This is a satisfying book to hold, which I mention because of the price. A solid hardcover with a vibrant dust jacket, it also has what’s called a sewn binding, meant to last several generations. And it is that kind of book: to use daily and then pass on to others who will hopefully do the same.
Project editor Tim Vivian is retired from a professorship in California and from his active priesthood in the Episcopal Church. His scholarly work in early Christian monasticism is well-known and comes to its greatest fruition with this 500-page work.
The “Desert Fathers and Mothers” are the real champions of early Christian monasticism — striking figures, hermits and ascetics — who left Christian civilization in the cities and suburbs behind, retreating to the stark desert regions of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, to return to original teachings of Jesus and pre-empire Christianity.
The best translations of the sayings and lives of the desert fathers and mothers are used from the correct scholarly editions of their writings, as Vivian chooses one, two, or three selections (depending upon length) for each day of the calendar year. Some are very short, such as “Prayer is an ascent of the spirit to God” (Evagrius of Pontus) — the first of three selections for August 12. Others are several paragraphs, including long anecdotes that are often inspiring or miraculous, such as “The Boy Who Ate His Neighbors” and “The Fainting Donkey” — appearing, for instance, on August 11 and 12.
Peace, prayer, harmony, reconciliation, forgiveness, and love — but also zeal-like “fire,” as referenced in the book’s title — are the primary themes of these daily devotional selections.
Go Deeper:
The Desert Fathers and Mothers: An e-course pilgrimage into wisdom from people of God who lived out a spirituality that still resonates strongly for us today.
