
| | 1959/04/22 | TLS[x] | from Merton | People have been sending the novices here some things we do not use or need, like scented soap, | |
| [donated to Marquette University June 2018] |
| | 1959/06/04? | TACS | to Merton | What with jail and a sudden attack of arthritis, I neglected to write to thank you both for your | Yes |
| [verso: "Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian" / written on the Feast of the Sacred Heart] Charles Butterworth, a Catholic Worker staff member, sentenced in Federal Court for harboring and aiding the escape of a deserter - Bob Steed may also appear in Federal Court for tearing his draft card / Charles de Foucauld retreat |
| | 1959/06/20 | TACS | to Merton | I enclose a letter to cheer your heart and to keep you writing. Your books are regarded as | Yes |
| [verso: "Prayer of Abandonment (Brother Charles of Jesus)"] Caroline Gordon spent royalties of her book to buy Merton's books for others |
| | 1959/07/09 | TLS[x] | from Merton | It was a pleasure to get your letter, and of course I keep praying for you and for CW. | Yes |
| |
| | 1959/07/09 (#02) | transcript | from Merton | Again, I am touched deeply by your witness for peace. You are very very right in going at it along | Yes |
| [transcript of partial letter - contains as 1959/July/09 - Jim Forest gave this to Nazareth College] |
| | 1959/12/23 (#01) | HCS | to Merton | Your beautiful book containing the beautiful news arrived and Bob Steed had a hard time restraining | Yes |
| [verso: printed woodcut of Mary and the baby Jesus / published letter begins at last line of first paragraph and continues through next paragraph, Day adds, "Have you a volume of Cassian? I have an extra one if you want it."] |
| | 1959/12/23 (#02) | HCS | to Merton | I forgot to mail the enclosed written on the ferryboat to Staten Island. Hope you can decipher it. | |
| [verso: Christmas card with Mary and the baby Jesus] |
| | 1960/01/22 | TLS | to Merton | Your beautiful and profound essay on Pasternak kept me awake from midnight until four this morning, | Yes |
| Pasternak essay / trip west and visit to Indians - visits to the Hutterites and Doukhobors / Ann Fremantle's <i>Desert Calling</i> / Day a "postulant in the Jesus Caritas Fraternity of the Charles de Foucault family" |
| | 1960/02/04 | TLS[x] | from Merton | For a long time I have wanted to write to you and give you something that could be published | Yes |
| |
| | 1960/06/04 | HLS | to Merton | How grateful we are to you for your poem. Bob Steed, who makes up the CW., and who was at | |
| Bob Steed, formerly at Gethsemani Abbey, and admirer of Merton / Merton's article on Pasternak in <u>Thought</u> / Hugh Madden / account of a family suffering through many difficulties and staying at the beach houses where day recovers from an illness / Day's daughter Tamar / Dostoevsky as "spiritual reading" |
| | 1960/08/17 | TALS[x] | from Merton | Your good letter of June 5th has been waiting for a reply and before that the Cassian came, | Yes |
| |
| | 1960/10/10 | TLS | to Merton | It was good to get your book, and I do thank you for having it sent to me. I had read the Pasternak | Yes |
| "The Pasternak Affair" from <u>Thought</u> / Bob Steed and another person formerly of Gethsemani at Catholic Worker, John Stanley / Ammon Hennacy - fasting and natural cures instead of medicine / need for obedience amidst the attitude of rebellion at Catholic Worker |
| | 1961/07/23 | TALS[x] | from Merton | Thanks for your good note of a month ago and the enclosed letter from the boy in California, and all | Yes |
| |
| | 1961/08/15 | TLS | to Merton | I am terribly sorry about the poem. It was snatched from my hands so fast, and before I knew it, it | Yes |
| apology for mistakenly publishing a poem given by Merton to Day in <u>Catholic Worker</u> - was not for publication / Jim Forest - bicycle tour of New England while discerning vocation / Day's son-in-law sent to mental hospital - Tamar left to care for 9 children and farm / nuclear war / Julian of Norwich |
| | 1961/08/23 | TALS[x] | from Merton | Don't worry about the poem: it worked out fine. Ferlinghetti is going to print it anyway, and is | Yes |
| |
| | 1961/09/22 | TALS[x] | from Merton | Just a quick note. The attached article IS for Catholic Worker and it IS censored | Yes |
| [Merton enclosed the essay of "The Root of War" with this letter, which was then passed to James Forest for editing and publication in the <u>Catholic Worker</u> - see Sub-Section E.1 for this copy of the essay] |
| | 1961/12/20 (#01) | TAL[x] | from Merton | I have read your latest "On Pilgrimage" in the December CW and I want to say how good I think it is. | Yes |
| [Cold War Letter #11 - photocopy signature line cut off] defense of Fidel Castro as a human being, not a defense of all crimes Communism has committed in the world / separate people from their action and actions committed by their group - personal love versus natural law or casuistry / natural law as "jungle law" |
| | 1961/12/20 (#02) | transcript | from Merton | I have read your latest "On Pilgrimage" in the December CW and I want to say how good I think it is. | Yes |
| [Cold War Letter #11 from bound collection of Cold War Letters] defense of Fidel Castro as a human being, not a defense of all crimes Communism has committed in the world / separate people from their action and actions committed by their group - personal love versus natural law or casuistry / natural law as "jungle law" |
| | 1961/12/22 | HPCS[x] | from Merton | Have you seen the <u>magnificent</u> essay by Rabbi Samuel Dresner included in the book "God | |
| |
| | 1962/03/21 | TALS[x] | from Merton | As I don't know who is handling the paper now, I am addressing these changes to you. They are to go | Yes |
| |
| | 1962/04/09 | TLS[x] | from Merton | Many thanks for your letter. There were certainly a lot of things I needed to know. And I am glad | Yes |
| |
| | 1962/06/04 | TALS | to Merton | I am writing to beg prayer from you and your novices for Deane Mowrer, one of our editors who is | Yes |
| eye surgery for Deane Mowrer / Elbert Sisson - Merton's writing on peace and opposition to modern war - not pacifist view / visit to Brazil and Papal Volunteers / Day's book <i>The Long Loneliness</i> translated into Portuguese by Aimee Amorosa Lima / denies Merton's association of the Catholic Worker with the Beat movement |
| | 1962/06/16 (#01) | TLS[x] | from Merton | I have just come from saying Mass for the intentions of Catholic Worker, especially all yours | Yes |
| [Cold War Letters #86 - abridged versions in Cold War Letters and The Hidden Ground of Love with full version published in Signs of Hope] |
| | 1962/06/16 (#02) | transcript | from Merton | It is true that I am not theoretically a pacifist. That only means that I do not hold that a | Yes |
| [Cold War Letters #86 - from bound/mimeographed copy] view not totally pacifist - describes that the idea of a "just war" in the modern age is "pure theory" and no current conflicts would be considered just / on Fr. John Hugo's "'natural-supernatural' division" / Day's trip to Brazil - Aimee Amoroso Lima |
| | 1962/06/16 (#03) | transcript | from Merton | It is true that I am not theoretically a pacifist. That only means that I do not hold that a | Yes |
| [Cold War Letters #86 - from published volume - differs from other copy] <i>Peace in the Post-Christian Era</i> / fallout shelter for monks and Blessed Sacrament at Genesee Abbey in New York - "What a grim joke that is!" |
| | 1962/07/12 | TLS[x] | from Merton | The poem about the Ladies Jail has finally, after five months, been passed by the censors | Yes |
| |
| | 1962/07/23 | HLS | to Merton | Thank you for your good letter and above all for the prayers, "spiritual direction" and papers about | Yes |
| [verso: a modern, urban picture of a nativity scene and a quote from Teresa of Avila] Merton's prayer about the English Mystics / Deane Mowrer / Day's attempt to get a visa to travel to Cuba to visit collective farms, view the education system and see the what has happened with religion |
| | 1962/08/11 (#01) | TLS[x] | from Merton | You might be interested in the copy of the letter I sent to Hiroshima. A couple of extras in case | Yes |
| |
| | 1962/08/11? (#02) | HNS[x] | from Merton | I have been praying for you all the while and for Cuba also. This is a crucial, stupid, and tragic | |
| [handwritten note on the first page of a typescript for "Ten Poems of Alfonso Cortes" - photocopy of the title page with note only] |
| | 1962/08/23 | TALS | to Merton | Do not fear, your material will get to Brazil, because I am surely going in April with Hildegard | Yes |
| Jean and Hildegard Goss Mayr - trip to Brazil to speak of Christian non-violence in South America / granted visa for Cuba - trip in September - U.S. sabotage of Cuban buildings and fields - danger of being shot by a counter-revolutionary / the group Pax and Jim Forest / Bob Steed and walking trip to Rome for Papal appeal |
| | 1962/11/12 | HLS | to Merton | This morning one of the two lovely young girls who share the women's apartment with 2 old ladies of | Yes |
| young girls from the women's apartment - their involvement in a peace march and sense of love and joy, but Day's concern about the drug addicts and sexually promiscuous friends they have - the many who are pregnant and those who had considered abortions / her return from Cuba and Mexico |
| | 1963/03/04 | TL[c] | from Goss-Mayr, Hildegard | We have read with great interest your articles on Cuba, and we are glad to notice how many contacts | |
| [see "Goss-Mayr, Hildegard" file for original copy - letter of 1963/02/27 from Hildegard Goss-Mayr to Dorothy Day - carbon copy enclosed with 1963/03/04 letter to Merton] |
| | 1963/03/17 | TLS | to Merton | I had the best of intentions to write to you before Ash Wednesday but at least you will have this | Yes |
| Merton's "Selections from the Desert Fathers" / the many new women in Catholic Worker who are married outside of the Church / Day's friends who worry Merton will leave the monastery / trip to Rome with "Women Strike for Peace" and "who are foolishly expecting to get a[ Papal] audience" - Pope's good words on peace |
| | 1963/06/18 (#01) | TLS[x] | from Merton to Edward R. Sammis | Thank you for sending me the proofs of Dorothy Day's LOAVES AND FISHES, which I have read with | |
| |
| | 1963/06/18? (#02) | other | | A LETTER FROM THOMAS MERTON [-] "Every American Christian should read Dorothy Day's LOAVES | |
| [appears to be photocopy from the back of the 1963 first edition of Dorothy Day's book <i>Loaves and Fishes</i>] |
| | 1963/09/05 | TLS[x] | from Merton | The other day a packet of mimeographed articles emanating from here went out to you. I hope you | Yes |
| |
| | 1963/12/04 | TAL[c] | from Merton | Fr Charles passed your letter along from the hospital, and I write immediately to say that you will | Yes |
| Fr. Charles [English?] / deaths of President John F. Kennedy, Aldous Huxley, and Fr. Lafarge |
| | 1963/12/no? | HLS | to Merton | Thank you for your good letter. After I heard Fr. Charles was recovering I gave up the idea of | |
| [no date / seems to be after Merton's 1963/12/04 letter] |
| | 1965/06/24 | TALS | to Merton | Yesterday Dr. Stern telephoned me from Montreal asking me to ask the Trappists, and my friends the | Yes |
| reading <i>Prison Meditations of Fr. Delp</i> with Merton's introductions at retreat / the great costs of burying the poor - harassment by undertakers / troubles with young people on peace marches taking drugs and living promiscuously / Day's only daughter, Tamar, enrolling in a course in practical nursing to support 9 children |
| | 1965/07/16 | HLS[x] | from Merton | I was very glad indeed to get your letter. It came at a good time, I had just been reading | Yes |
| |
| | 1965/08/11 | HLS | to Merton | Your letter and manuscripts came while Karl Stern was staying with us and he was so happy to get | |
| success of Pax weekend - Jim Douglass and Day to go to Rome to confront bishops directly - the good work of Douglass and Jim Forest / Tom Cornell's critically ill wife / Eileen Egan / Pax group getting new members who are older and more conservative |
| | 1965/10/06 | HLS[x] | to Merton | so good you wrote, but I am not connected in any way with Women Strike for Peace!!!! Write later | |
| [see "Forcellino, Claude" for original - notes from l'Arche community members - Chanterelle del Vasto, Dorothy Day, Claude Forcellino, Lise Caillon, Edith Maximoff, Mayse Chenevey, Louisette Caramelli, Marcella Bernadat, Nicole Uhl, Matilde Seghezzo, Christiane Pons, Lea Provo, Erika Mitterer, Marianne Platz] |
| | 1965/11/11 (#01) | HN[x] | from Merton | Just heard tragic death of Roger Laport [sic] am deeply shocked and concerned about current | |
| [handwritten note from verso of 1965/08/24 letter from Howard B. Gotlieb to be sent as telegram to Dorothy Day and Jim Forest] suicide (self-immolation) of Roger Laporte - does not represent to Merton the proper understanding of non-violence |
| | 1965/11/11 (#02) | telegram | from Merton | Just heard tragic death of Roger Laport [sic] am deeply shocked and concerned about current | |
| [typed version of handwritten note 1965/11/11[1] above] suicide (self-immolation) of Roger Laporte - does not represent to Merton the proper understanding of non-violence |
| | 1965/11/15 | HLS | to Merton | Excuse me for writing your name wrong on the envelope. We are so full of distractions these days. | Yes |
| support for those burning draft cards / Roger Laporte had only been at Catholic Worker a few days - if other young people had known about his plans for suicide, they would have interceded - hoping others are not holding them responsible / accidental bombing of friendly villagers and Napalming of our troops in Vietnam |
| | 1965/11/22 | TL[c] | from Merton | This is just a note to thank you for your warm, wise letter. You are well experienced in this kind | Yes |
| apology for "ill considered and immediate reaction to the sad news of Roger Laporte" - as hermit, not in touch with these issues / told by superiors not to write on peace movement - Merton feels not well enough informed - against card burning - his role as prayer - Jim Douglass and John Heidbrink see this as betrayal |
| | 1965/12/02 | TALS | to Merton | I hasten to write you thank you from my heart for your most reassuring letter and to tell you that I | Yes |
| defense of stand supporting draft card burners / criticism of Fr. Daniel Berrigan - his writing has done much good, but because of his youth and inexperience, South American exile might do him well / Jim Douglass's recent speech in Pittsburgh / a woman formerly into drugs found Merton's books and is now on a good course |
| | 1965/12/20 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Thanks for your very good letter. I reached what I thought would be a fair solution with the CPF: | Yes |
| [annotated carbon copy sent either 1965/12/20 or 1965/12/29] agreed to remain sponsor for Catholic Peace Fellowship (CPF) with the understanding that he approved of ministry to conscientious objectors and did not condone every political statement / Dan Berrigan - paradox of good from obeying bad decisions by Superiors |
| | 1965/12/20 (#02) | other | from Merton | You might like this "saying" of St. Bridget of Kildare: it would make a nice insert to fill in | |
| |
| | 1965/12/29 | TL[c] | from Merton | Just a note to thank you for your very good and very encouraging card, and to reassure you about my | Yes |
| describes how important reading <u>The Catholic Worker</u> has been for him / November issue made him understand more fully burning of draft cards - can understand the draft law itself but not the law against destroying the card / "If there were no Catholic Worker [...], I would never have joined the Catholic Church." |
| | 1966/09/12 | TLS[x] | from Merton | I have not sent you anything for the CW for quite a long time, and I have been meaning to. | Yes |
| |
| | 1966/10/28 | HNS[x] | from Merton | Tom Cornell said you would be using the Camus article in the October CW. I have not seen this yet | |
| |
| | 1967/01/29 | TACS | to Merton | Do please forgive my long silence-- I do not remember if I ever thanked you for your wonderful | Yes |
| [verso: St. Benedict woodcut and quote "That in All Things God May Be Glorified"] praise for Merton's Camus article and for <i>Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander</i> / <u>Catholic Worker</u> issue - criticism of Cardinal Spellman's stand in favor of the Vietnam War but the shared guilt of many Catholics |
| | 1967/02/09 | TLS[x] | from Merton | Thanks so much for your good note of Jan. 29th. I have read your piece in the latest CW on Cardinal | Yes |
| |
| | 1967/07/no? | HLS | to Merton | This suffering soul asked me to forward this to you. She is an old friend, by letter, and has lived | |
| [undated but William Shannon places this letter July-August 1967 based on Merton's 1967/August/18 response] Pax meeting with Gordon Zahn / visit by Karl Stern / Romano Guardini's <i>Last Things</i> |
| | 1967/08/18 | TL[c] | from Merton | I have finally managed to write a brief letter in reply to Louise Gosho. I am sure she understands | Yes |
| Merton's article on Auschwitz sent to Marty Corbin for <u>Catholic Worker</u> / Jim McMurry leaving the hermit's life - the trials of living as a hermit / seven day fast in Geneva |
| | 1967/09/13 | TALS | to Merton | Please excuse me for my delay in answering your most welcome letter. I read the article you sent on | Yes |
| Merton's article on Auschwitz - Germans soon forget as do Americans / Day attending Lay Congress in Rome / visit by Jack English - one good of Cardinal Spellman is that he harbors priests in difficulty / problem with a widow her took in a violent drug addict |
| | 1967/09/19 | TL[c] | from Merton | I have written giving your name to Pasteur Jean Lasserre, of the IFOR, 42, Cours Fr Roosevelt, Lyon, | Yes |
| more information about the Geneva ecumenical fast for peace in December from Pasteur Jean Lasserre from the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) - Lanza del Vasto / Merton's thought of going to Gethsemani's new foundation in Chile, a country without "the bomb" / death of Ad Reinhardt / Jack English |
| | 1967/09/28 | TL | to Merton | Thank you for your very prompt answer about the fast. I will be home before it begins, I see. | Yes |
| the Little Brothers of Jesus "know how to do nothing" - brought peace in Detroit between young peace group and older Catholic Workers |
| | 1967/12/20 | HLS[x] | from Merton | A joyful and peaceful Christmas, with much love to all of you at CW. The cover of the December CW | |
| |
| | 1968/07/25 | TLS[x] | from Merton | Here is the address of Mark Lillis. It is quite touching that you have all those families | Yes |
| |
| | 1968/08/19 | HCS | to Merton | We have just listened to your poems, set to music by Alexander Peloquin. There were four of your 8 | |
| [verso: "Mysticism and Ecumenism" by Robley Edward Whitson] Day's reaction to hearing performance of "Four Freedom Songs" of Merton's set to music by Alexander Peloquin - Martin Luther King's sister in the choir - "enough to break down the walls of Jericho" / Merton's article for the Pax group |
| | 1981/11/09 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William | I enclose an original "Shannon" which you may auction off for the benefit of your drive! | |
| |
| | 1983/04/22 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William / to Philip Runkel | Dr. Daggy from the Merton Center in Louisville informed me that at a recent meeting he had talked | |
| [from William H. Shannon, editor of <i>The Hidden Ground of Love</i> to Philip M. Runkel, archivist at Marquette University] |
| | 1983/04/26 | TLS | from Runkel, Philip / to William Shannon | Greetings from Marquette. In response to your letter of April 22, I regret to inform you that | |
| [list of the dates of Merton's letters to Day in the Marquette collection] |
| | 1983/04/29 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William / to Philip Runkel | I am most grateful for your prompt response to my letter. Would that all the people I have written | |
| |
| | 1983/05/10 | TLS | from Runkel, Philip / to William Shannon | Greetings from the Archives. I am enclosing copies of the requested letters from Thomas Merton | |
| |
| | 1983/05/18 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William / to Philip Runkel | I was delighted to receive the Dorothy Day letters that you duplicated for me. They are splendid | |
| |
| | 1983/06/16 | HLS | from Mauk, Daniel / to William Shannon | I trust that by now you've heard from Phil Runkel, our archivist at Marquette University, concerning | |
| [from Daniel Mauk of the Catholic Worker to William Shannon] |
| | 1987/08/17 | other | | CORRESPONDENCE: THOMAS MERTON and DOROTHY DAY 8/17/87 | |
| [William Shannon's list of correspondence between Merton and Day] |
| | 1988/06/28 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William / to Anne Klejment | I just returned from Louisville and Gethsemani and a retreat in the woods - in 100 degree Kentucky | |
| [from William Shannon to Anne Klejment of the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota] |
| | | | | | | | |