![[St. Harlambos]](images/icon_anthony.gif){kind=icon}
St.
John Climacus
The symbolic ascent to heaven is customarily portrayed by the flight skyward with angelic wings. One of our saints, however, depicts the ascension by the more practical use of a ladder. This symbolic ladder is to be scaled in a series of spiritual rungs where increasingly more exertion is required in order to see the Kingdom of God. Each rung represents a passion which must be overcome if we truly wish to encounter the Lord and approach His holy throne. The author of this approach and one of Christianity’s greatest writers is St. John of the Ladder.
Born
in the 6th century, St. John spent the first 16 years of his life in
Palestine, the ancient Holy Land of his birth whose traditions he respected
and whose Christian
heritage he cherished. His early ambitions were realized when he went to the
monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai. There he became one of the most scholarly
monks in Christendom. The site of St. Catherine’s was conducive to prayer
and meditation. St. John felt at home in this desert retreat and was inspired
by this proximity to God to advance the cause of Christianity in writings which
have illumined the Church with their brilliance and clarity of thought.
In addition to being the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John is also
remembered as the originator of hesychasm, the divine quietness that leads one
to God through constant prayer, the Jesus Prayer. Regarding this St. John wrote, “let
the remembrance of Jesus be present with each breath, and then you will know
the value of hesychia.” For more than 70 years, St. John practiced what
he preached in the confines of his desert monastery. He achieved such a reputation
of piety and wisdom that men from all walks of life were drawn to him. From his
strong faith and fervent prayer came the power of healing from Christ. St. John
died March 30 at the age of 86. He is always commemorated on the fourth Sunday
of Great Lent.
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