2010 Reviews

Review of John Chryssavgis. In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

Petrakis, Vicki

This study explores the essence of the monastic desert movement from the third century to the end of the fourth century CE by men and women who fled the surrounding cities they lived in, and came into the arid sands of Egypt in order to continue the trajectory of life. The ancient texts that survive, mainly 1,202 Sayings of the Desert Fathers or Apothegmata, which Dr. Chryssavgis explores for the purpose of resurrecting the ancient spirit of the desert within a modern context, reveal that these men and women had been specific about their goal in coming to the desert: “We entreat you, make us truly alive.” In seeking out these “…unconventional persons…[who] sought aggressively to understand the deeper meaning and the fuller measure of human existence…,” the author breathes new life into their Sayings.