When the maiden remained with Saint James, the devil, seeing that the saint was in a desolate solitary place together with the maiden, and finding that the most opportune time had come for his intrigues, raised up upon the ascetic a storm of impure thoughts and vile carnal lust, and so kindled his lust, that the holy man, the same one who had not previously been caught by the temptation of the prostitute sent to him by the Samaritans, the one with whom he burned his hand in the fire for the sake of preserving chastity and purity, the one who performed many miracles and cast out demons, was so inflamed by fornication that, forgetting the fear of God and his many years of fasting and the grace and power of healing sent to him from God, being already in venerable old age, he was defeated by the devil and fell. He raped the maiden, corrupted her and his virginity, and, having defiled her body and soul, ruined all his previous fasting labors. It was not enough for him to commit one sin, and he added to it an even more grievous one. Just as one who slips from a mountain flies down, falling from stone to stone and breaking, so it happened to St. James: having committed one great sin, he fell into another, greater and more cruel, aggravating iniquity with iniquity. The enemy aroused fear in him, and he began to think: the maiden will now tell her parents that I have raped her and that I will be ashamed and reproached, and I will be in great trouble because of her. Succumbing to the instigation of the demons, he killed an innocent maiden, thinking to hide his sin from people and avoid disgrace. But he did not stop there, but gave himself over to sin even more: for the body of the maiden, which he desecrated and killed without mercy with his own hand, he did not give up to the usual burial in the ground, but threw it into the river. Such is the fruit of prideful self-conceit, for if this monk had not considered himself holy and great in virtue, then he would not have fallen into such cruel sins, and the enemy would not have mocked the old age of him who in his youth had once conquered his tricks.

After this, the devil began to bring Jacob down as a bound prisoner into the last pit of perdition, into the most grievous of all sins, into the despair of Cain and Judas. The elder, sitting in his cell, did not know what remained for him to do. Strongly rebuked by his conscience, sighing and giving way to despair, he no longer dared to open his mouth for prayer, nor to turn his mind to God. He decided to flee to some other distant country and, leaving monasticism, settle in the world, and in his old age serve the world and the devil. Coming out of the cave, he quickly set out on his journey, driven and agitated by despair, like a violent storm of the sea,

But the great, immeasurable, and humane goodness of Christ, by which the sins of the whole world cannot be overcome, desiring that all people should be saved and that not one of them should perish, did not abandon this lost elder, did not allow the demons to rejoice in his destruction to the end, but, according to its unspeakable destinies, arranged for him to rise from the fall and renewal. For when he set out on his journey, he saw a monastery on the road, entering which he greeted the hegumen with the brethren. They offered him to eat bread, but he did not want to hear about it, and only sighed often and heavily. When the brethren begged him to refresh himself with food, he said to them:

"Woe to me, accursed! How dare I raise my eyes to the sky? how dare I call upon the name of Christ, Whom I have offended? and how shall I touch His gifts, being a fornicator and a murderer?

Then he confessed before everyone in order everything that had happened to him. The hegumen and the brethren, hearing his confession, were troubled and, sympathizing with him, began to console him, so that he would not give way to despair, but, having repented, he would accept an epitimia for his sins. For a long time they begged Jacob to stay with them, but he did not listen to them and departed into the world. For a long time he wandered in the wilderness. Finally, by the will of God, a certain divinely inspired man met him and asked the elder to turn away from the path and enter his cell. Having persuaded Jacob, he brought him to himself, washed his feet, and offered him the food that he had, asking him to eat it. But James, rebuked and tormented by his conscience, often sighed from the depths of his heart and beat his breast, not even wanting to touch the food. Then the man fell down at Jacob's feet, comforted him, and with an oath said that he would not rise from the ground until the elder agreed to partake of the food offered. When Jacob agreed, the monk rose from the ground, and they both partook of the meal, which is possible in the wilderness. After partaking of the food, both got up, thanked God, and sat down again. Then the desert-dweller said to Jacob:

- Father, give me instruction for the benefit of the soul, teach me as your son about Christ, and strengthen my heart, because I am often and greatly disturbed by various thoughts.

