MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH: Acharya, Francis Mahieu, Fr., O.S.C.O., 1911-2002
Click here to exit print-formated view.
Descriptive Summary
Record Group: Section A - Correspondence
Dates of materials: 1961
Volume: 3 item(s); 8 pg(s)
Scope and Content
This group of letters appears on six typed and mimeographed sheets entitled, "Lettres de Kurisumala". It is unclear to whom they are addressed. Kurisumala, literally meaning "cross mountain", is an area of southwestern India where there is a monastery, an ashram. It appears that one letter, the longest, is signed by a novice; another is signed C. Kuriakose; and the final one by Fr. Francis.
Biography
Fr. Francis Mahieu Acharya, a native of Belgium who later became a Cistercian monk there, came to India in 1955 and founded a monastery in 1958. He was a pioneer in a rebirth of Syriac monasticism and of blending it with Indian spiritual traditions, such as the Upanishads, and was later Acharya, or "teacher" (and abbot), of the Kurisumala Ashram. They became officially a part of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) in 1988 and follow the liturgy of the Syro-Malankara Church (a Catholic Church in communion with Roman Catholicism).
Usage Guidelines and Restrictions
Related Information and Links
See also "Griffiths, Bede" file.
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
|