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Quiz about Thomas Merton
Quiz about Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton Trivia Quiz


The life and works of the twentieth century monk, author, and religious figure Thomas Merton.

A multiple-choice quiz by jbuck919. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
jbuck919
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
170,254
Updated
Feb 16 22
# Qns
20
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
13 / 20
Plays
702
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Question 1 of 20
1. Merton spent his infancy with expatriate parents in what country? Hint


Question 2 of 20
2. If you've ever heard a tape of Merton, his Americanese is pretty standard, which is odd considering that during his formative years he was educated where? Hint


Question 3 of 20
3. In spite of an early false start, Merton had a pretty successful academic career at what famous university? Hint


Question 4 of 20
4. In the course of his self-admittedly misspent youth, Merton was involved in a particular scandal that was hushed up for a long time. What was it? Hint


Question 5 of 20
5. In his early twenties Merton converted to Catholicism, and, in spite of an imperfect conversion of manners, aspired at first to join which religious order? Hint


Question 6 of 20
6. Behaving better all the time, Merton took up a teaching position at which Catholic college? Hint


Question 7 of 20
7. Taking a deep breath so to speak, Merton took another stab at the religious life by applying to what monastic order? Hint


Question 8 of 20
8. When he was accepted into the monastery, like all monks he held what status for the first few months? Hint


Question 9 of 20
9. Merton had already submitted a book for publication prior to entering the monastery. What was its title? Hint


Question 10 of 20
10. Which is the best characterization of Merton's early years in the monastery? Hint


Question 11 of 20
11. The abbot who admitted Merton to the monastery died shortly thereafter. Most of Merton's monastic life saw him in a difficult relationship with the next abbot, whose name was ______. Hint


Question 12 of 20
12. Of the classic Trappist monastic vows, Merton had the most difficulty with which? Hint


Question 13 of 20
13. The monastery where Merton lived was located in Kentucky and had the somewhat fitting name of "Our Lady of ________". Hint


Question 14 of 20
14. Merton wrote a very great deal at the monastery. One of his purely religious works, a fine piece of mystical theology, is called Seeds of ___________. Hint


Question 15 of 20
15. In his search for a deeper interior life, Merton was finally able to convince the abbot, against all recent custom in the order, to allow him to live as a(n) _______________. Hint


Question 16 of 20
16. As he matured in the monastic life, Merton became involved in the world around him. Which of the following social or church movements of the sixties did not interest him? Hint


Question 17 of 20
17. The monastery made many changes during Merton's years there. Which of the following was not one of them? Hint


Question 18 of 20
18. Merton was in fact excused from many monastic disciplines. He had what is called a "relief in refectory" (a dispensation from dietary requirements) because he could not digest products made from what?

Answer: (One Word)
Question 19 of 20
19. Never one to let the story of his life run dull, Merton in his later years risked another scandal by doing what? Hint


Question 20 of 20
20. Merton did leave the monastery a number of times in later years, a mixed blessing when one considers that he met his death in 1968 while attending a monastic conference in Southeast Asia. Of what did he apparently die? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Merton spent his infancy with expatriate parents in what country?

Answer: France

Merton was something of a linguist. His fluent French served him well in later years when the monastery needed someone to translate for visiting French abbots.
2. If you've ever heard a tape of Merton, his Americanese is pretty standard, which is odd considering that during his formative years he was educated where?

Answer: England

Merton was a wild student with no focus on a future. His parents had died when he was very young and he gave his British guardian little but trouble.
3. In spite of an early false start, Merton had a pretty successful academic career at what famous university?

Answer: Columbia

Among other things, he edited the yearbook. Merton made many important connections at Columbia, including the future famous publisher Mark van Doren. He kept many friendships from this period in repair even while in the monastery.
4. In the course of his self-admittedly misspent youth, Merton was involved in a particular scandal that was hushed up for a long time. What was it?

Answer: He fathered a son out of wedlock.

Merton formally renounced the possibility of becoming abbot, saying that the abbey couldn't very well face the possibility of someone showing up some day and announcing that he was the abbot's son.
5. In his early twenties Merton converted to Catholicism, and, in spite of an imperfect conversion of manners, aspired at first to join which religious order?

Answer: Franciscans

The Franciscans rejected him after he came clean with them about his past. He was so traumatized by the rejection that for a long time he assumed that he had no future in the religious life.
6. Behaving better all the time, Merton took up a teaching position at which Catholic college?

