By Dorothy K. LaMantia | Correspondent
This month, Gregory and Elizabeth Ryan, parishioners of St. Rose Parish, Belmar, witnessed a dream come true.
After 35 years, their book for children ages five to nine, titled “The ABCs of Thomas Merton, A Monk at the Heart of the World,” was published by Paraclete Press of Brewster, Massachusetts.
Their parish designated June 3-4 as Book Launch weekend for the 35-page hardcover book written to introduce children to the Trappist monk, Catholic writer and master of contemplative prayer whom Pope Francis hailed as one of four models of American citizenship and praised for his promotion of interfaith dialogue and peacemaking.
For Gregory Ryan, this achievement has been a labor of devotion to Thomas Merton and his work. Since 1971, Ryan – a husband, father of two daughters and elementary school teacher – has accumulated, read and re-read all of Merton’s books, including journals, poetry collections, and studies of monastic spirituality, prayer and theology.
In the 1980s, Ryan studied contemplative prayer and became an oblate of the Benedictine order. For the past 10 years, he has coordinated a Thomas Merton Book Club in St. Rose Parish. The couple even gave both their daughters, Caitlin and Abbey, Merton as their middle name.
Ryan said he felt compelled to introduce such a deep, complex writer to children.
“I devoted my life to young children as a teacher and a father, and I wanted to share prayer, monastic life and silence with young people,” he said. “Men and women of prayer and service are good models for children and show them a simple life. Our media show a life full of consumption, but children need to see a life rooted in faith in Christ.”
Ryan made the seemingly impossible task as simple as ABC.
“I was waiting in the car while Caitlin took a piano lesson,” he said, recalling his brainstorming moment. “I was thinking of Thomas Merton’s books, and how all the letters of the alphabet appeared in his topics or book titles. So I started sketching in my notebook.”
Beginning with “A is for Abbot,” each letter of the alphabet introduces a word in the book and explains basic facts about monastic life, Merton, his mission of peace and social justice, and his favorite people – the Blessed Mother among them.
Each letter is enhanced by watercolor illustrations created by his wife. Elizabeth Ryan is an accomplished artist with a degree from Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia.
Elizabeth Ryan’s illustrations were inspired by the stained-glass windows at the monastery in Gethsemani, Ky., where Thomas Merton lived as a monk, a place she and her husband visited in 1971, the year after they married. Prophetically, they took photos of the windows, which guided Elizabeth Ryan’s creative process decades later.
“The geometric shapes of the windows of the church at the abbey are beautiful, simple. Subtle shafts of light come through them,” she said. “I wanted to maintain the simplicity of the design.”
The designs appearing at the top of each drawing are modeled after the stained-glass windows of St. Rose Church.
“Although the book is aimed at children, the color and simplicity of the book resonates with any age and is easy to go through. There is something for librarians, teachers and catechists to give to their charges and for many adults who told me, ‘I never heard of him before,’” Gregory Ryan said.
The Ryans and Paraclete Press plan to develop online activity pages for classroom use of the book.
Since June 10, the book has been available for $14 through Amazon.com.