Editing Marshall McLuhan (section)

=== Conversion to Catholicism ===
At the University of Manitoba, McLuhan explored his conflicted relationship with religion and turned to literature to "gratify his soul's hunger for truth and beauty,"{{sfnm |1a1=Edan |1y=2003 |1p=10 |2a1=Marchand |2y=1998 |2p=20}} later referring to this stage as agnosticism.{{sfn|Edan|2003|p=11}} While studying the [[trivium]] at Cambridge, he took the first steps toward his eventual conversion to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] in 1937,{{sfn|Gordon|1997|pp=54–56}} founded on his reading of [[G. K. Chesterton]].{{sfn|Lapham|1994|p=xvii}} In 1935, he wrote to his mother:<ref>McLuhan, Marshall. [1935] 2011. "[http://www.mcluhanonmaui.com/2011/07/probe-letter-to-elsie-september-5-1931.html Letter to Elsie September 5, 1931] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627132237/http://www.mcluhanonmaui.com/2011/07/probe-letter-to-elsie-september-5-1931.html |date=June 27, 2020 }}." ''McLuhan on Maui''. Retrieved 24 June 2020; also cited in {{harvnb|M. McLuhan|1987|p=73}}.</ref><blockquote>Had I not encountered Chesterton I would have remained agnostic for many years at least. Chesterton did not convince me of religious faith, but he prevented my despair from becoming a habit or hardening into misanthropy. He opened my eyes to European culture and encouraged me to know it more closely. He taught me the reasons for all that in me was simply blind anger and misery.</blockquote>At the end of March 1937,{{efn|{{harvnb|Gordon|1997|p=74}}, gives the date as March 25; Marchand (1990), p.44, gives it as March 30.}} McLuhan completed what was a slow but total conversion process, when he was formally received into the [[Catholic Church]]. After consulting a minister, his father accepted the decision to convert. His mother, however, felt that his conversion would hurt his career and was inconsolable.<ref>Marchand (1990), pp. 44–45.</ref> McLuhan was devout throughout his life, but his religion remained a private matter.<ref>Marchand (1990), p. 45.</ref> He had a lifelong interest in the number three{{sfn|Gordon|1997|p=75}} (e.g., the trivium, the [[Trinity]]) and sometimes said that the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]] provided intellectual guidance for him.{{efn|Associates speculated about his intellectual connection to the Virgin Mary, one saying, "He had a direct connection with the Blessed Virgin Mary. ... He alluded to it very briefly once, almost fearfully, in a please-don't-laugh-at-me tone. He didn't say, 'I know this because the Blessed Virgin Mary told me,' but it was clear from what he said that one of the reasons he was so sure about certain things was that the Virgin had certified his understanding of them."{{sfn|Marchand|1998|p=51}}}} For the rest of his career, he taught in Catholic institutions of higher education.