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rejoicing and giving thanks to the Lord. But that desert also nourishes many and various beasts and all kinds of serpents and dragon-shaped creatures, which, when he encountered them, appeared no longer in fantasy, but in reality, so that from this the path was full of fear and toil; but he soared above both in his mind, love casting out fear, as the Scripture says, and desire lightening his toil. So then, having struggled with many and various misfortunes and hardships, after 572 not a few days he reached that desert of the land of Senaar, where Barlaam lived; there, finding water, he quenched the flame of his thirst. χχχῃιιι And Joasaph remained for a full two years wandering about the vastness of this desert and not finding Barlaam, with God testing here also the steadfastness of his mind and the nobility of his soul. And so he was in the open, being burned by the heat and frozen by the cold, and unceasingly seeking the most honorable elder as if he were some precious treasure. And he endured many temptations and wars from the evil spirits, and he bore many hardships from the lack of herbs, which he used for food, because the desert, being dry, produced even these sparsely. But that adamantine and invincible soul, inflamed with desire for the Lord, bore these painful things more easily than others bear their pleasures. Therefore he did not miss the aid from above, but, according to the multitude of his pains and toils, the consolations that came from the longed-for Christ, both in sleep and in waking, gladdened his soul. And as the two years were being completed, Joasaph went about unceasingly seeking the one he longed for, and he cried out to God, pouring forth tears like rivers from his eyes, and, "Show me, O Master," crying out, "show me the one who was the cause of my knowledge of you and the agent for me of so many 574 good things; and do not, because of the multitude of my iniquities, deprive me of so great a good. But count me worthy to see him and to undertake a struggle of asceticism equal to his." And by the grace of God he finds a cave, having tracked the path of those who travel there. And he meets a certain monk who was pursuing the eremitic life. And having embraced and greeted him most warmly, he asked to find the dwelling of Barlaam, and he went through his own story, making it clear to the man. Therefore, having been taught by him the place of the dwelling of the one he sought, he reaches it very quickly, as when a most experienced hunter comes upon the tracks of his prey. And having reached certain signs taught to him by the other elder, he proceeded, rejoicing and strengthened by hope, like a child hoping to see his father after a long time. For when a longing according to God bursts forth in a soul, it is shown to be much warmer and more powerful than a natural one. Therefore he stands at the door of the cave, and having knocked, "Bless," he said, "Father, bless." And when Barlaam heard the voice and came out of the cave, he recognized by the spirit the one who, according to his outward appearance, could not be easily recognized, on account of that wondrous transformation and alteration by which he had been altered and changed from that former appearance and his beautifully blossoming youth, being blackened from the sun's heat, and with long hair, his cheeks wasted away and his eyes sunk somewhere deep within 576 and having his eyelids inflamed by the streams of tears and by the great hardship of want. And Joasaph also recognized his spiritual father, who had especially the same features of his face. Then, at once standing towards the east, the elder sent up a prayer of thanksgiving to God. And after the prayer, having said the amen, embracing

