Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources Volume 106

Beauty consuming itself like incense burnt before God in solitude, far from the eyes of men, became the most stirring image of penance conceivable. Stories on conversion from extreme sinfulness to extreme holiness have always attracted humankind’s attention, and this was especially so among the monks of the ancient and medieval world. In the literature of fourth—century Egypt, alongside the wise sayings of the desert fathers and the stories illustrating their way of life, there are also the...