In August of 2009 I had the good fortune to travel to the Abruzzo region of central Italy to celebrate my second cousin’s First Communion. My family has deep roots in this area. My father was born there, and my mother’s family originates from a neighboring mountaintop community. The ceremony was conducted at the remarkable former abbey church of San Giovanni in Venere (Saint John in Venus, founded upon an ancient Roman temple to Venus, as was often the case for Benedictine fo

Oh, what a thing it is, to live in a place that is so constructed that you are forced, in spite of yourself, to be at least a virtual contemplative! (SSM, 42) In the Spring of 2026, my wife and I travelled to the Pyrénées-Orientales and Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie) regions of southwest France to explore the beauty and cultural richness of these locations but more specifically to trace the footsteps of Thomas Merton’s France. Merton was born in Prades, now a small bustling c

To “Be a Mountain Diviner!”: Thomas Merton’s Ecological Consciousness Presented at the 19th General Meeting of the International Thomas...

A Sermon Delivered at Christ Episcopal Church, Eureka, California Pentecost Sunday May 19, 2024 David M. Odorisio, PhD Someday, after...

Swagatam: A Celebration of India Speed Museum, Louisville, KY November 18, 2021 Om asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, mṛtyor...

This past summer, religious studies scholar Jeffrey Kripal offered the annual symposium in the Mythological Studies program at Pacifica...