The Desert Fathers of the East, the Church's first monks and hermits, left the tumult of cities for the silence of uninhabited spaces. But it wasn't solitude per se that they sought. It was a place - in the world and in their interior life - where they could practice contemplative prayer with focus and discipline. Their ultimate goal: intimacy with God. Many of the monks who followed after them wrote down their thoughts and observations. With Letters from the Desert, Father Cliff Ermatinger guides us into their minds. A collection of 200 brief yet profound quotes from the monks’ writings, this book opens the Byzantine monastic experience to everyone.