Desert Mothers
Encyclopedia
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
living in the desert of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. They typically lived in the monastic communities that began forming during that time, though sometimes they lived as hermits. Other women from that era who influenced the early ascetic or monastic tradition while living outside the desert are also described as Desert Mothers.
The Desert Fathers
Desert Fathers
The Desert Fathers were hermits, ascetics, monks, and nuns who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD. The most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism...
are much more well known because of the many early texts written by and about them. There are no writings directly attributed to the Desert Mothers—the stories about them come from the early Desert Fathers and their biographers. The Apophthegmata Patrum
Apophthegmata Patrum
The Apophthegmata Patrum is the name given to various collections of Sayings of the Desert Fathers, consisting of stories and sayings attributed to the Desert Fathers from approximately the 5th century CE....
, or Sayings of the Desert Fathers, includes forty-seven sayings that are actually attributed to the Desert Mothers. There are several chapters dedicated to the Desert Mothers in the Lausiac History
Lausiac History
The Lausiac History is a seminal work archiving theDesert Fathers The Lausiac History (Historia Lausiaca) is a seminal work archiving theDesert Fathers The Lausiac History (Historia Lausiaca) is a seminal work archiving theDesert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian...
by Palladius
Palladius
Palladius was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion consider Palladius a saint.-Armorica:...
, who mentions 2,975 women living in the desert. Other sources include the various stories told over the years about the lives of saints of that era, traditionally called vitae ("life").
Notable Desert Mothers
The Desert Mothers were known as ammas (spiritual mothers), comparable to the Desert Fathers (abbas), due to the respect they earned as spiritual teachers and directors. One of the most well known Desert Mothers was Amma Syncletica of AlexandriaSyncletica of Alexandria
Amma Syncletica of Alexandria, a Christian saint and Desert Mother of the 4th century, was of a wealthy background and is reputed to have been very beautiful...
, who had twenty-seven sayings attributed to her in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Two other ammas, Theodora of Alexandria
Theodora of Alexandria
Theodora of Alexandria is an Eastern Orthodox saint and Desert Mother who died in 490 AD.Early in life, Theodora committed adultery. Disguised as a man, she joined a monastery in repentance of her sin under the name Theodore. Her true identity as a woman was discovered after her death...
and Amma Sarah of the Desert
Sarah of the Desert
Amma Sarah of the Desert was an early Desert Mother who is known to us today solely through the collected sayings of the Desert Fathers. Amma Sarah was a hermit and lived a life dedicated to strict asceticism for some sixty years. She is said to have dwelt in a monastic cell, likely near the...
, also had sayings in that book. Desert Mothers described in the Lausiac History include Melania the Elder
Melania the Elder
Saint Melania the Elder or Maior was a Desert Mother who was an influential figure in the Christian ascetic movement that sprang up in the generation after the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire...
, Melania the Younger
Melania the Younger
Saint Melania the Younger is a Christian saint and Desert Mother who lived during the reign of Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius, son of Theodosius I. She is the paternal granddaughter of Melania the Elder.The Feast of Melania the Younger is held on December 31...
, Olympias
Olympias the Deaconess
Saint Olympias was a widow, deaconess and friend of Saint John Chrysostom. Born in Constantinople, circa 368, to a wealthy family, but was left orphaned at a young age. Olympias would later go on marry a man by the name of Nebridius, who was Prefect of Constantinople...
, Saint Paula
Saint Paula
Saint Paula was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest "senatorial" families which frivolously claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli...
and her daughter Eustochium
Eustochium
Saint Eustochium . Born Eustochium Julia at Rome, she was the daughter of Saint Paula and is also venerated as a saint and was an early Desert Mother. She was the third of four daughters of the Roman Senator Toxotius, for whom Jerome made a lot of fanciful claims of ancestry. After the death of...
, and several women whom the author does not name.
According to written accounts, Amma Syncletica was born in 380 CE to wealthy parents in Alexandria and was well educated, including an early study of the writings of Desert Father Evagrius Ponticus
Evagrius Ponticus
Evagrius Ponticus , also called Evagrius the Solitary was a Christian monk and ascetic. One of the rising stars in the late fourth century church, he was well-known as a keen thinker, a polished speaker, and a gifted writer...
. After the death of her parents, she sold everything she had and gave the money to the poor. Moving outside the city with her blind sister, she lived as a hermit among the tombs outside of Alexandria. Gradually a community of women ascetics grew up around her, who she served as their spiritual mother. Even though she was an ascetic and hermit, Syncletica taught moderation, and that asceticism was not an end in itself.
Theodora of Alexandria was the amma of a monastic community of women near Alexandria. Prior to that, she had fled to the desert disguised as a man and joined a community of monks. She was sought out by many of the Desert Fathers for advice—reportedly Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria came to her for counsel.
