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1. What is silence? He who wishes to be truly silent in his cell and not be carried away by demonic suggestions, let him remove himself from everything that is common among people: let him not blame or praise anyone, let him not extol the truth of people, let him not heed their shortcomings, and let him not allow the sting of resentment towards his neighbor to remain in his heart. 2. What is the meaning of silence and what benefit does it provide to an ascetic? The brother asked Abba Rufus: what is the meaning of silence and what is the benefit of it? The elder answered him: silence is a solitary stay in one’s cell in reason (reasonable, not unreasonable) and the fear of God, in the remembrance of God (in various types of prayer), away from memory and arrogance (these two passions greatly combat the silencer, basing the first on the second). Such silence gives birth to all virtues and protects the monk from all the kindled arrows of the enemy, preventing him from being wounded by them. Truly, truly, I say: acquire, brother, such silence. Remember your death, because do not know at what time the thief will come (Luke 12:39). Watch over your soul. 3. What benefits does silence bring to a monk? The wine is hidden in deep cellars and covered: then it settles, gains strength and taste. Silence and insanity have a similar effect on the monk. It is impossible for him to preserve his feat intact except in silence and with a sincere awareness of his lack in all respects. (Abba Isaiah) 4. Why is cell silence so valuable for a monk? A certain monk said to Abba Arseny: thoughts bother me, saying: you cannot endure either fasting or deeds; At least visit the sick, because this is a matter of love. The elder, realizing that his thoughts were filled with demons, said to him: go, eat, drink, do nothing, just do not leave the cell silence. The elder said this, knowing that cell silence would lead the monk to proper living if the monk remained patiently in silence. 5. Why should someone who wants to remain silent settle either in the desert or in a monastery, where there are many brethren? The elder said: whoever wants to remain silent must settle either in the desert or in the monastery, where there are many brothers. If he settles in a place close and not far away, he falls into great amusement. When someone, having visited such a place, and not having somewhere to calm down, comes to him and says: I have nowhere to calm down, and also many will come and say this: then from the coming of strange people, of necessity, the silent monk will fall into entertainment. If you live near other brothers, then even in this case, when you do not accept a stranger, your thoughts will remain without confusion: because he can find peace with another brother. And so, among the multitude of brothers, you will have peace and the opportunity to maintain your silence in the Lord. 6. How should one remain silent in one’s cell? The brother asked the elder: how should one remain silent in one’s cell? The elder answered him: to remain silent in your cell means to present yourself hourly before God, to observe the thoughts instilled by the enemy: this is flight from the world. – Brother asked: what is the world? The elder answered: peace consists in deeds that are subnatural and in the fulfillment of one’s will: peace is when one cares about the body more than the soul and boasts about one’s possessions. The Apostle, the beloved disciple, said: Do not love the world, neither those who are in the world. The silent one must torment himself hourly: has he passed through those who hold him in the air? Did you free yourself from them while still in the body? Or what else does he obey and work for them and has not yet been released? 7. What should one who lives in silence do? Sitting in your cell, have the memory of God at every hour, and the fear of God will take root in you; purge from your soul all sin, all malice and lawlessness. 8. What are the three acts of silent life through which the Lord dwells in a person? Abba Pimen said: Non-covetousness, patience and reasoning are the three works of a silent life, as Scripture says: If these three men are among it, Noah, and Daniel and Job, they will be saved in their righteousness (Eze 14:14). Noah represents non-covetousness, Job represents patience, Daniel represents reasoning. If these three works are in a person, then God will dwell in him. 9. What should a silent person do in his cell? Abba Isaiah was asked: what should a silent person observe in his cell? He answered: Let him who strives, as the Scripture says, abstain from all. He who cultivates true silence must continually prostrate himself before the all-good God in humility, carefully engage in prayer and with all his might drive away evil thoughts from himself: this is flight from the world. With such behavior and the mood of the ascetic, the Lord will curb the fury of his enemies. What can a person do? He is only flesh and blood. The silent one must peer into himself hourly to see if he has passed the demons that hold souls in the air? Did he free himself from them while still in earthly life? He is not freed if he is enslaved by them; he must strive and ask God for mercy. (Abba Isaiah) Again he said: The silent one must combine with his breath the feeling of the fear of God and constantly think about how to appear before the judgment of God. There is no fear of God in a person if his heart obeys sin; he is still far from God's mercy. (Abba Isaiah) I asked him: what should a silent person observe? He answered: the silent person needs the following three actions: constant remaining in fear and distrust of himself, unceasing aspiration to God in prayer asking for help and mercy, and constant vigilance over the heart. (Abba Isaiah) Again he said: A silent person must guard himself from hearing any unhelpful word. Otherwise, he will ruin all his work. (Abba Isaiah) Having retired to silence in your cell, set yourself to constantly consume such an amount of food that would satisfy the needs of the body, so that it remains capable of the feat performed for the sake of God, and does not force it to leave the cell due to exhaustion. But do not eat any kind of food, neither expensive nor cheap, out of passion for voluptuous desire. (Abba Isaiah) If, while you are silent in your cell, the seeds of filth (carnal lust) begin to sow in your heart; look, resist this attraction of your soul so that it does not prevail over you. Try to remember God and that He is co-present with you, that what you think in your heart is open to Him. Tell your soul: “If you are ashamed of sinners like you and are afraid that they will not see your sins, how much more should you be ashamed and fear God, before whom everything is open.” Such reflection awakens the fear of God in the soul. When you are established in it, passions will cease to shake you, as Scripture testifies: he who trusts in the Lord is like Mount Zion: he will not move for the living age in Jerusalem (Ps. 124). (Abba Isaiah) Those who want to remain silent with soul-beneficial silence must carefully protect themselves from everything that conceals silence, and not waste time indulging in mental captivity and bitter enslavement in the spirit, which draws the hearts of the silent into a mental activity that is unusual for them, in which they are left crying about their sins. (Abba Isaiah) While remaining silent in your cell, take special care of three activities: prayer, teaching, and handicrafts. (Abba Isaiah) The brother asked Abba Pimen: what should I think, silent in my cell? The elder answered: I am like a man mired in a swamp up to his neck, with a burden on his neck - and I cry out to God: have mercy on me. This saying depicts the inner work of Pimen the Great. All of it came together in a prayerful cry. Have mercy on me! This is an expression of crying that has penetrated into the soul. Crying, when it reaches its development, cannot be clothed in many thoughts and verbosity: it is content to express an immense spiritual feeling with the shortest prayer. Abba Stratigios said: endure your stay in your cell, keeping silent, protecting your mind from sinful and empty thoughts, praying unceasingly, placing your hope in God, and He will give you His (spiritual) mind and enlighten your mind. 10. Can a person who has neither the Divine pledge nor the pledge of this world remain silent in his cell? Abba John said: If a person has a Divine guarantee in his soul, then he can remain silent in his cell. Also, someone who, without a Divine pledge, can remain hopelessly in a cell, has a pledge of this world. One who has neither God’s deposit nor the deposit of this world cannot remain in a cell. This means: one who practices mental prayer and crying is satisfied and values ​​the silence of the cell; You can value being in a cell because of some kind of passion, for example, because of a passion for needlework for money-loving purposes. Without these pledges, staying in the cell is unbearable. 11. Should one who loves silence mix himself with those whose hearts are entirely directed towards vanity? If you love silence, do not mix yourself with those whose hearts are entirely directed towards vanity. If you happen to be with them by accident, act like a stranger to them. (Antony the Great) 12. How did the Holy Fathers, the ascetics of silence, relate to those who violated their silence? They told about Abba Pimen that he was silent in Skete with two of his brothers according to the flesh. The smaller one insulted him. And Pimen said to the other brother: the younger brother is disturbing our silence: let’s get up and leave from here. Without saying anything to the younger brother, they left. The brother, noticing that they were not returning for a long time, left the cell to see where they were, and saw that they were already far away. Then, screaming, he ran after them. Abba Pimen said to the brother who was walking with him: let’s wait for the brother, because he is working. They stopped. The younger brother, having overtaken them, asked: where are you going, leaving me? The elder answered him: we are leaving you because you are destroying our life. The younger brother said to this: truly, truly, I say to you, wherever you go, I will go with you. The elder, seeing his kindness, said to the other brother: he is not doing this intentionally, but the enemy is using him as his weapon. And they returned to their cell. Abba Pimen's younger brother, Paisius, made acquaintance with some monks from other cells, contrary to Pimen's wishes. Pimen went to Abba Ammon and told him: my brother Paisius made acquaintance with strangers, from which I had no peace. Abba Ammon answered him: Pimen! and are you still alive? Go and stay in your cell, and have it in your heart that a year has already passed since you were in the grave. 