Praying with the desert women takes us back to the basics. They will remind us of the virtues of simplicity and stillness, of silence and solitude. They will call us to balance and moderation . . . In stark contrast to the continuous indulgence of gluttony that is our cultural norm, the desert mothers remind us of the virtues of fasting — from food, from frenetic activity, from anger, from hurtful speech, from arrogant and mean-spirited behavior. In short, praying with the desert mothers calls us to be open to conversion. To that deep transformation that can only be accompanied by the activity of the living God moving and dwelling within us, working silently, surely, secretly to make us new. They remind us to trust in a Presence that was there long before we were born and will continue long after we are dead and gone. They pull us out of our illusory concerns and teach us to shift our gaze, to deepen our breath, to stop our moving.
— Mary C. Earle, The Desert Mothers