The Spiritual Meadow

'I have plucked the finest flowers of the unmown meadow and worked them into a row which I now offer to you', wrote John Moschos as he began his tales of the holy men of seventh-century Palestine and Egypt. 

The second most valuable source of information, after the History of the Monks of Palestine of Cyril Scythopolis, regarding the history of monasticism in the Judaean desert is the collection of stories and anecdotes by John Moschos, a monk of the Judaean desert in the late sixth century. Moschos traveled frequently between the monastic centers of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor. He collected his stories during his travels and compiled them in a Greek work known as Pratum Spirituale or Spiritual Meadow.