Answer: St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure is a Franciscan-run college in western New York. He taught English, of course. It was from there that he made a retreat to the monastery that was later to become his home.
7. Taking a deep breath so to speak, Merton took another stab at the religious life by applying to what monastic order?

Answer: Trappists

The Trappists were the reformed or stricter branch of the very old Cistercian order. They lived an austere life of silence and communal prayer within a strict enclosure. The Carthusians and Camaldolese are even stricter, with a strong eremetical (hermit-oriented) tradition. Merton at one time thought of transferring to one of those orders.
8. When he was accepted into the monastery, like all monks he held what status for the first few months?

Answer: postulant

The novitiate, which lasted for a much longer period of time, was the next step. There followed a temporary and then full profession, in which the monk committed himself to the monastery for life. Merton was given the name Brother (later Father) M. (for Mary) Louis. He liked being called after the patron saint of France.
9. Merton had already submitted a book for publication prior to entering the monastery. What was its title?

Answer: My Argument with the Gestapo

His editor moaned when she heard the news of his going into the monastery, "We'll never hear from him again.". The book is a novel, and was published after Merton's death. "The Seven Storey Mountain" is, of course, Merton's expurgated biography, which he wrote after entering the monastery.
10. Which is the best characterization of Merton's early years in the monastery?

Answer: He was an earnest monk anxious to observe the rules.

Merton really did "disappear" for a while. He took the monk business very seriously and assumed that he had forever given up any aspirations to be a writer.
11. The abbot who admitted Merton to the monastery died shortly thereafter. Most of Merton's monastic life saw him in a difficult relationship with the next abbot, whose name was ______.

Answer: James Fox

Dom James was old-school and followed the strict letter of the rule. He was the immovable object to Merton's irresistible force.
12. Of the classic Trappist monastic vows, Merton had the most difficulty with which?

Answer: stability

The vow of stability bound a monk to the same monastery for life except under the most extraordinary circumstances. Merton was constantly looking for other places to move to, where he might pursue what he saw as a more authentic monastic life that included a greater degree of solitude.
13. The monastery where Merton lived was located in Kentucky and had the somewhat fitting name of "Our Lady of ________".

Answer: Gethsemani

Gethsemani, of course, was the garden where Christ suffered prior to his arrest and crucifixion. Suffering is probably not too strong a word to describe Merton's state much of the time.
14. Merton wrote a very great deal at the monastery. One of his purely religious works, a fine piece of mystical theology, is called Seeds of ___________.

Answer: Contemplation

He had a cramped corner, an old typewriter, and very limited time in which to do a truly prodigious amount of writing. In addition to works attributed to him, he was expected to produce on order anonymous tracts for the practical use of the order.
15. In his search for a deeper interior life, Merton was finally able to convince the abbot, against all recent custom in the order, to allow him to live as a(n) _______________.

Answer: hermit

He lived in a shack away from the common life. Later on, the recalcitrant abbot Dom James Fox also became a hermit.
16. As he matured in the monastic life, Merton became involved in the world around him. Which of the following social or church movements of the sixties did not interest him?

Answer: The rise of the drug culture

Merton was (blessedly?) isolated from some aspects of popular culture, and once had to ask a correspondent to explain the Beatles to him.
17. The monastery made many changes during Merton's years there. Which of the following was not one of them?

Answer: The veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary was greatly de-emphasized.

If you think Marian veneration has been de-emphasized, just visit a Trappist monastery, where the day still ends with the ancient Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen).
18. Merton was in fact excused from many monastic disciplines. He had what is called a "relief in refectory" (a dispensation from dietary requirements) because he could not digest products made from what?

Answer: milk

Even when he was in the community, Merton was granted a room of his own because he couldn't sleep in the common dormitories of the time. Trappists are vegetarians, but Merton was allowed a modicum of meat for health reasons.
19. Never one to let the story of his life run dull, Merton in his later years risked another scandal by doing what?

Answer: He had trysts with a young woman from the locality.

The young lady was his nurse when he had one of his many hospital stays. There is no evidence that the affair was consummated. His brother monks were indulgent.
20. Merton did leave the monastery a number of times in later years, a mixed blessing when one considers that he met his death in 1968 while attending a monastic conference in Southeast Asia. Of what did he apparently die?

Answer: electrocution

He touched an improperly grounded fan in his bare feet. His "girlfriend" had to find out about it from the paper.
Source: Author jbuck919

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Jim_in_Oz before going online.
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