Prades France - Birthplace of Thomas Merton

A view of the house where Thomas Merton was born on January 31, 1915.  Prades France. Photo by Jim Forest.

Several years ago this sign was placed on the house where Merton was born.  Photo by Jim Forest

Sign on the street where the house is located.  Photo by Jim Forest

Another view of the house where Merton was born in Prades France.  Photo by Jim Forest.

I think of the young American woman, an artist herself, married to an artist from New Zealand and living in this house in southern France giving birth to her first child, a son.  This was 1915 - before cars, before airplanes, before radios etc.  How that young woman would never know what would become of this first-born son, yet all the love and expectation and wonder must have been there.

How quiet this place looks.  

HT: Jim Forest