Pre-Benedictine Monasticism

Charged with training young monks at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton combined his literary genius and his love of the monastic tradition to produce Monastic Orientation Notes as the bases of his classes. In this volume, he treats the many and varied forms of monastic life which preceded, and helped to form, the Rule of Saint Benedict.

Thomas Merton (1915—1968) was a monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky. He was a renowned writer, theologian, poet, and social activist.

Patrick F. O'Connell is associate professor in the departments of English and theology at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is a founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society.