Amma Syncletica was part of a monastic tradition that was established primarily in the desert areas around Jerusalem and Alexandria.  Desert Mothers were women, known as ammas or “spiritual mothers,” who lived as Christian ascetics in the fourth and fifth centuries CE. Ammas were women who had achieved a spiritual maturity and wisdom, actively developed during their withdrawal from mainstream society.  These women gathered together in monastic communities, but there were also some who lived as hermits.  For these early Christian women, one appeal of living in the desert was the freedom they could experience that was not available to...