Give me a word, Father. From the time of Saint Antony 'at least 'younger monks would ask older, experienced monks, abbas or ammas ( 'fathers ' or 'mothers '), for a saving word, for advice, for wise counsel on how to live. In this book, Coptic scholar and priest Tim Vivian shares personal accounts of journeys to present-day monasteries in Egypt, and translations of ancient texts exemplifying the 'words, ' the insights that have guided desert monks for nearly two millennia. Those who study the monastic tradition professionally and those who search it spiritually will find matter for reflection here.

An Encomium on Saint Anthony by John of Schmun A letter to the Disciples of Antony by Serapion of Thmuis Instrumental in the conversion of many, including St. Augustine, The Life of Antony provided the model saint's life and constitutes, in the words of patristics scholar Johannes Quasten, 'the most important document of early monasticism.' Here is one volume are translations of the text in the Greek written by Athanasius (from the new critical edition of G. J. M. Bartelink) and in the Coptic, the language Antony himself spoke. Two short contemporary coptic texts further manifest the powerful influence of 'the father of monks.'

The desert stood in stark opposition to the oikoumene, the inhabited world of the fourth century. Not because the world was a bad place, but because the desert 'understood geographically, religiously, spiritually, and mystically ' was the harsh, uncomprising place where the Christian could be perfected by God. Far from the Christian metropolis of Alexandria, removed from the well-known and much 'visited monastic settlements of the Thebaid, and infintely remote from Rome, lay the garrison towns of Aswan and Philae. There Christians and pagans coexisted. Integral to the christian community on this desert frontier of Empire were the local monks 'ascetics, intercessors, contemplatives, and miracle workers.

Journeying into God tells the fascinating stories of seven male and female monks from the fourth to the seventh centuries C.E. and their quests to imitate Christ and live the gospel fully. Saint Antony, Abba Pambo, Syncletica of Palestine, Saint George of Choziba, Abba Aaron, Saint Theognius, and Saint Onnophrius come to life through translations of biographical documents from Greek and Coptic. Each saint's life is introduced with historical and theological background. Discussions of women, the structure of a monastery, miracles and relics, and the cult of the saints illuminate the texts and also supply helpful overviews of topics that are central to the understanding of early monasticism.