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The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers is a selection of quotations taken from the Apophthegmata Patrum (which means Sayings of the Fathers). The Sayings of the Desert Fathers recounts isolated encounters with holy men and women who lived in the deserts of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia during the fourth and fifth century. These individuals forged Christian monasticism.

The book very seldom says much about the interior experiences of these men and women; however we are often allowed to listen in as one of them gives spiritual direction to someone who has come seeking guidance. We learn of their ascetic struggles, and occassionally we witness miracles and wonders.

Benedicta Ward says:

The essence of the spirituality of the desert is that it was not taught but caught; it was a whole way of life... there was no way of talking about the way of prayer, or the spiritual teaching of the Desert Fathers. They did not have a systematic way; they had the hard work and experience of a lifetime of striving to re-direct every aspect of body, mind, and soul to God, and that is what they talked about. That, also, is what they mean by prayer: prayer was not an activity undertaken for a few hours each day, it was a life continually turned towards God.

... the aim was hesychia, quiet, the calm through the whole man that is like a still pool of water, capable of reflecting the sun. To be in true relationship with God, standing before him in every situation -- that was the angelic life, the spiritual life, the monastic life, and the aim and the way of the monk. It was life orientated towards God.
(pp. xxi, xxvi)

Christain Mysticism | Quotations drawn from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers | Bibliographic references | ©1999 by D. Platt