Brother QUENON: He loved being in the midst of nature, you know. The birds were his friends.
VALENTE: What do you think he did out here?
Brother QUENON: Well, read a lot and wrote. For him, praying was just to abide in the presence””the presence of the Lord.
(touring cottage): There’s the kitchen and then a bedroom. And then, a chapel was added later on.
VALENTE: Merton wrote this in his journal:
Mr. ATKINSON (reading from Merton’s journal): For myself I have only one desire and that is the desire for solitude: to disappear into God; to be submerged in His peace; to be lost in the secret of His space. I have gone to the hermitage not because I hate the world. I go to the hermitage to deepen my consciousness, to be more in communion with the world.