PAX INTRANTIBUS: A Meditation on the Poetry of Thomas Merton - by Frederick Smock
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Clothbound, 96 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9721144-6-2
PAX INTRANTIBUS - “Peace to Those Who Enter.”
These words are inscribed above the entrance to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. For the Trappist monks who pass beneath this legend, and who pray there for the peace of the world, this is no simple benediction, but rather a call to labor at the most important task of all. And for the most famous of those monks, Thomas Merton, this call to work for peace infused the entirety of his life, and commanded him to carry on that work in the wider world beyond his monastic hermitage.
In this meditation on the poetry of Thomas Merton, fellow poet Frederick Smock considers how Merton’s poetry – perhaps the least-known of his writings – was nevertheless an integral component of his peace work. But as the term meditation suggests, Smock’s examination of the poetry serves as a point of entry into a far broader inquiry, not only into Merton’s life and work, but into the necessary engagement of other poets in the work for peace, and into Smock’s own development as an
artist and a man confronting the world.
Praise for Pax Intrantibus
"In beautiful poetic prose Frederick Smock explores, as only a fellow poet can, the major themes of Thomas Merton's thought - spirituality, peace, inter-faith dialog - as Merton expressed them throughout the course of his life in his poetry. If poetry is the barometer of the soul, Pax Intrantibus gets to the very heart of Merton."
- Paul M. Pearson, Director, Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University
"Frederick Smock's 'Peace to all who enter here' is not so much another meditation on Merton as it is Merton's meditations on the timeless values of silence, solitude, and meditation itself as a means of finding spiritual balance and peace in a world given over to sectarian division and strife. It is a wise prescription to treat the birth pangs of globalization, including intolerance and the practice of violent nation-building. It should be read by all who wish to better understand the doctrinal walls that only seem to separate us - including poets, students of the spirit, citizens of conscience, and members of Congress."
- Richard Taylor, former Kentucky Poet Laureate
"In this short but beautifully produced little volume Frederick Smock...presents one of the few books about Merton's poetry specifically written by a fellow poet...and from his own background in poetry he captures insights into Merton overlooked in many other works and then conveys those insights in delightful prose with a lilt of poetry.... Pax Intrantibus is a gentle introduction to Merton's poetry, not an academic tome. Smock opens up the major themes of Merton's poetry from his earliest poems right up to the poems written in the final year of his life. Though gentle Smock does not avoid tackling the numerous issues Merton raises through his poetry, in particular, as the title of this book suggests, Merton's poetry dealing with war and peace, the nuclear arms race, racism, the media and technology.... In the spirit of Thomas Merton Smock takes Merton's thought and applies it to our present day, thought that is as pertinent now as it was at the time Merton wrote it.... This small book would be a valuable addition to any Merton library."
- Paul M. Pearson, The Merton Journal, Advent 2007, Volume 14 Number 2
"Smock...doesn't attempt to define the paradoxical Merton or his poetry.... But what Smock does capture in this stirring meditation is the same deep mystery and ecumenical spirit inherent in Merton's poetry."
- Aimee Zaring, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 17, 2007
"Pax Intrantibus...is an apt title for the author's book of meditations on Merton's poetry. In a much larger sense, those who enter into Merton's verse get a picture of a spirit of peace that is universal."
- Steve Flairty, Kentucky Monthly, August 2007