The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

Forthcoming Events


Thomas Merton with Road Scholar Program

Road Scholar Program "Week with Thomas Merton"

The Fall 2013 Merton Road Scholar [elderhostel] week will take place from Sunday 13th October until Friday 18th October, 2013 - this program is currently fully booked with a waiting list. For further details contact Linda Bailey on (502) 272 8161 or by e-mail: lbailey@bellarmine.edu or visit the Road Scholar website.

The Spring 2014 Merton Road Scholar [elderhostel] week will take place from Sunday 16th March until Friday 21st March, 2014.


Tibetan Sacred Sand Mandala of compassion

by the Monks of

Drepung Gomang Monastery

 

Between November 26th and December 3rd, 2012 monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery created a Sacred Sand Mandala of Compassion at the Thomas Merton Center.

Finished Mandala of Compassion

The Sacred Sand Mandala of Compassion
at the Thomas Merton Center


Photographs taken during the construction of the Mandala can be viewed on the Facebook pages of the International Thomas Merton Society at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10151181430768311&type=1

 

And three short films are also available for viewing on You Tube:

 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLt6StRQH0c – footage of the opening ceremony and an interview with Anne Walter of the Drepung Gomang Institute.

 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1WDYMo1MKI&sns=em  - footage of the monks working on the Mandala and an interview with Merton Center director, Paul Pearson.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ9o__kTNg - Carol Stewart talks about the Mandala, along with comments about it from some of the observers.


Thomas Merton and the Second Vatican Council


Hilary's, Horrigan Hall, Bellarmine University
Free and Open to the Public

Thomas Merton and Pope John XXIII
by Michael W. Higgins

October 9th, 2013 - 7 pm
Michael W. Higgins


Michael W. Higgins is vice-president for Mission and Catholic Identity at Sacred Heart University, the author of dozens of books including Genius Born of Anguish: The Life and Legacy of Henri Nouwen, and Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton. He co-edited the recently published collection Vatican II: A Universal Call to Holiness and is the official biographer of Henri Nouwen.

Thomas Merton, Vatican II and Women Religious
by Bonnie B. Thurston

October 16th, 2013 - 7 pm
Bonnie B. Thurston

Bonnie B. Thurston is a founding member, past president and board member of the ITMS. She was ordained by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She edited Merton and Buddhism (2007), Hidden in the Same Mystery: Thomas Merton and Loretto (2010) and Thomas Merton on Eastern Meditation (2012) and has written eighteen books on scripture and on spirituality. She lives quietly in her home state, West Virginia.

 

Vulnerable Prophets: Thomas Merton, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Vatican II
by Edward K. Kaplan

October 30th, 2013 - 7 pm
Edward K. Kaplan

Edward K. Kaplan is Kevy and Hortense Kaiserman Professor in the Humanities at Brandeis University where he teaches French, comparative literature, and religion. His two volume biography of Abraham Joshua Heschel - Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness and Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972 - is published by Yale University Press. He also wrote Holiness in Words: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Poetics of Piety. In April-May 2012 he taught a seminar on Thomas Merton and Abraham Heschel at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, under the auspices of the Cardinal Bea Institute for Judaic Studies.

 

The Impact of Thomas Merton and Vatican II on the Church
By Anthony T. Padovano

November 6th, 2013 - 7 pm

Anthony T. Padovano

 

Anthony T. Padovano holds doctorates and professorships in theology and literature. He is the author of twenty-nine books including The Human Journey: Thomas Merton, Symbol of a Century and Thomas Merton: Becoming Who You Are, along with three award-winning plays, Conscience and Conflict, translated into nine languages. He has been visiting professor at twenty-five American colleges and universities, lectures world-wide and appears regularly in the media on both sides of the Atlantic.

 



The Paradox of Place: Thomas Merton's Photography




The exhibit of Merton's photographs celebrating the 40th Anniversary (1963-2003) of the Thomas Merton Collection at Bellarmine University is now a permanent exhibit displayed in the W. L. Lyons Brown Library on the Bellarmine University campus. This exhibit focuses on the places Merton visited in his final travels of 1968 including California, Alaska and Asia and the contrast with his photographs of Gethsemani and his hermitage.

Click here for a campus map and directions.


Financial assistance is needed to assist with funding these special events at the Thomas Merton Center. If you would be interested in assisting with funding, or becoming a major sponsor for one of these events please contact:
Dr Paul Pearson on (502) 272 8177 or by e-mail: pmpearson@bellarmine.edu