13. Is it permissible for someone who labors in complete silence to give alms and show love to others through physical deeds? Any alms, or love, or mercy, or anything else, done invisible for the sake of God, but preventing your silence, turning your eye to the world, plunging you into care, tearing you away from the remembrance of God, cutting off your prayers, introducing indignation and fickleness of thoughts into you, forbidding you from edifying yourself with Divine reading, this weapon against soaring, weakening storage yours, forcing you to go out after seclusion and to return to the society of people after solitude, awakening buried passions in you, resolving the bonds that bind your feelings, resurrecting your mortification for the world, reducing you from angelic work, concentrated in the care of one thing, placing you in the category of laymen - may such truth perish! Fulfilling the duty of love with bodily services belongs to the activities of the laity or monks, but insufficient, who are not in silence, or in the silent, but whose silence is connected with cohabitation with like-minded brethren, and therefore with constant leaving the cell and receiving the brethren into the cell. For such people it is good and praiseworthy (to show love for the brethren through bodily deeds). (Venerable Isaac of Syria) Those who have truly chosen seclusion from the world with body and mind, in order to concentrate their thoughts in solitary prayer through mortification to everything that is transitory, to the vision of the objects of the world and to their remembrance, should serve Christ not with bodily deeds and not with external righteousness in order to be justified by it, but by mortifying, according to the word of the Apostle, their lives, even on earth (Col. 3:5), by sacrificing the pure and blameless thoughts, these beginnings of self-cultivation, bodily suffering in enduring troubles for the sake of hope for the future. Monastic life is equivalent to angelic life. We must not abandon the work of heaven and stick to the work of material things. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) A certain elder said: “I marvel at those who embarrass themselves in the matter of silence in order to serve others in the physical.” - He said again: “We should not mix concern for anything else with the matter of silence. Let every deed be honored in its place, so that our life is not mixed. He who cares for many becomes the slave of many; He who has left everything and cares about the order of his soul becomes a friend of God. Look: there are many who give alms and fulfill the duty of love for others in the body and among the world; workers of good silence, who have devoted themselves entirely to it, are hardly found and are rare. Who of those who give alms in the midst of the world, or do justice through the service of the body, has been able to achieve at least one of those gifts that are awarded from God to those who live in silence?” Again he said: If you are a layman, then remain in the habit of worldly virtues. If you are a monk, then shine with the deeds with which monks excel. If you want to practice the virtues of both lifestyles, then you will fall away from both. The deeds of a monk are the following: freedom from bodily activities, bodily labor in prayer and unceasing heartfelt remembrance of God (that is, the memory of God or teaching). Judge for yourself: is it possible for you, leaving this, to be satisfied with worldly virtues? (Venerable Isaac of Syria) 14. Is it not possible for a monk who suffers in silence to acquire these two residences, i.e. with care for God, to have a different care in your heart? If someone who wants to live in silence, I think, does not leave everything and does not concentrate all his cares in caring for his one soul, then he will not be able to abundantly satisfy with his life the work characteristic of the silent, even if he places himself outside the cares of life. Moreover, this will happen to him when he allows himself to care about something else. The Lord, having left Himself some to serve Him in the midst of the world and to care for His children, chose others to serve before Him. One can see the difference in ranks not only in the courts of earthly kings, where those who constantly stand before the face of the king and are admitted into his secrets are more glorious than those who are used for external service: the same is seen in the Heavenly King. Those who are constantly in mysterious communication and conversation with Him through prayer, such as they have acquired free access to Him! What riches are awarded in heaven and earth, what power they show over all creation! More than those who serve God with their property and worldly cares, pleasing Him by doing good deeds, although this is great and very good. And therefore, we must choose as a model of imitation not the last ones, meager in pleasing God, but the holy sufferers and ascetics who shone with their life, abandoned the things of this world and cultivated the Heavenly Kingdom on earth, those who once and for all abandoned the earthly and raised their hands to the gates of Heaven. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) Page. 256 (28) How did the ancient Saints, who paved the way for us to live this life, please God? Saint John the Thebean, the treasury of virtues, the source of prophecy, pleased God within his seclusion, either by serving the brethren physically, or by prayer and silence. I will not dispute that many have pleased God in the first way, but not enough have pleased God through prayer and forsaking everything. It is clear what the help of those who remain in silence and enjoy it, their brethren, should consist of: in helping us with a soul-saving word in times of need and in offering prayer for us. Apart from this, if any worldly remembrance and care remain in the heart of someone who lives in silence, then this is alien to spiritual wisdom. What is said in Scripture: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to the Gods of God (Matthew 22:21), neighbor to neighbor and everyone belonging to him, is not said to those who are silent, but to those who live outside of silence. Those who live in the rank of angels, caring for the soul, are not commanded to please God with everyday care, that is, to take care of handicrafts, to accept from some and give to others. And therefore, a monk should not be concerned about anything that shakes his mind and brings him down from standing before the face of God. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) If anyone, in refutation of this, points to the Divine Apostle Paul, that he worked with his own hands and gave alms, then we will tell him that only Paul could do this; We don’t know anyone else like him, who would be enough for everything, as Paul was enough. Show me another Paul like him, and I will submit to you. Do not set forth what happens according to God’s will as a rule for general activity. One is the work of evangelism and another is the work of silence. But you, if you want to remain silent, be like the Cherubim, who do not care about anything worldly, and do not think that anyone else exists on earth except you and God, to whom all your attention is directed, as you were taught by the Fathers who were before you. If someone does not harden his heart and firmly restrain himself from mercy, so as to stand far from care in everything below, and from that care that seems to be accepted for the sake of God, and from all everyday things, and does not remain in prayer, in one prayer at certain times, then he will not be able to free himself from confusion and care and remain in silence. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) When the thought comes to you of worrying about something about virtue, which may waste the silence that is in your heart: then tell this thought: the path of love and mercy is good for God’s sake, but for God’s sake I do not desire it. “Stop, father,” said a certain monk: “For God’s sake, I want to follow you.” And for God’s sake, he answered, I’m running away from you. Abba Arseny did not talk to anyone, either for spiritual edification or for anything else; another elder, for God’s sake, talked throughout the day and received all the strange people who came to him; Arseny instead chose silence and stillness, and for this reason he was in conversation with the Divine Spirit in the middle of the sea of ​​real life, which sailed in the greatest silence on the ship of silence, as he was shown in a vision to the ascetics who asked God about it. The ultimate law of silence is silence about everything. If, living in silence, you find yourself filled with confusion, disturbing your body with the works of your hands and your soul with your worries, what kind of silence is there then when caring about many things? Is it then possible to please God? Judge for yourself. It is unconscionable for us to claim that it is possible to live in silence properly, without abandoning everything and without withdrawing from all care. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) Just as all the power of the laws and commandments given by God to humanity has its limit in purity of heart, so all the images (forms) and rules in which people offer their prayers to God, according to the teaching of the Fathers, have their limit in pure prayer. And sighs, and kneeling, and prayers from the depths of the heart, and the sweetest laments, in a word, all forms of prayer, as I said, have their limit in pure prayer; before sensation, the mind has the power to act. When the mind crosses this limit and through pure prayer enters the inner cell, then it will no longer have any prayer, no movements, no crying, no power, no autocracy, no supplication, no desire, no sympathy for anything hoped for in this life or belonging to the future. For this reason, after pure prayer there is no other prayer. Even to this limit, in all its movements and images, the mind is guided by the freedom of autocracy, which is why feat is felt in prayer. What happens after this limit is passed is a state of ecstatic surprise, and not prayer: because the forms of action of prayer have ceased, vision has come and the mind does not pray with prayer. Every form of prayer is accomplished by the action of the mind; when the mind enters a spiritual state, then, in this state, it has no prayer. Another is prayer, and another is the vision in it, although prayer is the initial cause of vision. She is the sowing, and the vision is the harvest, in which the reaper, having become a spectator of the ineffable vision, is surprised how such beautiful ears of grain suddenly grew from the smallest and bare grains he sown. Such a one remains in his vision outside of any movement (action). (Venerable Isaac of Syria) Divine Gregory (Sinaite) said to Divine Maxim (Kapsokalivi): I beg you, tell me clearly: during prayer, when the mind ascends to God, what does it see with spiritual eyes? Can he even offer prayer with his heart? Saint Maximus answered: he absolutely cannot. When during prayer the grace of the Holy Spirit comes and takes over the mind, then the prayer stops: because the mind is possessed by the coming of the Holy Spirit and cannot set its powers in motion, but is idle and submits only to the Holy Spirit, where the Holy Spirit leads it, or to the immaterial air of the Divine and ineffable Light, or to another ecstatic vision and inexplicable in words, or to a Divine conversation: that is, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, according to His will, gives consolation to everyone autocratically according to his dignity. What I say is clearly seen in the Prophets and Apostles, who were honored to see great visions, although people mocked them, calling them deceived and drunk. Isaiah says: I saw the Lord on the throne on high and exalted and Seraphim standing around Him (Is. 6:1–2). The First Martyr Stephen saw the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. In the same way, now the servants of Christ are honored to see various spiritual visions, which some do not believe, do not want to recognize them as true, but recognize delusion, and those who see them are considered deceived. I am very surprised how these, blind in soul, do not believe the grace of the Spirit, promised from ancient times through Joel, who in the presence of God said: I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh and will prophesy (Joel 2:28). Christ still gives this grace and will give it even until the end of the world, according to His promise, to His faithful servants. This grace, when it is in someone, does not show him anything ordinary or sensual that belongs to this world, but secretly teaches him what he has never seen or imagined before. Then the mind secretly learns the lofty and hidden mysteries, which, according to the Divine Paul, neither the human eye can see nor the mind comprehend by itself. To know how the mind sees them, listen to what I say: far from the fire, wax is cruel and can be taken by hand, but when placed in the fire, it melts, ignites, burns, becomes all light, changes in this flame, and it is impossible for it not to melt in the flame and become like water. So the human mind, by itself, before uniting with the Lord, reasons in accordance with its strength, but when it unites with the fire of the Divine and the Holy Spirit, then we are all possessed by this Divine Light, become all light, ignite in the flame of the Holy Spirit, are filled with the Divine mind, and it is impossible for it, in the flame of the Divine, to have its own thoughts and reflect on anything arbitrarily. When, being in silence, you turn to handicrafts, then do not imagine that the commandment of the Fathers could serve as a veil for your love of money. Let your handicraft be small, for the sake of your despondency, and not disturb your mind. If you want to do more handicraft for alms, then know that prayer in the order of virtues is higher than alms. But if for the needs of your body: then, if you are not insatiable, what God sends to you by His providence is enough for you to satisfy your needs. For God never left His workers so that they would lack in transitory things. Seek, said the Lord, first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you before you ask (Matthew 6:33). One of the Saints said that the rule of your residence is not that you satisfy the hungry and that your cell be a host to strangers: because this is the residence of the worldly; They should do these good deeds, and not hermits, free from visible worries and keeping their minds in prayer. (Venerable Isaac of Syria) 15. What examples of true love for silence did the Holy Fathers show in their lives? One day, a local ruler took into custody one of Abba Pimen’s relatives. Other relatives came to the Abba and asked him to go to the governor and intercede on behalf of the prisoner. Abba answered them: give me three days, and then I will go. During these three days he prayed to God like this: Lord! do not give me success in this matter: otherwise they will not allow me to stay in this place, constantly involving me in worldly concerns. After three days, he came to the governor to petition for his relative. The ruler said to him: Abba! Are you asking for a robber? Having received such an answer, the elder rejoiced that God had not given him success in this matter. “All alms,” says Saint Isaac of Syria to the silent man, or love, or mercy, in a word, everything that is apparently recognized as a deed for the sake of God, but distracts from silence, draws your attention to the world, plunges you into care and worries, interrupts the memory of God in you, interrupts your prayers, introduces rebellion and various hesitations into your thoughts, prevents you from reading the Divine Scriptures, weakens your protection, forces you, after your entry into the seclusion, to exit it and after withdrawing from people to communicate with people, awakens the passions buried in you from sleep, loosens the bridle by which your feelings are curbed, resurrects your mortification for the world, reduces you from the heights of angelic deeds to human virtues - all this, all these truths, perish. Fulfilling the duty of love for neighbors in satisfying their bodily needs belongs to the work of the laity or monks, who are not sufficient for complete silence, but in their silence remain in communion with their neighbors, constantly allowing themselves to leave the cell and receive visitors to the cell. This is by no means the non-action of the true silent ones.” It is impossible to satisfy both works: physical service to others and service through prayer and teaching the word of God, as the holy Apostles said. They, having left others to take care of the bodily needs of the brotherhood, chose to remain in prayer and the word of God. The monks who achieved high spiritual success did exactly the same. The general order for monastics is that beginners fulfill the Gospel commandments physically, gradually learning to fulfill them spiritually, and those who succeed fulfill them spiritually, ascending from self-view and experienced self-knowledge to experienced knowledge of God and acquiring the living Word of God by uniting through prayer into one spirit with God. Only such a word can bring significant benefit to others, change and renew their souls with its grace-filled power and life. This is said here to explain monastic residence. If Paisius, Pimen’s contemporary and brother, seemed cruel in his words and deeds, all the more conveniently can they seem so in our time, when spiritual virtues are forgotten, trampled upon, ridiculed, when only bodily virtues are worshiped, performed in the spirit of the world, opposite and hostile to the Gospel. Next we will see with what amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit the wisdom and life of Pimen are imprinted and witnessed. It is attested by God Himself. Subsequently, another ruler of the country, having heard a lot about Blessed Pimen, wanted to see him and went to him by messenger, asking permission to visit him. This made Pimen very sad. He thought to himself. If noble persons begin to greet and respect me, it is obvious that many people from the people will begin to flock to me, and this will necessarily disturb my silence and the hidden mental activity in it, and it will not be inconvenient, through the action of an evil demon, for the grace of humility to depart from me, which I tried to acquire from my youth with great difficulty with the help of God, and for me to get bogged down in the nets of vanity. Reasoning this way, he refused a meeting with the ruler and did not accept him. The ruler was upset at this and said to those around him: I attribute the fact that I was not worthy to see the man of God to my sins. However, the ruler did not leave the strong desire to see the holy man in any way. He came up with the following means to secure this meeting for himself: he ordered the son of Blessed Pimen’s sister to be seized and put in prison, so that, due to this circumstance, the elder would either receive the ruler to himself, or he himself would come to the ruler to petition for his nephew. At the same time, the ruler said to his entourage: tell the holy elder not to be upset by my action, because his nephew will immediately be released from prison if the elder comes to me; The nephew's guilt, however, is such that he cannot be released from prison without being punished. The young man's mother, the sister of Saint Pimen, hearing this, went to the desert where her brother lived, stood before the door of his cell, asking him with tears and sobs to go to the ruler and ask him for her son. But blessed Pimen not only did not answer her anything, but did not even open the door and did not come out to her. Then she began to shower him with curses. Cruel, she cried, wicked, iron-hearted! How is it that my bitter cry does not incline you to mercy? I have one son, and he is in danger of death! Then the elder ordered the brother who served him to tell her: Pimen did not give birth to children and therefore has no sorrow for them. The ruler, hearing this, said to his friends: tell him that he at least write a letter to me, and I will release his nephew. Then, having been persuaded by many, the elder wrote to the governor the following: May your honor command that the guilt of the prisoner be carefully examined, and if he has done anything worthy of death, let him die, let him by a violent death clear his crime in this century in order to avoid eternal torment in Gehenna. If he has not done anything worthy of the death penalty, then give him the order indicated by the laws. The ruler, having received this letter, immediately released the young man from prison. 16. What is higher before God: silence or service to others? They told the following about a certain brother who came to the Skete with the aim of seeing Abba Arseny: this brother came to the skete church and earnestly asked the clergy to give him the opportunity to see the elder. They told him: stay here for a while and you will see him. The brother answered: I will not eat any food before I see him. Then the clergy sent one of the monastery brethren to accompany the strange brother to the elder’s cell, which was located at a very long distance from the monastery church. Having reached the cell and knocking on the door, they entered the cell; Having greeted the elder, they sat down and sat for a long time, remaining in silence. Finally the skete brother said: I’m leaving - pray for me. The strange brother did not dare to start a conversation with the elder and said to the monastery: I too am going with you. They both went out together, and the strange brother of the monastery asked: take me to Abba Moses, who entered into monasticism from the robbers. When they came to the Abba, he received them very warmly, gave them wise and holy instruction, and sent them away, expressing great love. Then the monastery brother said to the wanderer: Behold! Here! I took you to a stranger and to an Egyptian: which of the two did you like more? He answered: however, the Egyptian came to my heart more. Some of the Fathers, hearing this, prayed to God, saying: Lord! Reveal to me the secret of the matter: one runs away from everyone for the sake of Your name, and the other receives everyone for the sake of Your name. And so! In a vision he saw two great ships on vast waters. In one ship he saw Abba Arseny, silently sailing, and the Spirit of God with him, and in the other, Abba Moses, sailing in the company of Angels, who fed him with honey flowing from the honeycomb.