The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
ed. Benedicta Ward
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“The ‘Desert Fathers’ of this book were a loose conglomeration of early Christian ascetics living in the Egyptian deserts, from the third century onwards. Their pared-back approach to worship—abandoning theological texts in favour of direct revelation—and extreme living conditions would trickle down to influence the monastic traditions of both the eastern and western arms of the Church. You can see their direct influence on forest hermits of mainland Europe and Russia, for example, and the cave and mountain hermits of the Levant, and m0re indirectly the Irish missionaries who flung themselves into the ocean in coracles.” Read more...
Cal Flyn, Five Books Editor
