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Heavenly AscentSaint John Climacus and the Ladder of Divine Ascent Saint John Climacus was a 6th century monk and abbot of the monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt, the same location where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. As a tool to help fellow monastics achieve a perfected spiritual life, Saint John wrote a series of “steps” – like those of a ladder – that each individual must take before he or she can enter the kingdom of God. While many in modern society may view the “Ladder to Heaven” described by Saint John as somewhat unusually “strict” for our time, as Orthodox Christians we cannot ignore its message. The following is a brief description of five of the steps described by Saint John: Step 5: Step 9:
A true sign of having completely mastered this putrefaction will come not when you pray for the man who offended you, not when you give him presents, not when you invite him to share a meal with you, but only when on hearing some catastrophe that has afflicted him in body or soul, you suffer and you lament for him as if for yourself. Step 22: Like the sun which shines on all alike, vainglory beams on every occupation. What I mean is this. I fast, and turn vainglorious. I stop fasting so that I will draw no attention to myself, and I become vainglorious over my prudence. I dress well or badly, and I am vainglorious in either case. I talk or hold my peace, and each time I am defeated. No matter how I shed this prickly thing, a spike remains to stand up against me. A vain man is a believer - and an idolator. Apparently honoring God, he actually is out to please not God but men. To be a showoff is to be vainglorious, and the fast of such an individual is unrewarded and his prayer futile, since he is practicing both to win praise. When the devil tells you to show off your virtues for the benefit of an audience, do not yield to him. "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and destroy himself?" (Matt. 16:26). Our neighbor is moved by nothing so much as by a sincere and humble way of talking and behaving. It is an example and a spur to others never to turn proud. And there is nothing to equal the benefit of this. Step 26: To put the matter generally, discernment is - and is recognized to be - a solid understanding of the will of God in all times, in all places, in all things; and it is found only among those who are pure in heart, body and in speech. Discernment is an uncorrupted conscience. It is pure perception. Step 30: Love, by nature, is a resemblance to God, insofar as this is humanly possible. Love is the banishment of every sort of contrariness, for love thinks no evil. He who loves the Lord has first loved his brother, for the latter is proof of the former. Someone who loves his neighbor will never tolerate slanderers and will run from them as though from a fire. Hope is the power behind love. Hope is what causes us to look forward to the reward of love. Hope is an abundance of hidden treasure. It is a rest from labor, a doorway of love. When hope fails, so does love. Hope is destroyed by anger, for hope does not disappoint and the angry man has no grace. Love is an abyss of illumination, a fountain of fire, bubbling up to inflame the thirsty soul. It is the condition of angels and the progress of eternity. The Thirty Steps of the Ladder of Divine Ascent
Did you know that with the exception of the Bible and the service books, there is no work in the Orthodox Church that has been more studied, copied or translated than the Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus? |
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Rev. Father Peter J. Orfanakos, Parish
Priest |
Phone: (203) 795-1347 | E-mail: | 480 Racebrook Road - Orange, Connecticut 06477 |
©2010 Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church |
If after great effort you . . . fail to root out this thorn, go to your enemy and apologize, if only with empty words whose insincerity may shame you. Then as conscience, like a fire, comes to give you pain, you may find that a sincere love of your enemy may come to life.