183. The same to the same Great Elder. My father, assign me a rule, as a novice and one who has not yet taken on the monastic image. And pray for me; for my brother insults me, and comforts another.

Answer. My beloved brother! You have written to me about a thing that surpasses your strength, in order to assign you a task that you cannot bear. You ask to be assigned a rule, as a novice and one who has not yet accepted the monastic image. And the following is proper for a novice: to remain in deep humility, in no case to consider himself to be something, not to say: what is this, or what is it for? But, remaining in obedience and great submission, do not compare yourself with anyone, do not say: "So-and-so is revered, why do they not revere me also; he is at peace in all things, wherefore have I not rested," to be despised in all things, and not to be indignant. These are the deeds of a true novice, who really desires to be saved. But it is difficult for you to bear this, both because of your bodily weakness and because you are already old. Thou wilt wish to bear the heavy, but I impose upon thee the lightest; However, I do not force you, but only advise. Honor your brother as your son, as I have already told you, and as you honor him. If, out of temptation, he comforts someone else more than you, then perhaps God wants to calm him, and keep you in distress, and has told his brother to do this to you, so be patient and do not grieve. By enduring sorrows we save our souls, and we become accomplices of Christ's sufferings in no other way than by enduring sorrows. Give thanks to God for everything, for thanksgiving intercedes before God for infirmities. Let your rule be to live, heeding your thoughts and having the fear of God. How will I meet God? How did I spend the past time? I will repent, though now, when my end is near, and I will endure (the infirmities of) my neighbor and the sorrows and temptations he inflicts on me, until the Lord shows me His mercy, leads me into a dispensation of angerlessness and drives out from me envy — the offspring of the devil. Spend the rest of your days testing thoughts and resisting when they cause confusion. Admonish thy son with the fear of God, and remind him of his transgressions, knowing that he also is a man subject to temptation. May the Lord Jesus, the Son of the living God, grant us a peaceful dispensation (of souls) and life in His fear. I am amazed at how you read the Scriptures, which say: "Have all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various temptations" (James 1:2), but the insignificant things trouble you. Know at least where you are, and what your strength is, that the neck of iron may be humbled, and the peace of God be with you. Forgive me, and pray for me, that I may not hear: when you teach another, teach not yourself (Romans 2:21). But what should I do? Love compels me. However, I hope for the mercy of our Lord God.

Question 184, the same to the same Great Elder. Thought says to me: you have already spoken to your brother once and ten times; leave him, let him do as he will, and you put aside your care, as the fathers said.

Answer. My beloved and unanimous brother, may peace be with you, which the Lord gave to His disciples. First of all, He gave them peace, expelling from them all carnal thoughts and all the understanding of the devil, so that their hearts would become pure and receive the teachings and commandments of their Lord purely. In the same way, beloved, having received this terrible peace not from me, but from the Savior Jesus Christ, prepare yourself calmly and attentively to listen and fulfill (my words). You know how I would like to take you and take you up to heaven. The enemy tried in every way to confuse you with envy and anger, but he could not find a place for himself, and in the insignificant he found an opportunity to reproach you; and by this he wages war against thee, and through thee he also troubles his brother, whereas I wrote to thee in the first epistles, that thou shouldst explain to thy brother his faults, and admonish him. Either I have spoken badly and you have despised my words, or I have spoken justly, and you have been defeated by the battle. And the devil is already rejoicing over you, he comes, inspiring you with bitter self-justification, and says: "You have said once and ten times (to your brother), leave him, let him do as he will, and you put aside your care, as the fathers said." But even in this you are mocked, for this measure (of spiritual stature) is as far from you as heaven is from earth. Do you want to make sure of this? Remember what the Lord said about trees: as they are, so also bear fruit. Consider, then, what comes from the silence that the devil inspires in you? – embarrassment and anger. For when you set to work of your own accord, without being asked, you will soon fall into a net, as happens to simple and untrained people. I will clearly show you that your long-suffering is not according to God: you gather for a few days, and then in one day you exhaust your sack, and it remains empty. Long-suffering according to God says nothing at all until the very end. And you, my lord, brother, are like a ruler: instead of giving your servant one blow in the cheek, explaining to him his faults, and making peace with him, you endure for a few days, and then suddenly you inflict one blow on your brother, which may be fatal to him, and you take (upon yourself) his soul.

185. The same asked another Elder about the same and added: "Shall he not go out of his cell, perhaps the battle will cease through this?"

John's answer. If you had listened to the Elder's answer and fulfilled what he had told you: "Under no circumstances should you consider yourself to be something and do not seek equality with others"; then he would calm down and not be confused, and there would be no need to ask me or anyone else. Beware, brother, you have been mocked by demons. You speak of the sins of that brother as if they had really been; But tell me, do you really know that they were made? Sometimes they talk about someone's sins on suspicion, and then it turns out that they did not happen. Of what (transgressions) did the Lord say to men: Amen, I say unto you... Unless ye forgive a man their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses" (Matt. 6:16, 15)? Which ones did He speak of, whether they were real or suspected? Of course, about the real ones. How then do you judge and condemn your brother for the sins committed during the three weeks? Do you not know that you expose yourself to great condemnation? If you punish your brother for this, God will punish you for all that you have done from your youth to this day. Where are the words of the Apostle: "Let not the sun go down on your anger" (Ephesians 4:26)? Where: "Do you bear one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2)? Where is the message of the elder that can guide you? What do you give to your brother instead of thanksgiving? Do you not understand what you say: "You have repaid me evil and good, and so on." (Psalm 37:21)? How does your brother serve you, is it not for the sake of God and love for Him? And how do you trouble his thoughts? Be attentive, your end is near, as you have already heard and confess yourself, and the demons do not allow you to consider themselves as nothing, and calm down. Arm yourself against thoughts that bring you confusion, as the Elder told you, and you will receive help. However, if you had recourse to innumerable artifices, no matter what you did, even if you had left the cell, it would not leave you, so long as the battle and temptation continue, if you do not resist your thoughts. Having something of your labors, combine it with the prayer of the saints, for it can do much if it is hastened (James 5:16). Say to your thought: "Tomorrow I will die." Consider yourself as nothing, and you will calm down. May the Lord give you His peace. Amen.

186. The same. My father! I instructed my brother with the love of God, but he did not accept my words, and I was troubled. What should I do? If I converse only with those brethren with whom you have appointed, will this not serve as a stumbling block to anyone?

Answer. We ourselves do not understand what we are saying. Any admonition in which a person himself is troubled in his heart is not pleasing to God, but occurs through the action of the devil and is mixed with self-justification. If you admonished your neighbor for God's sake, then how did you yourself become troubled? God-pleasing admonition (of a brother) does not allow (the one who admonishes) to be confused; but if the one who is being admonished, having departed, slanders him, then the one who admonishes him will not be troubled, but will bear the burden of his brother. And it has now been explained to you yourselves that it was a temptation, but God has abolished it and will abolish it. May the Lord grant you health of soul and body, so that you may understand the wiles of the evil one and get rid of them. Pray for me. "As for the conversation with the brethren whom you have mentioned, I will say: when it comes out of love for God, it does not give offense, but serves for edification.

Question 187, the same to boot. Abba! My brother insults me very much, and if I could, I would gladly change him. And my thought tells me that if I were alone, I would not grieve and could be saved more comfortably. Tell me, then, is it profitable for me?

John's answer. Brother! Do not be troubled by self-justification, which says: "If I were alone, I would not grieve and could be saved more easily." In this way you contradict the Scriptures, for it says: "Many are the sorrows of the righteous" (Psalm 33:20), and again: "Many are the wounds of the sinner" (Psalm 31:10). Therefore, whether you are righteous or sinful, you must in any case endure reproaches; for we cannot do without sorrow. Tribulation teaches us patience, and the Apostle, as the most excellent teacher of this, says: "Endure sorrows" (Romans 12:12); for those who wish to be saved will face tribulations. The Lord Himself said: "In the world ye shall have sorrows" (John 16:33). It is also said: "Through many tribulations it behooves us to enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Know, then, brother, that He Who said, "My soul is sorrowful unto death" (Matt. 26:38), desiring to save you, allowed you to grieve a little, so that you might receive mercy from Him for your patience, there, in that terrible hour. If we wish to have rest in all things, then we will hear at some time: "Receive your good in your belly" (cf. Luke 16:25). Our Lord endured all the sufferings for us: why do we, remembering them, not endure in order to become accomplices in them? We have been given the commandment: "In all things give thanks" (1 Thess. 5:18); beware lest the hater of good lead us into ingratitude, and then we shall lose everything. As for taking you another brother, it is not difficult for the abba to give you another; He doesn't care. But if you receive another person at your own will, and he also insults you in some way, what will you do? True, this brother is careless, but there is a certain simplicity in him. [58] I do not say this to you in order to prevent you from taking another, but I advise you to try everything and keep what is good. As another serves you for God's sake, so you must bear his burdens, so that you may mutually fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). Do I not desire your peace? God knows that if I could, I would like to serve you all my life. But what should I do when I am no longer capable of anything? Let us hate bodily rest, lest it remove God from us, for it is an abomination to Him. I have written this to you as a unanimous brother. God has allowed us to grieve a little, because without sorrow there is no progress in the fear of God. Forgive me, sufferer, and pray for me to make a beginning. I am not far from my end.

Answer 188, the Great Elder at that. Rejoice, brother, and be calm; do not let the devil trouble you with uselessness. What does your love think: does temptation or sorrow happen to anyone without God's permission? No. God allows this for the benefit of our souls; And the devil, seeing this, even now, as he once did, showed us things differently, until he expelled us from the holy world as from paradise. What has it not changed in us? Instead of holy peace, did He not put fierce wrath into us? Instead of hating evil, which comes from God, has he not instilled in us a perverse hatred of good and of God Himself? But we do not delve into this and do not know that God, wishing to cleanse us from every evil thought, from every evil and soul-destroying thought, said that we should pray for our enemies, bless those who curse us, and commanded us to love our enemies (cf. Matt. 5:44). And if He commanded us to love our enemies, how much more so those who serve us neither carelessly nor diligently. What forgiveness will we receive if we do not love those who do good and serve us, even though the demons imagine to us that they are negligent in fulfilling their ministry? If you want to be saved and entrust your soul to God and us, then you must not believe your thoughts, for the demons sow evil seed in you and present one instead of the other. Follow our counsel and you will understand the way of God. The Lord said: "If you will and listen to Me, you will tear down the good land," and so on. (Isaiah 1:19). So, it depends on us: to demolish or not to demolish it. Why then do we blame our neighbor? Do not blame anyone for anything, but try to please your neighbor in everything. And think no evil of anyone: by this you yourself become evil; for evil thinks evil, and good thinks good. To think of others, "They are talking about me," is a curse peculiar to novices. Therefore, if two people pray in the same cell or instruct one another, the other may say something contrary about them. But if he thinks so, he is very mistaken, and by his ignorance he obviously prepares his own destruction. Do not have such suspicions; the brother thinks that for your sake he will also receive mercy. Though it brings you a little sorrow, yet through it you can gain patience; rejoice, then, and be glad, for great is the reward of patience. Thou hast already learned before, through Brother John, that it is not without the will of God that sorrow is allowed upon us, for our benefit. Do not believe the demons in anything concerning your brother; for there is nothing in reality that they show you: but the demons only want to confuse you. May the Lord abolish them! And the fact that you thought: "I have come here to become a slave of men" is not yet humility. The Apostle boasted that he was the slave of all (see 1 Corinthians 9:19), and do you say this? When will you come to this measure of humility? You don't know yourself, brother, what you said. May the Lord forgive you.

Interpretation.

Look how wise the Elder is: when he noticed that (Andrew), calling himself a slave, thought of himself that he had said much, and considered it a good deed, [59] the Elder seemed to laugh at him and call him unworthy of these words, in every possible way leading him to real humility. For humility in words is the offspring of pride, and through them disorderly gives birth to its mother, vanity, although it seems that what we have said is contrary to the truth and inconsistent with the order of things.

Answer 189, of the same Great Elder at that.