St. John Climacus - The Ladder of Divine Ascent

5/11/2018 St. John Climacus - The Ladder of Divine Ascent - slidepdf.com

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/st-john-climacus-the-ladder-of-divine-ascent 1/159

|ohn-rClimacusTHE ADDERFDIVINE SCENT

TIi"ANSLATIOT\"

llY

COLNI LIIIIHEID nd

NORN,IAN L]SSELL

N.OTES N TRANSIATION

BY

NOITMANRUSSELL

INTRODUCTIONBY

KALLISTOS IIAITE

PREFACE

BY

COLM LI.JIBHEII)

sP(;K t.oNDON



Cover ArtA graduateofThe PennsylvaniaAcademyof rhe Fine Arts in Philadelphia, over artisrANDRIJ MADAY has won numerousawards or his graphicdesignsand prints. Hehasexhibited his paintingsand woodcuts n approximatelyeighty shows n the UnitedStatesand haspermanentcoll€ctionsat universities n ltaly, Canrda,and the UnitedStates.Mr- Maday's art, bas edon simple rectangularand circular designs, s inspiredby encient Ukrainian icons and conveysMr. Medry's own deep mysticel expertenccand rich UkrainianEastern rthodoxheritage.

Contents

FOREWORD

ABBREVIATIONS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

THE LADDEROF DIVINE ASCENT

INDEXES

xl

tx

7r

293irst published n tbe United Star€sin 1982by Paulist Press

Copyright@ 1982 y theMissionary Societyof St. Paulthe Apostle n the Stateof New York

Published n Great Britain in 1982by SPCKHoly Trinity Church

.MaryleboneRoadLondonNWI 4DU

ISBN: 0 211101782



Translators f This VolumeCOLM LUIBHEID wa s born in Dublin in l9i6 and receivedhi sB.A. and M.A. from UniversityCollege,Dublin. He wasawardedaPh.D. n Classicsro m PrincetonUniversity.Since 96l heha sbeenamember of the teachingstaff at University College,Galway. Hi sscholarly nterests ocuson theearly Church in the easternhalf of theMediterraneanbetween the third and fifth centuries.In addition topublishing wo bookson Eusebius, e s preparinga volumeon JohnCassianor this series. r. Luibheid iveswith his wife and four chil-dren n the vil lageof Abbeyknockmoy,ea rGalway.

REV. NORMAN VICTOR RUSSELL was born in Belfast n 1945and was educated t King's College,University of London.Subse-quently he took his theologydegreesat Oxford. In l97l he wasor-dained Deacon n the Church of England.After being received ntothe CatholicChurch a year later he wasordained a priestof the Con-gregationof the Oratory. Father Russell s an editor of Sobonrostndhascontributed to the English editions of the PDilokaliaand TbeLivesof tbe DesertFatbers.

Author of the IntroductionBISHOP KALLISTOS WARE wa s born in Bath in l9i4 and waseducatedat the WestminsterSchool,London, and MagdalenCotlege,Oxford where he studied Classics,Philosophy and Theology. Re-ceived nto the Orthodox Church in 1958, e wasordaineda priest in1966,he same year he took monasticvows at the Monastery of StJohn the Theologian n Patmos. n 1982he wasconsecrateditularBishop of Diokleiaan d appointedassistant ishop n the OrthodoxArchdioceseof Thyateira and Great Britain. Since 1966he has beenbeen SpaldingLecturer in EasternOrthodox Studiesat Oxford, andin 1970he

becamea Fellow at PembrokeCollege.He is the co-editorof Sobornostnd the author of many books, ncluding Tbe OrtbodorCburcb.

FOREWORD

If there are numerousand well-founded doubtsconcerning the

few sparedetails of the biographyof John Climacus,or John Scholas-

ticus, here s ittle risk of over-estimetinghe nfluence f the treatise

which emerged rom the pen of this notably elusive igure whose ife

touched he endof the sixth andthe beginningof the seventh entu-ries.TheLadderof Dipire Ascert s undeniablya classicof early Chris-

tian spirituality. It offers advice, counsql and guidance to those

capableof embarkingon that difficult road whose summit is encoun-

ter with God, and it embodieshe fruit both of long personalexperi-

enceand of the intensely dynarnic insights of earlier generationsof

men caughtup in the first greatsurgeof monasticism.

The present translation is basedon the text Printed by Migne-

PatrologiaGraeca 8. Apart from the details o be gathered n the stan-

dard handbooksof patology, a most useful andwide-ranging bibliog-

raphy has been supplied by Guerric Couilleau at the end of his

^rticle,JeattClimaquen DictiornairedeSpiritualiti, Fasc. ii-liii (Paris)

1972. his is to be stronglyrecommendedo anyonewishing to ex -

plore the various issues aised by the impact of TbeLadderof Diuirc

Ascent-



ABBREVIATIONS

DHGE: Dictiornaire d'bixoire et degiograpbieecclisiastiquesPtis)

D.S; Dictiouaire de spiitualiti (Paris)

DTC: Dictionaaire e b4ologieatboliqueParis)

ET : English ranslation

HTM: St.John Climacus,TbeLadderof Diairc Ascent,anslated by

Archimandrite Lazarus (Moore) (revised edition by the

Holy Transfiguration Monastery: Boston, Massachusetts

1978).

PG: J.-P.Migne, PetrologiaGraecaParis\

PL: J.-P.Migne, Patrologia atina (ParislPbit.: St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of

Corinth, Zle Pbilohalia, ranslated by G.E.H. Palmer, P.

Sherrardan d K. Ware,vol. I (London& Boston1979)'

Rader: Matthew Rader, editor of the text printed in Migne'

Referenceso St. John Climacus,TbeLadd.er,regiven as ollows: first

the number of the step; hen the column number from PG 88; finally

the page number of the Present ranslation. Thus "4 (677C)'p. 45"

signifies: te p4, PG 88,col.677C, . 45 below.To the SbepberdAd Paxorem) s cited as Parr., followed by the

chapter number and the column number in PG88, and then the Pegenumber of the HTM translation.

Old Testament references re to the Septuagint.

PREFACE

'Io Western eyes, he monk increasingly s a figure of yesterday'

and ttre commonert i-age" of him are of the kind to make easy he

o"itonitrnn smile, he cJnfidentlydismissive esture' r thatsPecial

i;[r";.; Extended o the dotty an d th e eccentric Around Friar

'fuck, with hi scheerfulobesity, nd BrotberFrancis'harmingno on e

ss he talks to birds an d animals,vaguerghostsmanage o cluster'gaunt,cowled, aintly sinister,eyesaverted'orelse ooklng.heaven-

"*"J,'" tluff clutched n a waited hand, with gloom arising and

itt*i * a*a. Somewhere in the background there are bells and

i-ui"., rna psalms hantedon g aftermidnight;and'as f.to.confirm

that these rLonly th e leftovers f a pastsurelyan d mercttullygone'

ii't... i. ,ft. drr-b pr"""rr"" of all thoie Europeanmonasteries isited

ior ten scheduledminutes during a guided tour, or elsesoughtout on

warmer evenings y courtingcouples'-Bu t fo . thJChristian, ha t s, or someone ho believesha t there

is a Cod, that God has manifestedHimselfin historical surroundings

i" ,ft. *tton of Christ,an d ha t insightsan d obligations re hereby

it.fa"ii. "*tybody.

th e monk cannoteasilybe shrugged ff Cer-

i"i"fy i" ,ft""ft".-"in

of the immensechanges hat h-a-vg6crrrred n

ihe o'utlookof Christians since he end of World War II' the future of

th e religiousorder or communityas suchma y well be,problematic'

;; i;;;t;;. *" y alters he deeplrchallenge resented y th e monk

po , tt".. is somelnewho, so t would appear, asdeliberatelywith-

drawn from the usual patternsof living

In this matter,of course'on e ha s o treadwith greatcarc'slncc

ttt" -.""i"gof ,r l"h

"withdrawal s not absolute' ut is conditioned



l , l { l , I rA( l , l

tr y and rnusl bc rrndcrstrrrt l l tcr, lrr ol tht. rrot.rrtr nd customsof thecra in which i l r rcrr rs. Arrr l cvnr i l l t ir tot cul cvidcncecan helo to iso-late what sc! 'nr (, tc thc chit t t t{tct. t \ t tr r trtrc\ r, f : r widelv shaiedout-look at a givcn t inrc, rhir srr l l rrrvcr r tor t lvrrntorrchcd he precisese tof reasons mpelling a p{rt icult r lx.t.sol I ch(x ri ca type of i iving thatinvolves some form of rcnunciittir)n, sr,trc dccision to oDt out of the

way of the wor ld.Bu t again, he dif f icul t ies bcgin ro nrrr l r ip ly .A l inguist ic usage,so long employed by Christians rhar il hN s hc Lxrk of being quite sim-pl y "natural," surrounds the individual rnonk with a wall of venera-ble words, a wall more solid and enduring thrn any that may set theboundaries of the area where he actually lives. For the talk is of"withdrawal" from "the world," of ,,renunciation,"

of a ,,monastic

l ife" in_contrast with th e way orher people happen to live, of being"apart from," "away from" the rest of mankind, of pursuing a ,,dedi-

cated" and "consecrated" path. And this language, with its emphasison the differences

between the monk and all others, very quickly be-glns to generate something more than a mere set of descriptions. Itbegins o imply a value system,a yardstick of achievementan d worthuntil at last, and not surprisingly, there grows rhe irresistible urge rospeak of a "higher," "fuller," and "more perfect" way of lif€.

Words of this sort, words lined ani laced with imolications ofparticular values,are the co-relationsof belief, of commitment, an d ofaction. Language of this kind, endlessly repeated by ecclesiasticalwriters and preachers, has long been characteristic of Christian prac-tice and has been received largely without demur. But the power ofwords is not a constant; and the impact

of a terminology that claims,among other things, that the clerical, and specifically the monastic,way is a "higher" calling grows greater or lesser in proportion to thenumber and availabil i ty of competing terminologies. An d when, as nthe last quarter of the twentieth century, there is in fact a prolifera-tion of serious and compelling value systems, then the force of an ex-clusively Christian rhetoric is inevitably weakened. even forChristians. Th e mere assertionof a value is no longer matched, as rtused to be in other days, by a willingly affirmative response,and thetimely quotation from Leo XIII or from Thomas Aouinas cannornow be relied on to still doubts or to answer ouestions.

There is in all of this a situation unique in Christian experience,for it has ong been a popular notion that Christianity is a r j l igion of

PREFACE

mentary, and the exegetical ract have supplied the materialand thelanguagen which the sermon, he homily,and the theological naly-sis have been firmly grounded.The pastoral letter, the authorizedhymn, and the training manual or futureclericshaveextendedherange and the reach of a d iscourse whose themes and elaborationshaye reverberatedceaselesslyn the consciousness f believers.Year

after yea r, scripted prayers havebeenread aloud to a congregationthat is either silent or else nvited to repeat hem, and stock hemesofpetitionor praise,with all that this impliesby way of what is acceptableor not, havedirected he minds of worshipers o a landscape fconcern, domainof reality hat for long had he appearancef beingunique.Unti l , that s, he comingof other rhetorics nd othercertain-ties. So that now there are, n a sense, oo many books, oo manyclaims to attention in a world geared or the instant transmissionofevery idea, event, and apocalypse.And the Christian, bombardedfrom every quarter by the exigencies f the day, is lessand lessable o

operate exclusively within the frontiers established or his forebearsby a languageooted n biblicaldetail.Given thosecircumstances,t is reasonableo wonder how a

Christianmay now copewith the vast iterature o which he s heir. tis also reasonableo anticipate hat he wil l approacht with some-thing less han automaticdeference.And amid all the competingvoices, is capacityo deploya commitmentand a sustainednterestmoy well diminish as he striyes o assembleor himselfand for hisfriendscriteria of evaluation hat makesomekind of accepted enseIlow, for instance, s he to approacha work like TbeLaddrrof Divine

,ltcatby

JohnClimacus? y

what means an he integrate t withinhi sow n heritage ndhis rnmediate nvironment? ow can his t€xt,ovcr fourteenhundredyears ld, haveany bearing n the problems fr (,'hristiann the last quarterof the twentiethcenturyl Suchques-tit)n$arise n relation o any classic ook.But for the moment heymuit bc directed o this treatise,which had a very considerablenflu-Gnce uring a lengthy era n the history of the Church. And, in an ycfrc, if $omcthinguseful can be saidof TheLadderof Divirc Ascent,tmty contributea l i ttle to the resolutionof the problempresentedo-dr y by thc figureof the monk.

'f hc scttingat leastca n be readilyestablished.I'he l.adders epr(xluct of rhrt grc0t surgeof monasticismwhich appcercdirit irl

figypt during thc third century,sprcad spidly throughnll of lrrrtcrn



PRUtACt:,

ing zealof figuressuch asJohnCassian.l he generalhistoryof thismost nfluentialdevelopmentn the l i fc of the early Church is wellknown,even f detailsand certain nrcrprerationsontinue o preoc-cupy scholars, nd there s no need o artcmpt herea sketchof whatha sbeenso well described y others.But in justice o the euthor ofthe Laddert would be important to makea few preliminarycom-

ments n order o lessenhe possibility f seriousmisunderstanding.First, t shouldbe observed hat nodiscussion f early monasti-

cism is completewithout its du e quotaof lugubrious ales.The ap-palledscholarand the generousopponenrof ;al-olfi?;;Thoose froman d gradea seerningly ndless upplyof horror stories, nd someonefamil iarwith the relevant iterature inds himselfon the lookout orth e better-known igures: he monk who consrructed or himselfacell oo tiny to permit himever o standup or to l ie down, he styl i teswho perched for decadeson top of their sunscorched pillars, theEgyptian whose boast was that he was closer o being a corpse han

anyoneelse.Thesear eno t the figmentsof someGothic imagination,and frequently one may construct from various sources solid bio-graphicaldetails.Take,for instance, hecase f Barsauma, fifth-cen-tury monk from Syria, a region notable for the numbers whodisplayed positive enius n the extravagant enanceshey managedto devise or themselves. arsauma irst had himself chained o arock-face, ndonly when t was pointedout to him that he wouldbeunlikely to survive ong enough o practice he penancehe had inview did he changehis plans. nsteadhe took to wearingan iron tu-nic, vowednever o sit or to recline,hung himself n an upright posi-

tion wheneverhe had to sleep,and attracted n this way fascinatedan duncriticaldisciples ho,at his bidding,wreckedan d ootedsyna-goguesn the nameof the God they all worshiped.

Barsaumawas not unique, znd, heLadder oo has ts own conrn-bution to make to this image of exrremrsm:-

.. . there were men in hardship an d bowed down to the endof their l ives. qoing about each da v in sadness. heir bodies'

wounds stinkiQg of rottFn--res < .d-+et unnoticed by them.They forqot to eat their breadl their drink was mixed wirh

tears. They ate dust and ashes nstead of bread: their bunesstuck to tfr-ei i-Festrand r he -"=-Crea*<d:---u l ike grarr....

Yo u could see he tongues on some of them dry and hanging

PREFACE

from their mouths in the menner of dogs. Somepunished

theqgqlgslnlhe!!4a|!C_qC!4rrs tortured themselvesn

the cold, while others,again,drank only as much weter aswould keep hem from dying of thirst. . . With knees ike

wood, asa result of al l the prosrations,with eyesdimmedand sunken, with hair goneand cheekswasted and scalded

by many hot tears, with facespale and worn, they were nodif&:eg1-&on-co&!es. Their breaTETE?dliTiiFTi6fr?lltlre-"-beatings,which had even made hem spit blood.There was

no rest for them in beds,no clean and laundepll-clothingTh"y

-"..b"dt"ggl"d,di .. -

Such tales earn a disproportiona te measureof attention among

meny of thosedealingwith the phenomenon f early monasticism.'l'he storiesare too vivid, too imperious for the imagination to be able

to remainunengaged, ndth e decentwitness. r the gentlehistorian,

rccustomedo worthy ideals nd he advantagesf hygiene, ecoilsn

distasterom what he akes o be he repulsive xcessesf guilt-ridden

ln d maddened retches.ndeed, o niense s the nclinationo dwell

on the speiti-iiGi-i-ihe repulsive aspectsof the first Christian

monks hat the attempt o describeheir hopes ndpractices egular-

ly degeneratesnto caricature or well-bred irony. And this is surely

t?grettablesince even he availableevidencepoints unambiguously o

thc frct that verv manv of the first monks were whollv admirable

men,gentle, wise,and oving,

-apilile

oT@h€nq!94_q1il-hbveifby

an abidiid-!!'r-s!-inl;;d.

Jlgures remarkable by any standard

atncrged from their monastic surroundings to leave an enduring

mtrk on th e character nd quality of their times;an d in the fourth

and fifth centuries some of the most effectivemen, someof the men

mort ablc to provide eadership nd inspiration o countless hou-

nnd.i, were actually dedicatedascetics. n other words, the emphasis

on thc scnsetional eatures of early monastic ife is apt to provide a

lopridcdan dseriouslymisleading istorical icture.

