6. The epistle of the same Great Elder, written to Abba John at the monastery of St. Sava [12], when he, due to certain needs of communal life, was in his own country and was troubled by bodily abuse.

Write to your brother: behold, you are still outside (the abode and silence), laboring according to your strength for the sake of God and for the sake of the souls of your brethren, and more for the sake of our and your own peace and silence. For when the brethren are calmed and covered by our care, then through them we will also find perfect silence. And the word of the Scripture will be fulfilled upon us: "Brother from brother we help, as the city is strong and fenced" (Proverbs 18:19). Give up all the close relationships you have with some, and apologize to yourself for being outside the monastery. Remove from yourself the pretext (for battle), break off close intercourse with anyone, if it draws you back to the former. But if you do not do this, you cannot be silent with perfect silence. And so we did. I hope surely that when you have done this, you will be silent: and thus, with the help of God, your lot and your portion will be with us forever. Do not reveal to anyone what I am now writing to you. If you succeed in your present work, thank God and pray to Him. This is what it means: give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:18). Therefore, let us not neglect to give thanks to God, lest we become like the man of whom you once told us, that once, when he was going to church to pray for food to be sent down to him, a man met him, and said, "Dine with me today, and then you will go and pray; then he answered: I will not go (to pray), because I have already received what I went to ask of God. But we, whether we receive or not receive (what we desire), will offer prayer and thanksgiving to God. Strive always to bear the death of the Lord Jesus in your body (2 Corinthians 4:10).

Answer 7, of the same Great Elder, who had to go with his brother to collect (a supply) for needlework and was afraid of the desolation of those places; a reminder to him of his sobriety over himself, against the bodily warfare that disturbs him, and a promise of God's assistance in his striving to withdraw to them into silence.

Say to our sincere and unanimous brother John, who is called from above by a divine command to live with us not only in the present age, but also in the age to come: Our Lord Christ said to His disciples: "Are ye not two birds valued by one assarion? and not one of them shall fall into the earth without your Father. And to you and to you all the heads of the head shall be given the essence. Do not be afraid: you are the best birds. Whosoever hath made Me known before men, let us also praise him before My Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 10:29-32). Therefore, take heed to yourself vigilantly, that you may always have God before you, that the prophetic word may be fulfilled in you also: "I have seen the Lord before me, as I am at my right hand, that I may not be moved" (Psalm 15:8). Stretch out your hands with all your soul to what is set before you, and learn it always, that you may hear the voice of God: "Behold, I will send my angel before you, who will prepare your way before you" (Matt. 11:10).

8. The same brother, having labored hard and not finding (a reserve) for needlework, grieved and wondered why, according to the words of the Elder, an angel was not sent before him, not understanding that this referred to the removal of obstacles that prevented him from withdrawing into silence; on this occasion the Elder writes to him as follows:

Write to your brother: while the ship is at sea, it is exposed to dangers and winds. When he reaches a quiet and peaceful harbor, he is no longer afraid of dangers, sorrows and winds, but remains safe. So it is with your love: as long as you are with people, expect sorrows, dangers, and the influx of mental winds. But when you reach that which is prepared for you (the abode of silence), then you will have no fear. Concerning the words of our Lord, which I have mentioned before: Behold, I will send my angel before you, (know that) he has been sent. As for the fact that you have not found (a reserve for) needlework, (remember) what God said in the Book of Moses: "For this reason I have done thee, and have made thee angry, and have slain thee with hunger" (Deuteronomy 8:3) in the wilderness, in thirst for heat in the waterless (Deuteronomy 32:10); and they shall be understood in thy heart" (Deuteronomy 8:2). Understand what I have said to you, beloved brother, and work unceasingly and without doubt.

Answer 9. The epistle of the same Great Elder to the same one, who, having been absent for the needs of communal life, was exhausted from the great sorrow that met him on this occasion.

Write, child, to our brother John greetings in the Lord from me and from you and from our brother John (the silent one), and say to him: do not lose heart in the sorrows and bodily labors that you bear, laboring for us and for the sake of our community; for this also means to lay down one's life for one's brethren (cf. 1 John 3:16), and I hope that great will be the reward for this labor. As the Lord appointed Joseph to feed his brethren during the famine (Gen. 47:12) in Egypt, so He appointed you to serve this community, together with our son Serid. And I repeat to you the words of the Apostle, spoken to Timothy: "For thou, child, be able to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit" (2 Tim. 2:1), because I see how thy silence is arranged, and I rejoice with thee in the Lord. As long as you remain outside, you will meet sorrows and bodily labors; but when you reach the abode of silence, you will find rest and peace; for our Lord is not false, Who said: "I will give them a hundredfold in this age, and eternal life in the one to come" (Matt. 19:29).

Therefore, brother, work diligently to gain great love and peace. A ship, before it reaches the pier, is struck by the waves and tossed about by strong winds; but when he enters the harbor, he is at last in great silence. Understand what I say, and keep it: may the Lord give you understanding of all things (2 Tim. 2:7).

Answer 10, of the same Great Elder, moreover, written during the time of the latter's sorrow and illness, which occurred from a concussion of his leg by a stone that fell on it.

I wish my beloved brother John to rejoice in the Lord. For thy bodily labor, endured for our sake, and for the sickness caused by thy injured leg (endured for God's sake), may our Lord God fill thy soul, my beloved, a hundredfold with heavenly blessings. Understand, brother, what I am writing to you, and conceal within yourself: this will prepare you to hear the heavenly joy, the Sovereign, the Divine; for, in the name of the Holy Trinity, I find in you a joint heir of my gifts given to me by God, and as you prosper, I hope that you will soon attain this. One by labors according to God reaches His rest (Heb. 4:3), and the other reaches the same place through humility. And I hope for you that you will receive it for both, when anger dies in you because of the taming of irritability in your heart; and then the word of the Scripture will be fulfilled in you: "Behold my humility and my labor, and forsake all my sins" (Psalm 24:18). And as I have already said, that thou shalt attain this, according to the measure of thy success, consider in the Gospel how and when Christ gave His disciples various gifts: first, the gifts of healing, the casting out of demons, and, finally, as the perfection of gifts, the power to forgive sins, saying: "To whom ye forgive sins, they shall be forgiven" (John 20:23). If, therefore, for thy labour, which I have suffered for God's sake, He forgives thee thy trespasses, this is the measure which I desire thee to attain. If, while reading this epistle, you encounter anything incomprehensible in it, then ask Seris, my beloved son, who is of one accord with you, and he, by the grace of God, will explain to you what is incomprehensible. For I prayed to God for him and for this. But thou, man of God, strive unceasingly along the path prepared for thee, that with joy thou mayest reach the abode of Christ, which we have reached, and hear a voice full of joy, life, light, and gladness, saying unto thee: Thou art good, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful in a little, I will set thee over many: enter into the joy of thy lord (Matt. 25:21). Rejoice in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord! May the Lord preserve your soul, body, and spirit from all evil, from all disgust inflicted by the devil, and from every dreaming that stirs up rebellion of thoughts. The Lord will be your light, your protection, your way, your strength, your crown of joy and eternal intercession. Pay attention to yourself; for it is said in the Scriptures: "Those who proceed out of my mouth I will not reject" (Psalm 88:35).

Answer 11, of the same Great Elder to him, containing the advice to always remember what is written to him for the benefit and strengthening of his heart.

Solomon said of his parents: "Who spoke and taught me, Let our word be established in your heart" (Proverbs 4:4). Thus do I say to you, my brother, that my words may be established in your heart, and meditate always on what I am writing to you, as God said through the mouth of Moses: "And I shall bind it on thy right hand, and let them be unshaken before thy eyes, and learn therein, and lying down, and rising, and walking the way, and sitting in the house" (Deut. 6. 8, 7). Do them (my words) in deed, and my God will be with you forever, Amen.

Answer 12. The same John entrusted a certain brother with a task, and as he did not quickly fulfill it, he reprimanded him, and seeing that the brother was offended by this, he decided not to say anything at all to any of the brethren. To this the Elder announced to him the following: