Thomas Merton was baptized Anglican, grew up Episcopalian, and later became perhaps the most influential Christian mystic of the 20th century, whose writings and spirituality still inspire Episcopalians and Anglicans today.
Baptized in the Church of England while living in France and raised in the Episcopal Church while living on Long Island, Thomas Merton later converted to Roman Catholicism and became a Trappist monk. While his relationship with the Episcopal Church and Anglicanism fluctuated between disappointment and appreciation, he has remained a source of profound spiritual wisdom for Episcopalians and Anglicans ever since he first published his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain in 1948 (titled Elected Silence in the UK).
This webpage exists for the purpose of adding Thomas Merton to the Episcopal Church’s Calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts, with the suggested feast day of December 10, which is the day he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani (Catholic monastery in Trappist Bardstown, Kentucky) in 1941 as well as the day he died tragically in Bangkok Thailand in 1968.
This webpage serves as a hub for collecting information about worship services and other commemorations honoring Thomas Merton throughout the Episcopal Church.
The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music wants to see evidence of local commemorations before new names are added to the calendar, keen to make sure that sufficient time is given to let the “cult” grow.
Please submit the date and time and general format (Holy Eucharist, Morning Prayer, Reading Group, Special Event, etc.) of your local commemoration(s) of Thomas Merton in the comment section here.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 