34. It was said of Abba John Kolov that he once said to his elder brother: "I wish to be free from cares, just as the angels are free from them, who do not work anything, but serve God unceasingly." And having taken off his clothes, he went into the wilderness; but after living there for a week, he returned again to his brother. When he knocked at the door, the brother, without opening the door, gave him a voice from within, asking him: "Who are you?" "I, John," he said. The brother answered and said, "John has become an angel, and he is no longer among men." John begged him, saying, "It is I, open it to me." But the brother did not open it, but left it to mourn until morning. At last he opened the door, and said to him, "You are a man, and you must work again to support yourself." John bowed down to him, saying, "Forgive me!

35. In the Skete there were some elders who ate food together. Among them was Abba John Kolov. A certain presbyter stood up to serve a cup of water; but no one dared to accept the chalice from him, except John Kolov. "Everyone was amazed, and said to him, 'How did you, the youngest of all, dare to accept a favor from the presbyter?' He answered them: "When I myself get up to give the cup, I rejoice if everyone accepts it, hoping to receive a reward" (cf. Matt. 10:42); Wherefore I also received a cup from him, that I might give him a reward, and that I might not grieve him when no one would receive the cup from him. When he said this, everyone was amazed, and received edification from his prudence.

36. Abba Pimen asked Abba Joseph, "What should I do when passions come to me—should I resist them or allow them to enter? The elder answered: allow them to enter, and then fight with them. And so, Pimen returned, and sat in the Skete. "A certain Thebes, having come to the Skete, said to the brethren: I asked Abba Joseph, "If passion comes to me, should I resist it, or should I allow it to enter?" and he answered me: do not allow the passions to enter in any way, but cut them off immediately at their first appearance. "Abba Pimen, hearing that Abba Joseph had said thus to the Theban, got up, went to him again in Panetho, and said, 'Abba! I believed thee in my thoughts, and thou didst say so to me, and to the Theban otherwise. The elder said to him, "Do you not know that I love you?" "I know," Pimen said. Joseph continued, 'Did you not say, 'Tell me as you would say to yourself?' That is why I told you so. For when passions enter into you, and you allow them, and then fight with them, they will make you more skillful. I have told you this, knowing you. But there are people for whom it is useful that passions do not come to them, and such people should immediately cut them off.

37. A brother once came to Abba Joseph in lower Heraclea. In his monastery there was a fig tree full of fruit. In the morning, the elder said to his brother, "Go and eat of the fig tree." "And it was Friday. "My brother didn't go for the sake of fasting. After that I begged the elder, saying: "For God's sake, reveal to me your thought: behold, you have said to me, 'Go, eat'; But I did not go for the sake of fasting, but was ashamed of Thy commandment, and I ponder within myself: with what intention would Thou say to me, "Go and eat?" The Elder answered: at first the Fathers do not speak directly, but rather command to do something gateway; and when they see that the brethren obey and fulfill such commands, then they do not tell them the perverse, but the direct truth, being convinced that they are obedient to them in everything.

38. The brother asked Abba Joseph, "What should I do?" I cannot endure sorrows, nor work, nor give alms. The elder answered him: if you cannot do any of this, at least guard your conscience in relation to your neighbor, shun all evil, and you will be saved; for God requires a sinless soul.

39. Abba Isidore said, "If you strive as you should, do not be proud of fasting, but if you are vain about it, then what is the use of fasting? It is better for a man to eat meat than to be haughty and boastful.

40. He also said, "Disciples should love their teachers as fathers and fear them as rulers." Neither love should expel fear, nor fear should extinguish love.

41. He also said: if you desire salvation, do everything that leads to it.

42. Abba Isaac of Thebes said to the brethren, "Do not bring children here; for five churches in the Skete were deserted by children.

43. Abba Longinus asked Abba Lucius about three thoughts, saying, "Do I want to wander?" The elder answered him, "If you do not restrain your tongue, you will not be a pilgrim wherever you go; but here hold your tongue and you will be a stranger. "Then I asked him: do I want to fast for two days? "Abba Lucius answers: the Prophet Isaiah said: If you sit down like a sickle, your neck will be... Below you will call the post pleasant. (58:5), — it is better to restrain your evil thoughts. Abba Longinus asked for the third time: do I want to flee from people? The elder answered: if you do not first learn to live well with people; then even in solitude you cannot live well.

44. Abba Macarius once came to Abba Pachomius of Tavennisia. The latter asked Abba Macarius: "There are brethren who do not submit to order—is it good to punish them?" Abba Macarius answered: punish and judge according to righteousness those who are subject to you; but do not judge any stranger, for it is said in the Scriptures, Do you not judge those who are within? But God judges those who are external (1 Corinthians 5:12, 13).

45. The brother asked Abba Macarius, "How can I be saved?" The elder answered him: be like a dead man: like the dead, think neither about offenses from people, nor about glory, and you will be saved.

46. Abba Macarius said: If we remember the evil inflicted on us by people, then our remembrance of God will weaken; but if we remember the evil inflicted by the demons, then we will be delivered from their wounds.

47. Abba Matoi said: Satan does not know by what passion the soul is conquered. He sows, but he does not know whether he will reap. He sows thoughts of fornication, backbiting, and other passions, and depending on the passion to which the soul shows itself inclined, it puts it.