"Amma" is the term designated for a "spiritual mother," an equivalent term for "spiritual father." It refers to the ability one had to become a spiritual guide for another person, and is not explicitly connected with the role of abbess or superior. These early Christians lived in the deserts of the Mediterranean during the fourth and fifth centuries. In this edifying paperback, Mary Forman (a Benedictine nun from the Monastery of Saint Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho) presents a look at their lives and practices.
Forman, who teaches monastic studies and theology, examines the ways in which these ammas channeled grace to others as midwives of wisdom, scripture scholars, heralds in the desert, stewards of virtue, exemplars of holiness, practitioners of humility and compunction, and devout believers in prayer and hospitality.
The text is greatly amplified by the inclusion in each chapter of a story or commentary about a different desert mother, and a reflection on how to take into our own lives some of their wisdom and practices.
