“In the solitude of the monastic life, the monk begins obscurely to sense that great depths are opened up within him, and that the charism of his monastic vocation demands an obedience that is carried out in an abyss too deep for him to understand. It is an obedience that permeates the very roots of his being.”

Merton, Thomas. “The Monastic Renewal: Problems and Prospects.” (1966) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013), p. 399.