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Merton's Correspondence with:

Fr. Brocard Sewell; Michael Sewell; Sewell, Michael

Sewell, Brocard, Fr., O. Carm., b. 1912  printer

 
 

Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence
Dates of materials: 1963, 1965
Volume: 3 item(s); 3 pg(s)

Scope and Content

This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "Sewell, Brocard, Fr., O. Carm.".

Biography

Fr. Brocard Sewell (baptized Michael Sewell - Brocard being his religious name) was a Carmelite friar and editor of The Aylesford Review at his home at Aylesford Priory in Kent, England. Though born into an Anglican family, his father was involved in the Oxford Movement and Sewell became a Catholic while still a youth. Throughout his life, he maintained an interest in Anglican-Catholic dialogue. While a young man, he became involved with G. K. Chesterton's distributist movement and G. K.'s Weekly. Similar to Merton and the Franciscans, Sewell was rejected from the Dominicans. Also like Merton, he attempted joining a contemplative order. His first attempt to enter the Carmelites failed in 1937. Though he was a pacifist, or essentially so, he served as a map specialist during the Second World War for the British. In 1952, he applied for entry with the Carmelites at Aylesford and was, this time, allowed to join. It is from Aylesford that Sewell writes Merton. Merton contributed to The Aylesford Review. Sewell would later live in various other Carmelite monasteries. (Source: McGreal, Wilfred. "Obituary of Fr. Brocard Sewell, 0.Carm." Website of the British Province of Carmelites. Accessed 2006 April 24. ‹http://www.carmelite.org/obit/bs_obituary.html›.)

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Related Information and Links

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

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#DateFrom/ToFirst LinesPub ✓Notes
 y/m/dMerton Scan ✉ 
1. 1963/10/28 HLS to Merton I've been away for some weeks - hence delay in writing to acknowledge and thank you for your kind «detailed view»
2. 1965/06/20 TL[c] from Merton For a long time I have wanted to do something to help out the review. You are doing such a good job «detailed view»
3. 1965/07/14 TLS to Merton First I must apologise [sic] for not writing much sooner to thank you, and the Father Abbot, «detailed view»

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