John the Cenobite

There was a brother living in a cenobium who was very strong in ascetic practice. When the brothers in Scetis heard about him, they came to see him and entered the place where he was working. He greeted them and immediately turned back to his work. When the brothers saw what he did, they said, “John, who gave you the habit, or who made you a monk, and did not teach you to receive the brothers’ sheepskin cloaks and say to them, ‘Pray,’ or, ‘Sit down’?” He answered them, “John the sinner has no leisure for such things.”