"do not suppose that because the righteous were in the midst of men it was among men that they had achieved their righteousness"

"ever since the transgression came to pass [(facta prævaricatióne præcepti)], the soul cannot know [(non posse . . . cognoscere)] God unless it withdraws itself from men and from every distraction. . . ."
     "This is why the holy fathers also withdrew into the desert alone, men such as Elijah the Tishbite and John the Baptist. For do not suppose that because the righteous were in the midst of men it was among men that they had achieved their righteousness. Rather, having first practised much quiet [(magno . . . silentio)], they then received the power of God dwelling in them, and then God sent them into the midst of men, having acquired every virtue, so that they might act as God’s provisioners and cure men of their infirmities."

     St. Ammonius, Epistle 12.1-2, Office of readings, Feast of St. Charbel Makhlouf, 24 July, trans. Universalis, where there is more of value.  For the Syriac, see Patrologia Orientalis 10.6 (1973 [1913]), Ammonii Eremitae epistulae Syriace, ed. Kmoskó, 603-604.  More from secs. 4-5 (606-607):

     See, beloved, I have made known to you the power of quiet, and how it heals on all sides, and how God wills it. That is why I have written to you, that you may be strengthened in what you are doing, and know that it is in quiet that all the saints grew, and for this reason the divine power came to dwell in them, and made known to them heavenly mysteries; thus they drove away all the oldness of this world [(totam vetustatem mundi huius)]. And he who is writing this to you has by means of it attained to this measure.

     Many monks at the present time have been unable to persevere in quiet because they could not overcome their self-will. For this reason they live among men all the time, since they are unable to despise themselves and flee from the company of men, or to engage in battle. Thus they abandon quiet, and remain in the company of their neighbours, receiving their comfort thereby, all their lives. Therefore they have not been held worthy of the divine sweetness, or to have the power dwelling within them. For when that power looks down upon them, it finds that they receive their comfort in this present world and in the passions that belong to the soul and body. As a result it cannot overshadow them any more, for love of money, human vainglory, and all the soul’s sicknesses and distractions, prevent that divine power from overshadowing them.