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Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses is unavailable, but you can change that!

Dive into the letters of two monastic elders: the “Great Old Man,” Barsanuphius, and the “Other Old Man,” John, who lived in the southern region around Gaza during the early part of the sixth century. Maintaining strict seclusion within their cells, they spoke to others only through letters by way of Abba Seridos, the abbot of the monastic community in Gaza. John’s authority was more...

purify the “five senses” (Letters 208 and 612). The correspondence constantly emphasizes the fact that “you shall know them by their works” (Mt 7:16) or fruits (cf. Letters 22, 23, 94, 238, 401, 405, 453, 455). Barsanuphius and John constantly underline the importance of balance and discretion. For instance, a monk who is ill should not also expect to fast because the body is already being strained and restrained by the illness itself (Letter 79; see also Letter 212). In
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