O, desert, adorned with the flowers of Christ! Desert where the mystical stones of the Apocalypse grow! From these, the city of the great King is built. Holy solitude, where I intimately taste God! Friend, what are you doing in the world, for you are greater than the whole world. Why do you linger in the suffocating shadow of houses? Why do you remain captive in the cage of the metropolis? Believe me, I do not know what it is, but here the light is brighter. Freed from the misery of the body, the soul will soar to heaven.
(St. Jerome /347–420/, letter to Heliodorus)