Sarah of the Desert's sayings indicate that she was a hermit living by a river for sixty years. Her sharp replies to some of the old men who challenged her show a distinctly strong personality. According to one story, two male anchorites visited her in the desert and decided, "Let's humiliate this old woman." They said to her, "Be careful not to become conceited thinking to yourself: "Look how anchorites are coming to see me, a mere woman." She replied, "According to nature I am a woman, but not according to my thoughts."
Melania the Elder, the daughter of a Roman official, became widowed at a young age and moved to Alexandria, and then to the Nitrian Desert. She met several of the Desert Fathers, following them in their travels and ministering to them using her own money. At one point she was thrown into prison for supporting them, after several of the Fathers had been banished by the officials in Palestine. She eventually founded a convent in Jerusalem which had about fifty nuns.
Her granddaughter, Melania the Younger, was married at the age of thirteen and had two sons, both of whom died at a young age. When she was twenty, she and her husband Pinianus renounced the world, both founding convents and monasteries.
Sayings
- Amma Sarah said, "If I prayed God that all people should approve of my conduct, I should find myself a penitent at the door of each one, but I shall rather pray that my heart may be pure toward all."
- Amma Syncletica said, "In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God and afterwards, ineffable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire; at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek ... so we must also kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work."
- Amma Syncletica said, "There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town; they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one's mind while living in a crowd; and it is possible for those who are solitaries to live in the crowd of their own thoughts."
- Amma Theodora said that neither asceticism, nor vigils, nor any kind of suffering are able to save. Only true humility can do that. There was a hermit who was able to banish the demons. And he asked them: "What makes you go away? Is it fasting?" They replied: "We do not eat or drink." "Is it vigils?" They said: "We do not sleep." "Then what power sends you away?" They replied: "Nothing can overcome us except humility alone." Amma Theodora said: "Do you see how humility is victorious over the demons?"
See also
- BlaesillaBlaesillaBlaesilla was the daughter of Paula, and sister of Eustochium, from one of the Senatorial families of Ancient Rome. Blaesilla died young, under the influence of Jerome. She, and her sister and mother , are accorded Sainthood by the Roman Catholic church.Blaesilla, as a young girl, showed a strong...
- Catherine of AlexandriaCatherine of AlexandriaSaint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
- Christian monasticismChristian monasticismChristian monasticism is a practice which began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules Christian...
- DemianaDemianaSaint Demiana and the 40 Virgins, , also known as the Chaste Martyr Saint Demiana, is an Egyptian martyr of the early fourth century.-Birth and Childhood of St. Demiana:...
- Domnina of SyriaDomnina of SyriaSaint Domnina of Syria, also known as Domnina the Younger, was a 5th century ascetic. Her name is mentioned in the Byzantine Synaxarium. and according to Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, Domnina was born to a rich Syrian family....
- Eastern Christian monasticismEastern Christian monasticismEastern Christian Monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism. Some authors will use the term "Basilian" to describe Eastern monks; however, this is incorrect, since the Eastern Church does not have religious orders, as in the...
- John ChryssavgisJohn ChryssavgisJohn Chryssavgis is an author and theologian who serves as advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues.-Biography:...
- Macrina the Elder
- Macrina the Younger
- Margaret the VirginMargaret the VirginMargaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...
- Mary of EgyptMary of EgyptMary of Egypt is revered as the patron saint of penitents, most particularly in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.-Life:...
- Menodora, Metrodora, and NymphodoraMenodora, Metrodora, and NymphodoraMenodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora are virgin martyrs venerated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. According to tradition, the three women were sisters from Bithynia in Asia Minor. They chose not to marry and to forsake the world. They found a home in a remote location and spent...
- Saint PelagiaSaint PelagiaSaint Pelagia is an Antiochene saint, a virgin of fifteen years, who chose death by a leap from the housetop rather than dishonour from soldiers during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is mentioned by Ambrose , and is the subject of two sermons by Chrysostom...
- Syncletica of AlexandriaSyncletica of AlexandriaAmma Syncletica of Alexandria, a Christian saint and Desert Mother of the 4th century, was of a wealthy background and is reputed to have been very beautiful...
- Theoctiste of LesbosTheoctiste of LesbosTheoctiste of Lesbos is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the communion of Eastern Catholic and Latin Rite Catholic Churches.Born on the island of Lesbos, Theoctiste was orphaned as a child...
- Sarah of the DesertSarah of the DesertAmma Sarah of the Desert was an early Desert Mother who is known to us today solely through the collected sayings of the Desert Fathers. Amma Sarah was a hermit and lived a life dedicated to strict asceticism for some sixty years. She is said to have dwelt in a monastic cell, likely near the...
- Melania the YoungerMelania the YoungerSaint Melania the Younger is a Christian saint and Desert Mother who lived during the reign of Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius, son of Theodosius I. She is the paternal granddaughter of Melania the Elder.The Feast of Melania the Younger is held on December 31...