In the fourth century, the deserts of Egypt became the nerve center of a radical new movement, what we now call monasticism.
They forged techniques of prayer and asceticism, of discipleship and spiritual direction, that have remained centra.
In so doing, they captured the imagination of the ancient world.
Groups of Christians-from illiterate peasants to learned intellectuals-moved out to the wastelands beyond the Nile Valley and, in the famous words of Saint Athanasius, made the Desert a city.
In the fourth century, the deserts of Egypt became the nerve center of a radical new movement, what we now call monasticism