desert fathers

American  

plural noun

1. monks, as Saint Anthony or Saint Pachomius, who lived as hermits in the deserts of Egypt and founded the first Christian monasteries.

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Example Sentences

There was a time when they did desert fathers; and mothers, and wives and children.

From Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I Including His Answers to the Clergy, His Oration at His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc. by Ingersoll, Robert Green

Did they not follow one who offered a reward to those who would desert fathers and mothers?

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 6 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Ingersoll, Robert Green

There was a time when they did desert fathers and mothers and wives and children.

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 1 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Ingersoll, Robert Green