Thomas Merton on the Twelve Steps of Humility

Podcast-style audio course - 17 Topics
Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
(11 customer reviews)
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Audio Download + Subscription
$0.00
Audio Download + Subscription
$0.00
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You are invited to hear some of Thomas Merton’s most impassioned lectures.

In 1962 at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton taught an extraordinary course on the heart of Benedictine spirituality. Through 16 digitally remastered recordings, you will encounter Merton as a master teacher, his voice reaching out across the decades to make monastic wisdom accessible to all of us. The Rule of St. Benedict is foundational in the history of Western spirituality, especially in its commentary on humility. This work of spiritual genius has guided the monastic movement since the sixth century and touched countless Christians. Merton brings new energy to this ancient document, and you will gain new insights into the rule and experience another side of Merton’s personality.

The uniqueness of this series lies in how it transports you to the classroom of the monastery. You will listen to the way Merton teaches through his interaction with his students as he shares his reflections with them. You will also witness how Merton works through the material, integrating the virtue of humility into his own life.

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You are invited to hear some of Thomas Merton’s most impassioned lectures.

In 1962 at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton taught an extraordinary course on the heart of Benedictine spirituality. Through 16 digitally remastered recordings, you will encounter Merton as a master teacher, his voice reaching out across the decades to make monastic wisdom accessible to all of us. The Rule of St. Benedict is foundational in the history of Western spirituality, especially in its commentary on humility. This work of spiritual genius has guided the monastic movement since the sixth century and touched countless Christians. Merton brings new energy to this ancient document, and you will gain new insights into the rule and experience another side of Merton’s personality.

The uniqueness of this series lies in how it transports you to the classroom of the monastery. You will listen to the way Merton teaches through his interaction with his students as he shares his reflections with them. You will also witness how Merton works through the material, integrating the virtue of humility into his own life.

All of us struggle with humility. In this course, you will examine what it means with a great mystic who personally struggled to live this foundational virtue. You will encounter St. Benedict, gain new insights on humility, and get to know Thomas Merton as a great teacher.

This course is part of the Learn25 Collection.

Photograph of Thomas Merton by Sibylle Akers. Used with permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University.

This course was previously published as Thomas Merton on the Twelve Degrees of Humility

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Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk and bestselling author of such beloved works as The Seven Storey Mountain and New Seeds of Contemplation. One of the 20th century’s great mystics, Merton was also a masterful teacher who delivered powerful conferences to the novice monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani. In these conferences, Merton’s thinking moved from cloistered monastic life to issues of social justice and interreligious understanding. A spiritual sage and guide for countless men and women, Merton struggled with complex questions about God’s existence and the role of organized religion.

Those who knew him also experienced his gifts as a homilist and teacher. These special, remastered recordings are part of his spoken word legacy. They are actual recordings of Thomas Merton. By agreement with The Thomas Merton Legacy Trust, Now You Know Media has the sole right to record, master, re-master, duplicate, market, and disseminate copies of “The Merton Recordings,” which are a selection of the archives housed in the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

  • The Holy Rule (7/11/62)
  • Humility in the Monastic Life (7/20/62)
  • The Conversion of Manners
  • Benedictine Spirituality (7/25/62)
  • The Development of Conscience (8/28/62)
  • Humility in Modern Times (9/7/62)
  • The Augustinian Degrees of Humility (9/–/62)
  • Heroic Humility
  • Humility and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (10/2/62)
  • Confession and Cistercian Mysticism
  • The Vow of Poverty and St. Francis (10/–/62)
  • Interpreting and Living the Holy Rule (11/7/62)
  • Disrespect of Others, Real or Imagined (11/–/62)
  • Humbling Ourselves in Christ’s Grace (11/–/62)
  • The Four Exterior Degrees of Humility
  • Humility and Interior Peace (12/19/62)
  • Afterward by Fr. Anthony Ciorra, Ph.D.

11 reviews for Thomas Merton on the Twelve Steps of Humility

  1. Richard

    A Graduate Course on Christian Spirituality!

    We are privileged to be “flies on the wall” of his classroom as Merton leads the novices into the deeper insights of the Benedictine tradition. Highly recommended.

  2. Karen

    The Prologue to the Rule begins with the word “Listen”… and to have Merton as the voice of the Novice Master along the Ladder of Humility is a great blessing.

    My first experience of the audio format was with Michael Casey on the Prologue to the Rule. He posted it on his abbey’s website. And made it available for downloading too. Coming on the heels of that experience Now You Know’s vast selection is quite welcome. Reading taxes my trifocals! Where as listening allows me to pause, to repeat, to deepen, to rest… in the Word.

  3. Father Tony H

    Ideas that Will Resonate with Anyone

    I have read Merton throughout my life and now to actually hear him speak has made him more human and real. These recordings of him have really stuck with me!

  4. Anonymous

    *

    I especially like being able to hear the recordings of Merton as he is teaching.

  5. Anthony Hash, Virginia Beach, VA

    *

    What a wonderful way to discover the realness of Thomas Merton!

  6. Edward

    Rich in content!

    These lectures are rich in content and give much to consider. The classroom format shows Merton at his most generous.

  7. Mark

    It is WONDERFUL to hear the voice of Merton as he teaches the degrees of humility of St. Benedict.

    It is WONDERFUL to hear the voice of Merton as he teaches the degrees of humility of St. Benedict.

  8. Michael

    Now You Know Media made the right decision to leave these recordings in tact so that we can experience the real atmosphere and humor of Thomas Merton. Priceless.

    Thomas Merton was most influential in my Father’s conversion to Catholicism 50 years ago when I was 7 years old. He always carried one of Merton’s books around. My Father’s conversion resulted in many other conversions simply by my Father’s example. I was too young to understand what it was about Merton that had such a profound affect on him. When I recently searched for these books on line, I discovered Now You Know Media. What a discovery. What a treasure. I can now walk into the classroom with the novices, have a seat, and be an observer of a Master Speaker & Teacher. Now You Know Media made the right decision to leave these recordings in tact so that we can experience the real atmosphere and humor of Thomas Merton. Priceless. The MP3 downloads are perfect when traveling in the car.

  9. Thea V., NY

    Spring Survey: April 2017

    Hearing Thomas Merton’s voice was absolutely thrilling for me. I never realized he had such a great sense of humor….absolutely delightful and worth listening to over and over again.

  10. Helene L., IL

    2018 Spring Survey

    Thomas Merton’s lectures on the 12 Degrees of Humility is an outstanding example of the author’s sensitively attuned interpretation of a classic spiritual text. His facility with the depth and breadth of the development of historical knowledge in which this text emerges sheds light on the complex nature of his keen mind in being able to accentuate the most salient points – not only for the novices at Gethsemane but for the world today. His spontaneous insights on spiritual development, especially with regard to the issues discussed in 7th degree of humility are revelatory in illuminating multiple factors that sadly contribute to the inevitable psychological and emotional instability that is rampant throughout the contemporary world today. What remains however, is one’s free choice to reconsider the only non-contingent source of God’s love and mercy – Christ remains the answer for me.

  11. Susan N., ME

    Summer 2018 Survey

    These lectures on humility have served as guidance for my own behavior

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