Fr. Louis

My brother just got back from the Abbey of Gethsemani (yes, they spell it with an 'i') in Trappist, Kentucky. As evidenced by the name of the town, the abbey is home to Trappist monks. From what I gather, the grounds are gorgeous, the monks are vegetarian, and the spirituality is intense (that's a good thing). In typical Daniel fashion, he brought back gifts, which included the four-volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours for his one and only brother. What can I say? I'm spoiled...

The Abbey of Gethsemani was home to Thomas Merton, otherwise known as Fr. Louis. I don't know much about the man personally, but I am a big fan of a prayer by him that my brother showed me a couple of years ago. Coincidentally, Msgr. Ketcham read the prayer in his homily during K-Mass on Saturday. I figured I might as well just chalk it up as providential and share the prayer:

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude