The Official Story of Gethsemani

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	• The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox (150 Years in the Life of America's Oldest Trappist ... Dianne Aprile Trout Lily Press (KY), 1998 - 248 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

worth the read

History of the 150-year-old Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, just 40 miles south of Louisville. Made world-famous by its most famous monk, Thomas Merton, who died in Bangkok. Full of archival pictures. Beautiful, coffee table type book, but not too well-written. Confusing at times. Aprile tended to not always be cohesive; she rather jumped around a lot. Am so sorry they did away with the farm. Poignant remark by its current abbot, that the celibate life needs something to care for. It did propell me to spend a week there last summer, and what a wonderful place it is. I need not worry about its survival; you must call four months in advance to go there on retreat.

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Wonderful Book

A great book! Not at all a "book about Thomas Merton", as the person casually acquainted with Merton and Gethsemani might expect. Rather, this book tells the history of Gethsemani, of which Merton was just a part. This book works well as a coffeetable book, a bedtime read, or a material for quiet contemplation. All in all, a beautiful book, well made, well written, and fun to browse or read.

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The Heart of God

Like many of the people taking a retreat to the Abbey of Gethsemani, I went in search of finding the "Heart of Thomas Merton [Father Louis O.C.S.O.]" and I found so much more than I ever imagined. I spent part of the retreat reading this wonderful book and I found more. This is a book about the Heart of Gethsemani, the Heart of Peace and the Heart of God. An excellent read which will be read again and again and again ......

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The Official Story of Gethsemani

About a month ago, I visited The Abbey of Gethsemani for what I officially said was a retreat, but like so many people who have visited the abbey, I loved THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN and wanted to see where Thomas Merton lived and wrote. The tourist in me wanted to see Merton's hermitage, which I did not see. It was in use at the time-the nerve of those monks for actually using it for the intended purpose. Well, I didn't have to see the hermitage to experience the special qualities that make Gethsemani a place like no other. History, tradition, beauty, simplicity and complexity all combine to create the spiritual life at Gethsemani where God's presence is found.

Dianne Aprile's book is a coffee table sized book that tells the story of Gethsemani, the good as well as the not so good. We see a monastery that survived against the odds, hit its peak during the years of Thomas Merton, and still has a mission and purpose today. The book is somewhat sanitized in comparison with other works available, but unlike many of the other works which tell of visits to Gethsemani, the author was writing an official history of the Abbey for its one hundred and fiftieth had unprecedented access to photographs and documents which makes this book indispensable for anyone interested in Trappist life in general and especially to people interested in the Abbey itself. The book begins with a general introduction to the Trappist life and then tells the history of Gethsemani during each abbot's governance of the abbey. We see how the life in the abbey in many ways reflects life in the United Stets and the fabric of Catholicism in America.

I read most of the book while I was at Gethsemani so I could ask questions and discover the behind the scenes story. I finished it when I got back home and since that time I've reread passages as a means of revisiting the monastery, if not in person, at least vicariously. I'm sure I'll treasure this book in years to come and encourage anyone with even a remote interest in Trappist life to consider this book.

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What a treat!

This coffeetable book about the history of the Abbey of Gethsemani, the nation's largest and oldest Trappist monastery, is a marvelous resource for anyone interested in the monastery's history. Aprile puts a human face on that history, looking at the human people who built and loved the Abbey from its inception. We hear tales of tremendous courage and faith, but also read about some of the all-too-human flaws of Gethsemani's leaders, including a turn-of-the-century sex scandal involving the Abbey school (now defunct).

The photographs and illustrations are wonderful, stretching back to the monastery's earliest days in the 1840s. These photos give readers access to areas of the Abbey that are off-limits to visitors and retreatants.

I very much liked the way Aprile weaves her own experiences with the Abbey into the book. It's obvious that she is not only a researcher but also a pilgrim who loves the place and its people. She writes with a journalist's eye for detail and a historian's careful depiction of change over time. (In the case of this monastery, the changes over the last 150 years are astonishing.)

Another thing I liked about the book is that while Thomas Merton is certainly discussed, it's not the all-Merton-all-the-time approach that some other authors have taken to Gethsemani. She puts Merton in historical context as part of the postwar Catholic boom, discusses his writings and his complex relationship with his abbot, and leaves it at that. Merton would have liked this: to be one among the many monks who is billed as making a contribution to Gethsemani, but who is not singled out as a lone star.

A terrific book for those who love this place.

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reviews: page 1, 2

150th Anniversary history of the oldest Trappist Monastery in America.

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