The writers of this divinely wise and most soul-beneficial book were truly God-bearing, Christ-bearing and spirit-bearing Fathers Barsanuphius and John — models of asceticism, guides of silence, lamps of reasoning, unceasing eyes of clairvoyance, treasuries of virtues, receptacles of the Holy Spirit.

But time, which destroys everything and covers the good with the darkness of oblivion, has not left us a narrative about the life of these God-bearing luminaries Barsanuphius and John; Wherefore I, being feeble, have endeavoured to select from their own book, which is here offered, some particular testimonies (of their lives), and to present them to those who wish to know by what virtues these God-bearing Fathers attained the utmost 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 the Egyptian and Greek languages. From a young age, this ever-memorable man desired to lead an ascetic life. One day, passing by a horse lists, where people were running together with dumb animals, and seeing how one was trying to warn and overtake another, he said to himself in his mind: "Do you see how hard the servants of the devil struggle? Should not we, the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, strive all the more?" And having become even more zealous through this spectacle, Saint Barsanuphius departed for spiritual asceticism, as another Elder John writes about him (in Answer 450). Coming to the vicinity of Gaza in Palestine and finding there the coenobitic abode of Abba Seridas, he built himself a small cell at first 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 was 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 (ref. 72), but at the same time he indulged in weeping, and drew such sweetness from tears that from the sensation of this ineffable sweetness he was content with only one small loaf of bread, and many times forgot to eat it also, according to David: "I have forgotten to bear my bread." At the sound of my sighing my bone clings to my flesh (Ps. 101:5-6). Thus he partook of food sometimes twice a week, sometimes once, and sometimes, when he came to a meal, he approached the food as if full, and, taking it, he condemned himself, saying: "Why am I not always in this condition?" for from the sweetness of spiritual food he forgot sensual food (Ref. 96). And what is even more astonishing, he could even go through his whole life without eating or drinking, and without putting on clothes, for his food, drink, and clothing were the Holy Spirit (Rev. 78).

In the course of time, washing himself with constant tears, the blessed one so cleansed his heart not only of bodily but also of spiritual passions: self-conceit, vanity, man-pleasing, deceit, and other similar passions, even more deeply hidden in the heart, that he became higher than the arrows of the enemy, acquired the world of thoughts, which is the receptacle of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as the divine Gregory of Thessaloniki says (in his Homily to the Nun Xenia), He also acquired that which had fallen asleep in him, or, to put it better, had died all passionate movement and reasoning, which is why he called his hermitage a tomb, as another Elder John explained when he asked why the Great Elder called his cell so. He answered, "Because he has rested from all passions, for he is completely dead to sin, and his cell, in which he is shut up, as it were 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 the dwelling place of God (Ref. 73). From the very time when he cleansed his heart of passions and was vouchsafed to be the temple and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, as a result of such purity he was enriched with a highly creative true and perfect humility, not, I say, that outward humility which consists of humble garments and humble words, but that which, according to the words of the great Gregory of Thessaloniki (see his homily to the nun Xenia), builds up the Holy Spirit. renewed in the womb (cf. Ps. 50:12). That is why the Fathers, especially the divine Gregory of Sinai, call this humility God-given. Humility, in the words of Barsanuphius himself, consists in considering oneself as earth and ashes in deed, and not only in words; and to say, Who am I? And who thinks I'm anything? I have nothing to do with (ref. 191). Through such humility (the Great Elder) was vouchsafed the greatest of all virtues – reasoning, which, according to the words of the same Barsanuphius, was given by God to the monk as a steward. And in the words of the divine Meletius the Confessor: "Reasoning is the ascent of the virtues, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all that is good, the lamp shining in the darkness, the guide of the erring, the refuge of the afflicted" (Step. 166). From reasoning the great Barsanuphius was vouchsafed to receive enlightenment, by which, according to the explanation of the Monk Peter of Damascus, the mental and innermost essences of sensual and mental creatures are comprehended.

Through insight, however, he was vouchsafed to receive the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy, in order to see what is happening afar away as being near, and the future as the present. This gift was given to this blessed father in such abundance, that two years in advance he foresaw and foretold the arrival in their community of the Monk John, a monk of the holy Sava monastery (ref. 1). He also foresaw and foretold that some rich people would come to the monastery and stay there for a while (ref. 31). He also knew by grace the dispositions of the hearts of men, and answered those who questioned him, not according to their words, but according to the direction of their minds and thoughts (Reps. 54 and 161). And his predictions were confirmed by the deed itself. Thus he prophesied of a prince sent by the king to place an unworthy bishop on the throne of Gaza, and that "though this bishop reach the gates of the city, he will not enter the city, for God will not allow him to do so." And indeed it happened: suddenly the news of the king's death was received, and all the hopes and plans of the bishop were dashed (rev. 812).

Who, then, is able to depict the abundant love of this blessed man for God? For he carried in his heart the love of Christ, which burned like a mighty flame of fire, as he himself testifies (Rev. 109). That is why nothing could lead to its fall, for love, according to the saying of the Apostle, falls away (1 Cor. 13:8), and, according to the words of the divine Barsanuphius, perfect love never falls, and he who acquires it remains in ardor, burning together with love for God and neighbor. Who, then, can express the love for his neighbor that burned in him? The compassionate father did not cease day and night to beseech God that He would make all the brethren God-bearing. Let us listen to his own words about this: "Even before your petition, for the sake of the love that burns in me (like a mighty fiery flame) for Christ, Who said, 'Thou shalt love thy sincere one as thyself' (Matt. 22:39), because it is kindled and because I am burning in spirit, I do not cease day and night to pray to God that He would make you God-bearing, that He would dwell in you and walk around you, and that He would send down the Holy Spirit to you... I have been to you as a father who tries to include his children in the bright armies of the king, without their own care for them" (Rev. 109). And the Elder not only prayed to God for this, but also actually accomplished that the brethren became truly God-bearing and spirit-bearing. In the same way, the Great Elder enlightened Seridas, the abbot of the monastery, with his prayer and opened his mind to comprehend the incomprehensible (Rev. 10). And upon the Monk Andrew by his prayers he brought down the Holy Spirit, that he might strengthen him in patience and thanksgiving (ref. 211), for his prayers ascended to God like shining lightning and like the rays of the sun, so that the Father rejoiced in them, the Son rejoiced, and the Holy Spirit rejoiced (Rev. 110), and in all useful petitions they were heard.

Burning with such love for his neighbor, this heavenly man, in imitation of Christ, laid down his life for his brethren and gave an answer to God for them (Rev. 57 and 58), for he saw and covered the sins of men, just as God sees and covers them (Rev. 236).

For the sake of such an abundance of love for one's neighbor was given to him, directly from God, (the power) to bind and resolve sins (ref. 207), which constitutes the perfection of gifts, as Barsanuphius himself says that the perfection of gifts (is) "to forgive sins, to free souls from darkness, and to bring them into the light" (Ref. 211). That is why the Lord also bestowed upon the Apostles various gifts before His resurrection, and this perfection of gifts He gave them after the Resurrection, according to the words of the same Barsanuphius: "Consider in the Gospel how and how many times Christ gave His disciples the gifts of healing, the casting out of demons, and the perfection (of gifts) — when He gave them the power to forgive sins, saying to them, 'If ye forgive sins, they shall be forgiven' (Jn. 20, 23)" (ref. 10).

And since the great Barsanuphius was vouchsafed to receive this gift of forgiveness of sins, he once said to a certain sick brother in the monastery, who asked for forgiveness of sins: "God saith unto thee, Great King, all thy sins are forgiven thee" (ref. 144); And on another occasion he said to another brother who was in consumption, "At thy request, God has forgiven thee all thy transgressions from thy childhood unto the present time. Blessed be God, who was willing to forgive you everything" (ref. 146). Sometimes the Elder took upon himself half of the sins of some (neighbors), sometimes all of their burdens (Revs. 163, 164 and 236). For others he labored, praying to God that He would blot out the sin of blaspheming them; For thus he answered his brother, who had fallen into blasphemy: "Guard thy mouth, lest thou fall again into the most cruel blasphemy, though it be necessary for thee to lay down thy very soul. I have shed much sweat beseeching God for this" (Rev. 228). The Great Elder committed the souls of some of the dying to the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and, upon their ascension to heaven, freed them from demonic attacks (ref. 145). In a word, the great Barsanuphius attained the measure of love for one's neighbor that the Apostle Paul had, and before Paul, the great God-seer Moses; Wherefore Barsanuphius himself uttered his own words of Moses, as he himself writes: "Believe me, brother, that my spirit earnestly urges me to say to my Lord, who rejoices in the salvation of His servants: 'Lord! Either bring my children into Thy kingdom with me, or blot me out of Thy book.'" (Rev. 110).

Can I tell you even more? Blessed Barsanuphius, according to the words of the divine David, placed in his heart the sacred ascents and joined humility to humility, silence to silence and love to love, and was finally vouchsafed to attain the highest gift – rapture to 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 to receive blessing and to see the ineffable blessings and mysteries of the Kingdom of God. not knowing whether he was in the body or out of the body, like the great Paul. Let us listen to what the great Barsanuphius himself says about this: "God will assure you that love exalts those who have it to the seventh heaven, just as some already ascend boldly and are blessed, if in the body, or apart from the body, we do not know, God knows (2 Cor. 12, 3); And that ye may know the beginning of the way to this joy, hear: "First of all the Holy Spirit cometh unto man, and teaches him all things, and how to be humble-minded, of which ye cannot hear this day; Then, guided by this first kindling, he ascends to the first heaven, then to the second, and so on, as he progresses, even to the seventh. And there it is vouchsafed to see unspeakable and terrible things, which no one can hear, except those who attain this measure, which may the Lord vouchsafe you also'" (Rev. 109).

That is why he was given the abundant gift of wonderworking, 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, shut up and open the heavens, as the great Barsanuphius himself says of himself, or, to put it better, as God testifies, Who gave him these gifts (see Ref. 181). For this reason he (the great Barsanuphius) also delivered the Elder who lived in the monastery from the illness with which he was suffering (Rev. 172, 173); In the same way he healed another sick brother (512, 513). After all this, (the Great Elder) was vouchsafed to be not only a son of God by grace, but also, which is more worthy of wonder, to be called and to be the brother of Jesus, as he himself says: "Pray for me, cursed, that I also may remain in this measure to the end. He who dwells in it has already become the brother of Jesus" (ref. 181). And when the secular brother of this saint, old in years, wished to converse with him, the saint answered him: "I have a brother Jesus. But if you, despising the world, become a monk, then you will also be my brother" (ref. 345).

When the divine Barsanuphius attained such perfection, he received such great boldness toward God that one could pray to God for an innumerable multitude of people, and his petition was not rejected (see Ref. 110). Therefore, when during the life of this divine father a great wrath (of God) overtook the whole world, and the fathers, who were silent in that community, asked the Holy Elder to make prayers to God, so that His wrath might cease, he replied that three perfect men prayed to 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, who loves mankind, that this wrath of His against the world may cease, and there is no one more loving than God; but He does not want to have mercy on us, for He resists the multitude of sins that are committed in the world. But there are three men who are perfect in the sight of God, who have surpassed the measure of mankind and have received the power to decide and bind, to forgive sins and to keep them. It is they who stand between destruction and peace, so that the Lord does not suddenly destroy the whole world, and, through their prayers, He dissolves the punishment with mercy; They are told that this wrath will endure 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 one another in heaven. And when they look upon the earth, they weep together, and shed tears, and weep for the evil that is done therein, which exalts the wrath of God. These men are John in Rome, Elijah in Corinth, and another in the diocese of Jerusalem (i.e., Barsanuphius himself, who says this, for he was silent near Gaza in the diocese of Jerusalem), and I believe that they show great mercy, indeed they do. Amen" (ref. 566). And since in the saints, who have received grace from God, not only the mind and soul are sanctified, but also their sacred bodies, by means of the soul, receive grace and sanctification, so also with Saint Barsanuphius not only the soul and mind were imbued with grace and sanctified, but also his sacred body was vouchsafed Divine grace and holiness, and the things that were close to the saint, received some kind of Divine power and grace. Just as, according to what is said in the Acts of the Apostles, the heads and burdens of the Apostle Paul healed the sick: just as the heads and burdens of the sick were healed from the sweat of his body, and they were healed of their infirmities (Acts 19:12), so the doll of the great Barsanuphius, which he sent to John in the monastery of St. Sava, protected the latter from many temptations and evils (Rev. 1). In the same way, another venerable father sent to the great Barsanuphius his doll and analav, asking him to wear them, to consecrate them, and then to return them to him, so that he would have protection and help in them (ref. 123). Many received from Saint Barsanuphius a blessing, i.e., a portion of the bread which he had eaten, and a little of the water which he had drunk, and by taking them they felt relief from the passions with which they were tormented (cf. Rev. 43, 44, 169). But the name of Abba Barsanuphius alone, only mentally invoked, acted and gave help to those who called upon him, just as another Elder, the divine John, said to the abbot of the monastery Elian, in answer to his question: What answer should be given to everyone? "Ask the Holy Elder in your mind: 'Abba, what shall I say?' and, according to the Lord's commandment (cf. Matt. 10:19), do not be anxious about what you say" (see Rev. 592).

Such are the great gifts that the great among the fathers Barsanuphius was vouchsafed to receive and attain to such a great perfection of virtues; However, such great gifts and co-education were brought up in him with such temptations, which many not only cannot endure by the deed itself, but even their ears will not be able to contain them. Listen to how he himself writes about this (in his epistle) to John of the monastery of Sava: "If I write to you about the temptations that I have endured, I think that your hearing, and perhaps no one's, will bear them at the present time" (answer 13). Likewise, the blessed one was subjected to great illnesses, but he endured them with such valor that, being sick, he not only never bowed down on his bed for his comfort, but did not even abandon his handiwork (ref. 165). And this indulgence of sickness upon him was perfectly just; For because of their great gifts, the saints are also subjected to great temptations, and unless a man sheds blood, he cannot receive the Holy Spirit into himself, as Peter of Damascus said, "Give the blood and receive the Spirit."