Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Catholic convert, Cistercian monk and hermit, poet, contemplative, social critic, and pioneer of interreligious dialogue, was a seminal figure of twentieth-century American Christianity. The one hundredth anniversary of his birth is being celebrated in 2015. Patrick F. O'Connell is professor of English and theology at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. A founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, he edits The Merton Seasonal and is coauthor of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia. He has edited six previous volumes of Thomas Merton's monastic conferences for the Monastic Wisdom Series, most recently The Life of the Vows (2012), and is also editor of Thomas Merton: Selected Essays (2013).
However much some critics may want to paint the later Merton as a contradictory voice on the margins of monasticism, these conferences reveal the mind and heart of someone who had ingested and treasured the entirety of monastic spiritual practices in a fashion that had no rival for the time in which it was written. The American Benedictine Review Thoughtful and edited and compiled masterfully by Patrick F. O'Connell, Monastic Observances is a solid addition to any theology collection. The Midwest Book Review
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