In the fourth century men and women went out into the deserts of Egypt to seek God in prayer and labour, at places like Scetis, Nitria and the Cells. Visitors and disciples came to them with one request: "Abba, give me a word." The answers, often a single sentence or a short story, were remembered and passed on.
They were written down from the late fourth and fifth centuries, and gathered in Greek into two main collections. The alphabetical collection arranges them by the elder who spoke, beginning with St Anthony. The systematic collection arranges them by theme: humility, obedience, discernment, prayer, charity. They were soon translated into Latin, Syriac and other languages, and have been read in every monastery since.
The sayings are plain and often startling. They speak of judging no one, of staying in one's cell, of weeping for one's own sins rather than another's, of hospitality before one's own rule of fasting. Their humour and humility have made them loved far outside the monasteries.
They are best read slowly, a few at a time, the way they were first given: as a word to be taken away and lived with.