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.

18. The disciples of the enlightened elder, Theodore and John, told me, saying that after the dormition of Sava, who was among the saints, the elder sent us to Liviad for the sake of an answer, and on the way, after crossing the Jordan, some people met us, saying: "Look, there is a lion ahead of you." We thought that God had the power to preserve us for the prayers of our abba, for we do not fulfill this commandment of our own free will. Thinking this, we continued our journey, and suddenly a lion came out to meet us; We were very frightened and had no strength left. But immediately we saw an elder praying in the midst of both of us and commanding us to be bold. Then the lion, as if driven by a whip, departed, fleeing from us, and we, having made the journey unharmed, came to the elder, who, meeting us, said: "You see how I have found myself with you in need; but even here I have prayed much to God for you, and behold, He has shown mercy."

19. One of the disciples also related the following: "For many years he ate only bread and mixed ashes from a censer with it, and so he ate. I found him doing this in the following way: once he forgot to lock the latch at his door, but I, although I had given him water and wine, took hold of the door, opened it and found him pouring the censer into a cup. When he was greatly grieved by this, I, wishing to console his sorrow, said: "You are not the only one, father, who do this, but also the majority in this Lavra, fulfilling the scripture that says: "Ashes are like bread" (Ps. CI, 10). And with difficulty with these words I was able to console the elder."

20.

And so, having come to Jerusalem and having performed the consecration of the new church of the All-Sung Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, I arrived at the Lavra of Blessed Sava, and having visited this divine elder, I told him about myself and asked him to receive God-pleasing advice from him; and I heard from him: "If you want to be saved, then settle in the monastery of the great Euthymius." I, being young and vain, disobeyed his commandment and went down to the Jordan, wishing to settle in one of the monasteries there. And not only did I not make a safe journey, but I also fell ill with a serious illness for six months in the Kalamonova Lavra. When I was in great sorrow and fear, for the sake of wandering and illness, and because I did not fit in with the retinue, this enlightened elder appeared to me in a dream, saying thus: "Since you have disobeyed my commandment, you have been punished sufficiently. Now, having arisen, go to Jericho and find a certain elder monk in the hospice of the monastery of Abba Euthymius; follow him and you will be saved." Rising from my sleep and immediately strengthened, I communed of the Most Pure Mysteries, and having tasted the food, I went on foot to Jericho, so that the fathers were amazed at the slight sudden change. And so, having arrived, I settled in the monastery of St. Euthymius, in the month of July, on the sixth indiction, and from that time I often went to the elder, confessing to him everything about myself.

As a result, I also came to him with great boldness and enjoyed his exhortations and prayers, especially now, when he commanded me to leave my stay in the new Lavra and settle in the old one, which I did, pleasing to God. But more on that later.

21. After a long time, I came to the holy elder, being burdened with a certain satanic thought, and having confessed it to him and accepted a prayer from him, I immediately received deliverance. And when I was sitting near his door and enjoying his divine teaching, a certain George brought his demonic son to him and, throwing him down before his door, departed. And when the lad lay and cried out, the elder, learning that he had an unclean spirit, took pity on him and made a prayer for him, and, anointing him with the oil of the Holy Cross, restored him to health, and since the evil spirit immediately departed, the lad was cleansed from that hour.

22. Abba Eustathius, who a few days ago had taken over the hegumen of Blessed Sava, after Sergius, a man distinguished by the grace of Christ for his spiritual sense, and for his right teachings, and for his chaste life, told me, saying, "Once I was greatly overcome by the demon of blasphemy, and having come to Abba John the silent, I told him my thoughts and asked him to receive a prayer from him. The elder got up, made a prayer to me and said: "Blessed be the Lord, child, the blasphemous enemy will no longer come near you"; And so it happened according to the word of the elder, and from that time I no longer felt this evil and blasphemous thought.