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by Thomas Merton

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THE SIGN OF JONAS depicts Merton at a point in his life at which his ideas and thoughts are still maturing. It is, however that may be, a stunning piece of work. For my part, I found it more moving than SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN.

THE SIGN OF JONAS depicts Merton at a point in his life at which his ideas and thoughts are still maturing. Unlike many of Merton's other books, The Sign of Jonas is easily understood and makes for good light reading. His journal covers his early monastic life from 1946 to 1952 and is an intimate look inside the cloister of Gethsemani. The life of a monk is not as idyllic or full of ritual as my preconception.

The Sign of Jonas book. I began re-reading it after attending a silent Lenten retreat, and have continued through Holy Week and the Easter season. The Sign of Jonas" is one of only a handful of books I've read and re-read over the last few decades; the reason is that for some reason I feel he's speaking directly to me in this painfully honest description of the monastic years leading up to his ordination to the priesthood.

Chronicling six years of Thomas Merton’s life in a Trappist monastery, The Sign of Jonas takes us through his . TheNew York Times A stirring book-the most readable and on the whole, most illuminating of the author’s writings.

Chronicling six years of Thomas Merton’s life in a Trappist monastery, The Sign of Jonas takes us through his day-to-day experiences at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he lived in silence and prayer for much of his life.

Thomas Merton OCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion

Thomas Merton OCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name "Father Louis".

Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton's life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing sureness he felt in his vocation: the growth of a mind that finds in its contracted physical world new intellectual.

This book is made unmistakably real and almost, at times, unbearably poignant by the fact that the exuberance of youth so often wells up through it with rapture, impatience, and even bluster.

This diary of a monastic life is a continuation of The Seven Storey Mountain. Astonishing (Commonweal). This book is made unmistakably real and almost, at times, unbearably poignant by the fact that the exuberance of youth so often wells up through it with rapture, impatience, and even bluster. A stirring book-the most readable and on the whole, most illuminating of the author’s writings.

by. Merton, Thomas, 1915-1968. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Uploaded by sf-loadersive. org on August 7, 2009. SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata). Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014).

Below is a bibliography of published works written by Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk of The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Several of the works listed here have been published posthumously. The works are listed under each category by date of publication. Republished in the UK a. .The Other Side of the Mountain: The End of the Journey; the Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 7, 1967–1968.

Comments: (7)

Goldendragon

An interesting book that follows Merton's day to day thoughts and experiences during his first few years at Gethsemani. It's really different than Nouwen's diaries-turned-books (like the diary of his time at Genesee), in that Nouwen focused on just several themes that came up again and again in different contexts, while in this book it seems more like a journal whose entries didn't seem to have the goal of eventually being published. The reason I liked reading it was because I had just finished reading Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation, and in that book his thoughts ideas on monastic life and contemplation were so pure and fixed, while this book it shows his thoughts in flux, reflecting on his struggles, his joys, his frustrations and everything all of us experience in the world. It's actually only in the last entry that I sensed that he got the idea of turning all these entries into a book. Warning: Because it is a journal, it doesn't have the polish of many of his other books. But for me that was also its appeal.

Feri

I read 'The Seven Story Mountain' more than 30 years ago and that was a life-changing experience for me. In the years that followed, I read a number of Merton's books. I especially enjoyed his brief history of the Cistercian order, 'The Waters of Siloe'. Eventually, I gave away most of those books, hoping that someone would pick up the used book somewhere (as had happened with me) and find their life changed for the better. So many years later, as I find myself drifting in my spiritual life, I returned to 'The Sign of Jonas', which is a sort of hardy spiritual diary Merton kept during a few years of his life at Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky. His account captures the liturgical rhythms of the monks' lives at that time, and he writes with warmth and humor about the life of his community of fellow monks. His life was very enriched by the books that he studied and by the task he had to write various books and to review others. The text is peppered with thoughts, observations and hopes for the ongoing journey of his soul toward God. Very down to earth, compassionate and wonderfully observed and recorded..

Cildorais

THE SIGN OF JONAS is the journal of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton from 1946 to 1952, covering his early years at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemane through his ordination and his first couple of years as a priest. It is, essentially, a sequel to his best-selling THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. The latter book is a more traditional autobiography, spanning his early life, covering his conversion experience, and culminating in his decision to enter contemplative life. What's so fascinating about Merton is that he was such a manifestly *human* human being, in the sense of having all of our weaknesses of body and mind; he was, in short, not what you'd think of as very saintly. Nonetheless, he was able to transcend those very human qualities, empty himself, and fill himself with God--and write about it in such a beautiful way that he is able to inspire and to move others to want to emulate him.

The journal entries that comprise this book vary considerably in style, tone, and content, but there are basically two types: Many of the entries, especially in the first half of the book are narrative, for instance, describing Merton's consternation over what he sees as a conflict between his writing and his need to live the contemplative life. This sense of inner discord is exacerbated by, on the one hand, his fame resulting from the publication of SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN and his desire (perhaps temptation) for the more hermit-like life of the Carthusian. His superior in religious life, the abbot, essentially orders him to (1) write and (2) forget about the Carthusians, and he is obedient to his abbot as the expression of God's will. Merton's descriptions of his monastic surroundings are lyrical and painterly. The narrative entries are furthermore peppered with good humor, both droll ("There is certainly something very touching about lambs, until they find their way into holy pictures and become unpleasant" [p. 168]") and childlike (during one of the services, he is distracted by the hunting scene depicted on the shirt of one of the postulants: "What disturbs me especially is that one of the huntsmen, on a very fat horse, is riding directly through the middle of the pack of hounds, at right angles to the apparent direction of the chase. And I say to him, `Where do you think you're going?' when my mind ought to be on the psalms" [p. 208]).

The other major type of journal entry focuses on aspects of the spiritual life. These passages are beautiful, often abstruse, and occasionally exceedingly dense. They are suitable more for meditation than for simple reading pleasure. About halfway through the book, when Merton is ordained a priest, he becomes especially consumed by his new role and enraptured by the Mass. This in part reflects a pre-Vatican II understanding of the Mass that was more personal and less community-focused. For this reader, anyway, these passages are, though initially interesting, eventually a bit trying. Fortunately, Merton grows into his priesthood, and his writing reflects this, becoming less inward and self-absorbed. At the very end of the book, in the Epilogue called `Fire Watch," he is able to successfully join narrative and spiritual writing for a final meditation.

THE SIGN OF JONAS depicts Merton at a point in his life at which his ideas and thoughts are still maturing. It is, however that may be, a stunning piece of work. For my part, I found it more moving than SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. In fact, I think it is one of the best pieces of 20th-century Catholic spiritual literature, a book that I found both edifying and a pleasure to read.

terostr

I use those little stick-on tabs to mark special places in the books I read. The Sign of Jonas is so marked every few pages. This journal of Merton's life at a Trappist monastery in Kentucky begins in 1946, five years after he entered the monastery, and ends in 1952. He describes and reflects on life in the monastery, on what he reads, on the occasional visitors, on his vocation. In his reflection on Jonas he mentions that someone sent them a lot of kid's pictures of Jonas and the whale. He says, "The pictures were supposed to be by backward children. Backward nothing. They are the only real works of art I have seen in ten years. . . It occurred to me that these wise children were drawing pictures of their own lives. They knew what was in their own depths. . . The sign of Jonas is written in our being." Hence the title. Exploring his depths is what Merton does, inviting the reader along.

Author: Thomas Merton
ISBN: 0859690814
Category: Religion & Spirituality
Language: English
Publisher: Sheldon Press; New edition edition (August 26, 1976)
Pages: 368 pages

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