"Living with the Desert Mothers:" Online Lent Study with the Wisdom Years Ministry

Starting March 3, join the Wisdom Years Ministry for a six-week, online Lenten study.

In the third and fourth centuries, faithful men and women became distressed about the encroaching secularization of their religion and sought refuge in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. There they lived in silence and solitude in caves and hermitages, where they came to be called the Desert Fathers – or Abbas – and Desert Mothers – Ammas. Their lives were devoted to prayer and denial of the material world in order to be closer to God. Often people came to them for a word of wisdom.

Using The Rev. Mary Earle’s book The Desert Mothers: Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness, the group will look at the practices that sustained the Ammas – silence and solitude, balance and moderation, simplicity and fasting from anger, judgment, and frenetic activity.

The Lenten Study will gather weekly on Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. Central Time, via Zoom, for discussion and small-group conversation. Each week participants will read the book on their own, then gather for conversation in both large and small groups, considering ways to incorporate the wisdom of the Ammas into daily, modern life.

To reserve your spot in the study or join the Wisdom Years email list, contact Marjorie, at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.

The Wisdom Years Ministry is a ministry dedicated to spiritual formation in the last third of life. More information about the Wisdom Years Ministry can be found online, at wisdomyears.org.