But whether he focusof attentionbe on the saint,on the fanatic,

or indccdon the commonand ordinaryhuman,no on ewould deny

thrt hrrdship and suict regimentationmarked he l ives of the early

monLr.An d this too calls or brief comment,sincea complexnet-

worL (t f incentives-religious,psychological, ocial,and anthropo-krglcrl-is in pley wheneverthe issue of disciplineis seriously



PRI' l l ;A( i l ' l

invoked.Thereseemso be anat t irct ('tr n t l' ' iltc(l rt'lG tf lhciplinc'

irrespective f the values ha l may hrll)l)cllo tttttlcrllc t llt rt,givcn

cont;xt. A strangely ecurrent erlllinrtlt'[v rlt wr t l l t rttttongOhris'

tians,Marxists,Manichees, rmy officcrs, cvrrlttlirrttrl'tcr'lght'wlng

.*i..-i.tr, an i r"cistr, and it consccrltcshc inhcrcll l wttrth of rc-

straint, seif-sacrif ice,nanliness,olidaritywilll onc'l contrldcr' thc

"cause," he need o struggle,and the rcquircll lcnt o Iilhl rgrinst,in,

"oaatp,lott,and weak-n-ess.ranslatcd nt o lrrlctiec, hi l voclbu-

i".,""n

b. brought to exemplifywhat is nrlnifcstly riglrt--or righ'

i.o'ur.Su.tt pro"iai-"d values raw continucdnrlttlirution' cglrdlcss

ol th . broth"tnood ha t may happen o have rctraycdhcml rnd pre-

ciselybecauseheyhave ong heldsogreatan appcrrlor !tr) n ny' rt ls

iooli'sh o try (as omedo) o confinewithin a conrfi)rtbl c gcncrnliza-

tion the reasons hy men in their thousandsoin e pnrticttlnrmovc-

ment.A studentof motives s not much helpedby thc strtcmcnt hat'

io . irrr,"n"., the nationalhumiliation stemming rom the Vcrseil les

treaty rvas he causeof the growing membe-rship f thc N nz-i nrty' orthe etonomicandsocial islocation f the third centurywas csponsr-

ble for the rise of monasticism'

However, here s one eatureof the unrelaxed everity nd disci-

plineof earlymonastic ife that certeinlyought o be advertedo and

ihat offers a clue to the reasonswhy somemen resolve o ioin a reli-

gi"u""ornrn""iay;

namely' the undiniable correlation betweenhard-

lhip"nd "n

intensemarslalingof inner, and requentlyunsuspected'

,."i.rra.a, Words cannot really encompasswhat happenshere But

the fact seemswell established. n the evidenceof the Gulag Archi'

o.i"so, in the testimonyof men ike Solzhenitsyn,fertz'

Panin'andbnifiitt, ;n the records f the idalwaveof misery et oose y German

Nazism, here s a persistent nd humbling proof of the capacityof

individuals, rappedamid the worst conditions f deprivation' o un-

io"t"tt

itttt.t dyttamism,which often is manifestedas a commanding

faith in God"ttd

tuhi.h must never be confusedwith the understan-

dablemotive of escapism.t hashappened oo often in twentieth-cen-

turv exDerienceo be trivializedor explained way;and somewhere

*ittrin it liesa commonbondwith the ordeals, oluntarily undertak-

er,,and the achievements f the first monks of the Church' Sharp dif-

ferencesof time andcircumstancedo not alter the sharedcharacterofthe eerly saint and thet prisoner of our day who has climbed beyond

richnessbeyond

PREFACE

all common magining.And becausehis is so, he decision f a n

to takeon himself he disciplineof a hard religious ife may not, a

all, be soodd and unintelligible.That many of the first monks had glimpsed a connection

tween he experience f hardshipand an enhanced pirituality s t

dent n the writings ofthe earlyChurch.And in the neighborho

that nerceivedconnection were other sourcesof the resolve o eon a monastic ife. There was, for instance, he belief that, given

right conditions and preparation, a men may even in this life w

his passage pward into the actualpresence f God; and there, f

so chooses,e can receive direct and ntimateknowledge f the

vine B eing. Suchknowledges not the automaticor the guaran

conclusionof a process. t is not like the logical outcomeof a faultk

ly constructedargument.There is no assurancehat a man will c

to it at the end of a long journey. But to many it was a prize a

prospect so glittering that all else ooked puny by comparison;a

besides,here were tales old of somewho, so t seemed, ad actubeengranted that supremegift of a rendezvous.

S'omethingof wh"t-"r-rn."ttt

is found in 'asectionof the Co

siozs f Augustine:

Imaginea man in whom the tumult of the fleshgoes ilent,

in whom the mages f earth,of water,of air and of the skies

ceaseo resound.His soul urns quiet and,self-reflecting o

longer, it transcends tself. Dreams and visions end. So too

does all speechand every gesture,everything in fact which

comes o be only to passaway.All these hings cry out:"We

did not makeourselves.t is the EternalOne who madeus."

And after they havesaid his, think of them falling silent,

turning to listen o theOne Who createdhem.And imagine

Him speaking. imself, and not through he mediumof all

those hings.SpeakingHimself. So that we could hear Hi s

word, not in the languageof the flesh, not through the

speech f an angel, ot by way of a rattling cloudor a myste-

riousparable.But Himself.The One Whom we love n ev-

erything. Imagine we could hear Him without them.

Reaching ut with spcedinghoughtwe come o Him, to the

l l ternalWisdomwhich out lasts verything. nd imagine f

sightof I im wcrc kcptavai lablc, hi leal l esser ightswcrc



PREI"AOI' l

takenaway Think of this encountcr ' c i r i rrg ' l rror l t i t tg '

drawing ti re wi tness nto the dcpths"l 1 'y l rcrrrul ,. l i l r

would-be

of a kind with this momct l t r' l rr l l ( lc l r l r l l l ( l l t lg

(Confessionsx, 10,25)

Augustine s talking of a one-to-one ncotrntcrwith (irxl 'l ha t

anvone"shouldreamof suchan encountern this lilc tlrrry ccrnxrld

;;,d ;;;;;i ;; to a beliener ro m th e twentiethccnturv'surr'unded

"tfr. i tiy .ointles me nof goodwil lunable o acccpt lri tt lrcrc s a

Go d at ail. Bu t the dreamwas clearly here,an d therc wirs nuch o

k;;; ;i t"". To writers of the fourth, fi fth, an d sixth ccnturics' he

."ii"trL *a intellectual resources f the agesuPported he'nrand co-

ooer"tedwith themas he yconfidently ormulated onviction'sf the

kind laid ou t by Augustinl.They had' oo ,a thriving' dynamicsense

of th e realityof God.An d from this he y turnedto th e Irre""T'

ttq:-

cial lv. he resurrection f Christasan unambiguousrool ol th eexrs-

,.1.i 'oi " tut. road'a high road' nt o the actual iv-ingresence

'r fth e

e;";;;.1";t""y',"nd

riight not perhapsbe. eacheduntil the aft€r-

l i fe,bu t io thesi men,with their greatca,pacityo lov€' herr hunger

fo r salvation, nd heirbitter awarenessf th e ac tot sln' th ewa y wa s

alreadymarkedout,an donly th e obstaclesad o beovercome'

But whaternerhe combination of motives hat might operate or

tndiuiJo"i".nt".ing on the Pathof monasticisg;lhl9-ly+gs:bctor

that set the tone of all else;namely' the-djg!rc-ti'ontggEgndly felt'

il.,*.=C;ni;-aSamanttinctionregirliilv--ii?lE-rstoodintermsof, .rH"ci"Aat-;*l without respiti ' between wo irreconcilable

;.;;;A;t;t voked together or a liietime'Th e body wa s th e foe-

;;;:.;;;.t;,, an dgr"eedy,eaching ut fo r its own crass.oisfacton s

3. ."f"*g.".i"i l .g r"ub,l.' u. n civil-ized, eeds gainstwhich th e soul

il ;l;;y; to st?uggle.This notion of a deadly antagonismat the

;;;";..;;t of"

miJs ow n beingwa sa themeolderthanChristian-

i*.'u"i ii ,tt. l i teratureof earlymonasticismt became.focalpoint

"iig.tr".a ..fl ..tion' Fo r to bL aliveat al l is to be n th e world' en -

,uri"n*on.', survival,entering nt o relationships it h others'gazrng

;;;;"";;;;,y rising'before f, t tyt' tnto"nttring at every,.turnhe

""i i"""-"t,J.f "rt"andintellect,eeling th e stirringsof de.l ight' nd

discoveringhe outwerdreachof desire, f passion' nd ol th e urge o

oo"""rr.Ai d al l this in the arenawhere he body eelsmostat home'

and the sleepof the night are but aspects f the

PREFACE

body n command;and,seemingly,no hour or placecan offer the soul

Nn nstant of unthreatenedpeaceand recreation.And so t is that John Climacus, acing the spectacle f unending

war betweensoul and body, finds himself compelled owrite as fol-

lows:

By what rule or mannerca n I bind this body of mine?Bywhat precedentcan I judgehim? Before I can bind him he islet loose,before I can condemn him I am reconciledo him.

before I can punish him I bow down to him and feel sorryfor him. How can hatehi m when my naturedisposes e olovehim?How can breakaway rom him whenI am boundto him forever?How can I escape rom him when he s going

to risewith me?Ho w ca n makehim incorrupt whenhe has

received corruptiblenature?Ho w ca n I argue with himwhen al l the argumentsof nature are oh his side? .. If I

strikehim down I havenothing eft by which to acquire ir -tues. embrace im. And I turn away romhirn.What s thismystery n mel What is the principle this mixture of bodyand soul? Step 5)

More typical, perhaps,was the fol lowing reflectionby Basil of

Ceesarea,imself he singlemost influential figure in the monasti

cismof the eastern alf of the RomanEmpire:

'l here s only one way out of this, namely, otal separationfrom all the world. But withdrawal from the world doesnot

mcanphysical emoval rom it. Rather, t is the withdrawal

by thc soul of any sympathy for the body. One becomes

stateless nd homeless.One givesup possessions,riends,

ownershipof property, ivelihood, usinessonnections, o-

cial l i fe and scholarship. be heart s rnade eady o receive

thc imprint of sacred eaching,and this rnaking ready n-

volves he unlearningof knowledge eriving rom evilhab-

its. 'li) writc on wax, one has first to erase he lettersprcviouslywritten there,an d o bring sacred eachingo the

soul ,n cmust bcgin by wiping out preoccupationsooted nordinrry hntrits.llasil, ,ctrer )



Pll l i IA(;1"

Iohn Climacus,Basil,an d nlrlnv rtllcr clrlttlg igttrcrwcfc pro-

.r"iti i .g i" lfr..t ihat th e only s'tl'cHrrT('\rrt\tcrtvcltwrtrd'ho t th e

onlv urib lemishedeslurewas hc sigrr:r l" tpr lvcr trr r .t l t tmpunc-

; ; ; , ; ; ; ' ; ; ; ' ; . | ; iecure nvolucm"nt'^ t l r " ihcr ' . 'wrtr hc unst in ted

oflei of charity.Temperamentan d av:rilrlrlc rrrislllN.wotl ld

deter-

-i""

ift".*terrt

"n d

th " dtgttt to which' l'rr irrrlivitlrrrrln'll this

*"rla--U" t."nrt"t.a into hatiedof rh c x'rll ittrtlhcttcc"t th c world'Bu t whateverhe disparatemotives t work' t ttti tl l ictzc(lly il loveor

a;"; ;

a man t"ce."ti ,tghirnselfn a frcnzyol ltcnrlnccr{d {t least

;;;;". th e abidingsi t seof a wa r within thcttt'of thc soul acing

,i " U"J" i. anunendiig an dpossiblymortalc'rnrlritt' o rtthcr actor

*" r-o."

decisiven shaping he morality an d th c discrPlrnlryprac-

i i"., oi,nti i^, monks,an d ts nfluencean still tr csccn0l work' fo r

inrrrn"a, n many of th e Pronouncementsn th c sutricct tf marriage

;;;; ,teruou,effo,t, of someecclesiasticalclibatcs o copcwith

ih " f""t thrt half, f no t more,of th e members f th c humln racear e

women.""1;i

"vastlymore troublesome roblem-arisesn th c c('ntextof

tni, J."pfy felt'antagonismetweensoulan dbody'an d t is a prob'

i.-,rr"i"1irf todaysirike someoneeading TheLadder f DittifleAsceflt'

ii'i""iro ""

i*". rnat can be touchedon here n only the briefest ash-

ion.There s no w in th econscrousnessf th e Westa terminokrgyan d

a se tof value udgments entered n th e personFrom the,eraof the

n"nrirrrrr"" an d eformation up to th e presentime' ther€ha sbeena

steadvDrogressn the insistence n the real i ty and the inherent

*"r,i ,ir,fr. individual.Somephilosophers'f course'would argue

;;;' ;;; ih " -o.d-rpi,,n"' ha s in thismerely demonstrated nc e

asainh; scapacityo sublimate ealityan dha s nl y succeededn hid-

i in f.o- himself ha t he is no more-and no less-than a very com-

;i:;;;;"ni,;. Bu t this is not a widelv shared ie w lnstead' here s

;;;;ik ;;;";"n rights,of on eman'sbeingasgoodasanother'of

i i t. tintt, of th e poor tJ share n th e goods f th e world' of one-man-

;;;-;;;. wh;;;l i this ha sdone o belief n Go d is a themeof ma)or

imoort. However,on a more restricted lane'a difficulty fo r anyone

;;i; ;.;;i ;* Tb eLadder f DiaineAscent r similar texts s rhat in

i i .ti , ."-fi 'rt", differeniview of th e person s-alwork lf rnodern

iit",f-f,v h* investedeavily n th e notionofthe valueof th e in -

dividualperson, t ha sbeenat ;h e costof a seemingncompatibi l i ty

wa s elt andbelievedn th e earlyChurch'

PREFACE

self and of identity, TheLadderof Divine Ascen temains what it haslong been,a text that hada profound nfluence, astingmany centur-ies, n the monastic enters f the Greek-speaking orld.As such tdeserves t leasta hearing, f only to ensure hat theawareness f theChristianpast s not impoverished. nd in any case t has n its ownfeshiona contribution to make o the problem of what the monkcould possibly signify in the life of today. For the Ladder was,ofcourse,addressed pecifically o monks.

Hardly anything s known of theauthor,and the most reliableinformationabout him can be summarizedn the statement hat helived in the secondhalf of the sixth century,survived nto the sev-cnth, passedorty yearsof solitudeat a placecalledTholas; hat hebccame bbotof thegreatmonastery f Mount Sinaiand hat he com-posed here the present text. TheLodderwas written for a particulargtoup, he abbotand community of a monastic ettlement t Raithuon the Gulf of Suez. t was put together or a restricted udience ndto satisfyan urg€nt request or a detailed nalysis f the special rob-lcms,needs, nd requirements f monastic ife.John Climacuswa sno t immediately oncernedo reachout to the generalmlss of be liev-crs; and if, eventually, the Ladderbecamea classic,spreading ts ef-fccts hrough all of EasternChristendom,he principalreason ay inIts continuing mpacton thosewho hadcommitted hemselveso adisciplinedobservancef an asceticway as ar removedas possiblfrom daily concerns.

Not much s actually aidof the reasonsor loininga monasteryMcn becornemonks"either for the sakeof the coming kingdom,orbccruseof the numberof their sins,or on accountof their loveof

God" (Step ). But once nside he walls, he monk,according oJohn,hlr to live under the scrutinyof a God Who is undoubtedly oving,mcrciful,and omnipotent,but Who is also ust,stern,and consciouof protocol.Like the emperor, n fact:

'l 'hoseof us wishing o standbeforeour King and God andto speak o Him should not rush into this without someprcparation,est t shouldhappen hat-seeingus from afarwithout arms and without the dressappropriate o thosewho appcarbefirre he King-He shouldcommand lis scr.

vlnts and li s slaveso lay ho ld o f us,and o dr iveusout o fl l is sight, o tesr up ourpcti t ions nd o throw thcrr rn orrr



I')ltl'l!-ACE

' lhe emperor, in th e worlt l known to John' presidcd.ovcr t socrety

i,;i,'''i'"iil. ;iln:n: ':Tl , T,*:'-":'il:,:l;l,.:'Jil;qlewhoseaPexwas emr)tc' ls t

iame into th e mperialprcscnce ould do so with nervous pprehen-

sion,with a sense f risking'nrnt

tti ' ittt displeasure:l:t^tT" tt

iir" 'h"i.. l it tr hi ssubiectshe emperor ived ar away

'l^1,:"t '" 'capital,whereasGo d is everp""i""utt on the-watch'noting an d

;i;;; it;; ;".. directing oward th e individual Hi s knowing stare'

And in case he analogyn"tt'" "oi

ptoptrly understood'John offers

someothers:

lf you ever found yourself having to appeartretlt"^l:T1"

iudee' yo u ma y use na t as an exampleof ho w 10 conduct

;;""';ir';;';y.l:,':'l-l,XJi#il:;;1il:lT,'.::T-:iudge no r witnessed cr o

;"J;;;

from the way patients appeal o surgeonsPrror to

an operation or a cautery' (SteP28)

"With no anaesthetic,"he modernscholiastmight *9;^.,--

Before he faceof this fi"g' th " monk puti on a ifetime perfor-

mance, ne ,moreover,ha t at"itty

tutn is mperiledb-Y irtuallYun '

ffit.*i ;;;;'dt iaa J"n" u'"J ii.' he wentieth:"t:ll; T -'cl:irr""

"p"i.* "i*tmo-nk s ourneying hrougha minefield; ut ' as t

is , he image f th e strart 'y'uffittt] 'na

that a momentmight ever

comewhen t wouldbe ottt"'- i*' when a ma n mighr.briefly elax' s

nowherehintedat i" tr '"

"olr"t

oi ttte ong'oftenmelancholy' naly-

si softhe spiritual ife. ro r noioniyi. th e

"monk

caught,upn an end-

i"rr*rigi.'"g"i."t a host or ol't'""t"t' but he has also to live in

perpetual nsecurtty' "n pt'h"p' neveran intimario-nofwhether

ilrt l*tggrl ha sbeena successr whether t ha sproduced ompensa-

,i"n lur?i.i.n, fo r th e weightan dgravityof hi s sins:

Let no one who grieves or his sinsexpectreassuraace-athe

tt"ta .f a*tft fht" t"tt be no reassurance bout tne un-

known.(SteP5)

Andhehastobewareeventhisinsecur ity,since.. todespair is ' . . toin f l ic tdeath n oneself '( ibid '"""V" of TheLadderof Dittine s that a great

PREFACE

with the perils of his situation. There is knowledge to be handed onto him, an d practical steps hat, if taken, must show him how to trans-form his life, how to ranscend his condition, provided he has withinhimself the necessary aith and zeal.The form of John's text-with itsthirty sectionsor steps-is suggestedby the biblical image of the lad-der of Jacob,and such an image, rooted in the certainties of s cripture,must be taken to imply that despite the myriad difficulties rising upbefore him, the way of the monk is not in fact impassable.But it hasit s own specialcharacter and its ow n particular objectives,and thesemust be understood from the beginning and accepted for what theyare. The monk, after all,

finds himself in an earthly and defiled body, bu t pusheshim-self into the rank and status of th e incorporeal. . .. With-drawal from the world is a willing hatred of all that rsmaterially prized, a denial of nature for the sake of what rsabove nature. (Step 1)

In other words, the monk, unlike the majority of 6eli evers, s so over-whelmed by his sense of the reality of God and of the afterlife that heturns away, by a deliberate choice, from the concerns of the here andnow, renounces as far as possible he alliance of soul and body, an dlives to the extent that he can the life of the spirit. Of all tasks his issurely the most formidable; and yet, John is saying, at the top of theladder, on the thirtieth step of striving, there awaits a prornise or theman whose heart longs to be there: love clarified, God made present.

To get there, however, the monk has first to enter the arena of

rcnunciation. It is easily said, and the inexperienced onlooker will. hgve his own way of consnucting the image of the bolt on the cloistergrte, of the cell entered for a lifetime. Or the talk can be of what amon has decided to forego-a varied diet, physical comfort, sexual ex-pcrience, possessions,he security and self-respectprovided by thelove and esteemof one's time, of neighbors, of society. And these areindeed among all that the monk has decided o renounce. But wherev-

Cr 0 man is, however far he has retreated from what the world may

hlvc to offer, he remains a man, endowed, among other ettributes,with a capacity to remember and to imagine, and in the drabbest by-

wr y of the r ockicst dcsert he would be less ban human if he did notthink somctimcs of the road not taken-which would mcnn thlr ncnot yct lch icvcd



l ' l ( l ' | ' \ ( I

An d suppose t l lNl ll c lt l l l r ' rHr ' \ 'l tlt r ' ! l ll l r ' r l t | t r ' l | | n l l l l l l l l l l l l t t l nl s

tas te-real , remenr[ )c rc ( | , t l l t , rrt rr ' r l l ' r r l l l r l l l r l l l l l t | l r t r t lo t t r ol th e

wor ld. He ha s st i l l to rut l il ! i r r r r r l l t ' lr ' l t r r ln l l ! l r t t t r t r l t ' l l l I t l l l r t cd () n

; ; ' ; " ; i ; . humani t l , i l l ( l ( rr \ rrr f l ' r r t r . t l t r l ' t r t l r ' r t t t ' t . tx ' t . i11t,-11

;; i ; ; ; ' ; ; i l ; and s' t t l ' I tc l r i rr rrr r t r l r t r r t t t . t t r l r . t t r r . , rrrrprnge

l,:i:#;il1'Jl::,1:llllll.t:,

1,,:l;:1,1".,,'1,'i:,'.illiii;l'lililJl

form judgments aboutu nltevc

"""" t11""n" mainta ins' cat lstr() l ) l l r ' r t t t r rrr l t l t t t t t ' n t l t t l l tc r lsser-

t ion of h is ow n opinion' ot hrsoi r rr l . ; rrr ' r l t ' r r , "s' l i :Ul : ] ] ' , ' l "U

o'

i . "a t i ' i r t . ; ; : r i ter ia of eval trrr t i " " ' " "r t* ' l l ' r rrr . rrr t t, nr r l lcgrtr-

mate and unwarranted promol io tr r t l r l rc sr ' l t ' l t t l t ' r ' r1 ' r ' t t "c of that

;;i;;;'i'c.":1.."i::-,1:;:':;,:;1,;l]';::l:,;ll:'ll;,,,,,,.,".'"ru,-As if this were no t more tn

,h.t ; ; ; ; ; ; i th * t ' i t t t t t ' t m.nk tt t t tsr'111111

l trrn ' I nl ' .nrrrc ly ' rne

," ." "ar"g '" rrrrr , of demons,of evi l sp i r i rs l r , rrr ' . rrr ; i rrr , l rr t 'krtrg v-

erywhere, rest less nd vlclous'ever ou rl tc n' t te l t

r l t r ll l |Plxrr l t tn l ty

to turn a bel iever,bu t t 'p t t ' " t 'y

"

mtlnk' . r tu i tv r ' " rrr lx 'p ; l t l t of r ight

: ; ; i l ; , : i ; ; ; t ; ;a t te ' ;ohn is at one-i th

l r i \ rrrrrrrcr. ' r ! \ fc( l (ccssors

and. l ike them. he refers on ' t"n t ly to thc ulr. t l l \ r . l ro l l lsr ' tg t insl

; ; ; t ; i ; t ; ; against he hostsof maraudingt l* i ls-

PREFACE

person and under his own control. The cenobite, on t he other hand,while renouncing the world as the anchorite does,also abdicateshi scapacity to decide his future for himself. To him, rhe "I," with it spower of decision, s the enemy, always insidious, ever exploited by,demons, endlesslya prev to deceit from within and from outside; an dlrecause f this, the soli tary life appears oo hazardous, oo fi l led with

risk. So he joins a community, a resolve n whi ch he wil l tre encour-aged by John, who is convinced of the fact that pnly a special elv ar eable to live in solitude and that in community tiEffinFflI flnaal leastone ma,or instrument for his own progress,namely, the strat-cgy of obedience.

It is no accident that one of th e longest and most impres sive sec-tions in T'be adder of Divine ,4scett s given over to obedience, which isvariously described,but which involves above all the decision "to putlside the capacity to make one's own judgment." With care and fore-sight the monk, knowing his own special failings and proc livities,chrpses a director

or superior an d then submits completely to him incverything great or small, reserving to himself nrjt even the tiniest do -ntain of personal nitiative.

I have seen men there who li ved in total obedience or all offi fty years,and when I begged hem to tell me what consola-tion the)'had won from so great a labor, some answered ha thaving arrived thereby at the lowest depths of abasementthcy could repel every onslaught, while others declared ha rthcv had attained complete freedom from the senses nd hadolrtained serenity amid every calumny and insult. (Step 4)

'I ir cmphasizc his aspectof the matter, John puts forward sever-Il Ir)ccdotesof which the following is typical:

' l hc strpcr ior . . . sa id to ( ls idore):"Brother, th is is what IwNtl l !(,u t0 clo. '0 u are to stand at the gate ofthe mOnas-tcry, an(l lrctirre everyone passing n or out, yo u are to bendthc krrcc rntl s:r\ ' : Prly for me, Father, because am an epi-lcpt ic." ' And lsi<l rrc obcyed (and) spent sevenyears at thcgutc. . . I rrskcd h is grcut ls i<iorchou, he had occLrl r icd is

rrr i rrr l l r i lc hc u ' ls i t t thc gNlc. . . . "At f i rst I j t rd6 lcr l l t rr tl rur l rct . rr o l t l i r r lo s l rrvcrt l i l r rrry s i rrs," rc srr i r l . So I r l i r l

We havecountless iddenenemies-evilcncrlrics't:trslt' c-

;.ilj:;;; ;""mies with fire in their h'ntls' u ishtttg tr

i!i.t"n; fii; i"-fi. ,rightwith therlanc h'tt s ir r it '

These enernies ar e powerrul ' rrnsleeping' i !1c()l ' l t{ 'rcNl lr d

unseen (SteP )

And heyoope*.,'h:::".:.:i:l:l;:.':li Ll" i :::' ;i',T"X;ons, to l i ft their Persuasrve oI

enticing hi m to whatever tottt 'oi th t world where he is nost l ikely

ro weaken'" "i ;-;;;t. conditions he must therefore decide if hi s vocatron-rs

-.'j'i'i.'r,'. .","ii"i111''i:l$,:::?iX"i'ilXffilI;;:l;

as an anchorite ather than a (

him.andhehasnumeroust"t" i [ i ; ; tohelphimmakcuphisrnind'l;.";;;;i ;; ' Itul"g tot"l ly

"tot'tor with fellowancho.tesnearoy'

;;;;.;;;;; i;. hiriself the ascetical esime that aPPearsmost surt-

"ir.'ir tro-"".at. While he may seekguidancero m many qu-arters

an dma v ee lbound o fottow"t'dtiti l

ihe advice f sirm;11i1t;e'

tn e

emainswithrn htsown

PREFACE



PRIr,l 'A( l' l

mv hearrwas no longer full ol gr ic l ' r l r td lrcg'r t t (t h i t lk' )f

a reward fo r my obedience rom (i ' rd I l i l r rsc l l At l l l tcr vc i l r

"tt*Jr" a i" t 'hedepths of ml hearr I lrcgrttr . scc l, u ttn-

*orthv I wa s to l ive in a monastery' t( t c t lc0l l l l lcr Inc I ir-

rhers, to share n the Divine Mysteries l lost th e:':ut"gt. :ll

lookanvone n th e face,bu t lower ing my cvc\: lrr(1.r )wcr lng

mv tho;ghrs even further' I askedwith truc srtrccrrtv (t r rn c

orru. r , J f ahot . going in and our" '(Step 4)

ar.- ,nO, an d from th e many other incidents an { c3m,1ents,:t

ao*n Uy ottn' it becomes lear that the requirement ot ()l)! 'cllrencem-

"il.rt"iv

-t.ft

mor€ than what the term would suggest today lt is

""ii"

q"i'tii"" of agreeing to accept the rules of a club that one has

""i"n,l.ituioined.

-lllorii the obedience invoked here the phenom-

;;';;;.:;;i;;s with a soldier, who' in following highlv danger-

#;Jil;; stupidorders, anstill preserve n ndependencef

;;;;;";;;id them The submission f the monksoesmuch far-;hJ

"J'i;;i;Aih" .u,t""d"t of even hecapacitvo holda private

il ;;;p"k; ;,itude of critical reserve r iudgment egarding he

;;;;;;'dt meted out to him And this is not 16 6s genfu5gj with

ii_i'.il.iri"".. eor the obediences indeedpurposeful, ecausehe

;;;k;; htr ;;;;n"ss within himselfof particular ailings'. ctualor

p","',i,r,h."'-"I::i^1,'^:p:.:1?"ilx":i#:'"'"",::iTlill"ni:,'.'"::unquestioning submrssronwrrr rlrcrr

"' , :1:_'^'^:i'-:,.;i;;;;;.;scend weaknessan d to aovance oward increasingly important sptrt-

tual goals:

'fhe surest sign of ou r faith is when we obey ou r supertors

without hesitation, even when we se e he opposite happen-

in g to what we had hoPed (SteP4)

Le t what we call quicksilver be a paradigm of.perfect obedi-

ence.Roll it with an y substanceyou wish and rt lvl l l'ne!er-

theless un to the lowest place an d mix with nothing defiled'

0bid.)

Whena monk iving n solitude as ealized ha thisweakooint is. andwhenhe changes lacean dsellshimself o obe-

He who strives or dispassionnd or Go d considersos tan yda yon which he wasnot criticized. ike trees wayed y thewind and driving their rootsdeeper nto the ground, hosewho l ive in obedience ecome trongand unshakableouls.(rbid.)

All this becausehe self, reduced hroughobedience ot only ro ahumble recognitionof its own insignificance,but also o an actualization of that insignificance, i l l then lie open o receivehe graceofbecoming omeone leasingn the sightof God, pleasing sa show-placeof the virtues.

Thesevirtues,an d the vices hat shadow hem, orm the subiecmatter of the greaterpart of TbeLadderof DivineAscent. hey aresub-mitted to penetratinganalysis, lassification,nd subdivision. he yare treatedin a sequencemore or less ogical and in a manner occa-sionally reminiscentof a soulowner's manual,Yet this to o can bemisleading, s ndeed he mageof the ladder tself s somewhatmrs-

leading. For it would be wrong to think in terms of a solid progres-sion up from one firm level to that above it. A more appioprraremetaphorwould be th e text of a play or the notationsof a musicalcomposition whoseinternal patternsand consistenciesmay well bedescribed ndestablished,ut which reallycome o true beingonlyin a living enactment. n TbeLadd.er f D ioine Ascent he monk canstudy he virtuesasan actorstudies is ines,but the exercises onlyof secondarynterest f it is not followed by the actua l performance,aperformancehat, n the case f the monk,will be n an ambience fPreyer,n a continuousdialogan dunion of man and God" (Step28).

Here, perhaps,s the crucial point. Fo r John Climacus s con-ccrnedno t so much with the outward trappingsof monasticism swith its vital content.To him the monk is a believerwh o ha sunder-hken to enterprayerfully nt o unceasingommunionwith God,an dthis in the form of a commitmentno t only to turn from the self andworld but to bring into being n the contextof his ow n personasmlny of thc virtuesas possible. e doesno t act in conformitywithvirtuesof one kindor anotber.Somehow,ro m within theboundarieof his own prcsence,e emergeso De umility, to be gentleness,o betl n rbhorrcd, o be aithand hopeand,above ll else,o be ove.Such

I voc0tionurns h im nto a markcdman,not ust n thesorto f rni l ieuknown to JohnOlirnacus,lu t r t any time,evenwhcre hc n tnrc o l



PREFACE

pl e of love an d coursge, somethinq to be followctl ll i otltcrs in their

ou'n wa v an d as their o* n"t'igf,t '

an d circuntsrNltccs lictlttc' be -

cause

th e monastic l ife is a light fo r al l men Hencc rnonks s'trluld

sDareno effort to become a shining example' n"l l

l l lT.f : '

; : ; ; ; ; r t " . tLa g;ut noscandal n anything tht)

l l , l : l : t l 'i:ti ii ' i i. iigrttblcomes ark' henal l hedeePer rr r )c ne

ii.r."tt.i?it*" Iiving n theworld (SteP 6)

Such, n out l ine. is th e perspect ive n uhich lh e I 'adder-o f

I ) ia ine

.1.r""r1"".'-iii,.n, and he-woikwasquickly'recocn

iz:.d-11'.mpor-

;# I;{i;.;;;i;*ts, of'o""''

havea life and season'l j:.:ll "*"

ri,., ,ppry* .11:l:;,*'"$ ll""jl"ill1*il:1T::'lr:l:sta tus f thehonorab lY enl lo l

:;;;;;;;;".d"amei-of perceptions'nd he nslip'perhapsorever'

:iffi ;;""";;;;lT:l'::T,IliJ'"','.,::fi:$r:,':1"'lli?";,'ffas oday,even he caPacttYo P

::.t"t,l ., ' ;;;;;; ;i i t '"n inaiuiau"twork sink ro m view' br t th everv

.l"i-', "p.'.h',, I ' , li"",]:';*l l'"'.:lJi?iiilXl''"1fl

me n with an imPoverlshed vlsl

;il: t;;;;;""i"tat"r'

f'o,,'-nitn

to constructor themselves

w,,rthwhile ense t meanlng'J'ot**"'T9

l9t"-,t!"^1:?lt"*t of

X.':':'ti.ll.;;;;", .o u" r"'r"J*ithout respitentoasingle'-all-per-

vrsivcbias,s a disaster't nis ruch at leastsclear"-ld- -tl: "llli

ishcrl historv of the twentteth century' with. it s coun-tlessgrrm

..,,",,ui".,i;".,n*th'd-b-',ry:'vt'h:",:'lruXi:';.t"'..,i::l.i,fi:i:]il;;:ll:'li ill:Jl'':]:'ff#,"';';'.o'*: u'i"il" 'rnn;nerentner

,t'.',',,','n',,1i',rnrtnitiesr'.c:lj','j;[:*:"::t::lt#;iru,]:i

:l [ JliL i,':"i.i""

"iii'Tli;

;;; ;a u"''" enrichmentanonri-

, ' t. ' ' i i ; tt " hcltl t' r havcbee augmented'

INTRODUCTION

I . 'THE AUTHORAND HIS BACKGROUND

Sinti and TaborWith the exception of the Bibl e and the servicebooks, here is no

work in Easte rn Christendom that hasbeen studied. cooied and rrans-

futcd more often than TheLadderof Di,,înelscent6y Si. 1ohn Clima-cus. Every Lent in Orthodox monasteries t is appointed to be readnloud in church or in the refectory, so that so me monks will have lis-tcned to it as much as fifty or sixty times in the course of their life.( )utside the monasteries t hasalso been he favorite readins of counr-lcss ay people in Greece, Bulgar ia, Serbia. Russia.and throughoutth c ()rthodox u'orld. The popularity of TbeLadder n the East equals

thrrt of 7'br nitation of Christ n the West, although the two books areul togct cr di f fcrent in characrer .' l 'he author of 7beLadder ived in the desert of Sinai, at the foot of

Jcbcl Musa, Moses' Mount, that rises rocky an d precipitous to a

hcight of nearly 7,500 eet.'fhe surroundings would often have called

tr t his mind thc scene in Exodus: the l ightning and thunder, the

nrot tntainshroudcd n thick cloud, and Mosescl imbing up alone ntothc dnrkncss o spcak with (]od face o face Exod. 20: l l i -21) .But St.

John() l i r r r r rcus ls also rcminded c(,nstantlt ' of another mounl l in-

lt t1t, rcLr t tg ing o thc Ncw (irvcnrnt - ' l abor, " thc high rr rorrr r r r ri

t l )ut '1" Mrrlt . I7:t), u 'hc lc ou r Lorc l u, r rs r lns l igurcd Irelirrt . thc.t lr lt . t

dhciplcs, l ;or , u ' l tcr t hc prrnct l in thc clrurch l r r r i l t l i r l t l tc r r r , l r l , rol

ry thc l ' . t r t1r ' tor ' .l r rs t i r r i ; rns5 6 7, cuch i r r rc rc , r , ' I r ' r l r I

INTRODUCTION



INTRODUC-I'ION

would have seen n th e apseat th e easten d th e grcat mosaic ha t sti l l

;;t;J,;;;rf, a"pi"ti"g christ'sTransfigutlti""' .,..-,.' " ' '

v tJry ' " " i Jpi t i t l ' " r ry ' i t t t " 'ohn'smaginat"tr. i ts ,minated

bv thesewo mountarns,: 'na'"ndtabor ' andbothal ikc trc eflected

"tti ;;;i l ;;;;;. *rot. ln it s severitv' ts refusal'r [compromise'

""i'iit"a.-*a

for total dedicatio' Thi Ladder^calls.o mind the arid

ffi;, ffi;; ;;k; il darknessf sinaiBut th'se p-reparedo

lookdeeperwill discover na t th e bookspeaks ot gnlf 1l P-"littn"'

;"rJj;;:;;; ;;i f oi'"lr-d",'i"t

bu t of man'sentrv nto divineglorv'

i"#'l;i ';';;-t;J gioomuf si"ai there s also he fire of th e Burning

BuJh and the light of Tabor'

TheTbreeMonssticPatbs'-'

;i;.il ;; known, beyond the bare outlines' about the- ife of St'

lotrrr-Cti-""o..' In Greei he is cal ed IoannisisKlimaloq "John of the

Liiiil?i". .rt.-uoortn"t hewrote ln Latin hiscameo.be en-

dered,oanneslimacus,nr'sorn Englishhis itle has$sserngClima'

;rr;i;e;;J i; is'alsonamed iohn the Scholastic"schotaxikos);

i"r,ir" ii. *.-'tt.dh"'" tould-t"n "

lawyer' t is- ftenmorebroad-

;;;;il';;;;;;""e well educatedr widelvread'and his seemso

be th e sense n John's case'

lohn's dates have been much debated' According-to the vrew

-",J;;;;i;;i'J,r' " *" " uot" n or shortlv efore'57e'nd

he died around649;rbu t somescholars ut h-is inh, as earlyas 525

;;"ffi ;;;;und 600,awhile othersplacehis deathas ate as 670-

--ll-n"mosaicdates probably from 565-6' nine years after the building of the

.f,r..fr.'i"" i;.- ff""Cevii,"'Su

r le dete e la mosaique'dea 'I'ransfiguretion au Mont

Stnzli '. vzuarnnt e2' l ) 'pP l4r-72""''; '

iil::;;;;;-;.'il ln' r'p tv Daniel or Raithu: Greek t€xt in PG 88' 5efi08;

l i l . l l ' lM, lp xxxiv-xxxt i i i o"n"r *t l ttt"t

i f ht wereJohn's ontemporary ut he

is not verv wcll informed' For lurther detailsaboutJohn's ife' see he Narratiaet.^ttrlb'

iL;i l ;; '";;;;"' ;;;iaina;' $$ -i , 12 ,4, e:edF Nau' ie scbit'i,nu'i'tteo2l'pp

5li-89icf. PG88,60li-!',and H I M, PP (xix-xl There is somedoubt how much of this

material n Anaslasiusn fact efers o Climacus'

L F. Nau. "Note su r la datede ta mort de S JeanClimaque"'BJzantinitclveit-

rc'r iy 'xi {1902)"PPt^-t]' - 'i - i /or (Thessaton;ce96+), l8 0 An earlydate s

4. S.N Sakkos'Pen natta!rcn Jtna

,f.."r.f..r. i-tt

S.tedevi' ' ar t ci BJzantion t1924)' P l68-9: n hi sview Llrmacus

Lornbefore ]2 an ddiedbefore 9o

80-sWhile certainty s not possible, t seems easonableo regardJohnas an authorof the seventh ather ha n the sixth century.as acontemporary, that is to say,of St. Maximus the Confessor i. 5g0-662). t is not known wherehe wasborn.His delieht n metanhorsdrawn from the sea as edsome o concludeha thiJearlvvearswerespentnear he coast.6ut this is no more ha na speculation.

John wa ssixteenwhen he came o Sinai.THere he would havefounda monastic enteralreadywell established,ontainingn closeproximity all thethree ormsof the monasticjfe that he deicribes nStep I of Tbe adder.s irst, insidethe fortresswalls built at the ordersof Justinian, nd occupying he buildingsaround he church with it smosaicof the Transfiguration, there wasa fully organizedcetobium,monastic rotherhood ursuing he common ife under thedirectronof an abbot (bigoumetos).econd,scattered hrough the surrounding

. desert there were hermits dedicated o the solitary life. And in thethird place hereweremonks ollowing he niiddleway, ntermediatebetween he cenobitican d the anachoreticorms, wherebv small

groups ived as close-knit amilies,eachunder the immediaieeuid-ance of a spiritual father.For this third way, ,.the life of stilLesssharedwith on eor two others,"ashe erms t, Johnhimselfexpresset preference:t avoids he dangers f excessivesolation,whili beinert th e same ime less structured"an d more personalha n life in ilarge-scale onastery, nd providingmoreopportunitiesor sirence.

In the courseof his life St . JohnClimacusha dexperience f allthese hree orms. nitially, so t seems, e adopted he middlc wav.teking as his spiritual fathera certain Abba Martyrius. After thrieycars,whenJohnwa snineteen r twenty,Martyrius took him to the

5. H.-G. Beck, Kirclx uxd Tlxologbcbeiklatur in Byzantinischmeicl (Munichl9r9),p. 45 1

.6. S. Rabois-Bousquer,S.int JeanClimrque: sa vie et son oeuvre,,,Ecbot ,Orient

rr i i 0e23), p.442-1.

.7. l)anicl of Rairhu, 1-'y' 597A).But L. petit, D?.Cviii 0924), cols. 690_1,doubts

lfhcthcr Climicus nt t ' red hemonasticife soyoung,and preferso idenrifyhi m witha c.rt lan John hc Rhctorician, marriedma n n Alexandria,wh o is mentioned ylophronius, l 'nal.t of \t (. tyrusan d .lobn, g6t,70 (p GS7 ,1640A, 67iA)i n petit,sVf.w, ;l inrcff\ i \ afs(, hc Jrrhnmentlrned n Moscbus,fh eSpiituulL!.adou), t} l \ t\;l t , 29601)).lu t rhis hoorv ha t (j l imacusonly became monk ar I merurc gc,0frcr

tttt lrisgc0nd s('culi lr rrccr, crnoins ypr)thcicalnd hasn,rr rtn u.l. l t lyutir,prtrrx. I (6{ l l )). l| 7, r.

INTRODUCTION



INTRODUCTION

chapelat the top of Moses'Mount and there' following the customof

;;it-" i. ,onr,rr"a John as a monk Coming down from the sum-

iiiit.';;;$-"i

e""ti*i*, tht"bbot

of the c-entralmonasterv'who

ilt;:: ;;'il" s.i"* 'wt'"'" doeshisbovcomerom"'asked

Anastasius,and who p'ore'seohi*i" MarryriusrePlied hat,heha d

l;;:;.; 'H"- stra"gel" Anastasius xclaimed "who would have

ilr;si:,'i,;i- l*::1.:' l:?:'Jj#ffi:il"' Hll1l:and lohn Climacuscontrnueo

;l:d;;;;ilf 1on" tt't sabbaite' who washedJohn c-limacus'

feet an d kissedhi s hand,bu t took no'noticeof Martyrius' John th e

;;;;'il;Pi. *"' sc"ndali""d by this' but after the two vtsrtors

;il #;,;;il;"n assured im' "Believeme' I don't know wJto hat

il;;;;;; i;;.; ived th e abbotof Sinaian d washed is feet'"eFortv

l,.im i",.. theseprophecieswere fulfilled'

'""'"lt;;;,; i l,-; it 'seems, ie d soonafter John'sprofessionro ohn

""*'.T,i1J-i, i," -ti*a",'"ttt lng

as a hermit at Thoias' some iv e

-"ii.,r."- the fortress housing tf,e main monastery l-tl-n::,1lt^'

"fi"n"ii"tit.fr,"d, fo r therewerecertainlyothermonks n th e rmme-

:l;;: ; ';;;;;;.;;;ording to John'sbiographerDanieror Raithu'dur-

;#;;;;;; i . i;.t""'' t

rt 'ot" he re'ceivedhe gift.of tears nd th e

liil'"i ;;;;;;i'pttvt' n' reducedleepo a minimrmbut dis-

olaved a prudent moderarron n his fasting' for it.wasll:i::t-

t"

:;i'.":;tiil;;ir"*J uv tht',,'o""'tit rie' b"t in extrernelvmall

q" i "i,. '" i-" .TPii:JJ"r:;i* 1',',t'"'T1,ff':tili:1

suide, an d he began to re c

".rr i.t:t. rt"q*.'"t, indeed' ha t someriticized him fo r beinga gos-

"rp'"î,

".i",i.tuox

.Thereuponh.n.eRt.?t"l :l:l:'^l::"'v* '

onlv a(reeing to speat(once-ot"

*ith hi s visitors when entreated to

;,; '1 , ;t;; '" .tv monks wh o ha d been hi s crit ics'rr

""1;t';;:;;i"i awi"g t'i' time in Tholas John made-a.iournev to

.Egypt, staying at a- arge-onl"t '"

on th e outskirts of Alexandria'

Whathewitnessed'n 'n '"o ,nt i t " i tyofsevera lhundredmonks

made a lasting impressronon him' as ca n be gauged ro m th e lengthy

description that he grves tn lteps 4 and 5 of TheLadder' Since his own

--llrr,r"iu", Narrcrioer,$ *

"l$f',r r-0,*,ous: it maymeanhat Martyrius

10 .Drnielof Rrithu'sengu'gedied.notwhenJohnwlsnineteenyearsofage'butwhenJohnhadbeennineteenyears

thirty-five)'

earlyyearsasa monk had beenspent n the third way, n a smallher-mitageand not in a lzrge cerobium,t is easy o understand he impactwhich life at the Alexandrian ousemust haveha duoon him. He wa sstruck n particularby the abbot's ower of insight,an d by the com-binationof sternness nd affectionwhich he showed n his treatmenrof the monks. oh n was also mpressed y th e "Prison," a mile fromthe main monastery,n which erring monks were confined;here he

stayed or a month.r2His vivid account f the physical usteritiesndthe mentalanguishundergone y the monks n this "Prison" s likelyto prove, for most Western readers,by far the leastattractive sectionof The addcr;at times, soone modern critic hascomplained, t soundslike "a badly un psychiatricnstitution."Bu t Johnwas mpressed yother hingsas well during his visit to the Alexandrianmonastery-by th e unity prevailingamong he brethren,by the warmth and sen-sitivity of their mutual ove,an d by their unceasingnward prayer.1

After forty yearsof hermit life at Tholas,againsthis will Johnwe selected bbotof the centralmonasterv t Sinai.On the dav of his

installationas abbot,a party of six hundredpilgrims chancei to ar-five at th e monastery.While they were all being givena meal,Johnta w "a man with shorthair,dressedike a Je w n a white tunic, goinground with an air of authority and giving orders o the cooks, el-hrers, stewards nd other servants."C)nce he mealhad inished, hemen was nowhere o be found. "I t was our lord Moses," aidJohn."Fle ha sdone nothing strange n servinghere n the place hat is hisown."la To the monks he sign wassignificant; or they were soon ofecl that, in the personof their new abbotJohn, they had indeedfoundanotherMoses.ls

Ho w long John continued n office s unknown. It was dunngthis astperiodof his ife, while abbot, hat hecomposed be adder fDivineAsccnt, t the requestof anotherJohn, the superior of a nearbymonasteryat Raithu.16 Tell us in our ignorance,"askedJohn ofRtithu, "what like Moses f old you haveseen n divine vision uponlh c mountain;write it down in a bookan d send t to us as f it were

l2 t (776R), . l l t il l . { (6} i rAB(l } , p. er e6f{ Anrst sius. t rarrahzu, '1

ll . lhnicl, /, i / i (6{)5ll)16. 'rolrl |bly o lr irlcnrif icrl , irh lor, on rh e jrr l f of Srrcrnc{r th. r. [ rth. t t l l t

INTRODUCTION



INTRODUCTION

th e tablesof th e Law, written by God'" In hi s reply JohnClimacus

;;;;;i .t"

t""tt i' beyondhi s strensth: I am still among he

iearners But, he says, onstratned y the-virtue f obedience',heas

compliedwith th e request' omPosingin my stammeringway" what

i. ii-ot.

than "a n outlinesketch rT

Shortly beforehi s death ohn, longing to enioy,?i:t- il: '

th '

*i[rr".r i ' i. '*- ii.ft he ha d livedas a solitary'resigned-his osttron s

ili l,,;;;; i;; i;; h' s brotherGeorse o replace im r? '

There is nothing to rndtcateh"atSt JohnClimacu-s as.ever r-

daineda priest.Hi s apporntment sabbot'is ot n itselfProof ha the

was n holYorders'

II . THE LADDER: PURPOSEAND STRUCTURE

lobn\ Aud.iexcet"-";;;;;;;;,*as written, then' by one who' after living for most of

r,i,-.""".,i"

lir."t

i t"ttit, nai in "ta age een ntrustedl:1.:::pastoralcareof a largecommuniry;.it is the work clf

"-t:l:i:l*"tt"g

i"r".T.i""t.

r;."iai""""

ttt"t john has n view ismonastic He be-

;;ili;;;;-k, io*.utt, with a ciear affirmation of God's loving care

il ; ,;;; i lt"f

humankind'Salvations offered o al l alike:

God is the life of all free beings'He is the salvatio:"f

b:ll"*

*, oiunb.ti"u"ts, of th e iust or the uniust : gl.Ponnt nt

,i"* r*i"g i" the world, if the educatedor the illiterate' of

;itil;i;ff ;; the sick,of the voung or the verv old He is

iii..'ii" t,i,p.*rng of light' the glimpse of the sun' or.the

"i""n.tof ih. *"l"thtt, which are the same or- everyone

.'"iiit3"i ."*ptr;n "For God is no respecterof persons"

(Rom.2:l ) 18

To th e marriedChristianJohn nsists ha t memimony s no t an

obstacle o salvation:

--li_po.John of Raithu,s etter and John climacus' rePly, seeP6 ij8, 624-81ET'

"t*Iooljil'il;r'"r//aiioer'

$12,mentioning John he sabbaite'but Probablv'erer-

ring to JohnClimacus cf PG 88' 6094)'

Do whateyer good you may. Speakevil of no one. Rob noone.Tell no lie. Despise o one. . . Showcompassiono th eneedy... . Be satisfiedwith what your own wivescan pro-vide you. f you do all this,you will not be ar from the king-do m of heaven.e

Later in the work, he points out that purity is by no means he rno-

nopoly of thosewho have never married, and he cites asproof the ex-ample of the apostlePeter, "who ha d a mother-inJaw and whoneverthelesseceivedhe keysof the kingdom."zo

But, having insisted n this manner upon the universalityofGod's saving ove,Johnmakes t clear hat he himself s writing spe-cifically for monks. This needsto be remembered by the modernreader.Yet does t therefore follow that TbeLadder s of no interesr rothose n the "world"? Surely not. It has n fact been read with the ut-most profit by many thousandsof married Qhristians;and, whateverthe author'soriginal intention, there s nothing surprising n that.

Monasticism, sSt. Basil he Greatobserve;,s nothingelse han,,lifeaccording o the Gospel."ztWhether monasticor married, all th ebaptizedare responding to the sameGospel call; the outward condi-tions of their responsemay vary, but the path is essentiallyone.

TbeNeedor PersonalExpeienceSt .John Climacus,ik e St. Symeon he New Theologianan d St .

Gregory Palamas t a later date,22ays heavyemphasisupon the needfor personalexperience.Christianity, as he seest, is much more thanthe exterior acceptance f doctrines and rules. No one can be a true

Christianat secondhand; there must be a personalencounter, nwhich eachknows, sees, astesand touches or himself.This applies irst of all to anyonewho teaches thers:

The true teacher s one who has eceiveddirectly from heav.en the tabletof spir itualknowledge,nscribed y God'sownfinger, hat s, by the activeworking of il lumination.Sucha

t9. I (1,4{JI)) ,. 78.

20. l5 (8e64),t' l8 l .2t I t t !0

20J,2 PG 12,16l l l \ .:2. ( : i . K. Warc, lradir ion nnd Personal}pcr iencc n l , i rcr l tyr{nr inc lhcr ' lt tg t ' " , l inhlt t ( . :hu/$$/r l . l , ic ! 'ii ( l t )7{)) , l l l { t .

INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION



ma n ha s no need ofother books lt is no t right for-teachers o

;t;; ffiil;;;t copving oot what other peoplesav 23

And iust as the true teacher s the man of personalexperience'who

'n"""tl""r- il-self, so likewise the teacher'saim in givrng rnstruc-

.b""i-i"-utr"g ftis disciples o the point of crisis and confrontation'

;"tl:;; il ';;;;ilr ,. . ro ,h.-"li"

John'sweshall ee ' ttaches

profound mportance o t ne ot eof the spiritual ather'aff irming ha t

noneshouldembarkupon the rnward ourney without a guide Th e

spiritual ather,however, sno t in hi s view a substituteigurebu t an

initiator. His function i" not to experience.thing:,on our-behalf'

il..L;G;"tt"; us from the n"ed to e*ptri"nte them personally'

;"T;i;tfi;;;Po'l"' ut i' ih' ut'v onewhosav-so us:oPen

;;ilH;;;t, l.'oi""d "t

for vourselveso see' oJohnnsists't

i';;;;i#;;;;; listen to direciions from other people;vou need o

;;;;;;;;""tural

power of sisht "In the samewav' vo u cannot

IiJ.i"", ,r._ ii;,li"di.g oroth.;, thebeauty fprayer."2ae akes

as an examPle he tasteof honeY:

Do yo u imagine ha t plain.words an describehe ov eof

Go d . . andassurancet tn e heart?Do yo u imagine ha t talk

of ,u.h-",,",'

* i l l meananything o someonel'?:1,L:"-

i.."o..i""*a them? f yo u think so ' he n yo u *flt-:.t^.']1:

-" "

tJ "

-l,rtwords an d examples ries to convey the

sweetnessf honey to p"oftt wh o havenever asted t He

talksuselesslY'2s

This f i rmbel ief inthenecessi ty forpersonalexprcr iencehasde-.".-i""i ii.'.i".,tttt *tti"h lohn giuet to his book Convincedashe

is of the needfor encounter""'J-f""'titip"tio"'

for directlasllns

and

il.liill's,rl,.;;;:;ii::"*:';i::.'llJiJi:::ti':.'"':lT-X:f'l;ing or to impose.a

'oti'l.:::',r"1;r"-r*".^ l, ir,. late Fr. Georgesreadersan exPerience rmrlar

;;;;;6p;;'i'Jrb' Lodd" is an invitation to pilgrimage'" It is an

"-ir,."rJiri""tr<',

"ndonly thosewh o read t existentially il l apprect-

ate ts true value,

Faithful to this existential stance, n TbeLadder ohn usually re-frains from giving detailed directions about what foods to eat, howmuch and when, about hours of sleepand the daily program of man-

ual labor. We search n vain through the pagesof Tlx Ladder or that

kind of guidance.When discussing rayer,he likewisegivesno de-scription of the liturgical offices, no advice about preparation for

Holy Communion and its frequency,no specif ic nsructions about

methodsof private prayer, about formulae, bodily posture, breathingexercises nd the like . These omissionsare surely deliberate.His in-

terest s in the inward rather than the outward. What matters or himis not physicalasceticism ut humility andpurity of heart:

In Scriptureare he words, I humbledmyself, nd he Lord

hastenedo rescueme " (Ps. 14:6); nd hesewordsar e here

instead f "I have asted," I have ept vigil," "I lay down ont he bareearth."26

What he offers is not techniquesand formulae but a way of life, notregulations ut a path of init iation.Because is aim s to impart a l iving, personal xperience,oh n s

often intentionallyenigmatic. ik e ou r Lord with His parables,ik ethe Zen masters with their koansor the Sufis with their "scatter"technique, oh navoids pellingout his conclusionsoo plainly, or he

wants the reader o work out the answer for himself. When the point

of his exampless left unclear, r he seemso jump in arbitrary ash-ion from one dea o another, ormally his s due,not to carelessneor incompetence, ut to deliberatepurpose.He takes a conscioupleasuren cryptic phrases:

If all are not savedwho havebeenbaptized, will pass n si -lenceover what follows.

In the entire universe here s a unique place hat saw the

su n us t once.

Let us summon he Holy Trinity to help us aswe marshalthreeagainst hree.

23 . Part I ( t I65C)'P 2l l24 . 28 l l40C),P 2llt

25 988AB), 218.26, 2t (rr2l)), p. 221.




Whv is t that therewere no t asmany ightsamong he holy

;;il;; ;; il;;;si asat Scetis? ope with that.question ir

you can. cannotsa ywhy Or rather' do no t wlsn to ''

In oosinqsuch iddles, ohn'saim is pastoral: o.elicita response'o

.'iJJ. ?#.."i"t ,.it'" rt"p of faith' to bring him to the moment of

personal ncounter.

Style nd Structure: beThinl. Steos

With this objectrve'"

u't-' St ' JohnClimacus asadoPted di s

tinctive literary ityle h TbeLadder'At first sight the Greekmay seem

"'irro,*J..,igtt, bu t th e book s in factcomposed it h subtletyan d

.""liir"l"t,,

ifi a rhythmic proseoften not far removed rom poetry'

i#"'i-","ir, "

iniended. The author lovesshort, sharpsentences,

;ilfi;ilJ;;' p"t"it-i*r aphorisms'or hispurposes to wake

i;;i"i-.;; H; ixcels n quaint llustations' markedbv a monastlc

sense f humor that ha samused is audience ve r he centuries:

, . . like sorneonerylng at the same ime to swim and to clap

hi s hands. .

