In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

LETTER TO THE BROTHER OF BARSANUPHIUS (348) LETTER 348 A secular man, in fact the [biological] brother of the same Great Old Man, who was also advanced in age, sent a letter to him, asking to meet with him. The Old Man announced the following to him: “My brother is Jesus. If you despise the world and become a monk, then you will be my brother.” Having heard this, he departed, weeping greatly. After a while, however, he returned there in order to become a monk; but he fell ill physically, swollen with dropsy. So he sent a letter asking the Old Man about this suffering. The latter responded as follows. HE ONLY REASON that this illness has come upon you is so that you may not depart fruitless toward God. Therefore, if you endure it and give thanks, it will be reckoned for you as your ascetic life, especially since you have not long been in the monastic habit. This affliction has also occurred to you partly because you counted me, who am nothing, as well as yourself as being something. You counted me as being a great man and yourself as being the brother of such a man. Do you not know that we are all children of Adam’s transgression?1 Do you not know that we are earth and ashes?2 Therefore, give thanks to God, who brought you to such a condition. If we had the humility of Jesus, we would say: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”3 and so on. 320 1. Cf. Rom 5.14. 2. Cf. Gn 18.27; Jb 42.6. 3. Mt 12.48. ...

Share