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Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources (Cistercian Studies Series, 106)

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Saint Benedict in writing his "rule for beginners" turned vastly to the earlier monastic rules from the deserts of Egypt, etc., including especially Saint Basil and John Cassian, and formed one of his vows as one of the conversion of ways, a slow and an uncertain and a difficult process to which a monk commits in full recognition by self and by the community of our humanity and our weakness and our failing and of the far path by which we have come to the point of full willingness to take on seriously this vow to convert.

Just so this book, compiled for the Institute of Cistercian Studies in Kalamazoo by the great and prolific student and teacher of the Desert Fathers (and Mothers), Benedicta Ward, S.L.G The unfortunate reader of this clumsily written review is urged to search upon this mighty amazon her works, using only her Christian and family names as search parameters, to locate and acquire her several excellent studies of Patristic theology.

Here Benedicta Ward begins an examination of the history and theology of the general theme of repentance, a grace of humility and of begging forgiveness which is so lacking yet ever necessary in our own times. She continues by examining closely from the Biblical texts and their commentaries by the Saints the "archetypal penitent" Maria Magdelena as a Biblical model of repentance recognized and followed throughout the history of our Church. She then fully examines the object of this work: the women monks of the desert who abandoned questionable lives based upon their physical beauty and fled to the desert hermitages to seek God alone, that beauty, as quoted herein, burning away unseen in the desert like incense in offering to GOd alone. Benedicta Ward explores such great women monks and saints as Saint Mary of Egypt, Pelagia, Thais, etc. She further examines how the example of these courageous, strong, wise and holy women assisted other monks and hermits hidden in the desert to overcome their own temptations, weaknesses and demons, and how their prayerful intercession can yet assist us even now today in our abandoned and material times.

May the careful, prayerful reading and meditation of this powerful book bring you fortitude, peace, and the firm resolution to convert, one day at a time, to the love of God alone, to find God's peace, and may we all get there together again in Christ's name. These are good saints to know, to learn from, to learn the humility of seeking repentance, to pray with. Read their life stories and their significance for ourselves and for our Church and for our world today.

I have an interest in early Christianity, so I thought this book might be interesting. That was an understatement! I could not have been more delighted at the wonders this book provided for me! From the first chapter to the last,the information was new and different. As a woman, I enjoyed learning about the ways that women actually participated in the early Church; however, I think anyone could benefit from the knowledge regarding the depths that these women went to in order to show their sorrow for their sins to God and the men who assisted them in their journey back to God.

The author also does an excellent job of bringing forth her research along with telling the actual stories. As a lay wife with 3 young children, I don't have hours to read and study...I felt this book presented the information with the right amount of depth to keep me intrigued without bogging me down or overwhelming me. I will be buying other books by this author!

Benedicta Ward SLG, who gave us The Sayings of the Desert Fathers and The Lives of the Desert Fathers, has now given us Harlots of the Desert--a study in repentance in early monastic sources. The work was inspired by an encounter with a young prostitute Ward met in London--Maria--who asked Ward for help only to see a car pull up and the young woman be quickly whisked off by her pimps and handlers in the trade.

Ward has put together quotes and tales of Mary Magdalene, St. Mary of Egypt, Pelagia--whose half naked beauty stopped the Bishop Nonnus in his tracks. While his fellow bishops averted their eyes as Pelagia passed, the Very Reverend Nonnus "still gazed and his eyes went after her. `Did not her great beauty delight you? Indeed it delighted me'". Ward includes also the harlots and converts Thais, and Maria the Niece of Abraham as well, all five subjects are "extreme" women who loved much, sinned much, repented even more.

These inspiring tales were passed down for centuries by monks of the desert who were all about extreme conversion, repentance and, loving much, and prayer.

Truth be told, I've long been intrigued by the spiritual lives of women living on the edge in the sex trade, living at the edge of love in the bordellos of history, those who sell love--or something like it--for money. I raised three kids just down the street from a century old Toll House that was also once a bordello. On the edge of town, of course. And like these women, on the edge.

When you think of it, Jesus really only had four friends, four close friends--Peter, James and John...and one dear woman friend, Mary Magdalene. If you do the math, one fourth of the people closest to our Lord lived at the ecstatic edge of human connecting. It was perhaps this history that helped these five women better see God, see their sin, see a way clear to inner peace and a new beginning.

This little 100 page work is a delight and a window to whole new group of fools for Christ who paid dearly to turn their lives around for a love and wholeness that points to heaven. Loved this book. It's also a fun eye catcher for your mother in law on your coffee table there when she comes over to visit. Yes, all kinds of folks love God after all. And some love Him even more than your mother in law...just maybe. To the extreme. Buy this book.