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June 22 - 25, 2023

St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN

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“Now the Wisdom of God, Sophia, comes forth, reaching
from ‘end to end mightily’.”
Thomas Merton, Hagia Sophia

In his poem Hagia Sophia and other writings, Thomas Merton wrote of divine wisdom, often personified as Sophia. Representing both the Holy Spirit and the mystical idea of divine wisdom, the figure of Sophia played an important role in Thomas Merton’s spirituality and writing. This mystical image represents the divine in active terms, reaching into our souls and challenging us to new ways of living, of loving our neighbors, of standing for justice. Moreover, in Sophia Merton recognized an experience of God rendered in a feminine face. The significance of the divine feminine in Merton’s life and work connects aptly to the location of our gathering in 2023. Saint Mary’s College, a Catholic women’s liberal arts college, has long been a pioneering institution in women’s higher education, and intersected with Merton’s life in important ways. Merton corresponded with members of the Saint Mary’s community, including then-President Sr. Madeleva Wolff, and it was Saint Mary’s that first published Merton’s 1948 book What is Contemplation? More generally, Merton was shaped in important ways by women in his life — from his mother to the Baronness Catherine de Hueck Doherty to his longtime literary agent Naomi Burton Stone — and through his writings and correspondence engaged in extensive dialogue with women writers.

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Conference Highlights

Conference Timetable

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Plenary Speakers:

Maria Clara Bingemer	Simone Campbell	Sophia Park	Shannen Dee Williams

Women Who Helped Us Know Merton
Christine M. Bochen	Kathleen Deignan	Lynn Szabo	Bonnie Thurston	Monica Weis
Moderated by Emma McDonald

Presidential Address:   Christopher Pramuk

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Opening Sessions:

First-Timers' Session	Merton Scholarship	Emerging Scholars
	David Golemboski / Patrick F. O'Connell / Paul M. Pearson	Laurin Ernst / Oliver Mesmer / Ethan Strouse

  Details of Opening Sessions

Concurrent Sessions:

Humanity and the Human Condition Mary Frances Coady / Jason Taylor	Merton at the Redwoods Ellyn Crutcher / Dominiek Lootens	Merton’s Prophetic Monasticism R. Zachary Karanovich / Paul M. Pearson
Literary Explorations Thomas Malewitz / Patrick F. O'Connell	Merton and Flannery O'Connor Mark C. Meade/ Janie Harden Fritz	Reality, Relationality, and the Self John Gillespie / Gray Matthews / Huili (Kathy) Stout
Merton's Influence on His Readers Alan Kolp / Patti Sayre	Merton, Drugs, and Counterculture Jim Robinson / David Odorisio	Merton, Poetry, and Photography Kevin Burke / Julia Prinz
Self-Discovery, Sanctity, and Mystical Mutuality Vaughn Fayle / Callie Tabor	Healing Divisions Susan Mancino & Natalia Tapsak / Anne R. Pearson	The Contemplative Lens Aaron Godlaski / Megan Way

Details of Concurrent Sessions

Workshops, Guided Prayer & Special Presentations:

Paul Quenon & Judith Valente	Paul Pynkoski	Bernice Marie-Daly
Jeff Kiernan	Doug Hertler	Vincent Pizzuto
Brian Harnetty	Robert Ellsberg	Jennifer Trently
William McNichols, John Dadosky, & Christopher Pramuk	Zvony Nagy	Carol Lenox
Paul Dekar	Cassidy Hall	Robert Hesse

Details of Concurrent Sessions
 

Morning Prayer:

Paul Dekar Praying in the Way of the Madonna House Apostolate		Robert Hesse Centering Prayer's Healing Effects: Interfaith Prayer Practicum, Medical Research, and Resulting Ministries

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Program Committee: David W. L. Golemboski, Sioux Falls, SD (Chair) Daniel Horan, O.F.M., Notre Dame, IN (Site Coordinator) Jessica Coblentz, Notre Dame, IN Emma McDonald, Towson, MD Mark Meade, Jeffersonville, IN David Orberson, New Albany, IN Christopher Pramuk, Denver, CO Kathleen Tarr, Anchorage, AK Judith Valente, Normal, IL Monica Weis, S.S.J., Rochester, NY