The desert mothers lived in a silence and stillness that we can scarcely imagine. By stepping into a landscape that was wilderness, thy left behind the noise of the city. The ammas chose to attune their inner hearing to the movement of God's spirit within their hearts and souls. Their lives were marked by a desire to listen deeply. The silence of the landscape allowed them to hear the silence of God, the silence from which all creation is spoken into being.

Mary C. Earle, The Desert Mothers