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The Waters of Silence
Also published in America in 1949 as "The Waters of Siloe." A history of the Cistercian life and the Trappist Order from the 12th century to its formations in North America.
From the preface:
There is intoxication in the waters of contemplation, whose mystery fascinated and delighted the first Cistercians and whose image found its way into the names of so many of those valley monasteries that stood in forests, on the banks of clean streams, among rocks alive with springs.
These are the waters which the world does not know, because it prefers the water of bitterness and contradiction. These are the waters of peace, of which Christ said: "He that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever. But the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting."
These are the Waters of Siloe, that flow in silence.
From the preface:
There is intoxication in the waters of contemplation, whose mystery fascinated and delighted the first Cistercians and whose image found its way into the names of so many of those valley monasteries that stood in forests, on the banks of clean streams, among rocks alive with springs.
These are the waters which the world does not know, because it prefers the water of bitterness and contradiction. These are the waters of peace, of which Christ said: "He that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever. But the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting."
These are the Waters of Siloe, that flow in silence.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1949
94 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Merton
566 books1,912 followersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 1, 2013
I had an old friend, a back to the land pioneer, who had converted to Catholicism as a literate adult. He had been converted by reading the French philosopher Etienne Gilson. In an effort to make good conversation with my friend I read Merton's history of the Cistercian Order. Much to my dismay, this ended up driving a wedge between me and my friend, for when I mentioned Merton, his reply was to the effect that Merton had lost his way as a Cistercian because he clearly was unable to control his desire to talk and be heard. That was why he wrote so many books, rather than taking up a more basic vocation, like sheep shearing and doctoring, my friend's vocation.
Maybe so, but this history of the Cistercians from St. Benedict to the founding of the Cistercian monasteries in America is a very good read. Dedicated to Evelyn Waugh, this book was published the year after Merton's better known book, Seven Story Mountain. It is a history of the Cistercian Order, but also an attempt to answer the question of why a person would turn from life in pursuit of personal gain to a life of contemplation.
I remember seeing a plaque describing a mystical experience by Merton in downtown Louisville, now surrounded by the glass towers of Mammon. What irony. This book tells the story of what was going on in the mind of that man which led him away from the life of commerce.
Maybe so, but this history of the Cistercians from St. Benedict to the founding of the Cistercian monasteries in America is a very good read. Dedicated to Evelyn Waugh, this book was published the year after Merton's better known book, Seven Story Mountain. It is a history of the Cistercian Order, but also an attempt to answer the question of why a person would turn from life in pursuit of personal gain to a life of contemplation.
I remember seeing a plaque describing a mystical experience by Merton in downtown Louisville, now surrounded by the glass towers of Mammon. What irony. This book tells the story of what was going on in the mind of that man which led him away from the life of commerce.
March 4, 2021
Best read in small doses, after long weary days of labor. It's by Merton, who can't help but write sentences that SING.
At one level, this book can be read as the history of the Cistercian order.
But it can also be read as a collection of individual lives woven into one mystical holy cloth.
Beautiful passages abound, and this reader especially appreciated the passages that spoke of the simplicity of a life dedicated to common purpose, to truth and goodness and charity.
"We are what we love."
I found it calming and found myself more centered after reading pages from it, over the course of several weeks.
It goes against so much of what the world shouts: it speaks of the vow of stability, of sinking roots where you are and loving your woods.
It speaks of the necessity of labor that tires us in a pleasing way, of perfect love shown through obedience and humility, of freedom from exterior possessions and base selfish desire.
Above all, it reminds us of finding God in all things, in joy and pain. In silence and birdsong.
"The one love that always grows weary of its object and is never satiated with anything and is always looking for something different and new is the love of ourselves. It is the source of all boredom and all restlessness and all unquiet and all misery and all unhappiness; ultimately, it is hell."
Reading this nearly one year into the lockdown made me realize that solitude from the world is not necessarily a bad thing. Without invalidating the suffering of many, this book challenges its reader to do as Merton does: to find God even in the midst of great evil and strife.
At one level, this book can be read as the history of the Cistercian order.
But it can also be read as a collection of individual lives woven into one mystical holy cloth.
Beautiful passages abound, and this reader especially appreciated the passages that spoke of the simplicity of a life dedicated to common purpose, to truth and goodness and charity.
