St. Anthony Messenger: Listening to God with the Ear of the Heart

In Thomas Merton’s 1948 autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, which details his journey to the Catholic faith and becoming a Trappist monk, Merton describes a peculiar scene that unfolded at St. Bonaventure University. 

Restless about his future, Merton frantically barrels around campus in search of someone to talk to. He finds himself before the shrine of the Little Flower, almost begging St. Thérèse of Lisieux to show him what to do with his life. A mystical moment unfolds. Merton writes: “Suddenly, as soon as I had made that prayer, I became aware of the wood, the trees, the dark hills, the wet night wind, and then, clearer than any of these obvious realities, in my imagination, I started to hear the great bell of Gethsemani ringing in the night. . . . The bell seemed to be telling me where I belonged—as if it were calling me home.” 

This scene has long made me pause. Was Merton some kind of madman, hearing bells from the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky from 700 miles away? Was this manufactured drama? What exactly is going on here? ...

Read the remainder of this column in the April 2025 issue of the St. Anthony Messenger HERE. Click HERE to subscribe to the St. Anthony Messenger.