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No Humility
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Three men laid the groundwork for Christianity’s philosophy, theology, and learning. Seventeen centuries later, Thomas Merton, a spiritual visionary, taught gripping classes on these Church Fathers.
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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.
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The best I've heard from Merton.
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Overall
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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.
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Excellent
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Thomas Merton on Solitude and Togetherness
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- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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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?
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Thomas Merton on Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose: The Philosophy of the Great Latin Fathers
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- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Three men laid the groundwork for Christianity’s philosophy, theology, and learning. Seventeen centuries later, Thomas Merton, a spiritual visionary, taught gripping classes on these Church Fathers.
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Overall
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Performance
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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.
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The best I've heard from Merton.
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- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
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Overall
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Heroes of the Desert: The Lives, Faith, and Teachings of the Church Fathers and Mothers
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Beginning in the third century AD, pious men and women journeyed into the Egyptian desert, where they sought to be "alone with God alone." Known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers, they pursued lives of solitude and prayer in order to make offerings of themselves to God. They acquired great insight into the spiritual life, which has been passed down to us in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Now, you can discover the fascinating lives and works of such awe-inspiring figures as St. Antony the Great and St. Mary of Egypt.
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Insightful and thought provoking
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Travel into the desert with Thomas Merton as your guide. In the third century, men and women journeyed into the deserts of Syria and Egypt. Turning away from the world, they sought to find salvation in solitude. By doing so, they developed new forms of monasticism and spirituality. Now known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their wisdom remains as inspirational today as ever.
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Deep and Insightful Teaching
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True Self, False Self
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Franciscan priest Richard Rohr feels that there is no more challenging spiritual issue than the “problem of the self". Most of contemporary spiritual teaching, he believes, is still trying to inspire and fortify the private self, the autonomous "I". Even much church work is trying to evangelize and sacramentalize what many would call "the false self." Basic transformation is not expected, but merely a new set of beliefs and practices or loyal membership in a new group.
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True Self, False Self
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Thomas Merton on the Contemplative Way
- By: Thomas Merton
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Follow the contemplative path with Thomas Merton as your guide. In 1942, Thomas Merton relinquished a promising academic career to join the Abbey of Gethsemani. Instead of running away from the world, however, he actually developed his most profound wisdom about it.
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The Day Is Now Far Spent
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- Unabridged
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In this powerful audiobook by the acclaimed spiritual leader and best-selling writer, one he calls his "most important", he analyzes the profound spiritual, moral, and political crisis in the contemporary world. He says that he "considers that the decadence of our time has all the faces of mortal peril." His finding is simple: Our world is on the brink of the abyss.
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The Contemplative Journey: Volume 1
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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.
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Thoughts on the contemplative journey
- By Anonymous User on 17-07-17
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The Cloud of Unknowing: With the Book of Privy Counsel
- By: Carmen Acevedo Butcher (translator)
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- Unabridged
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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.
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Beaufitul
- By TGW on 27-09-16
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Interior Castle
- By: Teresa of Avila
- Narrated by: Susan Denaker
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle is one of the most celebrated books ever written by a mystic on abiding in union with Christ. Writing in obedience to the requests of two of her superiors, the humble 16th century Spanish sister protests "...for the love of God, let me get on with my spinning and go to choir...like the other sisters...I am not meant for writing; I have neither the health nor the wits for it."
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Breath taking work by our beloved Teresa of Avila.
- By Jaime on 20-11-19
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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
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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.
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excellent content but
- By jonathan carrasco on 15-01-20
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No Man Is an Island
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Jonathan Montaldo
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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> 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”.
Summary
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.
Now you have the opportunity to discover the vitality of Cassian's philosophy of prayer with Thomas Merton in these remastered recordings of his lectures. A teacher par excellence, Merton breathes new life into ancient texts as he passes tradition onto novices. Merton's lectures are not didactic presentations about Cassian's teachings but rather an application of them for the modern world.
Cassian integrated Eastern monasticism into Western thought, and his conferences provide the principles of monastic life: unceasing prayer, charity, and asceticism. Especially compelling are his teachings about prayer and virtue and his examination of the "prayer of fire" as the goal of contemplation.
Merton guides you through these topics and more in his captivating conferences. You will discover why the mysticism of John Cassian is cherished in the monastic tradition and the wider Christian community alike. These conferences will inspire you as you explore your own spiritual life.
Photograph of Thomas Merton by Sibylle Akers. Used with permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University.
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What listeners say about Ways of Prayer: A Desert Father's Wisdom
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- Clive Smart
- 29-07-19
As an ex monk I could really appreciate this!
Merton meanders confidently like a seasoned swimmer relaxing with back strokes! in a world class of religious contention and heated debate by unholy know it alls-this is charming listening and took me back to the good parts of being a young monk brimming with ideals. Merton covers a lot of ground on Cassian and some other church fathers. He has great humour and was clearly a great teacher! He is very interactive and interesting! I'm now a "protestant": I got the Gospel and got salvation by faith alone and by grace alone. But these lectures remind me of the depth of monastic and church tradition and it's dedication to the God filled pursuit of holiness. Of course as a reformed Christian it was obvious to me a distinct lack of serious biblical commentary free of monastic meanderings- but hey that's why I'm now evangelical: God's Word must reign supreme. Merton has some fine tips for ecumenism: that we learn from each other- but can't escape descending into superficial caricature when describing the Protestant notion of sola fide and salvific assurance by faith alone. Nevertheless it's made me protest less! And I went to my local monastery today to Vespers!! I'll be getting more Merton audio lectures. But I won't be getting cosy with pope Francis and his buddies anytime soon!! The final chapter is by a priest theologian who nicely introduces Cassian. This would actually be the best place to start for a fuller appreciation of Cassian and what Merton was trying to achieve in these spiritual conferences.
1 person found this helpful
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- Learning Curve
- 14-10-18
Merton’s Cassian
Great teachers inspire those the teach. Merton does just that as he imparts discoveries and experiences to his audience, as well as today’s enquirer or listener. Seekers of wisdom, grace and faith will be encouraged by these conferences. The lectures, punctuated by birdsong, the bells of the Office and abrupt class conclusions, reveal lives dedicated to the discipline of prayer within community. There is a sense of glimpsing the private lives and hearing private thoughts found within the monastery.
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- Joyce
- 05-02-18
Order of listening
In this series, the last chapter is actually the introduction. I recommend listening to it first. I feel almost like I personally met Merton in this series.
2 people found this helpful
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- border
- 02-10-19
Merton at his best
Great recording of Merton teaching... the combination of wisdom and humor as he involves novices in understanding prayer through the lens of Cassian.
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- Skyelil Griminor
- 29-11-18
A classic Merton must- listen
Merton at his finest. Discusses Cassian and the way of prayer via desert spirituality. A must-listen.
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- ATG
- 28-04-18
I am biased
I fell in love with this guy some time ago. He is a good conduit of Truth for me.