. . . l ike someone ho pelts a] do gwith bread' '

Do not imitate those who in burying the dead first lament

them-and then go off and get drunk'

A man who has heard himself sentenced o death will not

worry about the waytheatersare run'

The thought of th e hesychast eepshold of hi s spiritual

mouse.28Weareleftwiththeimpressionthet 'behindtheunusualstyleand

r,.,".""".';"e.1:"n.:"-i'^::,";yH.l;:lT?H:tT:'lilt'ilTali ty: exacting, wrth a snarP

ilil;;i:; futt or ho,noi andunexpectedompassion'ealistic-

[u, *litr the realism hat springs rom living prayer: .

John's asicmage, round"whichheeniiie book sstructured's

';: l:,:;3iiT;#l;iiJlllll|,1'ii-'ii'll'!)d'i'1"

of a laddersuetching rom earth o heavenike that which Jacob a(Gen.28:12). arlier writers, suchasSt. Gregoryof Nazianzus2endSt. John Chrysostom3on the fourth century, and Theodoret of Cyrr-hus3r n the fifth, had already poken f the spiritual ife asa ladderup which by God'sgracewe mount stepby step.But in St .JohnCli-macus he analogy s far moredeveloped. is ladderhas hirty rungsor steps, ne or each ear n the hidden if e of Christ beforeHis bap-

tism.3z ohn's ngenioususeof th e ladder-image t oncecatches hereader'sattention, giving to his book as a whole a distinctive flavorand unity. Indeed,his symbolic addersoonbecame art of the spiri-tual imagination of the Christian East, and is frequently representein panel ikons, refectory frescoesand illuminated manuscripts.3

John s usuallyshown standing o one side,near rhe foot, holding ascrollan dpointing o the adder.The monksar estruggling aboriously upward, while at the top Christ reaches ut His arms o welcomthosewho havecompleted he ascent.On the right of the ladderan-gelsencouragehe monksas heyclimb, on the eft demons ry to trip

them up and pull them off, and at the bottom the dragon of the abysswaitswith open aws.As a supplement o the thirty stepsof Tlx Ladder, ohn alsowrote

a short treatiseentitled Zo tlx Sbepberd,escribing the task of the ab-bot or spiritual father. Sometimes eckoned as the thirty-first step,this is likewiseaddressedo Johnof Raithu.3a

While TbeLad.der f Dioine Ascerrts not in the strict sensea sys-tematic treatise-John modestly calls himself a "second-rate archi-tect"3s-it is evident that he h as arranged his rungs with careaccording to a precisescheme. ohn embraces n his scope he wholeextentof the spiritual ife, startingwith the initial "turning"

or con-29. Oration4t,7l (PG 36, 529Dt.t0. HoniliesonJoht 83, 5 IPG 59,454).J . Hitory of tlteMon*s l S]Jria 7 IPG 82, 1484C). he image of a .,soultadder" s

widcspread n the ancient worldr seeA. B. Cook,Zcus. Studl n Ancbnt Religion, ol. i(Cembridge 1925), p. ll+40i E- Bertaud and A. Rayez, Echetle spiiituelle', D.i iv(1958).ols. 2-86.

12 .RriefSunnory 'l 6lA), p.291.I l. SceJ. R. M^rrin, T re llurttu,ion of theHecvng Laddet fJoh Ctinacu! Ptince

ton 1954)iM. Heppell, inrroduction ro St. John Climacus,Tl* lndder of Di"î nc .tsutr,ll l Archimandrite azrrus London1959),p. 29-31.

14 . ;rcek text, ,G88 , l65-1208i -f, H' l 'M, pp.2lt-50i not ncluded n rhc1,rcr.

J l. l7 ( l l05l l) . D. 21' t .




version, continuing with a detailed analysisof the-rirtues and vices'

,"J.Ji.* *i,n tf,e mystical union' The work falls into three main

t..,r."t,"?

t..il-.t.'.tt.. ln the first three stepsJohn describes he

;;;; ;il the iworld"' the renunciation both outward and inward

;;;; i; t th e presupposition f an y spiritualascentThen'. n.a-far

i""".. r"",i." tSr.pt'4-zo),be discusseshe "active ife" or "practtce

iT .tm rl.t""t'i tpt t it, praktihi),along with

-thecorresponding pas'

;;:;h* ;;", ;'. tpt",ir.a. Finally, t-heast four stepsare devoted o

il':;;;;;;r"iirr;' t u*al, to stillness,praver and union with

God.""-A,ahi, summary mplies, oh n acceptsn general erms he dis-

tinction drawn by dvagrius of Pontus (c 145-99)between th€ acnve

;;;; ;;;*-oi"tiu. if.' But, as Dr' Christos Yannaras ightlv ob-

.irr.i, i" Irftn aires ot follow th e Evagrian-cheme it h an y greatex -

".in"rr.ii

"o",."stto Evagrius,he ho-ldshat the supr-eme nd.of the

;;;;;;;i;;; t;t conteriplation orszosrrbut love Much.in the ear-

ii* ltlosoi Tb, Loddr relaies to the contemplative as well as to the

;; I'ift, ;ii; ,i. fi,t"l ,ttp on love is concernedwith both the ac-

;;'""d;;";;re-plati"e

life at onc"; in the context of divine love

,i-,.t"""n

be no sharpdifferentiation between he two'",-"

fi.-U"ti" p"ttern of the thirty stepsof TbeLaddelcan be present-

ed thus:37

l. TbeBreakwith tlx llorld

l. Renunciation2. Detachment

3. Exile

II. The Practiceof the Virtues ("ActiaeLife")

' 6\ Futdamertal Virtues

4. Obedience

5. Penitence6. Remembranceof Death

7. Sorrow

- rc-I.r.!4r;ti tos tom4torAthens l97l)' pp 58-{2

17. This scheme s t,ken, with rnodification'' from G Couilleru' DS viii

(ii) TbeStruggleAgairst thePassiotts

(a) Passions hat Are Predominantly Non-physicalAngerMaliceSlanderTalkativenessFalsehood

Despondency

(b) Physicaland Material Passions14. Gluttony15. Lustl6-17. Avarice

(c) Non-Physical Passionscont.)

l8-20. Insensitivity21. Fear22. Vainglory

21. Pride(also

Blasphemy)(iii\ Higber Vinues of tbe "ActioeLife"

24 . Simplicity25. Humility26. Discernment

lll. Unionwitb God Transitiofl o tbe"Contentplativeife")

27. Stillness28. Prayer29. Dispassion10. Love

While the book as a whole has n this way a clearly defined struc-ture, many of the individual stepshevealsoan internal structureofthcir own. Thus most of the chapterson the vicesare arrangedon the

followingpattern:Brief introductory statement, ndicating the source of the vrce

rnd its place n the sequence f TbeLadd.er;Short definitions;More detailed nalysis: auses,ymptoms, ffects, emedieswith

lllustretiveenecdotes):Finr l summary.

8.o

10 ..

t2 .

13.




Glancing through the outline given above'a readermay^.gainhe

i-p;;; ii"t Jott-n',approach i! for the most Part negetive For'

o,riof tniny"n"pters,

sixteenare concernedwith the vices o be over-

come,an donly fourteenwrth tn e virtues o be acquired; nd several

ofthesefourteenchaptersseemalsotobemainlynegative,concerned

".i' i.y

"**r,r, such h"m"s as ,penitence,".sorrow,""disprssion."

Bu t this initial impresslon s miJleading. irst, th e chapterson th e

i."t"t. "t"rffy

s'horter han those on the virtuesi so the. ourteen

;;;;'il;;;il*1tu:f'l."';";f:'.'ffi:iil"T;;;,'j.:'','il;:

s long as the sixteen stePson I

;il'il;il oi-in"-tt"tpo"ding

virtues:9t:p.9'tot instance'

;;;il;;;ils aswen"' "ng"is'"pl y1l:','-':"":;jr;ttl;talkativeness.Step l5 with purity as well as lust' JtePs ro-z\

;ili",,'"-.il;ii'".-i,'"""'itiuitu'Third andmostundamentallv's

we shall seeshortly, penrtence'Jorrow and dispassion re ar from be-

t"*$:1;iltlf,L"l"1i?ii'li;"-. thatwehavendicated'here re

skillfullv balancedcorrespondences nd contrasts:I ( l- l) balancesII (27-10)

ll i ('+-7) alancesI ii i (2'F26)'

ii i i u tiq-rll, on passions f a material ype' is - l-anked.y tw o

U"t"n.iner."tionr' e"chof si * steps-Il ii 8 (8-1 ) and I ii c (18-21)-

onpa si -ns'l:l::: :, l

t:'-1.t-:1,""1""tffa.."il.a st ucturesf "tvpe"

Closer examrnatron revea

""d

;;;;;;y;;." A theme is. adumbrated in the earlier part of the

work, an d then taken uP agarnat a higher level in th e secondpart:

Step 2 (detachment) : Step29 (dispassion)

., "S.ep 4 (obedience) : Step 26 (dtscernmenrr"

i i .p s rp."i,.n..) : Step1:1l"lt lt^Y],...,. Step l idesPondency) Step 8 (insensttrvtty)

Underlying thesevarrousparallelsand oppositionshere is ' in

TbeLadder a whole,a basic rigression from humaneffort to divine

;ff:;#;;;'",;-''ili'-"' ci't'lntv'God'sracei: 1-o':1.":'lt'ot"

pensable or the attarnme"t-oi"" y

virtuei howeuer humble Yet'

---iAh".onn.",ion is madecleer n the deiinition

of obedienceas "wiih all del;

u..",*",,1.'i 'ia: :li,i11'.1lJ.;*3il:li',fffi:;:l'j*""'''

while both the divine and the humanelements re present hrough-out the ascentof the ladder,on the earlier rungs we are chiefly con-scious f our own toil and scuggle,while on the higher rungswe armore and more aware of the freely grantedgraceof God. What beginsaspainful warfare ends asspontaneousoy:

At the beginning of our religious life, we cultivate the vir-

tues, and we do so with toil and difficulty. Progressinga lit-tle, we then loseour senseof grief or retain very little of itBut when our mortal intelligence urns to zealand is mas-tered by it, then we work with full joy, determination, e-sire,and a holy flame.3e

Two further things are apparent in the structure of TbeLadderFirst, by far the larger part of the work is concernedwith the practiceof the virtues end the struggle against he Vices;by comparison, hesection on the contemplative ife (Steps27-30) s relatively brief-to

many, no doubt, disappointingly so. But John has good reasons orconcentrating in this way on the active life. He does not want hisreaderswillfully and prematurely to seekafter visions and ecstasieinsteadof learning penitenceand humility. TbeLadderdisplays n thisregard a marked sobriety.John is highly cautiousabout dreams;ao ndit is significant that much the longest chapters n the book are thoseon obedience Step4) and on discernment or discretion (diakisis;Step26).

John is constantly warning us not to attempt too much too sooniwe cannot cli mb the entire adder n a singlestride."arWhen, n themonastery t Alexandria,

oh ntried to start a discussion bout stil l-

ncssor inner silence herycbia),e was kindly but firmly rebuked byhi s hosts:

FatherJohn theysaid],we arecorporeal eings nd we leada corporeal ife. Knowing this, we choose o wagt wa r ac-cordins to the measure f our weakness.az

le . I (6 ' |7( i) , . 77..10 t (66!tlt-6728),pp. 8e-e0.

{t t4 rtt ' ( l l ) . p. t66, f. 2( r9 ir7 l) t ,|l 22 r{2 4 (7{)() l t) ,t) 101.

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION



fohn took the point. ln The Ladder he insists that hesycbit-meaning

loin J. touoty life and the more advanced forms of inner Prayer-

i.-""i"

fo, "tJ.u f"*,"ot only for those who have been prepared

.i-"irt'r""g y.irsof iraining in the practiceof th e v-irtues'l'Jo ne

,-i"riI"-u*r.

on "theology,; in the ienseof the contemplative ife'

;j;;;; fi*, srrugglingag-ainsthe passions:tt is risky o swim in

;;;;;;i;"t. e' i iue

-o fpas"ionshluld no t dabble n theologv aa

iil"i J *iy l"n" sp"ak, at length about the warfare.againstsin' but

;ff.;r';;;r;. than a fe w veilei hints about he final transfiguration

;;;;;;;;;p"rson, in soul and bodv' bv th e uncreatedight His

.iai""""" It deiib"rat". He doesnot wtnt us to reachout for the iced

cakesbeforewe haveeaten he breadand butter'**"S"-iafy,

John did no t mean the image of - he-.ladder'which

dominatesthe Look, to be interpreted too literally While placed n

;;;;;;;;q*."., the different siepsere not to be regardedasstrictlv

aon"""utit"

stages,he one terminatingbefore he next commences'

;;;;; tr,oufh sy God's gracewe gradually progress,to he,^higher

;;;;;tll;;tiiue to liie.anddev-elopi-multaneouslvn the ow-.ii"vels a" w.ll. This is true in particularof the fifrh step,penrtence,

and of the seventh steP, sorrow or mourning (penlbosl l nese^re

,ilnnr ,t",

in this presint life we neveroutgrow; hey contrnueun -

.."ri"r,gup to th e g;tesof death As John nsists:

When we die, we will not be criticized for having failed to

*oit-i.r.t"t.

We will not be accused f having failed to be

,n""i.glr"" or contemplatives But we will certainly have

,.-"-!r,pf""rrio" to oifer to God for not having mourned

unceasinglY.as

In our beginning s our end ln one sense' he supremeaim of the

,oi.iio"t i"ttt is"indeed theology," he contemplation r vision of

i.,d. But'in anotherand perhapsmore vital sense' ur end-Pornt s

our starting-Point: enitence'

III. THE SPIRITUAL TEACHING OF ST. JOHN CLIMACUS

Imitation of Cbrist, Spiitualitl and Dogma, Graceand Free Will

Without attempting a full analysis, et us consider a few master

themes n the spiritual teaching of TheLadder.

In the first step,at the very beginningof the work, St .JohnCl i

macusbriefly indicateshe essencef the spiritual ife:

A Christian is xt imitator of Chrix in thought, word and

deed, s ar as his s humanlypossible, nd he believesighr-

ly and blamelesslyn the Holy Trinity.a6

In the final step he returns to the same dea:

Love, by its nature, is a resemblanceo God.,nsofr as this is

humanlypossible.aT

Such s the aim throughout h€ ascent f thc ladder: o follow Christ,to become like God," to imitate and resembleHim in His divine

love.The Christian,however, oesnot only imitate;he also believe

rightly." For St .JohnClimacus piritualityand dogmaareessentiall

connected; here can be no true life of prayer without a right faith in

God. "lt is characteristicof TbeLadder,"writes the Serbian D. Bog-

danovi6, that in it dogmatic hemes re constantly verflowing nto

the ethical ealm.Dogma orms here . . . the theoretical asis f eth-

ics."a8As ArchimandriteSophronyobserves,hroughout Tbe adde

John aiseshe discussionfrom the purely ascetico the mysticaland

theologicalevel."aeFrom this it follows that TbeLad.der,n common with any authen-

tically Christian work of spirituality, s theocentric ather than an-

46. I (6 l. lB), .7.{ .G,mprr€ the ast etterof the spiritualalphabet, 6 l0 l7C),p.

tJ2: "With (;od'shclp rn mitatorof the ,or d."

47 . l0 ( 568),p. 21i6.

+t1.h/n (:linaqu! da s a littirature bJzantine t a litlnture serhe ncfunaeBelgra,J19613),.2 l l l .

{9. "l)c ll nricessit6cs r ois rcnoncemcntshe zSt .Cassiene Rorn|inct St Jcrn

()linagtc", Srudiu 'arrirtitueIlNt.tnd Untertn$ungcttao Berlin lr)62), lrrr

41 . 4 (725C),P. le .

44 .21 1w7C),P.262.45 . 7 (816D), . 145.




thropocentrici its purpose is not to analyze psychological states'

"onsid"redin themielvis,bu t to se e he human personalways n its

relationshipwith God.To quoteBogdanoviioncemore,."ForClima-

cus he virtuesare no t so much qualit iesof man asqualit iesof God;

they are divine attributes."50 an becomes irtuousby participating

in the virtuesor energies f God.

Johnusually "kelsor granted hi s link between Piritualitvan d

dogma without'alluding to it explicit ly, bu t such occasional efer-

"n!.sash" makes o dogmatic questionsare sufficient to indicate the

closeness f the connection.He explains, or example, he relation be-

tween obedienceand stillness hulcbia)by comparing the doctrine of

the Trinity with that of Christ,sran dgoes n to ill-ustratethenterde-

pendenc" et*een prayer and the remembranceof deathby invoking

ih . d"finitiotrof Chalcedon451):

Someclaim that Prayer s better than the remembrance f

death.But for my part, my praisegoesout to the two natures

in oneperson.s2

In other words, prayer and the remembranceof deathare both equal-

ly necessary:hi two form a unity similar to that between Christ's

humanity and His divinitY.

The most significant among the Christological referencesn Tle

Ladd.ers the brief allusion to Gethsemanen Step 6:

Christ is frightened of dying but not terrified, thereby clear-

ly revealinghe Properties f His two natures's3

Iohn is thinking hereof the Monothelete ontroversywhich was ag -

in s in his day, nd in which his contemporarySt Maximus he Con-

i..""o, *" t'deeply

involved. Although John was less directly

.on".rn.d with ihi dispute, from his words here t is evident that he

took the same view ai Maximus. The Monotheletes held that our

50 .OP . it . ,p.2t8

i l. 27 l l l7A), P.271.52 .28 1ll7A), P 27 9

5]. 6(791C),

p. l32On this passege, ee DJ Chitty, fbz Desert Ctr) (Oxford

1966), . 174.

Lord, while possessingwo natures, was endowed with only a single

will. Against hi s Maximusargued hat human naturewithout a hu-

man will is an unrealabstraction.f Christ s truly man, hen He ha s

two wills as well as wo naturesiand it is preciselyat His agony n thegarden hat we see he presence f these wo wills most plainly manr-

fested-in tension, et n ultimate econciliation.ohn's tendpoint n

Step6 is similar. The passage uoted s to be understoodas a glosson

Hebrews4:15, . . . tempted n everything us taswe are,only withoutsin." Christ's ear of death ndicates hat He hasa genuinelyhuman

nature,and so a genuinelyhumanwill, for He couldnot experienc

such ear in His divine natureor His divine will. At the same im e

John makesa further point by distinguishingy'ar of death from teror

of death. t is, he says,natural for man, living under the conditions of

the fall, to fear death; error of death,on the other hand, comes rom a

sense f unrepented ins.Now Christ s not Himself a sinful man,bu t

at His Incarnation He accepts o live out His earthly life under the

conditions of the fall. He therefore accepts he fear of death natural to

fallen man; but, being Himself si nless,He doesnot experiencehesinful terror of death.In al l thisJohn, ike Maximus, s not us tsplitt inghairs.The doc-

trinal point, echnical hough t may be, s vital for spirituali ty. mita-

tion of Christ, in a full and genuinesense,s only possible ecaus

Go d ha sbecome ompletelyman, akingupon Himself he entiretyof

our human nature-includin g a human will-and so experiencin

from witbin all our moral conflicts, our fearsand temptations, "onlywithout sin." Because e see n Christ a humanwill exactly ike ours,yet freely obedient to the will of God, we know that such free obedi-

ence s alsopossible or us .Here it becomes vident, n a very clear

and direct manner,how a correctspiritualitydepends pon correctdoctrinal eaching.