Jacob wept mightily and, weeping inconsolable tears and beating his breast, said:

"Leave me, brother, to weep over my grievous sins, with which I have angered God; for I, like a weak youth, deceived by the devil, fell into perdition in this vain and dishonorable old age of mine, and now I am utterly lost. In my old age I was overcome by those passions which I conquered in the days of my youth: I fell into unclean fornication and dared to commit more grievous sins.

Having listened to Jacob, the wilderness dweller was filled with great sorrow and sorrow and began to ask the elder to tell him in detail all the temptation of the devil. He asked to do this for two reasons: first, so that the elder, confessing his sins, would be moved to repentance, and secondly, so that he himself, having heard the story of the elder's fall, would be taught caution and would not fall into the same temptation. Then James began his story.

"I," he said, "served the Lord in fasting and in the wilderness life for more than fifty years, stubbornly resisting the passions, the signs of which I have even on my body, for I burned my hand in the fire for the sake of chastity. And I, unworthy, have been vouchsafed to receive great grace from the good God, for through me, a sinner, God has wrought many miracles. Finally, Satan entered into a certain maiden, whose parents, hearing about the grace of Christ that was in me, brought her to me so that I would pray for her. With God's help, I cast out the demon from her. They asked that their daughter stay with me for three days, until she was completely cured, and leaving her with me, they left. But I, inflamed by carnal lust, which darkened my mind, forgetting about God at that time, not fearing hell, not sparing my many years of labor, raped the maiden and corrupted her virginity. And it was not enough for me to commit one sin, but, at the instigation of the demon, I dared to commit another, more grievous than the first, for I killed that maiden and threw her body into the river. Despairing of my salvation, I fled from that place, and now I am going into the world, for how can I lift my eyes to the heights of heaven? if I dare to call on the name of Christ, the fire of heaven will destroy me.

When Jacob, shedding abundant tears and weeping bitterly, finished his confession, the hermit was pricked in his heart, and, falling on the neck of the elder, kissed him and said:

- I beseech you, father, do not grow weary in your soul, do not despair of your salvation, but with faith that God hearkens to repentance, confess your sins to Him, for the Lord is abundant in mercy and His mercy towards us is ineffable. If God had not accepted repentance, how could David, who had already been vouchsafed the gift of prophecy and fallen into the sin of adultery and murder, have received forgiveness for such sins? How could St. Peter, the chief Apostle, to whom the Lord entrusted the keys of the heavenly Kingdom, who denied the Lord three times during His voluntary suffering, through bitter tears of repentance, not only receive the forgiveness of sins, but also be vouchsafed the great honor of being a shepherd of the verbal sheep of Christ? Let us repent, while we still have time for this.

Strengthening the soul of Jacob with these words, the wilderness dweller prayed to him that he would remain to live with him. But Jacob would not agree. Then the hermit, falling down at the feet of the elder and kissing them, prayed to him more earnestly that he would not leave him, for he feared that the elder would completely destroy his soul, falling into despair. Not being able to beseech Jacob, the wilderness dweller grieved greatly and wept. Finally, having made a fervent prayer for him to God, he sent him away, having provided him with the food necessary for the journey, and accompanied him for fifteen stades, all the time urging him to repent. Then, embracing Jacob and kissing him with tears, the wilderness dweller returned to his cell. Jacob, having traveled a considerable distance on the road to the world, turned a little to the side and saw an ancient burial cave, where there were many bones that had already turned to dust over time. Entering the cave, Jacob gathered up all the bones, placed them in one of the corners, and settled in the cave [3]. Bending his knees, Jacob with great weeping and sobbing, beating his breast, began to fervently pray to God, exclaiming:

Do not despise me, O Lord, but according to Thy unspeakable love for mankind, have mercy on me, who am ungodly and abominable, show me Thy most great goodness and cleanse all my iniquities, lest the enemy drown me, already immersed in the abyss of sin, and the serpent of hell devour me.