Thomas Merton entered Gethsemani Abbey on December 10, 1941. While still a novice, he was encouraged by his abbot to translate biographies of early Cistercian saints from Latin and French. In the process he became deeply familiar not only with the rich Cistercian tradition, but also with the early monks of the desert and Ireland, the hermits of the fifth and sixth centuries and the Benedictine monks of the Middle Ages. When he was appointed novice master many years later, he shared with newcomers what he had learned over a lifetime of study. His Monastic Orientation Notes constitute a goldmine of information taken from primary texts and learned studies, and distilled through Merton's own experience of monastic vocation and commitment. Book jacket.