"We are what we love."
I found it calming and found myself more centered after reading pages from it, over the course of several weeks.
It goes against so much of what the world shouts: it speaks of the vow of stability, of sinking roots where you are and loving your woods.
It speaks of the necessity of labor that tires us in a pleasing way, of perfect love shown through obedience and humility, of freedom from exterior possessions and base selfish desire.
Above all, it reminds us of finding God in all things, in joy and pain. In silence and birdsong.
"The one love that always grows weary of its object and is never satiated with anything and is always looking for something different and new is the love of ourselves. It is the source of all boredom and all restlessness and all unquiet and all misery and all unhappiness; ultimately, it is hell."
Reading this nearly one year into the lockdown made me realize that solitude from the world is not necessarily a bad thing. Without invalidating the suffering of many, this book challenges its reader to do as Merton does: to find God even in the midst of great evil and strife.
August 16, 2022
This book, a history of the Cistercian order of monks, was Thomas Merton's assignment after finishing The Seven Storey Mountain, the best selling memoir describing his early life and the conversion that led him to Gethsemani in Kentucky. There are occasional flashes of the silken flowing prose and keen insights one associates with Merton, although not much of his humor. There are parts of the order's history that are genuinely interesting and even inspiring. But the culture and value system of the monastic life that he describes, filled with hardship and penances, and communal work and prayer, are so foreign to modern sensibilities that it is hard for even a sympathetic modern Catholic reader to find meaning in them. Fortunately, we have Merton's own diaries written around the same time as The Seven Storey Mountain and the Waters of Siloe, which give a much clearer and more intelligible picture of the demands, the dreariness, and the beauty of the monastic life. Consider skipping this book and reading The Sign of Jonas (1953) and Confessions of a Guilty Bystander (1966) for a better understanding of what Merton thought about being a monk.
January 8, 2017
'These are the Waters of Siloe, that flow in silence' (Isaiah 8.6, Merton's own translation).
Firstly, a warning. On no account should you read this as your first Merton book (you probably weren't planning to anyway, but in case you were....).
This history of the Trappists and Cistercian Order in general is one of the earliest works Merton wrote after entering the monastery, published only a year after 'The Seven Story Mountain'. Like his earlier autobiography, it is beautifully written. It is also quiet informative. Unfortunately it does not present Merton in his best light.
This book was written in 1949 and dedicated to Evelyn Waugh. That alone gives some indication of its content.
It is well known that Merton's early work was heavily censored by his superiors. It's hard to know how much of the blame lies with them. Many of Merton's gifts are on display, including his prodigious intellect and his great capacity for gorgeous prose and dry humour. Unfortunately, there are also long passages of fairly crude pietism and propaganda (although even here, Merton is subtler and more sophisticated than most Roman Catholic writers of the era). In particular, the passages on the persecution of Catholic monks by Communists in various countries may well be accurate, but they are almost entirely lacking in the moral perspicacity that Merton would later bring to his writings on the Cold War.
The whole tone is also unabashedly triumphalist. Try as he might, however, Merton can't make many of the figures he describes sound particularly likable, inspiring, or holy. One gets the feeling that he himself found aspects of their lives pretty unappealing.
As I have said, this is not Merton at his most appealing. However, even at his least appealing, Merton has more to commend him than many writers.
Firstly, a warning. On no account should you read this as your first Merton book (you probably weren't planning to anyway, but in case you were....).
This history of the Trappists and Cistercian Order in general is one of the earliest works Merton wrote after entering the monastery, published only a year after 'The Seven Story Mountain'. Like his earlier autobiography, it is beautifully written. It is also quiet informative. Unfortunately it does not present Merton in his best light.
This book was written in 1949 and dedicated to Evelyn Waugh. That alone gives some indication of its content.
It is well known that Merton's early work was heavily censored by his superiors. It's hard to know how much of the blame lies with them. Many of Merton's gifts are on display, including his prodigious intellect and his great capacity for gorgeous prose and dry humour. Unfortunately, there are also long passages of fairly crude pietism and propaganda (although even here, Merton is subtler and more sophisticated than most Roman Catholic writers of the era). In particular, the passages on the persecution of Catholic monks by Communists in various countries may well be accurate, but they are almost entirely lacking in the moral perspicacity that Merton would later bring to his writings on the Cold War.
