In this third volume of papers from Thomas Merton's conferences during hisdecade (1955-1965) as novice master at the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani, hisinsight into the liturgical pattern of the Christian year and beyond ispresented in fresh detail. Merton's own commitment to this central dimension ofChristian life is clear, and nowhere more so than in his work introducingstudents to the patterns that would mark their lives as monks. Though dating from the period just before the liturgical reforms ofVatican II, Merton's commentaries remain pertinent. The thoroughly annotatedtext is preceded by an extensive introduction situating this material in thecontext of Merton's lifelong writing on liturgy. Moreover, as his formerstudent Br. Paul Quenon notes in his foreword, this context is one deeplyrooted in Merton's understanding ofScripture. 'These notes . . . take us into one man's lifetime of reflection andseasoned experience of the Church Year.'
