Listen free for 30 days
-
Thomas Merton on Prayer
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Categories: Religion & Spirituality, Christianity
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Seven Storey Mountain
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Sidney Lanier
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Seven Storey Mountain is the extraordinary spiritual testament of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a man who experienced life to its fullest in the world before entering a Trappist monastery. By the end of his life, he had become one of the 20th century's best known and loved Christian voices. This autobiography deals...not with what happens to a man, but what happens inside his soul.
-
-
I wish there was an unabridged version!
- By Pen Name on 28-05-20
-
New Seeds of Contemplation
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Jonathan Montaldo, Sharon Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Seeds of Comtemplation is one of Thomas Merton's most widely read and best loved books. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, the Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections to those of Thoreau.
-
-
Lots to think about...
- By Andy Seys on 20-04-15
-
12 Degrees of Humility
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are invited into the classroom in which Thomas Merton delivered some of his most impassioned lectures on a timeless topic. In 1962 at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton taught an extraordinary course on the heart of Benedictine spirituality.
-
-
No Humility
- By Adrian Chan-Wyles Ph.D on 16-08-20
-
Thomas Merton on Contemplation
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Fr. Anthony Ciorra PhD, Thomas Merton
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are invited to sit at the feet of a contemplative master. After a radical conversion experience, Thomas Merton became a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemani. At the heart of Merton's transformative conversion was contemplation. Now, this series invites you into that profound contemplative experience in six remastered conferences delivered by Merton. As you listen to Merton in his own voice, you will encounter his most profound teachings on prayer and contemplation.
-
-
The best I've heard from Merton.
- By Kingdiplodocus on 16-07-15
-
Thomas Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere
- By: James Finley
- Narrated by: James Finley
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First presented at a series of popular retreats, this full audio program takes a participatory approach to Merton's most useful teachings, helping us to discover our true self...to disappear into God; to be submerged into his peace; to be lost in the secret of his face, as Merton said, through daily practices including contemplation, prayer, and faith. In the end we find ourselves in what the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu called the Palace of Nowhere, where all the many things are one.
-
-
Quite Profound
- By Tony on 28-06-20
-
The Contemplative Journey: Volume 1
- Contemplation and Transformation from Christianity's Mystical Tradition
- By: Father Thomas Keating
- Narrated by: Father Thomas Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From infancy, Father Keating teaches, we accumulate emotional layers, or programs, as a result of traumatic experiences. The practice of Centering Prayer engages directly with the unconscious and loosens old traumas that hinder your spiritual development. This form of divine therapy draws from a contemplative method that has brought profound inner transformation into the lives of thousands of practitioners.
-
-
Thoughts on the contemplative journey
- By Anonymous User on 17-07-17
-
The Seven Storey Mountain
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Sidney Lanier
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Seven Storey Mountain is the extraordinary spiritual testament of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a man who experienced life to its fullest in the world before entering a Trappist monastery. By the end of his life, he had become one of the 20th century's best known and loved Christian voices. This autobiography deals...not with what happens to a man, but what happens inside his soul.
-
-
I wish there was an unabridged version!
- By Pen Name on 28-05-20
-
New Seeds of Contemplation
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Jonathan Montaldo, Sharon Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Seeds of Comtemplation is one of Thomas Merton's most widely read and best loved books. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, the Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections to those of Thoreau.
-
-
Lots to think about...
- By Andy Seys on 20-04-15
-
12 Degrees of Humility
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are invited into the classroom in which Thomas Merton delivered some of his most impassioned lectures on a timeless topic. In 1962 at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton taught an extraordinary course on the heart of Benedictine spirituality.
-
-
No Humility
- By Adrian Chan-Wyles Ph.D on 16-08-20
-
Thomas Merton on Contemplation
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Fr. Anthony Ciorra PhD, Thomas Merton
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are invited to sit at the feet of a contemplative master. After a radical conversion experience, Thomas Merton became a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemani. At the heart of Merton's transformative conversion was contemplation. Now, this series invites you into that profound contemplative experience in six remastered conferences delivered by Merton. As you listen to Merton in his own voice, you will encounter his most profound teachings on prayer and contemplation.
-
-
The best I've heard from Merton.
- By Kingdiplodocus on 16-07-15
-
Thomas Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere
- By: James Finley
- Narrated by: James Finley
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First presented at a series of popular retreats, this full audio program takes a participatory approach to Merton's most useful teachings, helping us to discover our true self...to disappear into God; to be submerged into his peace; to be lost in the secret of his face, as Merton said, through daily practices including contemplation, prayer, and faith. In the end we find ourselves in what the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu called the Palace of Nowhere, where all the many things are one.
-
-
Quite Profound
- By Tony on 28-06-20
-
The Contemplative Journey: Volume 1
- Contemplation and Transformation from Christianity's Mystical Tradition
- By: Father Thomas Keating
- Narrated by: Father Thomas Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From infancy, Father Keating teaches, we accumulate emotional layers, or programs, as a result of traumatic experiences. The practice of Centering Prayer engages directly with the unconscious and loosens old traumas that hinder your spiritual development. This form of divine therapy draws from a contemplative method that has brought profound inner transformation into the lives of thousands of practitioners.
-
-
Thoughts on the contemplative journey
- By Anonymous User on 17-07-17
-
The Naked Now
- Learning to See as the Mystics See
- By: Richard Rohr
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The enlightenment you seek in other religions has been present in Christianity from the beginning. Richard Rohr, a global leader in spiritual awakening, helps you recognize the forces (such as ego resistance and dual thinking) that separate you from your deeper self. Then, drawing from Gospels and the greatest Christian contemplatives, he shows you what it means to be spiritually awake. You will learn why your ego resists change and growth, what is useful about popular ideas such as the law of attraction, what Jesus, the first mythical leader in the West, can teach you.
-
-
Wonderful.
- By Thamesis on 01-09-20
-
Meister Eckhart's Living Wisdom
- Indestructible Joy and the Path of Letting Go
- By: James Finley
- Narrated by: James Finley
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13th-century mystic Meister Eckhart was the most brilliant Christian scholar of his day, but he was also legendary for the way that he opened listeners to the direct experience of God during his public talks. Today, his written wisdom remains alive as ever, ready to illuminate us. With Meister Eckhart's Living Wisdom, James Finley, one of today's best-known teachers of the Christian contemplative tradition, invites us into Eckhart's insights in the same way that this luminary teacher delighted in sharing them.
-
-
Master Eckhart
- By Azima M. on 16-04-20
-
Thomas Merton on Solitude and Togetherness
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Merton, being contemplative meant living out the essential elements of the spiritual life. Having lived out the challenges and triumphs of a contemplative life, Merton had a plethora of practical advice to offer. If the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is truly at work daily, then what does it look like? How can we identify its authentic presence? If it's important to spend time in silence with God, how do we go about entering into it fruitfully?
-
Ways of Prayer: A Desert Father's Wisdom
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Thomas Merton in exploring one of the most influential figures in the history of spirituality. Born in the fourth century, Saint John Cassian (AD 360-435) lived when tensions between the traditional and innovative peaked. A monk and theologian, Cassian made the Christian tradition relevant for the needs of his day in his spiritual works. Indeed, his spirituality remains essential today; he influenced Saints Benedict and Ignatius of Loyola, and his works continue to be read worldwide.
-
-
As an ex monk I could really appreciate this!
- By Clive Smart on 29-07-19
-
The Interior Castle
- By: St Teresa of Ávila
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Interior Castle, Carmelite nun, mystic, and patron saint of Spain Teresa of Ávila uses the metaphor of a giant crystal castle to explain her theory of the soul and the various stages it passes through as it progresses towards God. Beginning in the outer rooms, where demons are fought and vices are purged, the soul must reach the inner chambers, where it will enter betrothal and intimate union with God. Prayer is central to the journey, as the soul is guided by its practice and each phase represents a different category of devotion.
-
The Wisdom of the Desert
- Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Greg Chun
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Wisdom of the Desert was one of Thomas Merton's favorites among his own books, surely because he had hoped to spend his last years as a hermit. The personal tones of the translations and the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East.
-
-
excellent content but
- By jonathan carrasco on 15-01-20
-
The Art of Letting Go
- Living the Wisdom of Saint Francis
- By: Richard Rohr OFM
- Narrated by: Richard Rohr OFM
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We often think of saints as rare individuals whose gifts far exceed our own, and St. Francis is no exception. But for Fr. Richard Rohr, a prolific author and renowned speaker, the life and teachings of this beloved figure offer an authentic spirituality we can all embody.
-
-
Revolutionary Idea in a Materialistic World
- By Ms. B.Hartland on 14-04-13
-
The Cloud of Unknowing: With the Book of Privy Counsel
- By: Carmen Acevedo Butcher (translator)
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This anonymous fourteenth-century text is the glory of English mysticism, and one of the most practical and useful guides to finding union with God ever written. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s new translation is the first to bring the text into a modern English idiom - while remaining strictly faithful to the meaning of the original Middle English. The Cloud of Unknowingconsists of a series of letters written by a monk to his student or disciple, instructing him (or her) in the way of Divine union.
-
-
Beaufitul
- By TGW on 27-09-16
-
No Man Is an Island
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Jonathan Montaldo
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
> No Man Is an Island is a collection of 16 essays in which Thomas Merton plumbs aspects of human spirituality. Merton treats the “basic verities on which the spiritual life depends”. Essay themes include hope, conscience, sacrifice, charity, sincerity, mercy, and silence. The work is threaded through with Merton’s deep awareness that we are all called to “live not for ourselves but for others”.
-
Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
- By: Henri J. M. Nouwen
- Narrated by: Joe Abbey-Colborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Available as an audiobook for the first time ever, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life invites you to adopt Nouwen as your personal spiritual guide. Each session was carefully prepared by Dr. Michael Christensen, an award-winning professor of Christian ministry and practice, and Dr. Rebecca Laird, who was Nouwen’s student at Yale Divinity School. Like other volumes in The Nouwen Trilogy, this audiobook collects Nouwen’s unpublished homilies, interviews, classes, and speeches, as well as excerpts from his published writings.
-
Thomas Merton on Poetry
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Take Thomas Merton as your personal poetry professor. You know Thomas Merton as one of the most beloved voices of the 20th century: a profound mystic, a gifted writer, and an exceptional teacher. He was also a celebrated poet and lifelong lover of literature, and these lectures showcase his extraordinary insights into poetry. Whatever your level of familiarity with poetry, hearing Merton in his own voice will invigorate your imagination.
-
-
really felt I got to know Merton
- By Amazon Customer on 17-07-19
-
The Contemplative Journey: Volume 2
- Contemplation and Transformation from Christianity's Mystical Tradition
- By: Father Thomas Keating
- Narrated by: Thomas Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From infancy, Father Keating teaches, we accumulate emotional layers, or programs, as a result of traumatic experiences. The practice of Centering Prayer engages directly with the unconscious and loosens old traumas that hinder your spiritual development. This form of divine therapy draws from a contemplative method that has brought profound inner transformation into the lives of thousands of practitioners. The Contemplative Journey is Father Thomas Keating's great masterwork.
-
-
wonderful insight to Christian contemplation.
- By Kindle Customer on 13-05-17
Summary
Renew your prayer life with Thomas Merton.
Thomas Merton was one of the great spiritual masters: a Trappist monk, profound mystic, and brilliant writer. He inspired men and women from all walks of life with his dedication to prayer and contemplation.
In 1967, near the end of his life, Merton gave a powerful set of lectures on prayer to the Sisters of Loretto. He channeled a lifetime full of wisdom, piety, and prayerfulness into these erudite yet down-to-earth talks. Now, you have the rare opportunity to hear Merton's moving lectures, deepening your own life of prayer with one of the great modern spiritual masters.
This series has been remastered and made available for you to enjoy. In these heartfelt talks, Merton reaches out across the decades to inspire your spirit. He will lead you on a powerful journey, giving you new insights into praying contemplatively. You will explore such topics as religious poverty, philosophy, and monasticism. As you do so, you will discover what it means to truly live as a Christian today.
Recorded half a century ago, these talks remain as powerful today as ever. Merton will transform your life with his timeless insights into contemplation, the search for meaning, and more. Join him on this life-changing experience.
Photograph of Thomas Merton by Sibylle Akers. Used with permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University.
What listeners say about Thomas Merton on Prayer
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David Mullins
- 16-10-18
Excellent
A true joy to listen to Merton in his own words. You hear his clarity but also his hesitation, his recognition that his is not the final word in the spiritual life as so many of his more 'enthusiastic' admirers would have you believe. What comes across more than anything else is his kindness.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Still
- 15-01-21
A joy to hear Merton speak
There is some truth in reviews on here that this doesn't seem to be a book "on prayer," although Merton's point when he *does* talk about it, is that prayer isn't what most people think it is. If you were hoping for a kind of self-help book on how to do prayer, then fair enough, this probably isn't it, but then that isn't Merton either.
If, like me, you are already a Thomas Merton fan, and have already read his books, this recording, and the others here, are an amazing find. I had no idea that they existed until I found them on a website (for considerably more than they cost on Audible). They are a joy to listen to, if for no other reason than to hear a voice that you may have imagined in your head so many times as you read his work. As someone else has pointed out, you can hear Merton's own sense of openness to uncertainty in his hesitations. It also seems such a piece of luck that he recorded these at all, when his life would end so prematurely not long after.
A lot of the thoughts expressed here I recognize from "Contemplation in a World of Action," but to hear Merton speak his mind out loud on those topics makes what he says seem even more challenging; the impact is all the greater when you realize that Merton really speaks like this in person, it's not just well-written prose.
In summary then, if you're looking for a definitive book on prayer with 21st century production values, then you probably won't enjoy this. If you know and love Merton and his work already, this is a welcome expansion of his published writing. Worth noting that there are also several other recordings of Merton on here—search for Thomas Merton as narrator to find them.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Isaac M. Taylor
- 09-07-19
Not Much on Prayer
Half way through and not much on prayer. A lot about difficulties of the monastic life and social commentary from the 1960's. Perhaps interesting in their own right, but I was expecting the book to be focused on prayer.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Docking Bay 94
- 24-02-19
Not too much on prayer
These are recorded musings of Merton to some Loreto nuns. Very little is on prayer like the title suggests. Contains his view on deinstituitionalization of the Church in the years after Vatican II and on Vietnam. Not really relevant to me or what I was expecting.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- A. Chan
- 04-12-17
Extraordinarily Relevant
Thomas Merton's own words spoken over 50 years ago are as meaningful in today's world as if they were spoken 5 minutes ago.
6 people found this helpful