Almoutran

Barsanuphius the Great Elder and John the Prophet

 February 6^th 

Barsanuphius the Great Elder

 He spent 50 years alone in a monastic cell, and he was so determined to remain alone with God that he would visit with no one.  When a fellow-monk asked to speak with him, the request was politely refused.  When the abbot of the monastery sought a brief meeting with this extraordinary ascetic, the recluse turned him down.  On several occasions, even visiting bishops were told: “No offense intended, but Brother Barsanuphius cannot meet with you; he is engaged in solitary prayer.”

The Holy Father Barsanuphius the Great Elder was surely one of the most dedicated ascetics in the long history of the Holy Church.  While living at the well-known Palestine monastery of Abba Seridos (near Gaza) during the early years of the Sixth Century, this Egyptian-born monastic followed a very simple regimen. 

On the first day of the week, the monastery purser would bring him three small loaves of bread and a jug of water.  These items were placed inside the door of the ascetic’s cell.  The monk would then nod his thanks.  Preferring silence to speech, this self-denying devotee would sometimes go four or five years without uttering a single word! 

Slowly, the purser’s footsteps echoed into the distance.  The monk returned his face to the wall and resumed his dialogue with the Almighty.  This process would continue without interruption day after day, broken only by a few periods in which the monk lay down on the stone floor and briefly slept.

One week later, almost to the minute, the purser would return from the refectory . . . carrying three new loaves of bread and another jug of water.  Amazed, the clerk would once again notice that the man in the cell had not even touched half of the bread!TAKEN FROM

Not much is known about the early years of the Holy Father St. Barsanuphius, since he rarely spoke about them.  Born in Egypt around 620 A.D., he was converted to the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ as a youth and eventually journeyed to Palestine in search of a monastery where he could practice his sternly austere faith in peace.

During his first few years in Palestine, he placed himself under the supervision of the accomplished elder Marcellus.  From this great teacher he learned some of the habits that are often part of the ascetic mode of living – eating little, engaging in hard labor, and sleeping for only a few hours each night.

After he had mastered the fundamental rules of monasticism, he wandered out into the surrounding desert and lived entirely off the land.  The sun burned him mercilessly in daylight; at night he lay on the ground and shivered furiously in the cold.  He ate wild plants that grew on the windy crags and in the narrow gullies that flank this region of Gaza.  He experienced mystical visions and wrestled with demons in the harsh and glaring light of noonday.

After several years of this hermit’s life, the Holy Father Barsanuphius returned to the world of men. Clad in tattered rags, he wore a dusty, tangled beard.  His weather-beaten face looked as if it had been formed from ancient leather.  But his spirit was fresh and young and alive . . . and when he appeared at the renowned Monastery of Abba Seridos (located at Thawatha in the region of Gaza), the great teacher was delighted to welcome him home.

What followed was a remarkable example of monastic self-denial, as Holy Father Barsanuphius set a new standard for isolation and self-mortification during the next thirty years.  Indeed, his dedication to the monk’s life was so intense that it often seemed difficult to understand.

On one occasion, for example, when the great monk’s brother came to the monastery and asked to speak with him, the ascetic responded by sending him a written note:

“My brother is Jesus; if thou wilt disdain the world and become a monk, then thou art my brother.”

Again and again as the years unfolded, this extraordinary man of God astounded those who lived in community with him.  In one often-described incident, he had agreed to help compose a book of 850 answers to questions about religious life, asceticism and other topics.  (That volume, known today as the Answers, has since become a classic of the Holy Church.) 

In order to publish the book – which he composed with the help of his lifelong friend and fellow monk, St. John the Prophet – the Holy Father Barsanuphius began dictating his answers to John’s questions to the holy monk Abba Seridos at a high rate of speed.  But when the latter protested that he could not possibly keep up with this rapid speech and that he should first get a pen and paper in order to “take down” the commentary as the saint was uttering it, the devout Egyptian astonished him by dismissing the suggestion . . . while insisting that the Holy Spirit would help the Abba remember every word perfectly.

“Go, write it down,” the great monk told his alarmed superior, “and fear not!  Even if I say innumerable words for you to write down, know that the Holy Spirit will not let you write one single word more or less than what I have said . . . even though you wish it, but will guide your hand in writing down everything correctly and in right order.”

A paragon of faith and self-effacement, the great Holy Father St. Barsanuphius the Elder died in 563, after first visiting Jerusalem as the guest of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Peter.  In typical fashion, this inimitable monastic not only predicted the day of his own death . . . but even postponed it for several days in order to help teach a new monastery superior how to best govern his monks!

The life of the Holy Father Barsanuphius provides a wonderful illustration of the grace of Almighty God at work in the lives of His devoted ascetics.  Blessed and protected by this outpouring of heavenly beneficence, St. Barsanuphius was able to endure all manner of physical hardships.

And instead of complaining about these numerous self-deprivations . . . he rejoiced in them!

X

The Holy Prophet, John

 John the Prophet was a companion and friend of the Holy Father Barsanuphius during the latter’s early years as a monk in Palestine, and the two men remained devoted to each for the rest of their lives, during the Sixth Century and under the rule of the great Emperor Justinian.

Along with his friend and fellow-monk, John would shape a great gift for the Holy Church by composing the Answers – a book of wisdom that eloquently described the observances of those who profess the Holy Gospel of Christ Jesus.

As a young monk who lived alone at times in the desert and practiced strict forms of asceticism, John was given the ability to “see” into the future.  Some time around 525, he began to describe the mysteries of the Heavenly Kingdom and to predict the future of the Holy Church on earth.  So prescient were his observations and predictions that he was eventually awarded the honorific of “John The Prophet.”

The life of this humble desert monk and prophet – along with the book of Answers that he co-authored with his devoted friend – continues to comfort and inspire all those who seek to find peace and fulfillment in obedience to Almighty God, rather than in the things of this world.

Apolytikion in the First Tone

Divine and tuneful harps of the Holy Spirit's myst'ries, sounding forth sweet hymns of discernment which soothe all those in sorrows: ye moved men to cast off passion's yoke and trample upon Satan's loathsome head. Wherefore, Godlike Barsanuphius and wise John, deliver us who now cry out: Glory to Him that hath given you grace. Glory to Him that hath blessed you. Glory to Him that hath saved many through your sacred words of counsel.

Kontakion in the Third Tone

O Great Barsanuphius and John, thou marvellous Prophet, all the hidden secrets of men and God's dispensation brightly shone in