"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.

In such confession of his sins and repentance Blessed James dwelt for ten years, all the time living in that burial cave. And he became as a living dead, living among the dead and never appearing among the living. If anyone happened to come to that place, Jacob did not enter into conversation with anyone, if anyone asked him anything, he did not answer a single word, opening his mouth only to pray to God and repent of his sins. His food was the herbs that grew in those desert places, and even these he ate very rarely and little, only so as not to die of hunger. Thus James spent ten whole years in unceasing tears, sighings and prayers, day and night crying out to God, confessing his sins and beating his chest without mercy.

The All-Generous and Most Merciful Lord, Who does not desire the death of the sinner and awaits his conversion, did not despise such a long repentance of Blessed James; hearing his cries and confession of sins, he forgave him his sins and again granted him the grace of wonderworking.

There was no rain and a severe drought in that country. Everyone fasted and prayed, asking God to send rain on the earth. And there was a revelation to the bishop of that city, virtuous and holy. In this revelation he was told:

- If the holy elder living in the burial cave prays to God for you, then all your misfortunes will cease and fruitful rain will pour.

The next day the bishop gathered the clergy and all the people and told him the revelation that had come to him. With a procession of the cross and prayer singing, everyone set off for that cave. Arriving at her, the bishop and all the people began to knock at the closed doors and pray to the God-pleaser that, having mercy on their country, he would pray to God that He would turn away His righteous wrath and rebuke from them and end the drought by sending rain down on the earth. But the blessed one did not answer them from the cave, not daring to raise his eyes to heaven; He only beat his chest and said in his mind:

- Be merciful, O Christ, to my many and grievous sins!

The bishop for a long time earnestly knocked and prayed to James; but having received no answer from him, he returned with all those who had come with him, grieving and weeping. Entering the church, everyone again performed a moleben, shedding tears. Meanwhile, the storm began to rage even more violently, and with it a severe drought and famine; therefore people began to pray to God even more fervently, intensifying their fasting and prayers. Then the bishop again had a revelation, during which he clearly heard a voice saying thus: