Books by Mary Schaffer

The life of Syncletica is one of the oldest lives of a woman saint and provides rare testimony to the life of female sanctity in the fifth century. This full-length study of the teachings and spiritual background of this most remarkable woman forms Part Two of a two-part set. Part One is a translation of the life of Syncletica. Anchored firmly in the Scriptures and in everyday, human experience, Syncletica''s teachings are as pertinent today as they were fifteen centuries ago. Her meditations, based on astute psychological insights, still have the power to inspire, to encourage, and to challenge latter-day disciples to live authentic Christian lives.This is a splendid study! It is exactly what we have long needed: a careful, probing, and intelligent study of ''The Life of Syncletica'', illuminating both the hagiographical text as a literary work, and the richly textured monastic tradition it represents and conveys. Immensely useful for scholar and student alike.""-- Susan Ashbrook Harvey, author ofAsceticism and Society in Crisis: John of Ephesus and The Lives of the Eastern Saints