The whole tone is also unabashedly triumphalist. Try as he might, however, Merton can't make many of the figures he describes sound particularly likable, inspiring, or holy. One gets the feeling that he himself found aspects of their lives pretty unappealing.
As I have said, this is not Merton at his most appealing. However, even at his least appealing, Merton has more to commend him than many writers.
August 19, 2024
Summary: A history of the Trappist monks, from Cistercian beginnings to the reforms at La Trappe, foundations in America, and the contemplative life.
Thomas Merton entered the Trappist monastery at Gethsemani in 1941. Eight year later he penned this history of the Cistercians and the Trappist reform movement within that order. The title is a reference to the words of Jesus: “He that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst forever. But the water I give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.” It conveys the hope of the contemplative life, that in silence, prayer, and penance, the contemplatives shall find the thirst for God satisfied. It also is a reminder of the location of so many of the monasteries in valleys, by streams of water.
Merton begins with a prologue describing the attraction, sometimes visionary, of the monastic life. It is an ascetic life of straw mattresses structured around prayer, penance, vigils, fasting, and work. It is life in a silent community, united in the contemplation of the excellence of God’s love.
Merton then turns to the history beginning with the founding of the Cistercian order at the turn of the twelfth century. The Cistercians sought to reform the Benedictine order. But by the seventeenth century, they were in need of reform. Father Jean-Armand de Rance, abbot of La Grande Trappe (hence the name!) led this reform, a return to a rigor of contemplative discipline. Merton traces the spread of the movement through Europe, the efforts to suppress them in France, and the turning to America.
The early efforts in America were driven by abbots who seemed knights on a quest. Consequently, zeal went ahead of strategic vision. A mission to educate conflicted with the silent, contemplative vision. The first foundation at Gethsemani was an example. The extreme rigors led to the early death of many.
However, a second foundation at Gethsemani led by Father Eutropius Proust was more successful and this work has continued down to the present. Merton traces this history under the different abbots and the growth of the work, resulting in new foundations. And he traces the upsurge of those entering the monasteries after the two wars. Even as these grew, there were others wiped out by the rise of communism. Particularly moving is his account of the martyrs of Yang Kia Ping.
The second and shorter part of the work paints a picture of the contemplative life. First he considers what this looked like under the twelfth century Cistercians and then more contemporary forms. There is a constant tension between external disciplines and allowing the inner space for contemplation. In this section, he sketches the lives of a number of contemplatives.
Merton’s account offers not only history but a word painting of the attractions of the contemplative life. The disciplines, the austerity, the silence all lead to a life available to God. As a result Merton not only informs but answers the question in the minds of many: why become a monk?
Thomas Merton entered the Trappist monastery at Gethsemani in 1941. Eight year later he penned this history of the Cistercians and the Trappist reform movement within that order. The title is a reference to the words of Jesus: “He that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst forever. But the water I give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.” It conveys the hope of the contemplative life, that in silence, prayer, and penance, the contemplatives shall find the thirst for God satisfied. It also is a reminder of the location of so many of the monasteries in valleys, by streams of water.
Merton begins with a prologue describing the attraction, sometimes visionary, of the monastic life. It is an ascetic life of straw mattresses structured around prayer, penance, vigils, fasting, and work. It is life in a silent community, united in the contemplation of the excellence of God’s love.
Merton then turns to the history beginning with the founding of the Cistercian order at the turn of the twelfth century. The Cistercians sought to reform the Benedictine order. But by the seventeenth century, they were in need of reform. Father Jean-Armand de Rance, abbot of La Grande Trappe (hence the name!) led this reform, a return to a rigor of contemplative discipline. Merton traces the spread of the movement through Europe, the efforts to suppress them in France, and the turning to America.
The early efforts in America were driven by abbots who seemed knights on a quest. Consequently, zeal went ahead of strategic vision. A mission to educate conflicted with the silent, contemplative vision. The first foundation at Gethsemani was an example. The extreme rigors led to the early death of many.
However, a second foundation at Gethsemani led by Father Eutropius Proust was more successful and this work has continued down to the present. Merton traces this history under the different abbots and the growth of the work, resulting in new foundations. And he traces the upsurge of those entering the monasteries after the two wars. Even as these grew, there were others wiped out by the rise of communism. Particularly moving is his account of the martyrs of Yang Kia Ping.
