The Cardinals at The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani

Denise and I are both attending the International Thomas Merton Society’s Scholars retreat and at breakfast this morning, I was enjoying the garden view as I quietly ate. The beauty of the Abbey gardens and the multitude of birds have been truly inspiring. Both Denise’s Mom and my Mom loved birds, especially cardinals. Since their deaths, whenever we see the cardinals, it is a gentle reminder of their love as we remember them in our hearts and our prayers.

Thomas Merton’s words from his journal entry on June 5, 1960 take on a fresh new meaning as we prepare to hike to his hermitage this morning.

The first chirps of the waking birds: le point vierge—the virgin point—of the dawn, a moment of awe and inexpressible innocence, when the Father in silence opens their eyes and they speak to Him, wondering if it is time to “be”? And He tells them, “Yes.” Then they one by one wake and begin to sing. First the catbirds and cardinals and some others I do not recognize. Later, song sparrows, wrens, etc. Last of all doves, crows.

Source: A Year With Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations From His Journals