Monica Weis, SSJ is Professor Emerita of English at Nazareth College, Rochester, NY. She is the author of Thomas Merton's Gethsemani: Landscapes of Paradise (2005) and The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton (2011).
Monica Weis has done a wonderful job of pulling together from
Thomas Merton's vast corpus, published and unpublished, his many
references to Celtic Christianity, in particular to its literary,
monastic, and eremitical traditions. She brings them together into
an integrated paradigm of understanding that Merton was a pilgrim
and a hermit, and a man who moved back and forth, as did many of
the Celtic monks, between home and exile. Particularly interesting
are her revisionist views of St. Patrick and of the Synod of
Whitby, and (a revelation to me) her exposition of Irish hermit
poetry. Warmly recommended.
--Donald Grayston, Former President, Thomas Merton Society of
Canada and International Thomas Merton Society; author, Thomas
Merton and the Noonday Demon (Cascade, 2015) Monica Weis's
presentation of Merton's interest in Celtic Christianity is
thorough and engaging, giving the reader a rich depiction of how
the vibrancy of the Celtic world captivated and inspired Thomas
Merton in the final decade of his life. The enthusiasm of both
Merton and Weis for their subject is infectious and will encourage
the reader in their own search for both the 'Promised Land of the
Saints' and in their striving to live out of a 'transfigured
center.'
--Paul M. Pearson, Director, Thomas Merton Center Known for her
insightful study of Thomas Merton's environmental vision, Monica
Weis now invites readers to join her in exploring Merton's abiding
fascination and deep resonance with Celts and Celtic Christianity.
Carefully researched and skillfully written, this book adds a vital
dimension to our understanding of Merton's spirituality. A fresh,
rich, and valuable contribution to Merton studies and to the
growing body of work on Celtic spirituality!
--Christine M. Bochen, Professor of Religious Studies and William
H. Shannon Chair in Catholic Studies, Nazareth College Monica Weis
quotes from a letter of Thomas Merton to Hans Urs Von Balthasar
confessing that his own immersion in the study, scholarly and
personal, of Celtic monasticism has become 'a real avocation with
me. . . . I can think of nowhere in the West where monastic culture
was so drenched in brilliant color and form, with such dazzled love
of God's beauty.' It is the special gift of this book that Weis has
captured the multi-textured dimensions of Merton's 'Celtophilia, '
and in so unearthing the familial and intellectual roots of his
love of the Celtic imagination has compellingly demonstrated
Merton's realization that in discovering the Celtic world a whole
new perspective had opened up for him--and for us as well, thanks
to Weis's diligent and ardent labor of love.
--Michael W. Higgins, Religious Studies Professor and
Vice-President for Mission and Catholic Identity, Sacred Heart
University, Fairfield, CT
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