Preface

THE MOST LOWLY monk and priest John to the most saintly and honored of God, Father Cosmas the most holy Bishop of Maiuma, greetings in the Lord.

Being fully conscious of the limitations of my intelligence and of the insufficiency of my language, your Beatitude, I have hesitated to undertake a task exceeding my capabilities and to presume to enter into the Holy of Holies like some bold and foolhardy person, for I am wary of the danger that threatens those who attempt such things. The divine Moses, the lawgiver, withdrew from all sight of human things and abandoned the turbulent sea of life.