The second and shorter part of the work paints a picture of the contemplative life. First he considers what this looked like under the twelfth century Cistercians and then more contemporary forms. There is a constant tension between external disciplines and allowing the inner space for contemplation. In this section, he sketches the lives of a number of contemplatives.
Merton’s account offers not only history but a word painting of the attractions of the contemplative life. The disciplines, the austerity, the silence all lead to a life available to God. As a result Merton not only informs but answers the question in the minds of many: why become a monk?
February 8, 2019
A concise description of trappist monasticism until the 1950's, when this book was published. The prose is simple but elegant, much like the Cistercian architecture Merton obviously enjoyed. The second half of the book describes the life of a monk and his role as a cistercian.
August 24, 2018
Difficult to rate as I’m not going to finish right now. Not what I was looking for as a daily meditation book. It is the history of the Trappist monks. What I read was interesting, just not what I was looking for. May finish in the future.
October 12, 2020
Wonderful Book!
Thomas Merton gives a detailed history of the Cistercian order and the difficulties and triumphs that occurred over the years. He also delves deeply into the nature of the Cistercian life which is very interesting
Thomas Merton gives a detailed history of the Cistercian order and the difficulties and triumphs that occurred over the years. He also delves deeply into the nature of the Cistercian life which is very interesting
March 15, 2025
A very moving history of the Cistercians. The focus on monks with very little on the women of the Cistercian order was disappointing, but I have to remember that the book was written back in the 60s….
August 11, 2025
A closer look at the Trappist movement with an introduction to its founding and historical challenges. Then a comprehensive survey of the Trappist experience in America, guided by the words of Thomas Merton
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December 19, 2014I employ this site for what it is at its best: An digital catalog. And while I note to self I have read this book, I was unable to read it from cover to cover, with a sense of ardent, indispensable notion which other texts of Merton have evoked within me. Perhaps it took me too long to get to it. Perhaps, I thought, as the year perished along with certain sentiments within it, that the monastic life appealed most to me when I was living in a literal Hell, multiplied by seasons of intoxication. Less a Calling than the desperate, irreversible sense of needing to get away from the world. I live without the monks and the monks live without me. In the end Merton was pounding cocktails and beer with Davenport and Meatyard. I believe Merton's heart was in the right place at times. At other times a celestial prostitute. It is not so much the nature of his death which brings my fingertip to my temple, but how many lies had gone into his biography from the get-go, or, from the cradle to the grave. In the end, because we were flesh, I maintain the deepest love for Thomas Merton. There were two critical, apocalyptic hours in my life wherein I had nothing but psoriasis, homelessness, some borrowed dollars from a great friend, the true love, and fellow Poet in my life, which will grant me a lifelong homage to Merton - that I am still here. Now is not the time for Waters. Perhaps someday soon. Better yet, write my books before anything. Or just stop into a church I'll pass along the way. Well I got down on my knees; and I began to pray.
May 10, 2016
I plodded through this dense, yet informative, history of the Cistercian order more then I expected that I would.
Their is nothing wrong with Merton's writing here. He brings to life tales of monastic heroism, and martyrdom in a way that is engaging to interested readers. And he provides his trademark spiritual insights along the way. And yet...the fact that this was written before Vatican 2 (and as I recall the author died prior to the reforms being enacted) hurts it somewhat.
It's as though Mertons' history of his order is incomplete and can never be finished....
Worth the read for those interested in Catholic monasticism. But difficult to recommend to others.
Their is nothing wrong with Merton's writing here. He brings to life tales of monastic heroism, and martyrdom in a way that is engaging to interested readers. And he provides his trademark spiritual insights along the way. And yet...the fact that this was written before Vatican 2 (and as I recall the author died prior to the reforms being enacted) hurts it somewhat.
It's as though Mertons' history of his order is incomplete and can never be finished....
Worth the read for those interested in Catholic monasticism. But difficult to recommend to others.
May 9, 2010
Only Merton could make monk history interesting and uplifting! Very well done. I have a few favorite quotes that I'll add later when I have time.
December 3, 2023
Dated but I love monastic history.
May 9, 2020
Nice overview of Cistercian history especially in regard to the United States.
June 12, 2014
A fascinating account of the history, development and charism of the Cistercians.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews