Welcome to this land that is truly desert, truly Egypt! Here at this burial place of at least 62 Kings is also the home Abba Poemen. Poemen, meaning “shepherd,” lived as a hermit until about 400-450 A.D. A Desert Father, who was known as a shepherd rather than for his austerity because of the way he guided people, takes us right to the cardio or “heart” of the spiritual life!

So far in our Virtual Pilgrimage, we have been speaking about the hearts of the people who we encounter on this pilgrimage – from the Pharaoh to the people who had been enslaved in Egypt to Moses himself. Their lives remind us how God was working on their hearts and about the amount of time that this process of softening of hearts takes. So, let us also join in this process which is exemplified in the lives of the Desert Fathers, the Desert Mothers, who came to barren land to show us to: “Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart”; “To do good to others, so that your heart becomes much lighter” (Abba Poemen).