John the Dwarf

Abba John the Dwarf was one of the Desert Fathers quoted in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers).

Quotes

Wortley, John (2014). Give Me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Yonkers, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-497-4. 

• They used to say of Abba John Colobos that, having withdrawn from the world to be with an elder from Thebes at Scete, he was living in the desert.
  His abba took some dry wood, planted it and said to him: “Irrigate it every day with a bottle of water until it bears fruit.”
  Water was a long way from them, so one had to go in the evening and return at dawn.
  After three years [the dry wood] became alive and bore fruit. The elder took its fruit and brought it to the church, saying to the brothers: “Take and eat some fruit of obedience.”
  • Saying 1

• They also used to say of him that he once braided cord for two baskets and stitched it together as one basket but didn’t realize it until he approached the wall, for his logismos was occupied in contemplation.
  • Saying 11

• They also used to say of him that [the wages of] all the labor he expended on the harvest, he would take and bring to Scete saying: “My widows and orphans are at Scete.”
  • Saying 47