4. When this divine John had spent nine years in the episcopacy, it happened that his sister's husband, Pasinik by name, was ruling Armenia. As a result of satanic action, he began to oppress and disturb the church entrusted to John, not allowing its administrators to take proper care of church affairs, forcibly rejecting those who resorted to its statutes, and violating the inviolability of the statutes. The servant of God often asked and exhorted him, but he turned out to be even worse, since John's sister, Mary, had already died. Overwhelmed by great sorrow as a result of this, the righteous man was compelled to set off to Constantinople. Arriving there and arranging for the benefit of his church, towards the end of the reign of Zeno, and with the help of Euthymius, Archbishop of Constantinople, he had the God-pleasing intention to retire to the Holy City and renounce all worldly affairs. And having dismissed all the presbyters and clergy who were with him with the royal commands, secretly from all, he embarked alone on a ship and arrived at Jerusalem, and stopped at the first almshouse of the holy city, built by Blessed Eudocia, in which almshouse there is a chapel of the holy Martyr George. Arriving there and seeing the world's anxieties there, he offended his mind and with tears besought God to direct him to a place pleasing and silent, in order to be saved.

5. In the said almshouse, our honorable father John remained for a long time, spending a long time in the night vigil and in prayers to God; One night, finding himself alone in the courtyard of the almshouse and looking at the sky, he suddenly saw a star of light, having the form of a cross and coming to him, and heard a voice saying to him from this light: "If you want to be saved, follow this light." And when he believed, he immediately went out and followed him. Guided by him, he came to the great Lavra, which was among the saints of our father Sava, at the time when Sallust was Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the fourteenth indiction, in the thirty-eighth year of his life; in this year the God-made church of the Great Lavra was consecrated. After the death of Zeno, Anastasius took over the kingdom, as I heard from the saint himself. Arriving at the Great Lavra, he found Blessed Sava, who had formed a retinue of one hundred and fifty hermits, who lived in great poverty in relation to bodily needs, but who were rich in spiritual gifts. Blessed Sava, having received him, handed him over to the steward, as one of the novices, so that he would assign him obedience, not knowing the treasure that was in him. But let no one be surprised: the treasure of John's feats was revealed to the honorable elder Sava; let him quickly understand that when God wants to reveal to his saints, they are prophets, but when he wants to hide, they see in the likeness of the rest. And the prophet Elisha testifies to the word, speaking of the Shunammite woman, that "her soul is sick in her, and the Lord is hidden from me" (II Kings 4:27). The Divine John fulfilled every obedience, helping with all humility and readiness the steward and the rest of the fathers, raising water from the stream, preparing food for the workers and helping them in stonemaking and in other construction work, when the Lavra hospice was being built.

6. In the second year of his stay in the Lavra, when Castelius had been cleansed of the dwelling of demons, as I have already said in the life of Saints Sava, he labored there much with our father Sava and with some others, as he himself told me, when Abba Marcian, by divine revelation, sent food to them, who were in need and had nothing suitable for food. When the time came for the change of obediences, on the first indiction, the appointed steward appointed this great luminary as hospice and cook. And this obedience he accepted with readiness and joy and served with his help to all the fathers, serving each with all humility and modesty. When he was fulfilling this obedience, a community was built outside the Lavra, to the north, so that the renouncers would first of all learn monastic strictness there, and then, having studied the cenobitic rule exactly, live in the Lavra, confirmed by the divine Sava, who said: as the flower precedes the fruit, so the life in the coenobium precedes the hermit's. And so, when this coenobia was being built, this righteous man, being a hospice, in addition to other labors of the hospice, was compelled to cook food for the workers, then to carry weights and broth and other food, and to deliver them to the workers, who labored about ten stades from the hospice.

7. When the year of such obedience was fulfilled, and all the fathers were edified by his calmness, majesty, and spiritual intelligence, our father Sava gave him a cell for silence. The most honorable John, having taken his cell and received the command to be silent, remained in it for three years, for five days a week he did not show himself to any person at all and did not eat anything, but on Saturday and Sunday he came to church earlier than everyone else and left later than everyone else, standing the rite of psalmody firmly, with fear and all humility, according to what is said in the Psalms: "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling" (Ps. II, 11). Such was his tenderness, that he wept greatly during the bloodless sacrifice and was not able to overcome himself, so that the fathers, seeing his gift of tears, were amazed and glorified the giver of blessings, God. At the end of three years, he was given the Lavra economy and God helped him in everything, and the Lavra was blessed, and the retinue multiplied in his obedience.

8. When he had fulfilled it, Blessed Sava wished to ordain him as a virtuous and perfect monk; and taking him to the holy city, on the sixth indiction, he brought him to the blessed Archbishop Elias, and, having told him about his virtues, asked him to be ordained a presbyter. And the archbishop, hearing about him, came to the Holy Place of the Skull, although to ordain him with his own hands. This great father, compelled to the point of impossibility of fleeing, said to the archbishop with his usual meaning: "Honorable father, since I have sinned, I ask Your Beatitude to tell you in private, and if you consider me worthy, then I will accept the consecration." And taking him to the ascent of Holy Golgotha, he said to him in private: "Spare my life, I beseech your holiness, and do not give away the secret to anyone, so that I do not depart from this country." When the archbishop gave him assurance, he said: "I, father, have been ordained bishop of this city, but because of my iniquities which have multiplied, I have fled and settled in the wilderness (Ps. LVIII, 4), hoping for God's help; I thought it right, while I was still in bodily strength, to serve and work for the fathers, so that, when I was exhausted, I might accept services from others without condemnation." The archbishop, hearing this and being amazed, summoned Blessed Sava and said: "He has told me something and it is impossible to consecrate him; but from now on he will be silent and let no one disturb him." And the archbishop, having said only this, dismissed them.

9. Blessed Sava, offended by his thoughts, withdrew about thirty stades from his great Lavra, to the west of Castelius, into a cave, where after that he built a coenobia and, prostrating himself before the face of God, said with tears: "For what sake, O Lord, did you despise me so much, that I was deceived and considered John worthy of the priesthood? And now, O Lord Lord, shew me about him, for my soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt. XXVI, 38) — the vessel, which I considered sanctified and useful, and worthy of receiving the divine gift, turned out to be useless in the presence of Thy majesty." When Abba Sava spoke these and similar words with tears, and spent his nights in vigil, a certain angelic image appeared to him, saying: "John is not a useless vessel, but a vessel of election: he, having already been ordained a bishop, cannot become a presbyter." And here is the vision. Our father Sava, accustomed to the Theophany and the angelic vision, was not frightened, but rejoicing, he came to the cell of the divine John and, embracing him, said: "O Father John, you have hidden from me the gift of God in you, but the Lord has revealed it to me." And the divine John answered: "I am grieved, father, for I did not want anyone to know this secret; and now I will not be able to live in this place." The elder promised by the word of God not to reveal this to anyone at all.

10. And from then on he remained silent in the Lavra, not going out into church and not conversing with anyone except the one who served him, for four years, with the exception of the day of the consecration of the honorable house of the All-Holy Theotokos and the Ever-Virgin Mary, which took place in the Lavra, on the ninth indiction. Only then was he forced to go out and kiss Archbishop Elijah, who had come to the consecration. This patriarch, having conversed with him and loved his spiritual meaning and sweet conversation, revered him throughout the entire period of his episcopate.

11. When he was four years old and Blessed Sava withdrew from the Lavra to the borders of Scythopolis because of the disorders of those who later lived in the New Lavra, this honorable John, fleeing from a disorderly assembly, withdrew to the wilderness of Ruva, in the fiftieth year of his life, on the eleventh indiction. He remained silent there for six years, outside of all human communion, striving to converse with God in silence and to purify the mental eye with long wisdom in the face of the glory of the Lord (II Corinthians 3:18), exerting every effort from glory to glory to succeed in the desire for the best. After two or three days, yielding to bodily needs, he left the cave and walked in the desert for the sake of the wildly growing melagria, which the desert hermits eat. And one day, at the beginning of his stay there, before he knew this wilderness, going out for the said gathering and getting lost, he fell into impassable cliffs, and not finding which way to turn into a cave, and being unable to walk, he fell down exhausted. And behold, suddenly, by the sight of the Divine power, he was lifted up into the air, in the image of the prophet Habakkuk, and found himself in his cave. At the end of the time, having become acquainted with this wilderness and having learned the place from which he had been lifted up and carried, he found that it was five miles away.

12. A certain brother, having come to Ruva, remained with him, passing with him a hermit's life for a short time; this brother, satiated with such wisdom, said to the elder: "The feast of Pascha is approaching, let us go, father, to the Lavra and celebrate the feast of Pascha with our fathers: here we have nothing to eat, except for these melagria." The divine John did not want to go, since our father Sava was not there, who, as was said, had departed from the Lavra; but when the brother insisted, he exhorted him, saying: "Let us be silent, brother, and let us believe that He who has soaked six hundred thousand in the wilderness for forty years, He will nourish us not only with what is necessary, but also with abundance. For He Himself said: "Imam shall not forsake thee, nor shall I depart from thee" (Heb. XIII, 5; cf. Joshua. Nav. 1, 5). And in the Gospel he says: "Do not be anxious, saying, 'What are the pits, or what are we drinking, or what are we wearing... For the tidings of your heavenly Father require these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this shall be added unto you" (Matt. VI, 31; cf. Luke. XII, 31). Therefore, be patient, child, and precede the narrow path to the broad one, for indulgence here gives rise to eternal punishment, and true suffering prepares the enjoyment of blessings." The brother, not convinced by these and similar words, left and went along the way to the Lavra. After his departure, a certain man came to the elder, a complete stranger, having a donkey loaded with all kinds of blessings: in the load there were clean and warm breads, wine and oil, young cheeses and eggs, and a jug of honey; He took it all off and left. And our most honorable father John rejoiced in spirit at the presence of God, but the departed brother wandered for a long time on the way, and returned on the third day, hungry and weakened, having received the fruit of his own disobedience, and found many blessings in the cave. And repenting of his unbelief and disobedience, he fell down with shame to the elder, asking for forgiveness: the elder, having compassion for human weakness and taking pity on his brother, raised him up and taught him, saying: "Know for sure that God is able to prepare a table in the wilderness" (Ps. LXXVII, 19).

13. At this time, Alamundar Sakkin, having received the title of king of the Saracens, who paid tribute to the Persians, attacked Arabia and Palestine with great bitterness against the Romans, plundering everything, enslaving many darkness, and committing many iniquities after the capture of Amida. And when a multitude of barbarians were scattered throughout this wilderness, and when the chiefs of the tribes and the appointed guards of the wilderness proclaimed the barbarian invasion, in order to strengthen the monasteries, the fathers of the Great Lavra declared to the most honorable father that he should leave his stay in Ruva and come to the Lavra to be silent in his cell. And the divine John, having tasted God's sweetness through silence, loved it and did not want to depart from it, reasoning within himself and saying this: "If God does not care, why should I live?" But God, always caring for His servants, commanded His angels, according to the Scriptures, to preserve His venerable one (Psalm XC, 11). And wishing to encourage him, who was a little afraid, he sent a sensual guard, a huge and terrible lion, which guarded him day and night from the encroachment of the pernicious barbarians. And suddenly, on the first night, when he saw a lion lying nearby, he was a little afraid, as he told me; but when he saw that he was following him day and night, without retreating, and driving away the barbarians, he lifted up songs of thanksgiving to God for not leaving the rod of sinners for the lot of the righteous (Ps. CXXIV, 3).

14. Blessed Sava, having come from Nikopol and having built a new Lavra, began to build a cave, as I said in the second story. And remembering a vision that had occurred to him about the Monk John, he came to him at Rubah and said: "Behold, God has preserved thee from the raid of the barbarians, and has encouraged thee, having sent thee a sensual guard. Arise also, do human things, and flee like the fathers, lest pride take possession of you." And having used many other exhortations, he brought him to the Great Lavra, to the second indiction, and locked him up in a cell, in his fifty-sixth year, and none of the retinue knew that he was a bishop. After a long time, God arranged for John's hidden treasure to be revealed in the following way.

15. A certain man from the land of Asia, named Etherius, an archbishop by rank, worthily undergoing the episcopate, arrived in Jerusalem, and having venerated the honorable places and the Life-Giving Wood of the Cross, and having distributed much money to the poor and monasteries, he left the holy city, thinking to return to his homeland. Embarking on a ship, not far sailing by sea, he returned with great danger to Ascalon due to a certain contrary wind. And when, two days later, he wanted to sail again, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Your voyage will not be favorable if you do not return to the holy city and go to the Lavra of Abba Sava and do not converse with Abba John the silent; he is a righteous and virtuous man, a bishop blossoming with spiritual wealth, who for the sake of fear and love of God despised all worldly things and humbled himself by voluntary non-acquisitiveness and asceticism." Then Etherius, rising from his sleep and judging the vision, questioning with all diligence, came to the Lavra of Abba Sava and, announcing the vision to the fathers, was brought to the silent. After kissing him, and remaining with him for two days, he came to a lengthy conversation, and implored him to tell and speak of himself; and thus compelled, he discovered his family, and fatherland, and hierarchy. Etherius, learning of this and being greatly surprised, said: "Verily, even now the holy stones are lying on the ground." And having bid farewell to the righteous man, he went to the blessed Sava and told him and the fathers about the divine John. And from that time the fathers became aware of the family and hierarchy of John.

16. In the seventieth year of the life of the Monk John, and in the twenty-fourth year of his imprisonment in his cell, our great father Sava fell asleep and reposed in peace (Ps. IV, 9) of the month of December, on the fifth day of the tenth indiction. And then the most honorable bead John offended in thought, because he did not leave his cell and did not stand up to the end of the holy father. And when he was in such despondency and with tears mourned the loss of his father, our father Sava appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Do not grieve, Father John, over my death, for if I have been separated from you in the flesh, I am with you in spirit." And when he said: "Pray to the Lord, that He may take me also," Blessed Sava answered: "Now it is impossible for this to happen, for a heavy temptation will come for the Lavra, and God desires that you remain in the flesh for the consolation and strengthening of those who are of good courage and struggle for the faith." The divine John, seeing and hearing this, rejoiced, and, shaking off his despondency for his father, he was only sorrowful at the proclaimed temptation.

17. He had a desire to see how the soul was separated from the body, and when he asked God for this, he was caught up in his mind to holy Bethlehem and saw on the porch of the honorable church there, the man of a pilgrim of the saint, who lay and ended, and his soul was received by the angels and lifted up with hymns and fragrance to heaven. And he sought to see with his own eyes that this was so, and getting up immediately, he went to holy Bethlehem and found that at that very hour this man had reposed. Having kissed his holy remains and tied them up on the porch itself, he placed them in an honorable coffin and returned to his cell.