Faith n the wo natures nd wo wills of the ncarnateSavior m-plies ha t the spiritual way, understood s an "imitation of Christ,"

involves the convergenceor "synergy" (synergeia)f two factors, un-

equal n value but both equally necessary: ivine graceand human

freedom. Without Me you can do nothing" (John 5:5):what God

docs s incomparably he more mportant,Yet our part is alsoessen

tiel, or God doesnot save sagainst ur will. This is exactly he posi-

tion of St. John Climacus.At first sight t might appear hat in 7b

l.adder e overstresseshe human aspectr utting t(x)grc l rn cntphrt




sis on man's effort and saying too little about God's initiative But in

fact he is in no doubt whatsoeverabout the necessity or divine grace:

Anyone trained in chastity should give himself no credit.for

any achievements. . . When nature is overcome t should be

admitted that this is due to Him Who is abovenature ' '

The man who decides o struggle against his flesh and to

overcome t by his own efforts is fighting in vain ' Admityour incapacity. . . What haveyou got that you did not re-

c"iue as a gift either from God or asa result of the help and

prayers of others?. . It is sheer unacy to imagine that one

has deserved he gifts of God sa

John s certainlyno Pelagian!

'Joyful Sorow": Tbe LadderasDialectical Theologl" -

". .. alwaysbearingabout n our body the dying of th e I ord Je-

sus, hat the life of Jesusmay alsobe mademanifestin our body" (2

Cor. 4:10): he imitation of Christ signifiessharingat one an d the

same ime both in His deathand in His resurrection But doesnot St'

John Climacus ay too much stressupon the burdensof cross-bearing,

and too little upon the joyfulnessof the risen life?Does not The 'adder

serve o repel rather than to encourage?

It is certainly true that TbeLadderoffers no €ncouragement o

thosewho look for compromise.John asks rom us, in Christ's name,

a complete, nsparingdedication.Nothing is ever enough'Ye t he is

not cruel or inhuman. He criticizesEvagrius'directiveson fasting

precisely for their lack of humanity: Evagrius fails to-allow- or hu'

-"n, rarkrr"tt, John says;we needto grow accustomed ently to the

rigors of fasting,advancing ittle by litt le.5sAlthough his strictures

on the failings of his brother monks comecloseat times to cerrcature'

John is scarc-elyver censorious: his attitude," asDr' Muriel Heppell-re-arkr,

"i s that of the Publican ather han he Pharisees6 He free'

ly admitshis own defects, onfessingha t he cannotsa ymuch, or in -

stance,about insensitivity because e is himself ,,very sorely tried bythis vice."57

The key to a true appreciation of Tbe Ladd.ers to recognrzthroughout its pagesa dialectical approach.Those who see n thework nothing exceptharshdemands or self-denialand asceticsrrus-gle havediscernedonly one side of the dialectic. But, alongside h1negations, gainan dagain here s a positivenoteof reassurancend

nope.Fundarnental o John'sdialecticalattitude is his sense f the reali-ty of the fall. Throughout TbeLadderan all-important distinction oflevelshas to be made: s Jobr speaking boutrlte allen or tbe unfollenstate?Concerning the fall and the resulting distortion of human na-tl're, John s indeedhighly negative, lthoughneversweepingly on-demnatory in the manner of Augustine or Calvin; he nowheresuggestshat the fall has ed to a total corruption. But when he speaksabout the condition prior to the fall-about humankind's rue an dnatural state,which in Christ we can now regain-he is not only af-firmativebu t optimistic.

ohns no Manichaean.

uman nature n itsentirety, body as well assoul, s God's creation,and is therefore good:"God neithercaused or created vil."s8Sin is extrinsic o our rruepersonhood:No one wants to sin againstGod."seThere are manynatural ir tues, ut no natural ices:

Evil or passion s not somethingnaturally implanted inthings. God is not th e creator of passions.On the otherhand, here are many natural virtues that havecome o usfrom Him

-and thesenclude he highest irtuesof all, faith, hopeand ove.60Such, hen, s the basicdualismunderlyingJohn'i ascetic heol-

ogy: not a dualismbetweenGod and matter, or God is the creatorofmatter; not a dualism betweensoul and body, for Tbe adderviews thehuman personasan integralunity; but a dualismbetween he unfal-

54 . 5 (t l8 lA,8s4BC, 00B), P l72,171, 84i l (e68B),PP 208-9

55 . l4 (865AB),P. 166.

56. Introduction to TheLadder f DivineAscett,ET Atchimandrite Lazarus,p 17

t7. I l l ( () l . lB), . 192.t l l . :6 ( l06l l() ,t) 25 1s9 . l0 (t l45l)) . . l ia ' .

6l ) 26l( l l t lA),

p. 2 l l t .




len and the fallen, between the natural and the contranatural, be-

tween immortality and corruption, between ife and death.

True to this dialectical approach, throughout Tbe Ladder ohnbalancesnegationswith affirmations. The monk is "a soul pained by

the constantremembranceof death"' yet the motives for his renunci-

ation are positive: not iust sorrow for sins and fear of punishment,

but love of God and longing for the future Kingdom.6r The monas-

tery is "a tomb before he tomb," but it is also heavenon earth."62Exile involves a painful sacrifice-the loss of parents, riends, famil-

iar surroundings-but its overriding rnotive is creative, to meke us

free for God: "Exile is a separation rom everything, in order that one

may hold on totally to God."63Obedience s "a total renunciation of

our own life ... death freely accepted," ut it is also a "resurrec-

tion."6a We are to hold the hour of death in constant remembrance,

regarding each day as our last;65at the same ime we should await

death as hough t were ife."66

Everywhere John negatesn order to affirm. This is true in Par-

ticular of the chapter which to most contemPorary readersappearsthe harshestand most distastefulof all: Step 5 on repentance,with its

grim portrayalof the "Prison" at the Alexandrianmonastery.Per'

LapsJoh" meant us to be shockedby it: "One may suppose,"saysFr.

DCrwasChitty, "that the writer intended thosewho were not ready

for his work to be put off by this chapter."67Yet, even so, he image

of repentance hat emerges s ultimately positive. If repentance rs

"hell,"68 t is alsoan d more undamentally resurrection."6et is no t

just death but life-the renewal of our baptismal regeneration.Tot is

no t despair ut hope:

Repentance s the daughter of hope and the refusal to de_spair. (The penitent standsguilty-but undisgraced.)Repen-tance s reconciliationwith the Lord.Tl

To repent is not only to fear God's wrath but to respond o His love:the grief that accompaniesenitence s..the grief that comes romloving God."72

John'sdialectical pproachs similarlyevident n Step7, on sorrow and weeping.This chapter on the gift of tears has pioved to beone of the most influential in the whole of TbeLadder.z3 od, soJohnpointsout forcefully-and here hi s basicoptimism s plainly in ev idence---<reated s for laughter, not for tears:

God does not demandor desire that someone hould mournout of sorrow of heart,but rather that out of love for Him heshould ejoicewith th e laughterof the boul.Take away sinand then the sorrowful ears hat flow from bodilv eveswill

be superfluous.Wh y look for a banda$ewhen ylu'are no tcutl Adam did not weep before the fall, and there will be notearsafter the resurrectionwhen sin will be abolished.whenpain,sorrowand amentationwill have aken light.7a

Tears, hen, reflectman's allenstatean d express is mourningfo r sin. Yet there s more o them than that. Teari ca n be,.sweet"aswell as "bitter."75Tears that begin by being ,,painful"

become ncourseof time "painless"; earsof fear develop nto tearsof love.7

61. I (6l lC), p.74.

62 .4\7168,711B),p. l l l , l1l .

61. I (664C), . 85.

64 .4 (6804), p. el -e2.

65. 6 (797C),. l l t .

66. 4 (7058). . 106.

67. TbeDetert Ci4, p. 174.

68. 5 (76e8), . 124.

69. 5 (781A), . l l l .

70. 5 (7648), . t2l.

7t . Ibid.72. 5 l776Dl,p. t28.7r. -I'hebasicmodern siudy on the gift of tears s still L Hzusherr,pentbot.La doc-

line de d cornlonct;oda$ I'Odent.br6tiei Ori. tet;aCbrir,ia a Anoleda112:Rome1944)cspeciallypp. l17-71. SeeslsoM. Lot-Borodine, .Le mysrdredu ,don des armes,dansf'()rient chr6tien", I.a vie tlirituette slpplement for September1916), eprinted in O.

9]:i-:",-"rd^9ll*t/l doutoureueoie (Spiritualit|oriea'tate4: Bellefontrine 1974), p.

IJI -95; I". Cil let, " 'fhe Cift of Tears", Sobornost.s . l2 (1917), p. 5_10;G.A.Maloney, I he..M1t.ti f F'ire ndLigbt:StStmeon b. NeuTbeotogianD.nuitt., N.;. rlf S),Pp. 129-l7r K. Wrre, "'l'he Orthodox Experienceof Repentance",Sobo.'.oni ltgio),pp.26-28.

7{. 7 (8{)e(; ). . +1 .71 . t (77{ ,4). ! 12 77/'. 7 (tt l l l l). D. {1 .




True to his fundamental ialectic, oh n insists hat for th e penitent

Christian sorrow is constantly interwoven with ioy. Tears, like the

experienceof repentance,spring from a sensenot only of olr sinful-

nessbut of God-'smercy; there is gladness n them as well as grief'

Johnsums up the point in the compositeword charmollpi,aPparently

of his own invention, signifying "joyful sorrow."7?The repentant

person s ikea child who cries, et smilesn t he middleof his tearsTs

Spiritualmourning leads o spiritual laughter; t is a weddinggar-ment, not a funeral robe:

Th e man wearingblessed, od-givenmourning ike a wed-

ding garment gets to know the spiritual laughter of the

soul.79

Joy goeswith sorrow like honeyin a comb:

As I ponder the true nature of compunction, I find myself

amazid by the way in which inwrrd joy and gladnessminglewith whatwe callmourningan dgrief, ikehoney n a comb'

Suchcompunction, e mmediately dds,s a divinecharism, ot iust

th e fruit of humanstriving:

There must be a lessonhere,and it surely is that compunc-

tion is properly agift from God8o

-a gift, he notes,not conferredupon all' but only upon suchasGod

choosesn His own wisdom.srThere are,however,many differentkindsof tears,an d it is im-

Dortant o discriminatebetween hem. The basicdistinction s be-

tween tearsthat are simply the consequence f our own efforts, and

ihose hat comeas a gift from God82-in other words, between "ordi

(8048), . l 17.(813B), . l4l .(80eA), . lao.

(812A), . l4l .(8084), . l3e.

nary and natural ears"and tears hatar e "spiritual."83As John ob -serves, his is a distinction not always easy o apply in practice:

This problem of tears,especially where it concernsbegin-ners, s a very obscurematter and hard to analyzesince earscan come about in various ways. Tears come from nature,from God, from suffering good and bad, from vainglory,

from licentiousness, rom love, from the remembranceofdeath. . .84

Here John indicatesat leastthree levels; hese may be designated-althoughJohn hirnselfdoesnot actually use histerminology-as con-tranatural,natural,and supranatural. irst, tears may come .,from

vainglory, from licentiousness."Tears of this kind, tearsof frustra-tion, anger, ealousyor self-pity, are contranatural,an expressionofou r fallenself,and assuch hey are sinful and njurious.Second, urtearsmay be natural, he resultof spontaneousuman feelings;n

that case hey may be neutral,neither goodrior bad,or they may havean effect for good, as with the healing and purifying tears that weshed or the departed. t is not always easy o distinguish between hesecond evel and the third, between natural tears that are Dure andbeneficial, nd the spiritualor supranaturalears hat are, n a directand specialsense, from God." Nature presupposesrace,and gracebuildsupon nature; o t is possibleor narural ears o develop, rad-ually andalmostunnoticed,nto spiritual ears,without the point oftransitionbeingclearlyevident o the one who weeps. oh nbelievesnevertheless,ha ta distinctionneeds o be made, nd hat t isonly to

th e supranaturalor spiritual tears hat the title 'gry' of tears"canproperlybe applied.WhenJohnspeaks f "spiritual" tear s, t shouldno t be magined

that he means ears ha t are merely nward and metaphorical.ears,in his view,evenwhenspiritual,ar estill manifested isiblyan dphys-ically; by the "gift of tears"he meanssomethingspecificand con-crete.Spiritual tearsare not merely an event within the soul,bu tform part of the spiritualization f the bodyand ts physical enses.

81. 7 (1t08(;),. l{(}.

71. 7

18 .

79 .

t30.81 .




When genuinely spiritual, tears are a renewal of baptism' and

even standon a level higher than baptism itself:

The tears that come after baptism are greater than baptism

itself, though it may seem rth to t"y so Baptism washesoff

thoseevilsihat were previously within us, whereas he sins

committed after baptismare washedaway by tears'The bap-

tism receivedby ui aschildren we have all defiled, but we

cleanset anew with our tears. f God in His love for the hu-

man racehad not given us tears, hosebeing savedwould be

few indeedand hard to find.85

Here the positive character of spiritual tears s manifest Baptism ts

renunciati,onof sin, but it is also n a positivesense ebirth, resurrec-

iio.r,"ntry

into new life. The same s true of the "ioyful sorrow" of

,upi"n"t,rr"l tears:negativelyt involvesmourningfor our-sins'

ut

oo"itiuely it expressei oy at our reconciliation The prodigal son

iu.o,".

h. sa t n exileemong he swine,sheddingearsof sorrow orhis'sins.But no doubt he als6wept on his return home,when the Fa-

ther embracedhim, clothed him in the festal robe, and put a ring on

his hand; and this time the tears were sweet rather than bitter' ex-

oressineov at th e ovewith which he had beenwelcomed ack'Th e

eif, of ;t. i includes oth thesemoments n ou r inward pilgrimage''

S, . Irr". th e Syrian.John's oungercontemporary-but there s

no reason o believe ha t they knew eachother-develoPs his same

ooint in his ow n characteristic ay . Tears,he says,mark th e point of

iransition, the frontier b€tween he presentageand the age o come'

The newborn child weepson first coming into the world; in the sameway the Christian weepsashe is reborn into the age o come:

. The fruits of the inner man begin only with the sheddingof

tears.When yo u reach he placeof tears, he n know. ha t

vour soirit ha scomeou t from th e prisonof this world an d

L", t.iitt foot uPon the path that leads owards the new age'

Your spirit begins at thii moment to breathe he wonderful

air which is there, and it starts to shed tears The moment

fo r the birth of the spiritual child is now at hand,an d th e

travail of childbirth becomesntense.Grace, he commonmotherof usall, makes aste o give birth mystically o thesoul,God's mage,bringing t forth into the light of the ageto come.An d when the time for the birth hasarrived, heintellectbegins o sense omething f the hingsof thatotherworld-as a faint perfume, or as the breath of life which anewborn child receivesnto its bodily frame. But we are not

accustomedo suchan experience nd, inding it hard o en -dure, our body is suddenlyovercomeby a weeping mingledwith joy.86

Here we catch precisely the same note as we have heard already inTbeLadfur; as John puts it, "ioy and gladnessmingle with what wecall.mourningan dgrief."

The cardinal importance of tears s manifest, but are they esreztral?Di d St .JohnClimacus onsider hat only thosewho havepassethrough this particular experienceof weepingcan be regardedas ru-ly

repentant and genuinely reborn into ths "new age"i St. Symeonthe New Theologian (949-1022),who is much influenced by John'stheologyof tears, ertainlycameclose o adoptingsucha view. But

Johnhimself s more cautious.We shouldallow,he urges, or differ-ences n temperament: some shed tears with the utmost difficulty,"like greatdrops of blood," while othersdo so "with no trouble atall"; God looks, not at the outward intensity of weeping, but at theinward strugglesof our heart. Those who havebeengranted the giftof tears should on no account magine themselves uperior to thosewho lack t. "Someare not granted he gift of mourning," but the des-olation that they feel at their lack of tears may take the placeof thegift itself.87

It seems hat John'sattitude is more qualif ied ha n Symeon'sWhile Symeon hinks in terrnsof the zuay f tears,John thinks ratherof the gift of teers.For Symeon earsare the King's highway, the roy-al road that all are to follow. For John tearsare a charism conferredonly upon some,whereason others God bestowssomedifferent qiftthat takes ts place.

u6 . l lvt it Ireatitetb

lsaat J \ ' inneh,l i ' l A.J.

Wensinck Amsterdam ,)tj).1, .

Hl(od6ptcd).

l l7 7 (i105(;,80(,,1)).p. lJ8-e. r+1. lf . :6 p. 2t(r.




"My Helperand M1 Eteml": TbeAmbiaahnceof theBodl-Eros, tbe

Passions, ratbeiaThe d'ialectical tancedisplayedby St John Climacus n his treat-

ment of repentanceand tears s to be seenequally in his attitude to

the human body. The body is both adversaryand friend: adversary

inasmuchas t iras been maned by the fall, friend inasmuch as t re-

mains God's creation and is calledto share n the resurection glory'

To appreciate ohn'sattitude aright' an d to avoidunjustly accusinghim oi an anti-Christian body-souldualism, it is imPortant to deter-

mine on what evelhe s tp.rkittg in eachparticularPassage:hether

of the body n it s true ani naturalstate, s ormedby th e Creator'or

of the body as we know it now, in its contranatural r fallencondi-

tion.It is not difficult to find negativestatementsabout the body in

TbeLadder:

Those gifted with the heart's depth of mourning regard

their liies asdetestable, ainful,and wearying, as a causeof

tears and suffering, and they turn away from their body as

from an enemY.

Treat your body always as an enemy' for the flesh-is

an un-

grateful and triacherous friend. The more you look after it'

the more t hurts You.

The man who pets a lion may tame it but the man who cod-

dles he bodYmakes t ravenous'

Somewiseme n havesaid ha t renunciations hostility o thebody.

'A monster s this grossand savage ody'88

But, as he context makesclear n thesepassages,t is the body in

its allen state hat John has here in view Elsewhere he treats the

boiy ,tot as reclaimably hostile but asambivalent' By virtue of the

88.7(8088),P.19;9(s4lC),p. 5l ; l{(864D),p l65rl51ti8 lD) 'p l7 l:26(l0 l6DIp.232.

fall it is hindrance nd enemyibu t by virtue of it s creationby God itis partner and friend:

By what rule or mannershall bind this body of mine?. .How can I hate him when my nature disposesme to lovehim? How can I break away from him when I am bound tohim foreverl How can I escaperom hirn when he s qoinq to

risewith me?How can I makehim incorrupt whei heiasreceived corruptible nature? .. He is my helperan d myenemy, my assistantand my opponent, a protector and atraitor. . . . I embracehim. And I turn away rom him. Wharis-thismystery n me?What is th e principleof thjs mixtureof body and soul?How can I be my own friend and my ownenemylse

.In this passage,ignificantlyJohn mplies La t there s a contrnu_

ing link between ou lan dbody: ,I am bound o him forever... he sgoing

to rise with me." For the Christian the body is not a tomb orprison, not a pieceof clothing to be worn for a time and then casreside,but an integral part of the true self. Scripture teachesus to be-lieveno t us t in the immortalityof the soulbui in the resurrection fthe body.Even hough,asa resultof the fall, body and soular esepa-rated at death, his severances no more than t.-po.r.y, and we lookbeyond it. The body's vocation, therefore, is t; be ;anctified andtrensfigured longwith th e soul: t is to be rendered piritual,with-ou t thereby osingany of its God-givenmateriality. ,your body,,,werre- old, 'ls a templeof the Holy Spirit ... gloiify Go d with your.body" (l Cor. 6:19-20); hrist ,.will

iransfiguieth ebody of our hu_miliation,so as o conform t to His own gloriousbody"iphil. 3:21).

St . John Climacusshares he standpointof St . paul. Alongsidethe passagesn TbeLadderwhich treat th; body asan enemy, here areothers hat speak ositively bout ts participaiion n the siiritual life,Its resurrecrion nd its final glory. The gift of tears,alreadydis-cussed,s part of the process f bodily transfiguration: t representsthc spiri ua izationof the senses. or is it only in Step 7 ihat rhis

!h:.. jl f bodily glory is in evidence. t the very outset f | 'hcLadderJohnaff irms hat hemonk's im s,,abodymade oly";eo c scck ,ro

T,ttr , , , t , ' ro{A),rr) BI.69{ l | {6 l( j) . r, 74




ascendo heaYen it h th e body"e r Th e same oint recurs ater.in he

-oit,"eu".y""" shouldstruggle o raisehis clay' so to speak' o a

"f""1.. ,ftJ throne of God'- '- I do no t think anyoneshould be

:i;; i;t '; tt i;, until he ha smadeholv hi s bodv' if indeed ha t is

oossible."e2nd what he here egards sa doubtlul eventualrty' lse- '

where he affirms asa realized act:

A man flooded with the love of God reveals n his body' as f

ii" - i.to.,

the splendorof hi s soul ' Me n wh o haveat -

i"lnJ,nit""g.fic,tatt

ofttn forget o eat'and-I eally hink

they do not e-ven niss their food lndeed I suspect hat

the"bodies f these ncorruptibleme n ar e immune-tosick-

ness,or their bodieshavebeensanctified nd rendered n-

corruPtible.e3

In certain nstances,oJohnbelieves' odily resurrection asac -

tuallv been anticipated:on e example s Hesychius he Horebite'

whoie tomb wa s found to be emptyea Hesychius'e-xPerrences a

striking caseof the "inaugurated eschatology"assumedn ThcLadder;

ih" bt"lrirrg, of the age o come, n John's view' are not merely a fu-

ture hope,but are also n somemeasurea present reality-.n the lives

.iii" tliti,t. er.""dy in this life the righteousenjoy the first-fruits of

the last things, having "risen to immortality before the general resur-

;;;;;;,;;;""nd

ln .hL anticipation of the End the bodv also has its

part.Iohn believes, hen, it a total sanctification of soul and body to-

n.,f, lt. 'g"* in.'passions, althougha consequencef th e fall an d

:;;;;;;.;;;,;;; fart or humanni""', "" merelv he distortionoriiti

""irtdimpuls"s implanted in the body (or the soul) bv God'

While repudiaiing the Passions'we should not reject the natural'

Cri-gf".I-f -p"f

.?s thai underlie them, but should restore--togood

use that which has becomemisdirected as a result of the fall' In the

warfare against he pessions, ur watchword should be "transfigure,"not "suppress"; educate," ot "eradicate":

We have taken natural attributes of our own and turnedthem into passions.For instance, he seed hat we have forthe sakeof procreating children is abusedby us for the sakeof fornication. Nature has provided us with anger as some-

thing to be turned against he serpent, ut we haveused tagainst our neighbor. . . . We have a natura l desire for food,but not surely for profligacy.e6

Gluttony, soJohn ells us here, s a vice,but eatingassuch s byno means inful; here s nothingwrong aboutenjoyingour food.Thepractice of fasting implies no condemnation upon the action of eat-ing, but serveso make hat actionsacramental nd eucharistic. venanger can be turned to good use.As for the sexual mpulse, this too ise divine gift, and has ts role to play in the life of th e spirit. John s

not afraid to take he term for physical ove, arol-which has n Greekmany of the sameassociations s the English word "erotic"-and torpply it to our love for God. The erotic impulse is not to be sup-pressed ut redirected:

I havewatched mpure souls mad for physical ove (eros) utturning what they know of such ove nto a reason or pen-anceand transferring that samecapacity or love (eros)o theLord.

A chastema n is someonewh o has driven out bodily love(eros) y means of divine love (eros), ho has used heavenlyfire to quench he fires of the flesh.e7

AlthoughJohnsays hat "bodily love -meaning in this contextfll-tt , impureeros-is o be "driven out," yet its place s to be taken,no tby e state f fr igid detachment, ut by a "divine erotic mpulse."Fireh quenchedby fire, no t by water! Even when speaking f physical

96 ta {1068(i).) 2t .

07 . I (7774),I l , l r) i i (N801)), l7l .

91. I (6168),P. 7J .

92 . 26 1064A), . 248r 5 (889C), ' 17 8

ii. ioi i istei,p.t8t Cf . he storvof th emonkMenas t Alexandria' hose od v

flowedwith myrrh afterhi sdeath:4 697C)' 102'

94. 6 (?97A),P. la .95 . 1t(891A),p l79icf l t (904C),p 186128(l l29B)'P 74 '

IN'I'RODUCTION INTRODUCTION



and divine ove as opposites," oh nstill regards he earthlyasa trueimageof the heavenly:

Physical ovecan be a paradigm f the onging or God. . .

Lucky the man who lovesand ongs or God asa smitten lov-er does or his beloved. . .

Sorneone ruly in love keepsbefore his mind's eye he faceofthe belovedand embraces t there tenderly. Even duringsleep he ongingcontinues nappeased,nd he murmurs ohi sbeloved. hat is how it is or thebody.And that s how itis for the spirit.es

The importance of thesepassagesas been rightly emphasized y Dr.Yannaras.99

Physical cror, hen, is not to be considered sinful, but can and

should be used as a way of glorifying God. Sin is evil, but not thebody and its natural impulses.The sinfulnessof passion esides,norin materiality-for asGod's creation the material body is good,and inany case ot all passions re physical-but in the misdirection f th ehumanwill. Sin s not materialbut spir itual n its origin; or thedevilfell before man did so,and the devil has no body.

Theseconclusionsabout eror, he body and the passions re con-firmed by an analysis of the term "d ispassion" (apatbeia), s used by

John in Step 29 and elsewhere n TbeLadder.Dispassion s not nega-tive but positive:St. Diadochus f Photice mid fifth century) evenspeaks f "the fire of dispassion."root is a denialof the passions,e-gardedas he contranatural expressionof fallen sinfulness;but it is areaffirmation of the pure and natural impulses of our soul and body.It connotes not repressionbut reorientation, not inhibition but free-dom; having overcome he passions,we are free to be our true selves,free'to love others, ree to love God. Dispassion, hen, s no mere mor-tif ication of the passions ut their replecement y a new and betterenergy. Using once more the languegeof "inaugurated eschatology,"

98 . 26 10248),. 2l6i l0 (l l56CD),p. 287.99. I metapblsikion sonatot,pp. 149-46"E os divin er 6ros humain selonS.

JeanClimaque", Coatarrs xi (1969), p. 190-204.100. Ce tnry t7: ET

Johndefines ispassion,ot asa form of death, ut as ,resurrectronofhesoulpr ior ro rharof the bodv.. .ror

Johnunderlineshe dvnamic,affirmative haracter f dispassro

iJJ:l:::"nr#oseryithou.,,o,u"i,n

.1,."?,i",J'"i "a y

Love, dispassion an d adoption ar e distinguishedby narre,an d name only. . . .

To have dispassion is to have the fullness of love, by which Imean th e complete indwelling of God.r02

Dispassion, hen, is no t indiffrnot mptinessutb. uun.,,'liX:il:',T5l'ffi;il::.T'ff j:;,:ethics t tends o be a stateof individuaiisrii

""i '*n".*.il lo**rr-ment, as used n TbeLaddtr it implies

"p".ron"l. ,.tJo""iji. ,. U."dispassioned" s to rerate o cod, to ;";;-tii,..;;;;;;.'rl'..1!'_*n,"

us:."A ma n is trury dispassionate. . when he keeps is soulconrrn-urlly in th e presence i,;.,. 1_o.6.,,r0:

_.._9--:."-,nl.qna t dispassionertainlydoes o, mean or John s im _

y1jy,t-rn temptation, impeccability,"

.o"aitior, ir,-_t,i;;';""."no

9nge.r apable f sinning.John s entirelyclear ia t .ro'iu.r, .,",.is pdssible."thisid eof rheg-rave,.,,oond he quoies ,i'fr roor"*, ,fr.wordsof the archdeacon -acedonrus,

It is.said,f angels h_arhe y do not, or , assomewould haye

ll,Jlll,'l3,li'L:,i:lil;,Tl;,ili:'lJ,'l#',;".*ilJohn agreeswith Isaac he Svron e_eerng hepa si n ,,

";'; :*";?j:p;il;i"r.Jn:f,,"';

not,n nons Inward resurrect ion.astou.,ai,p",J,,i,,rr.'iL.',r;;.i.tjl'jlj"::'',,"?:1;

-iil,, r,,o*<),,. 'l0: . l { r( l l l6l l ), t) . NT i2a,00e2(i ), 26{).

,,,";il;,i,',::,':::::';"!,",'1',;rt"' 'n""ri'Iti'rn'rr"

'<'htractart apathia, scc \';rnr'r,r*, /

l0{ . t10i69A). r i66l{ ,1.4 (.116l)),t, . { ) j -2




dise, he recoveryof th e "undying beauty"which he possessedbe -

fore this clay."roi n paradisema n wa snot a disembodiedoul,but a

unity of soul andbody,a psychosomatichole;an dso dispassion,s

the ieturn to paradisi, involves not the repudiation of the body and

it s impulses ut their reintegrationwith th e soul and their deliver-

ance rom "corruPtion."los

TheMonk and tbe World.:Brctberhood,Obedietce,be Spiritual FatherTheLadderhas beenblamed, not only for what its critics see as

undueseverityan d pessimism, ut also or its apparent ndividual-

ism. It hasbeenpointedou t that in noneof the thirty stepsdoesSt

John Climacussay anything at 8ll aboutthe Church He never speaks

of the episcopate,nd hi s few allusionso the clergyar eon th e whole

orrao-pli-an,ray,loeHe writes for the mostpart as f th e monastic

"omm.,nityexistedentirely on its own, without forming part of any

wider ecciesial tructurei he all-embracing nity of Christ'sBody

seems o be ignored Scarcelyany reference s m-adeo the heavenly

Church: he NTother f God snot oncementioned, nd although oh ndoesspeakregularly ebout the angels, here is very- ittle about the

"om-onionol sainis.The liturgy' the sacraments,he Church festi

vals are only touchedon once or twice in passing'

Silence, however, does not necessarily mply contempt Pope

Gregory the Great in his huge masterpiece he Moralia saysalmost

notliing about the Eucharist, although the work wa-s-written

at the

very hiart of ecclesiasticalif e in Rome;Bernardof Clairvaux, n a

sermon elivered t Masson MaundyThursday,makes o more ha n

a singlebrief allusion o Holy Communion-r10ailure to mention

such hirrg, neednot meanthat they arebeingdismissedas peripher-al; perhap,-shey areeverywherepresupposed,ike the air we breathe

an d th e ight that enables s o see.

John n anycases writing specificallyor monks,an dso t is not

,urp.i.ing if he has ittle to sa yaboutChurch ife outside he monas-

t..y. At i-r,,..

of fact, he doessometimesspeakof the monk's ser-

vicl to society.Th e monk helpsothers,so he believes, ot so much

visibly as nvisibly-not throughexteriorworksbu t through nwardprayer.an dby actingasa presence.sign.an example:

Angelsar ea l ight for monksand the monasticif e is a lishrfo r all men.Hencemonksshouldspareno effort to becom-eshiningexamplen all things,an d he y shouldgiveno scan_dal in anything he ysa yor do.l r

. . Yh."dealingwith his primary theme, if e inside he monasr€r

John is certainlyno individualist.On th e contrary,he insistsverystronglyupon th e communalcharacter f the monasticife. No one,he stresses,houldembarkon the solitary if e unlesshe has irst un -dergone he experience f l iving with others,either n a fully orga-nizedmonastery r in somesmallerspiritual.,family"

prr.ruingth .third way. Throughout Step 4, in partiiular, John ,rrrderr.o.e, tne n._cessity for adequatepreparation before withdrawing into solitude,an d he dangers f pride to which th e hermit is s1p.s;4.rru

. The two aspectsf community if e to w,trch Johnattachesartrcufar importance are brotberlyove and obedience.ove forms the top_most rung on the spiritual ladder-love for God, but also love forneighbor,since the two are inseparable:.He who loves he Lord hasfirst lovedhi s brother, or the latter s proof of the former."r13 ov efor.neighbor signifiesfirst of all love for my immediate eighbor,andro in the monk's case t means ove for his fellow monki dwellingwith him in thesame ommunity.Th e true monkshareso the full inth e oy san d sorrowsof eachbrother-,,he weeps or th e sinsof thatbrotherand is delightedby his progress" a-alihough this lovedoes

not needalways o be expressedutwardly n *o.6j.rrs As we havenoted,what most mpressedJohnat the monasteryha t he visited n!-gypt was precisely he quality of loving compassionhownby themonks owardon eanother:

An unbreakableon dof love oined hesemen together. .Aboveall, he ystrovenever o injurea brother's inscience.

107.29 l l49D),p. 284.

108.29(l l48B),p.282.109.See,or example,4 701C), . 104; 4 (865A)'P 16 6

l l l . la '( l0Iol )),p l l+.l l l . 4(7084,70.xt . t2A),lp . 107. 0r). { ), tc .

I l l( l 17(), p. 188.I l { . 4 (7{){A),l, l116.




An d if eversomeonehowed atredof another,he shepherd

banished im like a convict o the solation nonastery. nce

when a brother spoke ll of a neighbor, he holy man, on

hearinghim, had him expe lledmmediately. I'm not having

a visibledevil herealongwith the nvisibleone,"he said.rr6

Whenever a quarrel arose,those in authority et the Alexandrian

houseworked at once to securea reconciliation.The brethren them-selves, bedient o St . Paul's niunction,"Bear on e another'sbur-

dens" (Gal.6:2), n mutual love gladly took responsibilityor each

other's faults.lrTIt was these eaturesaboveall that made he monas-

tery at Alexandria a modelin John'seyes.

Along with brotherly love, the secondundamental virtue of the

monk in community is obedience. y this John doesnot meanpri-

marily obedience o a written monastic rule; in fact, he nowhere

makesany reference o such a rule. He is thinking in more personal

terms-of obedienceo Christ, and of obed ienceo the spiritual father

as the earthly ikon of Christ the Good Shepherd.For a monk tn afully organizedmonastery, he spiritualfather will normally be th e

abbot; for a monk following the third way, he will be the geronor

abba,he "old man" who headshe small monastic"family'''

John is emphatic about the importance of the spiritual father.

The ascentof the ladder isnot to be undertaken n isolation,but un-

de r the immediate irectionof a guide.Here John akesup a theme

central o monasticismrom its earliestdays.l8 In the words of th e

fatherof Egyptianmonasticism, t. Antony,

I know of monkswho fell after much toil rnd lapsed ntomadness, ecausehey trusted in their own work and forgot

the commandmenthat says, Ask your father and he wil l

tel l you" (Deut. 2:7).So ar aspossible,or everystep hat a. monk akes,or everydropof water hathe drinks n his cell,

I16. 4 (685A), . 95ici 4 (701A), . rO a

117.+ (68iD),p. 96.

I 18. On s piritual fatherhood,see . Hatsherr, Directiotr pirituelle noient autlefois

(OrientaliaChistiau Atalecta 144 Rome

1955)!K. Ware, "-[ he Spiritual Father in Or-

thodox Christianity", CrottCuftentt xxiv (1974r. p. 296-tl).

he shouldentrust he decision o the old men. o avoidmak-in g somemistake n what hedoes.rre

Such also s John'sconviction. At the startof TbeLadderhe speaks fthe monk'sneed for "some Moses" o guide hi m to the piomisedLand:

Those of us who wish to get away from Egypt, to escapefrom Pharaoh,need someMoses o beour interrnediarywiihGod, o standbetween ctionan dcontemplation,nd stretchout hisarms o God, ha t those ed by him mav cross he se aof sin and pur ro flighl the Amalekoi thepassions.r20

He returns o the point in the summaryat theend of Step26 :

A ship u,ith a goodnavigatorcomessafely o port, God will-ing.A soulwith a goodshepherd limbseasilyheavenward,

even f it ha searl ierdonemuch wrong.

A man, no matterhow prudent,may easilygo astrayon aroad f he ha sno guide.The manwho takes he roadof mo-nastic ife underhi sown directionma yeasilybe ost,even fhe hasal l the wisdomof the world.r2r

'l 'hedisciple eceivesuidancero m his spiritual atherchieflv n rwow1f1: fi ls_t, y modelinghimselfon the personal xample Lich th erpirirual fathersets n daily ife;r22 econd,hrough hei,disclosure f

thoughts," hroughopeninghis heart o the spir;i tualather n whatJohn terms "confession" (eromologis*), word that can also mean"thanksgiving."This is no t exactly he same s he sacrament f con-fcssion,understood s part of the official structureof ecclesiasticpcnance;or while it ma y sometimes verlapwith sacramentalon -fcsskrn,t is broadern scooe:

l l tr. l tu5r!ingto/ t l)t hrfft l .atbr^,Alphabetical ollection, nrr)nr t7-tt i 1, 6 J.l l l l l)r l. j Sistcr lcncdicriWrrd (l ,ond, 'n (, ,75), 7.

l2{r | ( r ' l l) (r16A), . 7t

l: l . ,1.,lo|t i / l l). . l{el l l { (nrl r l )),1, )




First, the spiritual father to whom the monk confesses eed not

necessarilybe a priest. In all the many passagesn TbeLadd'erwhete

John refers to spiritual fatherhood,as also n the special reetise hat

he wrote on this subiect,To tlteSlxpbenl,t i s in fact nowherespecified

that the spiritual father should be in priestly orders;and, aswe have

seen, here is no evidence hat John himself was so ordained,although

he certainly exercised he ministry of spiritual fatherhood.

