Thomas Merton, Initiation into the Monastic Tradition, Vols. 1–3 (review)

Abstract

Thomas Merton, Initiation into the Monastic Tradition, Vols. 1–3 (review) Mark DelCogliano Thomas Merton Cassian and the Fathers: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition . Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Foreword by Patrick Hart, OCSO. Preface by Columba Stewart, OSB. Monastic Wisdom Series 1 (Kalamazoo, Michigan : Cistercian Publications , 2005 ), pp . lxvi + 304 . ISBN 978‐0‐87907‐001‐4 ( paperback). $29.95 . Thomas Merton Pre‐Benedictine Monasticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 2 . Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Preface by Sidney H. Griffith. Monastic Wisdom Series 9 (Kalamazoo, Michigan : Cistercian Publications , 2006 ), pp . lxix + 391 . ISBN 978‐0‐87907‐073‐1 ( paperback). $24.95 . Thomas Merton An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 3 . Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Preface by Lawrence C. Cunningham. Monastic Wisdom Series 13 (Kalamazoo, Michigan : Cistercian Publications , 2008 ), pp . lviii + 416 . ISBN 978‐0‐87907‐013‐7 ( paperback). $39.95 . These three Merton volumes are among the initial offerings of the new Monastic Wisdom Series published by Cistercian Publications. In each, Patrick F. O’Connell has expertly edited and annotated lecture notes prepared by Merton during his term as novice master at the Abbey of Gethsemani (1955‐1965) for various courses on Christian monastic and mystical traditions. Premiere scholars of the subjects treated in each volume have written Prefaces that help the reader understand just how pioneering Merton’s interests were for the late 1950s and early 1960s. O’Connell’s ample Introductions explain the historical context of the lectures and discuss Merton’s personal engagement with and indebtedness to the figures and traditions he is teaching. He often finds pertinent passages from Merton’s letters and journals that demonstrate his reflections on the courses as they were being taught. O’Connell provides a survey of the topics treated in each course and offers synthetic remarks on Merton’s approach and teaching. Each Introduction also describes the surviving witnesses to the texts of the lectures and in Appendix A of each volume O’Connell has supplied abundant textual notes. He is to be commended for his meticulous attention to detail in the editing of these texts. Besides those interested in learning more about the monastic and mystical traditions treated by Merton, scholars and others interested more generally in his thought and personality will find in these books a hitherto largely inaccessible aspect of the man which complements and at times contrasts with the “public” Merton found in his works written for publication, the “interpersonal” Merton revealed in his letters, and the “intimate” Merton unveiled in his recently published journals. These works thus constitute a unique perspective for those engaged in the retrieval of Merton’s ideas and in the reconstruction of his monastic and personal identity. The breadth of the topics covered in these lectures reveals the scope of Merton’s wide‐ranging interests. In Cassian and the Fathers, O’Connell presents Merton’s lecture notes for two courses given to novices on multiple occasions from around 1955 to 1962. The first course is called the “Prologue to Cassian” and consists of a review of ascetic and monastic spirituality from the apostolic fathers onward, with the emphasis on the fourth century. The second course is the “Lectures on Cassian.” Here, Merton begins by summarizing Cassian’s life and teaching and then examines key sections of both the Institutes and Conferences. A brief survey of the contents of these two courses follows. The “Prologue to Cassian” is largely derived from others’ scholarship, particularly in the earlier sections which summarize pre‐fourth‐century spirituality. There are four topics covered in these early sections: martyrdom and virginity in the first and second century, aberrant movements (Encratism, Montanism, Neoplatonism, and Gnosticism), Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. Once he turns to the monastic figures of the fourth century, Merton depends more on his own reading of the primary texts and secondary scholarship. He deals with Antony the Great, Pachomius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Palestinian monasticism, including Jerome, Mesopotamian and Syrian monasticism, the desert fathers of Nitria and Scete and their apophthegmata, and Evagrius Ponticus. As a whole, these sections are better than...