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χαίρων καὶ εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ. ἀλλὰ καὶ θηρία πολλὰ καὶ ποικίλα καὶ ὄφεων παντοδαπὰ καὶ δρακοντόμορφα γένη ἡ ἔρημος ἐκείνη τρέφει, ἅτινα συναντῶντα αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔτι φαντασίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἀληθείᾳ ἐδείκνυτο, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν φόβου μὲν ἦν πλήρης ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ πόνου· αὐτὸς δὲ ἀμφοτέρων ὑπερίπτατο τῷ λογισμῷ, τὸν μὲν φόβον τῆς ἀγάπης, ὥς φησιν ἡ Γραφή, ἔξω βαλλούσης, τὸν πόνον δὲ τοῦ πόθου ἐπικουφίζοντος. οὕτως οὖν πολλαῖς καὶ ποικίλαις συμφοραῖς καὶ ταλαιπωρίαις πυκτεύσας, δι' 572 ἡμερῶν οὐκ ὀλίγων κατέλαβε τὴν ἔρημον ἐκείνην τῆς Σενααρίτιδος γῆς, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Βαρλαὰμ ᾤκει· ἔνθα καὶ ὕδατος τυχὼν τὴν φλόγα κατέσβεσε τῆς δίψης. χχχῃιιι Ἔμεινε δὲ Ἰωάσαφ διετίαν ὅλην κατὰ τὸ πέλαγος τῆς ἐρήμου ταύτης ἀλώμενος καὶ μὴ εὑρίσκων τὸν Βαρλαάμ, τοῦ Θεοῦ κἀνταῦθα τὸ στερρὸν τοῦ λογισμοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς γενναῖον δοκιμάζοντος. καὶ ἦν οὕτως αἴθριος συγκαιόμενος τῷ καύσωνι καὶ τῷ κρύει πηγνύμενος καὶ ἀπαύστως ζητῶν ὥσπερ τινὰ θησαυρὸν πολύτιμον τὸν τιμιώτατον γέροντα. πολλοὺς δὲ ὑπέμεινε πειρασμοὺς καὶ πολέμους τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων, καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπήνεγκε πόνους τῆς τῶν βοτανῶν ἐνδείας, ἃς εἰς τροφὴν ἐκέχρητο, ὅτι καὶ ταύτας ξηρὰ οὖσα ἡ ἔρημος ἐνδεῶς ἐβλάστανεν. ἀλλὰ τῷ πόθῳ τοῦ ∆εσπότου φλεγομένη ἡ ἀδαμαντίνη ψυχὴ ἐκείνη καὶ ἀήττητος ῥᾷον ἤνεγκε τὰ λυπηρὰ ταῦτα ἢ τὰς ἡδονὰς ἕτεροι. διὸ τῆς ἄνωθεν οὐ διήμαρτε συμμαχίας, ἀλλά, κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὀδυνῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ πόνων, αἱ παρὰ τοῦ ποθουμένου Χριστοῦ ἐγγινόμεναι παρακλήσεις καθ' ὕπνους τε καὶ καθ' ὕπαρ εὔφραναν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. συμπληρουμένης δὲ τῆς διετίας, Ἰωάσαφ μὲν ἀπαύστως περιῄει ζητῶν τὸν ποθούμενον, καὶ ἐποτνιᾶτο πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν δάκρυα ποταμηδὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προχεόμενος, καί, ∆εῖξόν μοι, ∆έσποτα, βοῶν, δεῖξόν μοι τὸν αἴτιόν μοι τῆς σῆς ἐπιγνώσεως καὶ τῶν τοσούτων 574 ἀγαθῶν γενόμενόν μοι πρόξενον· καὶ μή, διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνομιῶν μου, καλοῦ με τοσούτου στερήσῃς. ἀλλ' ἀξίωσόν με ἰδεῖν τε αὐτὸν καὶ ἴσον αὐτῷ τὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς ἀσκήσεως θέσθαι. Εὑρίσκει δὲ Θεοῦ χάριτι σπήλαιον, ἰχνηλατήσας τῶν ἐκεῖσε πορευομένων τὴν τρίβον. καὶ μοναχῷ τινι ἐντυγχάνει τὸν ἐρημικὸν μετιόντι βίον. καὶ τούτῳ θερμότατα περιχυθεὶς καὶ ἀσπασάμενος, τοῦ Βαρλαὰμ ἠρώτα τὸ σκήνωμα εὑρεῖν, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν διεξῄει, δῆλα τῷ ἀνδρὶ θέμενος. δι' αὐτοῦ τοίνυν τὸν τόπον διδαχθεὶς τῆς τοῦ ζητουμένου οἰκήσεως, καταλαμβάνει τάχιστα, ὡς ὅταν θηρευτὴς ἐμπειρότατος ἴχνεσιν ἐπιτύχῃ τοῦ θηράματος. καὶ φθάσας τινὰ σημεῖα τὰ παρὰ τοῦ ἄλλου γέροντος διδαχθέντα αὐτῷ, ἐπορεύετο χαίρων καὶ τῇ ἐλπίδι ῥωννύμενος, ὡς νήπιος ἐκ μακροῦ χρόνου τὸν πατέρα ἐλπίζων θεάσασθαι. ὅταν γὰρ ὁ κατὰ Θεὸν πόθος εἰς ψυχὴν ῥαγῇ, πολλῷ τοῦ φυσικοῦ δείκνυται θερμότερός τε καὶ βιαιότερος. Ἐφίσταται τοίνυν τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ σπηλαίου, καὶ κρούσας, Εὐλόγησον, εἶπε, Πάτερ, εὐλόγησον. ὡς δὲ τῆς φωνῆς ἀκούσας ἐξῆλθεν ὁ Βαρλαὰμ τοῦ σπηλαίου, ἐγνώρισε τῷ πνεύματι τόν, κατά γε τὴν ἔξω θέαν, οὐκ εὐχερῶς γνωρισθῆναι δυνάμενον, διὰ τὴν θαυμαστὴν ἐκείνην μεταβολὴν καὶ ἀλλοίωσιν ἣν ἠλλοίωτο καὶ μετεβέβλητο τῆς ὄψεως ἐκείνης τῆς προτέρας καὶ τῆς ὡραῖον ἀνθούσης νεότητος, μεμελανωμένος μὲν ἐκ τῆς ἡλιακῆς καύσεως, κατάκομος δὲ ταῖς θριξίν, ἐκτετηκυίας δὲ τὰς παρειὰς καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔσω που εἰς βάθος δεδυκότας 576 καὶ τὰ βλέφαρα περιπεφλεγμένα ἔχων ταῖς ῥοαῖς τῶν δακρύων καὶ τῇ πολλῇ τῆς ἐνδείας ταλαιπωρίᾳ. ἔγνω δὲ καὶ Ἰωάσαφ τὸν πνευματικὸν πατέρα, τοὺς χαρακτῆρας μάλιστα τῆς ὄψεως ἔχοντα τοὺς αὐτούς. στὰς οὖν εὐθὺς κατὰ ἀνατολάς, ὁ γέρων εὐχὴν ἀνέπεμψε τῷ Θεῷ εὐχαριστήριον. καὶ μετὰ τὴν εὐχὴν ἐπειπόντες τὸ ἀμήν, περιλαβόντες