The Gethsemani Monastery at Trappist Kentucky. |
The Cistercian Monks at Gethsemani are known for their hard work and spirituality. The silence at Gethsemani is wonderful. Monks avoid idle talk and rise every morning in time to begin their prayer, meditation and work at 3:15 AM. They meet a total of seven times a day to join together in prayer and song. |
In many ways life at the monastery is a step back into the early seasons of Christianity. It is both simple and satisfying. The monks avoid meat, fancy clothes and modern entertainment. They treat visitors in the same kind manner as was practiced by their order in 1098 AD. |
View from a Gethsemani hermitage on a snowy morning. |
A restful lake on the grounds of Gethsemani Monastery. |
Father Thomas Merton's grave. He was known as Father Louis in the Gethsemani Monastery. He was a prolific writer and teacher. He was a man of the world and a man of the inner self that requires one to face only God during a late night fire watch. He championed peace, spirituality and social justice. Living for periods as a hermit, he also taught the value of solitude as a means of preparing oneself to serve humanity. Though a devout Catholic, he was open to the spiritual values of Eastern Religions such as Buddhism. His words and teachings are as relevant today as they were in the 1960's. |
A lonely road into the Gethsemani hills ...a place for the blessings of rain and snow. |
The hills and fields where Father Merton encountered God and nature. |
| "If you want to know what is meant by 'God's will' in man's life, this is one way to get a good idea of it. 'God's will' is certainly found in anything that is required of us in order that we may be united with one another in love." From: New Seeds Of Contemplation |
| Thomas Merton's Prayer |
| My Lord God, I have
no idea
where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I do not do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. From "Thoughts In Solitude" |