Bread in the Wilderness

by Merton, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780811213486
• ISBN10: 081121348X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-04-17
• Publisher: New Directions

Summary

The Psalms, which Thomas Merton called "one of the most valid forms of prayer for men of all time," are the most significant and influential collection of religious poems ever written, summing up the theology of the Old Testament and serving as daily nourishment for the devout. Bread in the Wilderness sets forth Merton's belief that "the Psalms acquire, for those who know how to enter into them, a surprising depth, a marvelous and inexhaustible actuality. They are bread, miraculously provided by Christ, to feed those who have followed Him into the wilderness." Merton's goal in this moving book is to help the reader enter into the Psalms: "The secret is placed in the hands of each Christian. It only needs to be discovered and fulfilled in our own lives." The new ND Classic edition of Bread in the Wilderness faithfully reproduces the beautiful, large-format original 1953 New Directions books, created by the celebrated designer Alvin Lustig and lavishly illustrated throughout with photographs of a remarkable medieval crucifix at Perpignan, France.

Table of Contents

LE DEVOT CHRIST	1	(1)
PROLOGUE	2	(7)
I PSALMS AND CONTEMPLATION	9	(42)
1. Contemplation in the Liturgy	10	(6)
2. The Testimony of Tradition	16	(10)
3. Meanings in scripture	26	(14)
4. Songs of the City of God	40	(6)
5. Errors to Avoid	46	(5)
II POETRY, SYMBOLISM AND TYPOLOGY	51	(16)
1. Poetry, Symbolism and Typology	52	(15)
III SACRAMENTA SCRIPTURARUM	67	(30)
1. Words as Signs and "Sacraments"	68	(4)
2. Transformation in Discovery	72	(6)
3. "Visible Mysteries"	78	(8)
4. "When Israel came out of Egypt"	86	(11)
IV THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY	97	(18)
1. "Thou hast opened my ears"	98	(8)
2. From Praise to Ecstasy	106	(9)
V THE SHADOW OF THY WINGS	115	(17)
1. Dark Lighting	116	(10)
2. The Silence of the Psalms	126	(6)
EPILOGUE	132	(8)
NOTES	140