Before we begin

Observe the instructions below as you enter through the door

  • ·Laptop closed, every device off
  • ·Phones away, screens dark, headphones out
  • ·Let the room be quiet for the next few minutes

The work will still be here. Let us start somewhere else.

Who she was

Amma Theodora

of Alexandria · 4th century

Amma Theodora
Icon in the Byzantine manner, inscribed in English and Greek. The boy beside her belongs to the tradition that she lived for years in the desert dressed as a monk, and raised an abandoned child.
  • Married to a Roman officer. After his death she went to the desert.
  • She became amma — spiritual mother — of a community of women near Alexandria.
  • The Desert Fathers came to her for counsel, and so did Theophilus, the bishop of Alexandria.
  • Her sayings are short, blunt and often funny. She teaches by telling stories against the ego.

Today she is the one who asked the demons what actually drives them away.

The practice

Confession and Self-Examination

hands on your lap · feet on the floor · a slow breath

Nothing is said out loud. This one is between you and God.

  • ·Look back over the week
  • ·Let one thing surface — the thing you would rather not look at
  • ·Tell it to God plainly, in your own words
  • ·Receive that it has been heard

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook · Adele Ahlberg Calhoun · Part 3 · Relinquish the False Self

breathe

“Nothing can overcome us
except humility alone.”

Amma Theodora · Theodora 6

A hermit asked the demons what drove them out. Is it fasting? “We do not eat or drink.” Is it keeping vigil? “We do not sleep.” Then what power sends you away?

Amen.

Open your laptops. Let’s begin.