A brief account of the life of the Venerable Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet

“A Brief Account of the Life of the Venerable Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet” (“The Book of Barsanuphius and John”) was first published in Venice in 1816. The work is a biography of two great Orthodox ascetics of the 6th century - St. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet, compiled by St. Nicodemus Svyatogorets. Since the detailed lives of these holy fathers have not reached us, the Monk Nicodemus carefully collected information about their lives and spiritual exploits directly from their own spiritual teachings and answers to questions from their contemporaries. The book reveals the images of Saints Barsanuphius and John as the greatest ascetics who achieved the highest degrees of spiritual perfection. The Monk Barsanuphius, who spent more than 50 years in strict seclusion, was granted the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit: insight, miracles, healings, and even the power to bind and solve sins. His disciple, the Monk John, acquired similar gifts, especially the gift of prophecy, for which he was called a Prophet. The work of St. Nicodemus not only introduces the lives of the saints, but also serves as an introduction to their literary heritage - a collection of 850 answers (“Questions and Answers”), which is a guide to spiritual life for monks and laity. *The title of the work in Greek is Βίβλος Βαρσανουφίου κα ᾿Ιωάννου. The writers of this God-wise and most beneficial book were truly God-bearing, Christ-bearing and spirit-bearing Fathers Barsanuphius and John - models of asceticism, witchers of silence, lamps of reasoning, unceasing eyes of clairvoyance, treasuries of virtues, receptacles of the Holy Spirit. But time, which crushes everything and covers good things with the darkness of oblivion, has not left us a story about the lives of these God-bearing luminaries Barsanuphius and John; and therefore, I, weak, tried to select from their own book offered here some private evidence (about their lives) and present it to those who wish to know by what virtues these God-bearing fathers achieved the extreme perfection accessible to mortals. The great and divine father Barsanuphius was born in Egypt, as Evagrius the scholastic testifies in the 32nd chapter of the 4th book of his Church history. And from the 55th answer of the elder himself it is clear that he was taught Egyptian and Greek. This ever-memorable husband from a young age wanted to lead an ascetic life. Once passing by a horse race, where people, along with dumb animals, start running, and seeing how one there is trying to warn and overtake the other, he said to himself mentally: “Do you see how hard the servants of the devil strive? Shouldn’t we, the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, strive all the more?” And having become even more zealous through this spectacle, Saint Barsanuphius retired to spiritual asceticism, as another elder John writes about him (in answer 450). Having arrived in the vicinity of Gaza in Palestine and finding there the communal monastery of Abba Serid, he first built himself a small cell outside the monastery and, shutting himself up in it, enjoyed the sweetest honey of silence (as can be seen from the 221st answer). It seems that he built himself another reclusive cell and remained silent in it, but where he built it is unknown; one can only assume that it is near the same monastery. At the beginning of his silence, they brought him from the monastery only three loaves of bread a week, which he ate (answer 72), but at the same time he indulged in tears, and drew such sweetness from his tears that from the feeling of this indescribable sweetness he was content with only one small loaf, and many times forgot to eat that too, in the words of David: “I forgot to take my bread. Because of the voice of my groaning my bone cleaves to my flesh” (Ps. 102:5-6). So he ate food sometimes twice a week, sometimes once, and sometimes, coming to the meal, he approached the food as if full and, accepting it, condemned himself, saying: “Why am I not always in such a state,” for from the sweetness of spiritual food he forgot the sensual (answer 96). And what is even more surprising is that he could even spend his entire life without eating food or drink or putting on clothing, for his food, drink and clothing was the Holy Spirit (response 78). Over time, washing himself with constant tears, the blessed one so cleansed his heart not only from physical, but also from spiritual passions: conceit, vanity, man-pleasing, wickedness and other similar ones, even deeper hidden in the heart, that he became above the arrows of the enemy, acquired a world of thoughts, which is the repository of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as the divine Gregory of Thessalonica says (in his Word to the nun Xenia), acquired also that in him all passionate movement and wisdom fell asleep, or, better to say, died, which is why he called his shutter a tomb, as another elder John explained when he asked: why did the great elder call his cell that? answered: because he rested from all passions, for he completely died to sin, and his cell, in which he was imprisoned, as if in a tomb, for the sake of the name of Jesus, is a place of rest, where neither the demon nor his prince, the devil, enters; it became a sanctuary, containing within itself the dwelling of God (response 73). From the very time when he cleansed his heart from passions and became worthy to be the church and dwelling of the Holy Spirit, as a result of such purity he was enriched with highly creative, true and perfect humility, not that, I say, external humility that consists of humble clothes and humble words, but that which, according to the word of the great Gregory of Thessalonica (see his word to the nun Xenia), creates the Holy Spirit, renewed in the womb (see. Ps. 50:12). Why do the fathers, especially the divine Gregory of Sinai, call this humility God-given. Humility, according to Barsanuphius himself, consists in considering oneself earth and ashes in deed, and not just in words; and to say: Who am I? and who counts me for anything? I have nothing to do with anyone (answer 191). Through such humility (the great elder) he was awarded the greatest of all virtues - reasoning, which, according to the same Barsanuphius, was given from God to the monk as a steward. And in the words of the divine Meletius the Confessor: “Reasoning is the ascension of virtues, the beginning, middle and end of all good things, a lamp shining in darkness, a guide for the erring, a refuge for the overwhelmed” (Step. 166). From reasoning, the great Barsanuphius was honored to receive insight, which, according to the explanation of St. Peter of Damascus, comprehends the mental and hidden essences of sensory and mental creatures. Through insight, he was honored to receive the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy in order to see what is happening in the distance as if it were nearby, and the future as if it were present. This gift was given to this blessed father in such abundance that two years in advance he foreknew and foretold the arrival at their community of the Monk John, a monk of Saint Sava of the monastery (Ans. 1). He also foresaw and predicted that some rich people would come to the monastery and stay there to live (answer 31). He also knew, by grace, the heartfelt dispositions of people and answered those who questioned him, not in accordance with their words, but in accordance with the direction of their minds and thoughts (answers 54 and 161). And his predictions were confirmed by the deed itself. So he predicted about the prince sent by the king to place an unworthy bishop on the throne of Gaza, and that “although this bishop will reach the city gates, he will not enter the city, for God will not allow him to do so.” And indeed this is what happened: the news of the king’s death was suddenly received, and all the bishop’s hopes and plans were destroyed (rep. 812). Who is able to depict the overwhelming love of this blessed one for God? For he carried in his heart the love for Christ, burning like a powerful fiery flame, as he himself testifies (answer 109). Therefore, nothing could lead it to fall, for love, according to the apostle’s saying, “falls away in no way” (1 Cor. 13:8), and, according to the divine Barsanuphius, perfect love never falls, and the one who acquires it remains in ardor, kindling together with love for God and neighbor. Who can explain the love for his neighbor that burned in him? The compassionate father did not stop day and night to beg God to make all the brothers God-bearing. Let us listen to his own words about this: “Even before your request, for the sake of the love burning in me (like the strongest fiery flame) for Christ, who said: “Love your sincere as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), from its ignition and because I am burning in spirit, I do not cease day and night to pray to God to make you God-bearing, so that He dwelt in you and walked around you, and sent down the Holy Spirit... I was for you like a father who tries to include his children in the bright regiments of the king, without their own concern for this” (answer 109). And the elder not only prayed to God about this, but also actually accomplished that the brethren became truly God-bearing and spirit-bearing. So Serida, the abbot of the monastery, was enlightened by the great elder with his prayer and opened his mind to comprehend the incomprehensible (answer 10). And with his prayers he brought down the Holy Spirit on Saint Andrew in order to strengthen him in patience and thanksgiving (response 211), for his prayers ascended to God like shining lightning and like rays of the sun, so that the Father rejoiced with them, the Son rejoiced and the Holy Spirit was delighted (response 110), and in all useful petitions they were heard. Burning with such love for his neighbor, this heavenly man, imitating Christ, laid down his soul for his brothers and gave an answer to God for them (answers 57 and 58), for he saw and covered the sins of men, just as God sees and covers them (answers 236). For the sake of such an abundance of love for his neighbor, he was given, directly from God, (the power) to bind and solve sins (answer 207), which constitutes the perfection of gifts, as Barsanuphius himself says that the perfection of gifts (is) “to forgive sins, free souls from darkness and bring them into the light” (answer 211). That is why the Lord gave the apostles various gifts before His resurrection, and gave them this perfection of gifts after the resurrection, according to the same Barsanuphius: “Consider in the Gospel how and how many times Christ gave to His disciples the gifts of healing, casting out demons, and the perfection (of gifts) - when He gave them the power to forgive sins, saying to them: “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven” (John 20:23).” (answer 10). And since the great Barsanuphius was honored to receive this gift to forgive sins, he once said to one sick brother in the monastery who asked for forgiveness of sins: “God, the Great King, says to you: all your sins are forgiven you” (answer 144); and another time he said to another brother who was in consumption: “At your request, God has forgiven you all your sins from childhood to the present time. Blessed be God, who was willing to forgive you everything” (answer 146). Sometimes the elder took upon himself half of the sins of some (neighbors), sometimes even their entire burden (answers 163, 164 and 236). For others he worked, praying to God that He would blot out the sin of their blasphemy; for this is how he answered his brother who had fallen into blasphemy: “Keep your mouth, so as not to fall again into the cruelest blasphemy, even if it were necessary to lay down your very soul. I shed a lot of sweat, begging God for this” (answer 228). The great elder betrayed the souls of some dying people to the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and, upon their ascent to heaven, freed them from demonic attacks (answer 145). In a word, the great Barsanuphius achieved the measure of love for his neighbor that the Apostle Paul had, and before Paul, the great seer of God, Moses; why Barsanuphius himself uttered Moses’ own words, as he himself writes: “Believe me, brother, that my spirit earnestly prompts me to say to my Master, who rejoices over the salvation of His servants: “Master! either bring my children with me into Thy Kingdom, or blot me out from Thy book" (answer 110). Shall I tell you more? Blessed Barsanuphius, according to the words of the divine David, placed sacred ascents in his heart and added humility to humility, silence to silence and love to love, and was finally honored to achieve the highest gift - admiration for God, in order to ascend to the seventh heaven, not on the dreamy wings of thought, but in the ineffable power of the Spirit, and there receive blessings and see the ineffable blessings and secrets of the Kingdom God, not knowing whether he was in the body or outside the body, like the great Paul. Let us listen to what the great Barsanuphius himself says about this: “God will assure you that love raises those who have it to the seventh heaven, just as some already ascend with boldness and are blessed, “whether in the body or apart from the body we know not, God knows” (2 Cor. 12.3); and in order to know the beginning of the path to this joy, listen: “First of all, the Holy Spirit comes to man, teaching him everything, and how to be humble, which you cannot hear about now; then, instructed by this first ignition, he ascends to the first heaven, then to the second, and so on, as he succeeds, even to the seventh. And there you are rewarded with seeing unspeakable and terrible things, which no one can hear except those who reach this measure, which may the Lord vouchsafe you too" (answer 109). That is why he was given the abundant gift of miracles, so that he could raise the dead in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, cast out demons, heal incurable diseases, perform other powers and miracles and, like Elijah, close and open the sky, as the great Barsanuphius himself says this about himself, or, better said, as God testifies, who gave him these gifts (see answer 181). Therefore, he (the great Barsanuphius) also delivered the elder who lived in the monastery from the illness from which he suffered (answers 172, 173); He similarly healed another sick brother (512, 513). After all this (the great elder) was honored to be not only the son of God by grace, but also what is more worthy of surprise - to be called and to be the brother of Jesus, as he himself says: “Pray for me, the accursed one, that I too may remain in this measure to the end. He who abides in her has already become the brother of Jesus” (answer 181). And when the worldly brother of this saint, old in years, wanted to talk with him, the saint answered him: “I have a brother Jesus. If you, despising the world, become a monk, then you too will be my brother” (answer 345). When the divine Barsanuphius achieved such perfection, he received such great boldness towards God that he alone could pray to God for an innumerable multitude of people, and his request was not rejected (see answer 110). Therefore, when during the (life) of this divine father great wrath (of God) befell the whole world and the fathers who were silent in that hostel asked the holy elder to make prayers to God so that His anger would cease, he answered that three perfect men begged God for the whole world, and one of these three was the great Barsanuphius himself. Here are the saint’s own words: “Many pray to God, the lover of mankind, that this anger of Him against the world will cease, and there is no one more loving than God; but (for all this) He does not want to have mercy on us, for the multitude of sins committed in the world resists this. There are three men, perfect before God, who have surpassed the measure of humanity and received the power to decide and bind, to forgive sins and to retain them. They stand between destruction and peace, so that the Lord does not suddenly destroy the whole world and, through their prayers, He dissolves punishment with mercy; They were told that this wrath would remain for a short time. So, pray with them. The prayers of these three men merge at the entrance of the high altar of the Father of lights, and they rejoice and rejoice with each other in heaven. When they look at the earth, they cry and shed tears together, and weep for the evils committed on it, which raise the wrath of God. These men are: John in Rome, Elijah in Corinth and someone else in the diocese of Jerusalem (that is, Barsanuphius himself, who says this, for he was silent near Gaza in the diocese of Jerusalem), and I believe that they show (the world) great mercy, truly they do. Amen" (rep. 566). Since in saints who have received grace from God, not only their mind and soul are sanctified, but also their sacred bodies, through the soul, receive grace and sanctification, then in Saint Barsanuphius not only the soul and mind were imbued with grace and sanctified, but also his sacred body was awarded Divine grace and holiness, and things that were close to the saint received some Divine power and grace. Just as, according to what was said in the Acts of the Apostles, the “chief heavyweights and ubrustsy” of the Apostle Paul healed the sick: “for even on the sick bodies the chief heavyweights and ubrustsy applied sweat to their bodies, and they were healed of their illnesses” (Acts 19:12), so the doll of the great Barsanuphius, sent by him to John at the monastery of St. Sava, protected this latter from many temptations and evils (answer 1). Also, another venerable father sent his kukol and Analav to the great Barsanuphius, asking him to wear them, consecrate them and then return them to him, so that he would have protection and help in them (answer 123). Many received blessings from Saint Barsanuphius, i.e. a piece of the bread that he ate, and a little of the water that he drank, and, taking them, they felt relief from the passions of which they were fighting (see, answers 43, 44, 169). But the name of Abba Barsanuphius alone, only mentally invoked, acted and gave help to those who called upon it, just as another elder, the divine John, said to the abbot of the monastery, Elian, to his question: what answer should everyone give? “Mentally ask the holy elder: “Abba, what should I say?” And, according to the commandment of the Lord (see Matt. 10:19), do not worry about what you say” (see answer 592). The great Father Barsanuphius was honored to receive such great talents and achieve such great perfection of virtues; however, such great talents were brought up in him with such temptations that many not only cannot endure in practice, but even their hearing will not be able to accommodate them. Listen to how he himself writes about this (in his letter) to John of the Savva monastery: “If I write to you about the temptations that I have endured, I think that your ears, and maybe no one’s, will not bear this yet” (answer 13). Equally, the blessed one was exposed to great illnesses, but he endured them with such valor that, being sick, he not only never sat down on his bed for peace of mind, but did not even leave his handicrafts (answer 165). And this allowing of illnesses on him was completely fair; for for their great gifts the saints are subjected to great temptations, and if someone does not shed blood, he cannot receive the Holy Spirit, as Peter of Damascus said: “Give the blood and receive the Spirit.” This saint lived in the 6th century, during the time of King Justinian, and for fifty years or more not a single person saw him, 1 for he shut himself up in a very small cell, as if in some kind of tomb, and during that time he did not eat any other food except bread and water. When the rumor about all this reached Eustochius, the then Patriarch of Jerusalem, he did not believe it and wanted to see (Saint Barsanuphius) in person; for which, taking with him some people, he brought them to the place of the saint’s retreat, and when they tried to dig up the wall and enter inside the cell, a fire that suddenly burst out from there almost burned Eustochius himself and everyone who was with him, as the scholastic Evagrius testifies to this in the 34th chapter of the 4th book of his Church history, speaking (about this) like this: “There were at the same time men God-bearing ones who performed great signs; Among them, Barsanuphius, a native of Egypt, became especially famous. He lived in the flesh, as if disembodied, in one monastery near the city of Gaza and performed many miracles; He spent his life secluded in a very small cell and for “fifty years or more did not show himself to anyone” 2 and did not consume anything earthly 3 ; and when, not believing this, Eustochius, the high priest of Jerusalem, ordered to dig up the cell in which the man of God had shut himself up, fire suddenly burst out from there and almost burned everyone who was there. After the dormition of the great Barsanuphius, when he went to the fathers and to the Christ he longed for, one elder who lived in the monastery was laid in his tomb, 4 as the most divine Barsanuphius himself prophesied during his lifetime” (answer 152). You should know that there were two Barsanuphias: one was this holy and most Orthodox father, the other was a heretic who adhered to the heresy of the Monophysites, who were also called headless and ten-horned, for they considered not one person, but many, the leaders of their heresy. The divine Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, included that heretic Barsanuphius in a book that contained a confession of faith and which he sent to the Sixth Holy and Ecumenical Council gathered against the Monothelites. This divine Barsanuphius, about whom we are telling, was a completely Orthodox man in everything, and the Church of Christ reveres him as a saint, which was confirmed by the holy Patriarch Tarasius, being questioned about this by Saint Theodore the Studite. Theodore the Studite himself testifies to this in his Testament, saying this: “I accept the entire God-inspired book of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the lives and divine writings of all God-bearing fathers, teachers and ascetics. I say this for the sake of the evil Pamphilus, who, having come from the East, slandered these reverend fathers, that is, Mark, Isaiah, Barsanuphius, Dorotheus and Hesychius, not those Barsanuphius and Dorotheus, who were of the same mind with the acephalites and with the so-called dekakerat (ten-horned) and were anathematized for this by Saint Sophronius in his book, for these are completely different from the ones I mentioned above, which I, according to the tradition of the fathers, accept, having asked about this the holy patriarch Tarasius and other reliable Eastern fathers; in addition, the image of Barsanuphius is on the enditium (robe of the throne) of the great Church 5 along with images of the holy fathers Anthony, Ephraim and others; and in the teachings of the above-mentioned fathers I did not find not only the slightest wickedness, but, on the contrary, much spiritual benefit.” Another elder, the Monk John, lived the same silent life as Barsanuphius, and was granted the same gifts of the Spirit as he was, especially and especially the gifts of clairvoyance and prophecy, which is why he was called a prophet. Therefore, the great Barsanuphius said to one person, who first asked the divine John and, having received an answer from him, asked Barsanuphius himself about the same thing: “The God of Barsanuphius and John is one” (answer 220). Also, when some asked him to tell them about the life of John, he answered like this: “Concerning the life of my unanimous son, a blessed and humble obedient, who in everything rejected all his desires, even to the point of death, what should I tell you? The Lord said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). And about the student he said: “Let him be like his teacher” (Matthew 10:25). “Have ears to hear and let him hear” (Matthew 13:9).” (Ans. 129.) With these words the saint wanted to show that the divine John was in every way like his father and teacher Barsanuphius; the same thing appears from another circumstance: when some asked the divine John about (some) matters, he used to send the questioners to the great Barsanuphius himself so that he would give them an answer; John did this out of humility, which is why at one time a certain Christ-loving man said to him: “Why are you mocking us, Father John, sending us to question the holy and great elder Father Barsanuphius, while you have the same power of the Spirit as him?” (Issue 792). Where the Monk John was from and came here, we do not know. He lived in the first cell of the great Barsanuphius, which the latter created outside the Gaza monastery, and remained silent here for 18 years until his death (answer 221). No one saw him ever smile, or be embarrassed, or partake of the Divine Mysteries without tears, as the abbot of that monastery testified about him (rep. 568). The Monk John foresaw and predicted many things regarding life and death (responses 785 and 786), and together with the elder Barsanuphius, he healed a certain Christ-loving and hospitable man from illness (responses 793). Also, by the gift of foresight, he chose for ordination exactly those who were worthy of this (response 811). For the sake of the rich gift of prophecy, which was given to him from the Lord, he was called by many, as we have already said, John the Prophet. That is why the Monk Nikon inscribed on two books containing the answers of this father: John the Prophet. This venerable John also foreknew about his death, about which he said: “In the weeks of Abba Serida I will die. If Abba Serid had lived longer, I would have lived another five years, but as God hid this from me and took it, then I will not live any longer” (answer 221). But since Abba Elian, then still young in years, having been tonsured and appointed hegumen of the monastery, not knowing the monastery regulations and how the brethren should be governed, begged the divine John: “Give me at least two weeks so that I can question you regarding the monastery and its management”; therefore, the elder, taking pity on him and being moved by the Holy Spirit living in him, said: “Okay, I will stay with you for another two weeks.” And Abba Elian asked him about everything related to the management of the hostel. At the end of two weeks, the monk called all the monastic brethren and, having greeted each one especially, sent them away to their cells; and so he gave up his spirit in peace and silence in the hand of God (answer 221). When the Monk John died, Saint Barsanuphius fell completely silent and no longer gave answers to anyone, as Abba Dorotheos says in the title of his 2nd word. And when Barsanuphius fell silent, this very Abba Dorotheos left that monastery and formed his own (separate) hostel. This, beloved brothers, was the life of the God-bearing fathers Barsanuphius and John, such supernatural and heavenly gifts they were honored to receive from God and such a blessed death they received. And now, having ascended to heaven, they enjoy the highest bliss, in vain face to face with God, Whom they loved with all their hearts on earth, and illuminated by the ineffable light of the trisolar Deity. For, having moved into the heavens, they became, in the own words of the divine Barsanuphius, “wholly mind, wholly eye, wholly light, wholly perfect, wholly gods. They were exalted, glorified, enlightened, revived, because they had first died (to everything). They rejoice and rejoice: they rejoice about the Indivisible Trinity and rejoice the Higher Powers.” So, we also desire their fortune; let us flow in their way; Let us be jealous of their faith; let us acquire their humility and patience in order to obtain their property. Let us hold on to their unfailing love in order to inherit unspeakable blessings: “whom eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man sighed” (1 Cor. 2:9) (answer 120). These blessed fathers loved their neighbors from the heart, did good to them and provided benefit not only during their lives, but also after death, for they left this sacred book to all the brothers, as a paternal inheritance to their spiritual children, so that they, diligently reading it, would draw from it great benefit in the age of ages. This book contains 850 answers made to various questions from various persons: bishops, priests, monks, laity, elders, young, infirm and healthy. And some of these answers were written by the (so-called) other elder John, while others, and most of them, were given 6 by the great elder Barsanuphius himself, not of his own free will, but at the command of the Holy Spirit, for the benefit of souls, as he says: “And I write all this not of my own will, but at the command of the Holy Spirit, for the correction and benefit of the soul and conscience of the inner man” (answer 13). When the great Barsanuphius began to proclaim these answers to the abbot of the monastery, the Monk Serid, a circumstance worthy of surprise followed (namely): Saint Barsanuphius, calling Serid, his scribe, commanded him to write an answer to the Monk John, a monk of the monastery of St. Sava. Serid, unable to retain in his mind all the words that the saint said to him, pondered and wondered how he would write so many words, waiting to see if the elder would order him to bring ink and charters so that, while listening, he could write word by word. Saint Barsanuphius, by the grace of insight given to him by the Holy Spirit, recognized the secret thought of Serid, his face suddenly shone like fire, and he said to Serid: “Go, write and do not be afraid; If I tell you countless words so that you write them, then know that the Holy Spirit will not allow you to write a single word more or less than what was said, even if you yourself wished it, but will instruct your hand how to write it in sequential order” (answer 1). Thus this book was written by the command of the Holy Spirit; and from this alone everyone can understand how soul-helping and pleasant it is, how filled with grace and spiritual reasoning; for as the tree is, so is the fruit. Truly, everyone can know this from experience itself, for when he begins to read this book, he will hear simple and simple words, but at the same time, secretly inside his heart, he will feel one wonderful grace and sweetness of the Holy Spirit, which, like a magnet, effectively attracts the will to agreement and undoubted conviction in the truth of the words read, and he will know how all these words were generated by one enlightened and God-bearing mind, how they were disposed by one heart, in which Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelt, and how they (these words) flowed from one soul, which was all filled with peace and silence, all Christ-like, all inspired by the subtle currents of the peace-making and enlightening Spirit, and then learns that, according to the word of David, “God spoke in His holy things” (Ps. 59:8), and that over the words of this book the promise of the Lord was fulfilled: “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:20). So, beloved brethren, accept this most useful book with joy and zeal and read it diligently: for it is very useful to bishops and priests, rulers and judges, and especially to monks: silent and communal, novices, intermediate and perfect, especially the weak, who are in various temptations and passions and who therefore need spiritual consolation, for This book, replete with marvelous reasoning, resolves the most intractable questions. She is the teacher of patience, the eradicator of grumbling, the sword that cuts off one’s own will, the ax that strikes people-pleasing, the guide to true and perfect humility, teaching us to consider ourselves as nothing; a herald of repentance, a parent of mourning and an intercessor for the salvation of souls and perfection in Christ. That is why the ancient divine fathers diligently read it and included many of its answers in their writings. So the Monk Paul of Evergetia brought much of it into his book; Thus, the Monk Nikon, who labored in the Black Mountain in Antioch, in 1060 under Constantine Ducas and under John, Patriarch of Antioch, included many testimonies from it in two parts of his collection; Likewise, Saint Theodore the Studite in his Testament says that in this book of Barsanuphius he did not find anything inconsistent or inappropriate. Simeon the New Theologian, Peter of Damascus and other fathers also remember her. Accept it with joy also because, as the general expression goes, “everything rare is desirable.” This book is so rare that not only was it never printed, but its manuscripts were rarely found anywhere. By the great mercy of God, only one complete and very ancient manuscript of it ended up in the rich library of the great Lavra of our holy and God-bearing father Athanasius of Athos. Who were the publishers of this book? The most reverend monk Cyrus Ananias and the most reverend hieromonks Cyprian and Euthymius, Holy Mountain dwellers, cross carvers. They, having warm reverence for the venerable and God-bearing fathers Barsanuphius and John, and great love for their sacred book, as having learned from it various divine virtues, especially obedience, valiant cutting off one’s will and highly creative humility, rewrote it and not only moved me, their brother in spirit, to correct what was rewritten and add to it the lives of the venerables and the table of contents contained in the book their instructions, but also, having taken something from the last grains of their daily bread, they published only a few copies of this book, because they did not have the means to publish many. So, read this book diligently and be honored with the grace-filled gifts contained in it; Drawing the benefits arising from it, pray to God, Christian brothers, for the spiritual salvation of those who published it for the glory of God, in honor of the reverend fathers and for your benefit. Devoted to your love, the least of the monks, Saint Nikodim, 1803, June 22nd. Except Abbot Serid, through whom he gave his answers, and several others to whom he appeared only once. See question. 60. During the entire time that the great Barsanuphius remained in seclusion, he only appeared to some once. One brother, not believing that the elder was alive, said that Barsanuphius was not in seclusion, but that Abbot Serid was inventing this and giving answers instead of him; Therefore, the saint responded to the unbeliever with a message, appeared to him personally and washed the feet of both him and the other brothers who happened there at that time, and thus (the brother) he believed and everyone glorified God (see answer 60). Except, as we already said, bread and water. Sophia in Constantinople. You might be interested in: