Dialogues with Silence: Prayers and Drawings

Thomas Merton’s most intimate work—a stunning devotional beaming with prayers, poems, and never-before-seen drawings

The perfect companion for daily prayer and reflection, this spiritual guide and gift combines Merton’s artistic and contemplative sides, showing readers a different side of this beloved writer and theologian.

Grippingly filled with warmth and comfort, Dialogues with Silence is a rich a selection of prayers from throughout Merton’s life—from his journals, letters, poetry, books—accompanied by all 100 of Merton’s rarely seen, delightful Zen-like pen-and-ink drawings. This elegant collection is designed to savored slowly, leaving readers with a profound sense of hope and enlightenment.

Vulnerable, inspiring, and unlike any other devotional published, this assortment of spiritual astonishment is the perfect companion to daily prayer, meditation, and reflection in all its glorious forms.

Thomas Merton loved life with the passion of a romantic poet. At the age of twenty-six he chose to become a Trappist monk and began to pursue his ultimate, lifelong passion. From his austere quarters at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, Kentucky, Merton worked to change the world and to come closer to his God. The drawings and prayers in this volume are the intimate, beautifully rendered record of that pursuit -- Merton's dialogue with God. The prayers have been gathered from all of Merton's writings -- his books, journals, letters -- and are collected here, along with his largely unknown drawings, for the first time.

In his drawings we see the evolution of Merton's art from purely representational to the more abstract, reflecting his interest in Zen andEastern cultures. It is easy to see that art was in his genes; both of his parents were artists. With each prayer and in every brushstroke, we sensethe depth of Merton's passion as we pause and incline our ear to his voice offering these heartfelt songs to God and to the world. Dialogues with Silenceinvites the reader to enter into that sacred realm of contemplation where we listen in silence and await the divine presence in our lives, where emptiness becomes the juncture for the interchange between the outer and inner worlds, where darkness is transformed into light -- the place where the voice of God is revealed.

“Helps the reader enter Merton’s spiritual vision and participate personally in the monk’s encounters with Silence.” - America Magazine

“Casts new and thought provoking light on [Merton’s] finely written prayers...highly recommended.” - Library Journal

“Merton’s art provides a glimpse of his journey never before seen.” - Publishers Weekly (shaded review)

“...a glimpse of [Merton’s] journey never before seen. Merton fans will certainly welcome this new addition.” - Publishers Weekly (shaded review)

“Whether you’re a long-time Merton fan or need an introduction, Dialogues with Silence is a great unveiling.” - BookPage

“[These drawings and prayers] reflect a devotional life stripped of pretense, open to God’s surprises.” - Christian Century

"[Thomas Merton] is perhaps the proper patron saint of our information-saturated age, of we who live and move and have our being in social media, and then, desperate for peace and rest, withdraw into privacy and silence, only to return. As we always will." - The New Yorker