Авва Иоанн из горы Каламон

Abba John, who lived in a mountain called Kalamon, had a sister who, from childhood, devoted herself to holy asceticism. She raised her brother, this Abba John, and inspired him to, leaving the vanity of the world, take monasticism. Having entered the monastery, he did not leave the monastery for twenty-four years and did not see his sister. She really wanted to see why she often wrote and sent letters to him, in which she asked him to visit her before she left her body, so that she could be consoled in the love of Christ by his presence. John apologized, not wanting to leave the monastery. The honest servant of God, his sister, again wrote him a letter in which she said: “Since you do not want to come to me, it is necessary for me to come to you, so that after such a long time I will be worthy to bow to your holy love.” John, having read this, became very sad and reasoned with himself: “If I allow my sister to come to me, this will give my other relatives and friends a reason to visit me.” He decided that it was better to visit his sister himself. He went to her, taking with him two brothers, monks of his monastery. When they came to the door of the secluded house in which the sister lived, John said in a loud voice: “Bless! welcome strangers! His sister came out with another servant of God at the voice, opened the door and did not recognize her brother. He recognized her, but did not say a word, so that she would not recognize him by his voice. The monks who were with him said to her: “We ask you, lady and mother, to give us water to quench our thirst, because we are tired from the journey.” Water was given to them and they drank. Then, having said a prayer, thanked God and said goodbye to God’s servant, they returned to the monastery. After several days, John again receives a letter from his sister, in which she invites him to come to her for a meeting before her death and to pray in her cell. He wrote her an answer and sent it with a monk of his monastery. The answer said: “By the good pleasure and mercy of my Christ I came to you, and no one recognized me. You yourself came out to us and gave me water; I took it from your hands and drank it, and thanking the Lord, I returned to the monastery. It's enough for you that you saw me. Do not give me the cold any more, but pray for me unceasingly to our Lord Jesus Christ” 616. You might be interested in: