St. Barsanuphius

St. Barsanuphius was a sixth-century hermit of Palestine who lived near the monastery of Thavatha, close to Gaza, and died around 540. Of Egyptian origin, he embraced a life of extraordinary seclusion, dwelling as a walled-up recluse and rarely, if ever, showing himself, so that he came to be known simply as 'the Great Old Man.' Yet from within his solitude he exercised a profound ministry of spiritual guidance.

Together with his fellow recluse St. John, called 'the Prophet,' he directed a wide circle of monks and laypeople through written answers to their questions, dictated to an intermediary. Hundreds of these letters survive, forming one of the richest treasuries of monastic and spiritual counsel from the early Church, marked by deep humility, discernment, patience, and unceasing prayer. He is venerated as a saint and a master of the interior life, especially in the Christian East.