Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is hard to believe that we are already completing the fourth week of Lent! As we draw closer to Pascha, the Church encourages us to self-reflect, on ourselves and on our efforts, through the commemoration of St. John Climacus (of the Ladder) on the fourth Sunday of Lent. A monk of the Eastern Church in The Year of the Grace of the Lord: A Scriptural and Liturgical Commentary on the Calendar of the Orthodox Church says that St. John Climacus is “the ideal of penitence on which we should fix our eyes during Lent.”
The Ladder of Divine Ascent is well known by Orthodox everywhere, a classic written by St. John to monks in the seventh century on living the truly ascetic life. The book is written in “steps,” thirty steps in particular, to correspond to the years of Christ when He began His public ministry. The image of “ladder” is used as a metaphor of the soul’s ascent to God drawn from Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28. While we may not all be monks in the seventh century context in which the book was written, that doesn’t prevent the truths of this spiritual treasure to apply to us in every aspect of our lives. Just listen to St. John Climacus in his Step 5 on repentance:
Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life...Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair...Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord by the practice of good deeds contrary to the sins. Repentance is purification of conscience. Repentance is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions...Repentance is...a striking of the soul into vigorous awareness.
St. John Climacus reminds us that in our process of repentance (and in our journey through Great Lent), that we must be careful not to fool ourselves, thinking we are on track, when in reality, we may be off the course. St. John Climacus in his Step 2 states the following:
Let us pay close attention to ourselves so that we are not deceived into thinking that we are following the straight and narrow way, when in actual fact we are keeping to the wide and broad way...
St. John Climacus teaches us that fasting helps us to walk the straight and narrow way of Christ (Matt. 7:14) in his Step 14:
Fasting is the coercion of nature and the cutting out of everything that delights the palate, the excision of lust, the uprooting of bad thoughts, deliverance from incontinence in dreams, purity of prayer, the light of the soul, the guarding of the mind, deliverance from blindness, the door of compunction...a guard of obedience, lightening of sleep, health of body...remission of sins, the gate of Paradise and its delight.
It seems so fitting that the Church, in the beginning of the fifth week of Lent, draws our attention to this holy ascetic, because truly Lent becomes more difficult as we continue through its dessert. We are reminded of why we are fasting and praying more fervently in this holy season. By reading St. John Climacus’ The Ladder of Divine Ascent, we are reminded how miniscule our fasting may be in comparison to ancient monastics, yet God accepts our efforts in His mercy. We are reminded that our fasting must be linked with putting off the old man (our sins) and putting on the new man (Christ, His way of life) and prayer, in order to be fruitful. We are encouraged to continue to endure, through persistent prayer and fasting that we have been doing throughout Lent, because as a monk of the Eastern Church states:
Prayer and fasting, in the deepest sense, mean[s] a radical renunciation of self, a concentration of one’s soul in an attitude of trust and humility which leaves all to the mercy of God, the submission of our will to the will of the Lord, placing our whole being in the hands of the Father.
Pascha is fast approaching, the Day of the Lord is at hand; are we ready to greet Him when He comes? The Church, in the fourth Sunday of Lent, urges us to have an honest self-inventory on ourselves at this point of the Fast, so that we may have renewed zeal to finish strong, to persevere to the end, so that, through adhering to the wise counsel of St. John Climacus’ teachings and through genuine, heart-felt repentance, we may strive to be properly prepared for Christ when He comes for His Bride (the Church), at Holy Pascha. Amen.
Further Readings and Reflections...
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A podcast on the application of The Ladder of Divine Ascent teachings to us non-monastics by Fr. Thomas Hopko.
An article on the life of St. John Climacus
An article on the Ladder of Divine Ascent
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