Авва Иоанн Персянин

1. One of the elders told about Abba John the Persian that, due to the abundance of Divine grace in him, he achieved perfect kindness. He lived in Egyptian Arabia. One day he borrowed a gold coin from his brother and used it to buy flax for his needlework. After this, another brother came to him and began to ask him, saying: “Give me, Abba, some flax: I’ll make myself some leviton.” Abba happily gave it to him. Then another brother came to him and also asked him: “Give me some linen for a towel.” The elder gave this too. And he gave to many others who asked him with joy: because he was extremely simple in heart. The one who lent him the gold coin finally came to him, wanting to get it back. The elder told him: “I will go and bring it to you.” Not finding anyone to borrow a coin from, he went to Abba Jacob, who was in charge of the distribution of alms, in order to ask him for a gold coin to return to his brother. Going to Abba Jacob, he saw a piece of gold lying on the road. Abba John did not touch him, but, having prayed, returned to his cell. The brother came again, asking for the debt to be returned. “I take care of this,” answered the elder, and again he went to Abba Jacob. On the road, he saw a golden plant in the same place where it had been before: having made a prayer, the elder returned to his cell. The brother came a third time, asking for the gold coin back. The elder answered him: “I will definitely go and bring it to you.” He went to the place where he had previously found the coin: it lay there. Having made the prayer, he took it, brought it to Abba Jacob and said to him: “Abba! on my way to you, I found this piece of gold on the road: show me some love, tell me about the neighborhood, has anyone lost it? If there is someone who has lost it, give it to him.” Abba Jacob walked for three days and announced the gold coin he had found; but there was no one who lost the gold coin. Then the elder said to Abba Jacob: “If no one has lost this gold coin, then give it to such and such a brother: I owe him. I went to you to beg for alms to repay my debt, and I found this gold coin.” Abba Jacob was surprised that the elder, being in debt and having found the coin, did not immediately take it and did not pay off the debt. The following was also worthy of surprise in Abba John: if someone came to him to borrow something, he did not give from his own hands to the one who asked, but said to him: “Go, take what you need.” When the one who took it brought what he had taken, the elder said: “Put it in its place from where you took it.” If someone did not repay the debt, then the elder did not remind him of it 620. 2. They told about Abba John the Persian: when the villains came to him, he brought a laver and begged them for permission to wash their feet. The villains were ashamed, began to ask him for forgiveness and repent of their maliciousness 621. You might be interested in: