This diary of a young American Jesuit’s vocation and first six years of seminary training in the early 1960s before being assigned as a missionary to Taiwan is full of youthful optimism. It is the positive, personal story of a vocation told in a relaxed, often humorous voice. It reveals the longing of a heart that finds fulfillment in giving up everything to follow Christ and serve others as a Jesuit. 

At the Jesuit seminary in Los Gatos, Calif., the novice learns both the skill of harvesting grapes in the novitiate vineyard and the art of meditating on the life of Christ in prayer. As he contemplates Jesus––walking from village to village, preaching, healing the sick, and announcing good news to the poor–– he wants to do the same in the foreign missions. He is encouraged in his hopes to be a missionary by a saintly Jesuit who left the Chinese missions for health reasons and became his spiritual father.

Gifted in art, music, and writing, the novice learns how to use his talents for the benefit of others. During his long years of study, he discovers happiness through sharing his life with the less fortunate, working in the fields with migrant laborers. This ever-growing desire not only to serve the poor but also to be one of them is a recurring theme in Fr. Martinson’s diary.

As a gateway for anyone discerning his vocation, or as manna for those already in religious life, this diary reveals the secret garden of a Jesuit’s formative years, sharing many personal, joyful, and inspiring experiences, which, as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, are rife with “beauty blooming”.

“Fr. Martinson’s autobiography is not just a window into a distant time and a different world. It is much more. It is an account of a life so charged with the gift of knowledge and love of Christ that the first, only, and constant choice is to spend that life helping Christ to be known and loved by others.”
— Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J., Author, Christendom Lost and Found and Real Philosophy for Real People

“Fr. Martinson’s diary is really an adventure story.  It is the adventure of an ordinary young man who, inspired by the goodness and holiness he sees in others, desires to be a missionary.  In telling his story with candor and humor, he shows us that holiness is an adventure for everyone.”
— Fr. James Kubicki,S.J., Author, A Year of Daily Offerings; Spiritual Director, St. Francis de Sales Seminary, Milwaukee

“Sincere, vulnerable, searching, and written in a tone reminiscent of James Joyce in his A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the author details not only his personal history, set against the background of the societal upheavals of the 1960s, but also his immersion in the exquisite classical education and challenging ministries of his early years in the Society of Jesus.”
— Blake Nelson, Novelist and Poet

“Whether writing of the natural world, spiritual values, or human experiences, the author’s words are delicate, beautiful, moving, and deep. He becomes close to ecstatic when describing his love for the poor. Through this book, those who do not yet know God may find Him, and those who already know Him may grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus.”
— Sr. Paula of the Trinity, O.C.D., Foundress, Carmelite Sisters of Taiwan

“Fr. Martinson’s story of a soul is utterly authentic and unselfconscious, showing how God’s love has carried him like a river through every twist and turn in his life. It opens windows to a clarity, focus, and fidelity of faith driven by love that inspires me greatly and sets a high bar for all of us, especially for my brothers in the Society of Jesus.”
— Fr. Michael Fitzpatrick, S.J., Pastor, St. Andrew’s Mission, Pendleton, Oregon

“Like a Bach piano concerto, with its breadth of tones, rhythms, and details, Diary of a Young Jesuit hits all the right notes in telling a story of personal and spiritual growth, beginning with a three-year-old who discovers God while staring up at the sky and ending with a young missionary sailing to Taiwan.”
— Mr. Michael L. Greenwald, Professor Emeritus, English Literature, Texas A&M University

 “This book chronicles the author’s spiritual awakening from his childhood to the realization that ‘only God possessed the kind of love I was looking for. In order to attain it, I needed to give myself to Him alone.’ It is an awakening worth reading about.”
— Rosemary Watson, San Diego Catholic Schools Educator