communities of men or women who lived together and shared work and religious practices together. The second type was what has been called the cenobitic life i.e. The first was that of being a hermit, often living in a cave and having little or no contact with anyone. There were broadly three main types of lifestyle. We might call them monks and nuns now, but back then, they were mostly laypeople who were drawn to a life of prayer and study of the scriptures. a significant number of Christians were drawn to move to the deserts of Egypt and Syria to get away from worldly distractions and focus on the spiritual life. This has been especially true for older people cocooning and those living alone. Not the desert of intense heat so much as the experience of being isolated from family and friends with less activities to amuse and distract us. Image: “Eight Righteous Women,” icon by monk at Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA.Covid 19 and the restrictions on movement these past few months, have brought a lot of us into a sort of desert. Reference: Swan, Laura, “The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women,” Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 2001. And as she writes that “this present age is a storm,” it seems to me to be just as true in the twenty-first century as it was in the fourth. Just as the trees, if they have not stood before the winter’s storms cannot bear fruit, so it is with us this present age is a storm and it is only through many trials and temptations that we can obtain an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven.Īmmas lived in close contact with nature and would have understood that a “winter’s storm” does not indicate an absence of God, but rather is a necessary part of the natural cycle of life and the turning of the seasons. Let us strive to enter by the narrow gate. Here is the quote from Amma Theodora that I have chosen to include in my book and the acrylic monoprint that I made to go with it. Her feast day is celebrated on September 11. Not much is known about Amma Theodora, but she reportedly provided counsel to Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria.

As Christianity became more mainstream, women were attracted to the ascetic life – where they could participate in prophetic and monastic leadership, in spite of male church leaders who were uncomfortable with women in public roles.

For fourth century women, one appeal of living in the desert was the freedom they could experience there that was not available to them in the usual female domains of the culture. It is said that she went to live in the desert disguised as a man, in order to join a community of monks. Theodora was the amma of a monastic community of women near Alexandria. Their sayings were included in “ Sayings of the Desert Fathers,” a book of quotes, mainly from male abbas or “spiritual fathers,” that provides wisdom and insight into a desert spirituality. Amma Syncletica of Alexandria, Amma Theodora of Alexandria, and Amma Sarah of the Desert are probably the best known ammas. The Desert Mothers were well known at the time and were often sought out as teachers and spiritual directors. These women gathered together in monastic communities, but there were also some who lived as hermits. The Desert Mothers were women, known as ammas or “spiritual mothers,” who lived in the desert as Christian ascetics in the fourth and fifth centuries ce.

Amma syncletica