Tessa Bielecki represents three streams in the Christian contemplative tradition: Carmelite, Celtic, and the spirituality of the Desert Mothers and Fathers.
For fifty years she lived in solitary wilderness hermitages in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland, in deserts, mountains, and woods.
She was the Mother Abbess of the Spiritual Life Institute, a monastic community of both men and women for almost forty years, left in 2005 and co-created the Desert Foundation.
Tessa is a seasoned retreat facilitator, a veteran of interreligious dialogue, and the author of several works on St. Teresa of Avila, desert spirituality, prayer, contemplative life, and Christmas: Season of Glad Songs: A Christmas Anthology, which she co-created with David Denny.
