"Deftly integrating visual and textual sources for monastic emotionality, this study vividly exposes the importance of the sensorial environment in late antique monasticism. Establishing a central role for fear as an emotional practice, it fundamentally shifts our understanding of how Byzantine Christians related with the divine and with one another."--Felicity Harley-McGowan, Lecturer in the History of Art, Yale University < p/> "This is a truly original work, combining textual and archaeological material in search for a better understanding of the mentality and emotional register of the early monastic communities. An excellent contribution to the field."--Samuel Rubenson, Professor Emeritus of Affiliated Church History at Lund University