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Herbert Mason is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the history and religion departments of Boston University in Massachusetts. He first became interested in his field through contact with Louis Massignon. Mason later introduced Merton to Massignon. Mason has written and translated many middle eastern texts from a narrative on the Gilgamesh epic to a translation of Massignon's most famous work, «The Passion of al-Hallaj». (Sources: «Witness to Freedom», p. 259; and "Herbert Mason" Boston University (website). Accessed 5 Dec. 2005. ‹http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/profiles/mason.html›.)

Christiana Maslin writes from Saint-Chaffrey, Hautes-Alpes, France.

Sr. Mary St. Thomas was the Anglican contemplative community of the Society of the Precious Blood at Burnham Abbey in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.

Sr. Mary Ruth of the Holy Infant writes from the Maryknoll Cloister in Maryknoll, New York.

Mother Mary Philomena was Abbess of the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Chicago, Illinois.

Sr. Mary of the Heart of Jesus was Sub-prioress of the Carmel at Waterbeach, near Cambridge, England.

Sr. Mary Margaret is a Redemptorist nun of the Monastery of St. Alphonsus in Liguori, Missouri.

Mother Mary Margaret was the Anglican abbess of Holy Cross Convent in Sussex, England. She discusses ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans and broader topics of ecumenism.

Sr. Mary Immaculate was one of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Saint Mary Convent in Monroe, Michigan.

Sr. Mary Immaculate was from the Congregation of the Holy Cross at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Sr. Mary Gabriel was a Sister of Mercy from Jamestown, New York.

Sr. Mary Evangeline was Executive Secretary of the Sister Formation Conference. She writes from Washington, D.C.

Sr. Mary Charlotte was President of Catherine Spalding College in Louisville (now known as Spalding University) and was a Sister of Charity of Nazareth.

Sr. Mary Catherine of the Heart of Christ was a nun of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Mother Agnes Mary was from the Monastery of Poor Clares of Newport News, Virginia.

As described by William H. Shannon, Marty was a "[w]ell-known author in the field of religious literature and longtime associate editor of «Christian Century»" (source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 454-455).

Fr. Angel Martinez was a Jesuit priest and poet from Nicaragua. He has published a number of books of poetry. Merton heard of Martinez through José Coronel Urtecho. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», pp. 206.)

Mary Declan Martin was a student in the education department of Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky. She asks Merton about his educational philosophy.

Frederick R. Martin was Managing Editor of the publishing house New Directions. He writes from New York.

Fr. Martin Oliver was a Dominican priest from France writing about Fr. Etienne Vayssière and the worker-priest movement.

Reginald Marsh was a artist and friend of Owen Merton, Thomas' father and another artist. Unlike Owen, who tended toward watercolor landscapes, Marsh is often considered of the Social Realist school, reporting in detail urban life in the 1930's through his paintings and drawings. Merton writes to Marsh in April of 1932 while on Easter holiday from Oakham in Germany and writes again from Oakham. He would spend most of the summer of 1933 at Marsh's studio in Greenwich Village in New York. (Source: The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton by Michael Mott, pp. 61 and 73.)

Michael Marsch was a German Christian who went to Israel to study Hebrew.

Peter Marron writes on behalf of «Cithara», "essays in the Judeo-Christian tradition".

Dom Marie-Joseph Marquis was Abbot of Notre Dame de Grâce in Bricquebec, France, from 1940-1981.

Sr. Patricia Marks writes to ask Merton's contribution to her congregation's newsletter, «The Light».

Merton writes to Lillian Marks in response to her criticism of his article "Blessed are the Meek" from the edition of «Fellowship» (published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation) from May of 1967. Merton took an ironic tone in the article. Marks thought that Merton crossed the line and hampered ecumenical dialogue in employing the term "international Jewry", even if the tone was that of irony. Merton apologizes and pledges to be more careful in the future.

Sr. Mary John Markey was a School Sister of Notre Dame from Omaha, Nebraska, at the time of writing to Merton.

Jacques Maritain was a philosopher and Catholic humanist writer who was quite influential in 20th century "new scholasticism", taking the writings of Thomas Aquinas and applying them to modern societal issues in philosophy and science. Born in Paris, he attended the Sorbonne and married Raïssa Oumancoff (1883-1960), who was a Jewish emigrée from Russia. Raïssa Maritain later achieved notoriety as a mystical poet and philosopher. Influenced by Léon Bloy, they were both baptized Catholic in 1906. A few years later, after having studied biology and mathematics at the University of Heidelberg, Jacques Maritain returned to France and discovered Aquinas' «Summa Theologica», which helped launch the direction of his writing. He would go on to write a number of influential books
Merton was first met Maritain at a lecture Maritain delivered at Catholic Book Club, where Dan Walsh introduced them. During Maritain's time as a professor at Princeton from 1948-1960, Merton and Maritain first wrote to each other. In 1949, Merton was struggling with thoughts of leaving the Trappists and joining the Carthusians. In Merton's later life, after he had achieved his desire for more solitude at a hermitage at Gethsemani, Maritain visited him at the hermitage in 1966. Since 1961, after Raïssa's death the previous year, Jacques Maritain had been living with the Little Brothers of Jesus in Toulouse. He took vows with them in 1971 and died there in 1973. (Sources: «The Courage for Truth», pp. 22-23; and "Maritain, Jacques." World Authors." 1996. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 30 Nov. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Fr. Francis Marino was a Marianist priest from Immaculate Conception Church in Westerly, Rhode Island. He suggests that Merton write to Sr. Immaculate Heart of White Plains, New York, considering their plans for a new contemplative order with a goal of liturgical renewal, called the "Handmaids of the Blessed Trinity".

Fr. Richard Marimon writes from New York, but undersigns that he is a Spanish priest from the Diocese of Ponce.

Sr. Marie-Pascal was a Daughter of Mary serving at the Ecole Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours in Port au Prince, Haiti.

Sr. Marie-Bernarde was a Dominican sister of the Sacred Heart Dominican College in Houston, Texas.

Br. Marie-Bernard was a Trappist monk, possibly of Gethsemani Abbey.

Sr. Marie-Aurelie is writing from the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Hamilton, Ontario. According to Sr. Marie-Aurelie's first letter, the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood were the first contemplative order in Canada, founded in 1861 in St. Hyacinth, Quebec.

Sr. Marie Pius writes from the Monastery of Saint Clare in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the first African-American admitted to the Poor Clares in the United States. She was suffering from a terminal illness at the time of writing to Merton.

Sr. Marie of the Eucharist was a Carmelite nun.

Abbess Marie of the Assumption Marie of the Assumption was of the Portiuncula Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Poor Clares-Colettines, in Mwanza, Tanzania. She writes to the Mother Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Clare in Lowell, Massachusetts (who likely forwarded her letter to Merton).

Merton writes to Adrienne Mariani of Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

Sr. Maria de los Angeles was a nun of the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey in San Francisco, California.

Sr. Maria da Concricão da Virginem Dolorosa writes from the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sr. Margaret Mary was a Benedictine nun of St. John's McNamara School of Nursing in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Gladys Marcus was the sister of Merton's close friend Bob Lax. Merton got to know her and her husband, Benji Marcus, in the summer of 1938. Merton was having some difficulty in getting in touch with her brother Robert and asks her for assistance in 1967. She writes back informing him that he will be coming back to the United States. In addition, she informs Merton of the death of her husband.

Adria Marconi was a student from Milan, Italy, studying foreign language and graduating with a degree in English and American literature.

Fr. Marcellus was a Trappist monk of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia.

Manuel Mantero was a poet writing from Madrid, Spain.

Josefina Manresa writes on behalf of Aguilar publishers in Madrid, Spain.

Bill Manning writes from Hopkins, Minnesota.

Archimandrite Laurence Mancuso founded the Monks of New Skete in Cambridge, New York, in 1966. In his first letter to Merton in 1961, he was a Franciscan priest in the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite, living in New Canaan, Connecticut. After founding New Skete, he joined the Orthodox Church in America.

Fr. Eugene H. Maly writes for the periodical «The Bible Today», a publication of Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Norwood, Ohio.

Fr. George A. Maloney is a Jesuit priest of the Russian Byzantine Rite and the founder of the John XXIII Center for Eastern Christian Studies at Fordham University in New York, where he taught patristics and Eastern theology. He writes on behalf of «Diakonia», a quarterly journal that promoted dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox Christians, asking that Merton submit something for publication.

Bishop Charles G. Maloney was Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, at the time of writing to Merton.

Br. Simeon Malone was a lay brother at Gethsemani Abbey. He was originally from Wichita, Kansas, and entered Gethsemani in 1957. Br. Simeon was a secretary to Dom James Fox at Gethsemani Abbey in the 1960's.

Carolyn W. Mallison writes from Watertown, New York.