The Seven Storey Mountain

In Harlem, Merton becomes friends with a Russian baroness named Catherine de Hueck who runs a place called the Friendship House, which provides services to the local community. He then returns to St. Bonaventure’s, but he feels he must leave, a move which Father Thomas endorses with resignation when Merton says he might not be cut out for the priesthood. He hitchhikes to New York, but on his way, they have an accident that delays them. He returns to St. Bonaventure’s and sees his draft number has been pulled now that America is in the war. He explains this to Father Thomas who helps him prepare to go to the monastery. Before leaving, he rids himself of all his earthly possessions and even burns his novel manuscripts. When he arrives at the monastery in Kentucky, he is greeted by a Brother who informs him he has been praying for Merton.

At the monastery, Merton is told some tall tales to prepare him for the cold inside the monastery once he joins, and he believes this, going as far as to open the window in the icy cold and sit without a jacket to accustom himself. Carrying the burden from his past, and a recent convert, he is afraid he won’t be able to join the Trappists.