Thomas Merton (1915-1968)--Catholic convert, Cistercian monk, hermit, poet, contemplative, social critic, and pioneer in interreligious dialogue--was a seminal figure of twentieth-century American Christianity. Among his many books are his best-selling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain and the modern spiritual classic New Seeds of Contemplation. The present volume is the third and last in the series of his Novitiate Conferences on Scripture and Liturgy.

Patrick F. O'Connell, a founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, edits its quarterly publication, The Merton Seasonal, and is coauthor of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (2002). He has edited many volumes of Merton's writings, including most recently for Cascade Books A Monastic Introduction to Sacred Scripture (2020) and Notes on Genesis and Exodus (2021), the two previous volumes in the Novitiate Conferences trilogy.