The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits who lived in communities located in remote areas of Egypt’s desert in the early centuries AD. There they could better focus on their religious practices, mainly the recitation of Kyrie Eleison (a Greek phrase meaning “Lord, have mercy”), a Christian “mantra.” These hermit communities were the historic predecessors of Christian orders for monks and nuns; repetition of Kyrie Eleison remains a primary practice among Eastern Orthodox monks, e.g., those on Mount Athos.