Second,what the monk confesseso his spiritual father are notonly his sins but also his doubts and temptations, and still rnore gen-

erally his "thoughts" (logisnoi\,which may be neutral or even God-

inspired as well as sinful. In this disclosureof thoughts the sPiritual

child lays beforehis father, so ar as he can,all the events hat are oc-

curring in his ife, whetheroutward or inward, even hose hat seem

to him insignificant; for the spiritual father may see n them a deeper

meaningof which the disciple s himselfunaware.

St. John Climacus mplies that this confession o the sPiritual fa-

ther will if possible ake place daily; and he mentions the practice of

certain monks at Alexandria who wrote down their thoughts at oncein a notebookhanging from their belt, which they later showed o the

abbot.123 ormally the disclosure f thoughts s in private' but th e

spiritual father may sometimes nsist on a public confession, or the

good of the discipl eor perhapsof the community.l2aWhether the

confession s private or public, the underlying principle is the same:

"Nothing givesdemonsand evil thoughtssuch power over us as o

nourish hem and hide hem n our heartsunconfessed.r2sBut, once

brought into the open, they becomepowerless As one of the monks

at Alexandriasaid to John, describingwhat had happened o him

after"a badspiritual ailure":

But since t was nevermy custom o conceal snake n the

hiding placeof my heart I grabbed t forthwith by the tail-

' meaning hat I ended he matter-and I revealed t at once o

the healer.He gaveme a light blow on the chin, smiled,an d

said o me, "All right, child, go back o your io b and do no t

be n th e slightestway afraid."With hearton fire I did aswa s old, and within a few days knew I wascured.126

It is , however, ometimes nnecessary,nd evenunwise, o con-fesssins n detail, or fear of reviving th e sinful impulsewithin us .This is the case n particularwith sinsagainst hastity: ,D o not in_sist,"Johnadvises,on confessingour cainalacts n detail,since oum_ight ecomea rraitor

to yourself."r27As St. Mark the Ascetic (a/iaMark the Hermit or Monk) observes,,To recallDast in s n detail n_f l icts njury on the man who hopes n God... . They pollute himagainwith th e old defilement."r28

In the passageuotedabove,t is significant ha t th e Alexandrianmonk refers o his spiritual atheras ,thehealer."This is charactenstic of TbeLadder.When speakingof confession,John employsby pref-erence magery ha t is therapeutic ather than juridical.Coniejsiondoesnot merely bestowabsolution rom guilt, understood n r formaland legalistic fashion, but on a deeper,moie organic level it confershealing and restoration to wholeneis. Sin is disJase; o go to confession s to enter the hospitaland to expose.ourwounds; thespiritualfather is th e doctor who makesus inwardly whole by prescribingmedicines, y bandaging, auterizing, mput;ting.r2e

' '

. .In thisrelationship between patient and ihysician_between

spiritualchild and father-what is required irst of all from th e childis openness f heart. f this is lacking, f th e disciple n disclosing isthoughts deliberately concealsor misrepresents, hen obviously thewhole object of the confession s frustrated; the doctor cannot help ifthe patient ie sabouthi s ailments.l30 esides penness f heart, hespiritual child needs o show trust and faithfulness . oo k carefully,

John urges,beforechoosing ou r spiritualfather; but, having oncechosenhim, remain with him permanently.Those wh o

-ou.-lieht_

l2 l . 4 (70lCD),p. 105.

124. (681B), .9 i.

125.2l (976D), .2 lt .

126. (1'e7A).. t02.127.28 .l(r \) ,

t' 281.

. .l2u. On bole ho tbint tbat berare nude igbteout y uorks,g l19 (1,G 5,9j2B)i E.I.

/ ' l i l , $ M, p. l l t t .I l r ) . l . i , r suchnreraphors,ec or erample+ (7t6A),p. I t2r 5 i776O),). t j {}r nn d

:l : , ,* i l l . lLr lI rt t?,x l)- 6r( ) . pp . 2 2-3. () n confcssion s forrnof hcniing, cc K

Wrrc, " lh c ()r thrx lrr l r |crrcrrec t Repcnr:rncc.Vrr,rmll , , t ' l i l r , p | t2 l;

I I) / , ' rx ,. ( tr{Al}} . p. 216 .




mindedly from one confessor o another make no progress,and "de-

serve verypunishment rom God."r3rEven f your spiritual ather s

guilty of fornication, ou shouldno t leavehim.132t is not for you to

iudgehim and his actions:

When the thoughtstrikes ou to iudgeor condemn ou r su -

perior, , , giveno trust,place, ntry,or startingpoint to that

snake. ay hi s to theyiper:

"Listen to me, . . I do not iudgehim; he udgesme." 33

But of courseon his side he spiritual father is responsiblebeforeGod

for the example ha t he setshis disciples: e should act with pru-

dence,no t revealinghis own faults too readily, or fear of giving

needlesscandal.l3aWhat does he spiritual atherprovide n return for this openness

an d rust?He is,aswe have een,he physicianwho makes s nward-

ly whole.This he does,not only by his words of advice, ut by hi s

lifei not only by imparting rules or imposing Penances, ut by offer-

ing a personal elationshipwithin which the disciple an grow to ma-

t.,i ity. Ar,d this personal elationships establishedbove ll through

prayer. The spiritual father helpshis children by interceding or

ihem. This is clearly seen n TbeSayittgs f tlx Desett atbers: hat you

sa ywhen you visit your abba s "Pray for me." John also nsistson

this,r3s emarking ha t the obedientmonk,even f he raiseshe dead,

will neverthelesselieve hat it is the prayersof his spiritual father

which haveenabled im to do this.136

Bu t the spiritual ather s more han an ntercessor. e is also, n

John'swords,a "mediator" betweenus and God, an "intermediary"

(mesitiiwh o reconciles s to Him.r3?He is the friend of the GreatKing, who can pleadon our behalfwith boldnessn the royal pres-

ence.r38hi s means, ays ohn, ha t to sin against ur spiritual atheris in a senseworse han o sin againstGod:

What I am going to say o you now must not shockyou. . .It is better o sin againstGod than against ur father. f wemakeGo d angry,our directorcan reconcileHim to us. Butif he isangry, then there is no one to speakup for us before

God.3e

Th e paradox s deliberate, ut the point is clear.This mediationfurthermore,works n both directions.Not only does he spiritual a-ther representus to God, but he also representsGod to us. His wordshave he valueof God's words.As one of the monks at A lexandrisaid o Johnabout he abbot:

I thought of the shepherdas the image of Christ. . . Ithought of the command [that he gave me] as coming notfrom him but from God.rao

Physician, ntercessor,mediator-the spiritual father is all this.But John goes urther still. He also describes he spiritual father ascnadocbos,rarhe term used or the sponsoror godparent at baprrsm,en dso signifyingon ewho takes esponsibilityor another. n John'sview, he spiritual atherdoesnothing eqs han assumeesponsibilitfor his disciple'ssins, or which he will answerbefore God at the Last

Judgment.Thus the disciplecan acedeathwithout anxiety, know-ing with certainty that when it is time to go, not he but his spiritualdirector will be called o renderan account."r42

"l thoughtof th e shepherd s he mage f Christ,"said he Alex-lndrian monk to John. As sponsoror aradocbas,he shepherdof soulsis called o be a living ikon of the unique Good Shepherd.He is to

l lN. / ' / . /r , . ( l l72l)) , p. : . t . l .lJ9. .l (7251)),. t l { , ) .

l '10. (6e2tl) ,t) .( , ,e il. 4 (7{)94), . l0e.l{1. / 'crr . t) l lN l l l ) , p. 2:17

l{2 {(7(} l l l ) ,p 107

l l l . 4(6 l i0D,709D), P.92,110.

132. (7248), . I17.

l l l . 4(681A), .91.

l l4 . Par. 8 ( l l84C),p.2 lt .

l l5 . See orexemple4(677D),.9 l; I5 (8918). . 180.

l16. 4 (705D-708A),. 107.

t 7 . I (616A), .75.




show he same acrificial ov eas he Saviordisplayedwhen dying on

th e Cross or the sinsof the world:

It is love that showswho is the true shepherd; or by reason

of love he Great Shepherdwa scrucified.ra3

Among he manyqualities hatJohnmentionsn his reatise n spiri-

tual fatherhoodTo tbeShepberd,his is the most important. The fathershouldpossessnsight,discretion, ispassion,entlenessempered y

severity.But aboveall he needs o show self-emptying ove, for with-

out such loveno one canbe a shepherdafter the image of Christ. He

needso havecompassion,sing his word in its true andfull sense;

he is required o lay down hi s life for his children,offering up on

their behalfal l that heha sand all thathe s.As Johnputs t, "spiritual

responsibility axadocbi)n the pro per sense . . is a laying down of

one'ssoulon behalfof the soulof one'sneighborn all matters raa

While every monk is called o bear the burdensof others, he

tru den-bearera

ercellences the spiritual father: "Let your father be

the one who is ableand willing to laborwith you in bearinghe bur-

den of your sins."tn5 y thus nte rpreting he spiritual ather's ole n

termsof Galatians :2,St .JohnClimacus howshimselfa true follow-

er of the sixth-century choolof Gaza-of St .Varsanuphius, t.Johnthe Prophet, nd St.Dorotheus-allof whom appealo the samePau-

line precept.ra6 pplyingtheir teaching, oh ngivesan examplero m

his own experience:or twenty yearsa monk hadsufferedrom un-

speakable nd blasphemoushoughts, nd couldgain no relief.Even-

tually he wrote the temptationon a pieceof paper,went to a holy

man andgavehim the paper.After reading t, the old man said: My

son, put your hand on my neck.... No w let this sin be on my

neck. .. From now on, ignore it." At once the brother wa s freed

l . lJ. ,1'lr,. (l l77B), . 214.

l4+. / 'drr. 2 (l l t l lB), D. 219.

l+5 t (1,4'51)),. u7.Cf.24(9li4C),P.2l7i Patt 2 (l1698),P 2ll; 12 l189BC). p

I t9 {t).

146 \'ersrnuphiusandlohn,Corretpofldece, d S Schoinas Volos 1960)' l 168-9'

l l i(,,,t l , 199. 01, 06, 19, 8J;French rans. y L. Regnault Solesmes972),! 72-71,

9{, (16,10.{, 0lJ, Il), 219, 483,et ?a$inl Dorotheus, Inrtructionsv (ed L. Regnault,

Si,,ln .rirtttitnn$ t)2 [Paris 196]1, $ 56-t7, pp. 240-2)ivi ($ 79, p. 288)

from the thoughtsof blasphemy, or did they trouble him subsequently.l47

From al l this it is abundantly lear how exacting,n the eyesofSt . John Climacus, re the demandsmadeupon the spiritualfather.Therecan, ndeed, e no earthlyyocationhigher han this:

We can offer to God no gift so acceptableas to bring Himthrough repentance oulsmade n His image.The wholeworld is not worth so muchasa soul.148

Prayercnd Stillness: be xvocation f tlx Name"Prayer," saysSt .JohnClimacus, is by naturea dialogue nd a

union of man with God." As such, t is cosmic n scope,he founda-tion of the universe: Its effect s to hold the world tosether."r4et isthe primary end for which the humanpersonwas c-reated-"Wh athighergood sthere han o cling to the Lord and o perseveren un -ceasing nion with Him)"1so-and it constituteshe touchstone f amonk'sentire existen ce: Your prayer shows where you stend....Prayer s a monk'smirror."lsl In the words of BishopTheophan heRecluse: Prayer is the testof everything. . . . If prayer is right, every-thing is right."rsz

Thanksgiving, penitence,petition-such is the basic sequence obe followed when praying:

Heartfelt hanksgiving houldhave irst place n our bookofprayer. Next shouldbe confessionand genuineconuition of

147.2l(/ t l0Al l ),p.2l l .Forparal lelstothisincident inothertexts,see. f .Goui l -

frr(1, (;hristiNnismc rt:zantinet slave",Ecolelratiqae detbauks tudes. stctio Scieacwliqinar. ln nutire xxxii (Paris1974), p.215-17.

l{tt, / 'arr. l ( l l96D),p.2.{1.Johnefers o spiritualbrotherhood swell asspiritu-rl f rthrrhrrrxl :l (892(i ). . l7er26(l0i7B).p.24{.

l . le. 28 lr2eA),p. 27 {l !0.28(l l t6A). f I78.

l l l . )H l l l6(i ), p.27l i

f l l f f f [rffncrf jhrri rorol Vslonn), h.l ol l ,ruyr:. l t t(hrhol^.l t l t 'h't l t l ,ntlI

IN'I 'RODUCTION INTRODUCTION



soul.After that shouldcome our request o th e universalKing. s:

We are not to beginby confessing ur sins.Before peeringdownwardat our own ugliness, e are o gaze utwardand upwardat the beau-ty of God. So it is in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom(notthat St.JohnClimacus ppealso this particularexarnple): e do not

commence ith an act of penitence ut with a proclamation f divineglory, "Blesseds the Kingdomof Father,Son and Holy Spirit...."Only after receivinga glimpseof this heavenlyKingdomcan we be -gin to repent as we should. Otherwise penitencebecomesa form ofgrumbling, an expression f bitternessor self-loathingather thanhope. Penitence,John adds, should accompanyus throughout thejourney of prayer:"Even if you haveclimbed the whole ladderof thevirtues,praysti l l for the forgivenessf sins."rs4

John is categorical bout he valueof simplicity n ou r prayer.We are to avoidgarrulousness,ol!logia,multiplicity of words:

Pray in all simplicity. The publicanand the prodigalso nwere reconciled o God by a singleutterance.. . In yourprayers there is no need for high-flown words, for it is thesimpleand unsophisticatedabblings f children that haveoften won the heartof the Father in heaven.Try not to talkexcessivelyn your prayer, n case our mind isdistracted ythe search or words. One word from the oublican sufficedto placate God. and a single utterancesaved he thiefTalkative pruyer (po\logia) frequently distracts the mind

and deludest, whereasbrevity(monologia'l

akes or concen-tration. f i t happenshat,asyou pray,someword evokes e-light or remorsewithin you, inger over t.r55

While, then, it is necessary,t any rate n the earl ierstages,o usewords when we pray-"enclose your mind [or thought] within thewordsof your prayer," John urgesls6-these words should be as di-rect, conciseand uncomplicated as possible.

| 51. 28 l l12A),p.275.

154.28 l 2B),p.276.155.28 l l29D, l l l2AB), pp.275-6.

, lr-,hgrrecommendinghe us eof short,simpleprayers, t seem

thatJohnha d n v-iew-variousossibleormutae,hi s s mpliedby th eadvicetustquoted, if. . . someword evokes elightor remorsewith_in you, inger over t. " Sometimes,ik e th e Deseit Fathersn fourth-century Egypt, he suggests he employment of a verse from thePsalms:

Cry out to God, Who has the strength to saveyou. Do notbotherwith elegantan d clever woids. Just spiak humbly,beginningwith, ',Have mercy on me, fo r I am weak,, ps .6:3). t57

ElsewhereJohn proposesa seriesof different scriptural texts for themonk to-ponder, leavinghim free to choosewhich he prefers:for, ashe puts it, "all the loavesof heavenlybreaddo not have he sameaDPearance.Is8

There is , however,one type of simple prayer to which John

ettechesartrcularmportance:he nvocatior! r remembrancef theName of Jesu^s,he JesusPrayer.r5et is true that he refers to it onlythree timesl6o n the entire Ladder, o that it cannot be regardedas adominant heme n hi s spiritual eachingas a whole. n ,i i . ..rp".,there s a markedcontrastbetweenJohn an d his fol lower St . Hesy_chiusof Sinai,wh o mentionsheJesus rayercontinually hroughouthis work On Watcbfuln*s nd Holiness. ui the three p".."g., ir, ru,

157..15900D), . I84.On the Egyptian ractice, eeDom L. Regnaulr,.,La ri€recontinueffe monologisros'dans a litt6rature apophregmatique.',ltnikoi xlvii ltgl4),pp. 467-9r.

.lJ8. 27 l l l6.4).p. 272. hortprayers an be used n part icular uring heentrpho"

n.l recitation f rhe DivineOffice,while he opposite id e f thechoir s inging:ct to(917D;, . 1t15.

, ,]f l 1"..CliTi."s teachrng n rheJesus rayer,se e ,U n Moinede ,Eglise ,Or_

lcnt" lArchimendrire Lev citter 892-1980)1,a priire deJisus(3rd ed., Cievetognel9t9), pp :7-28i E , "A Monk of thc Easter Church,,,The raler o//aras, ranslatedby"A Monk of the Wcstern Church" (New york/Tournai tg67):pp.";B_2;t . Hausherr,Nont du Ohrist t wicsd'oraircn Orienratiu bnrtiana j nateda 5i: Rome 1960). D.248lltE;l ' lhcNanco!Junr,translatcdbyC.(iummingslciterdanStuA,i"*,,-.f i , ' (r, " -"-

xt 1978), p. 2N{)-6.. ' r . leushc.r,whilc rightly prorest inghat oo muchshoukl ro rbc rcrd into rhc nhorr torcmcnts)f j l im.cus,surelygrrcsoo ar n rh( r,l r l ! , r i tc l i re(.

tktn, dolnin|t nn unduly r.du.ri . rnrsr' . icw.l6l l . l ,oi r ibly hcrc { l i rurth cfcrcnccn r, r0t4t(; ), ). Is . $.hcri. l i | |r{(.!r l | . , .1t




Ladder, ince hey havegreatly nfluencedsubsequentwriters, deserve

to be consideredwith particular care.(1 ) n Step15 ,when discussinghe mPure houghts uggestedo

us by the demons mmediately beforewe go to sleep, ohn says:

Let the remembranceof death and the conciseJesusPrayer

go to sleepwith you and ge t up with you, for nothing helps

yo u as hese o when yo u areasleep.l6t

Note here, first of all, the words "JesusPrayer" (lisoueocbi): t. lobnClimacuss, t seems,he earliest uthor o use his expression. t the

same ime, he describes he JesusPrayer as"concise"or, more literal-

ly, as "monologic" (monologistos),term that means"consisting in a

single phrase":John seems o be once again the first author to apply

this adiective o prayer. The epi thet morologistosalls o mind the con-

trast, in the passage ited earlier,t62between talkativeness po\logia\

and brevity (moxologia)ihus the JesusPrayer is being commendedas

an example f short,simpleprayer.

But what exactlydoes oh n ntend by this erm "single-phrasee-sus Prayer"? Nowhere in TbeLadderdoeshe give a specific formula.

The same s true of John's ollowe Hesychius:while very frequently

using the term "JesusPrayer"-and on one occasion he phrase tttol,-

ologistosrayer" 6s-he refrains from giving a precise orm of words.

It hasbeenargued-in particularby Fr. Hausherr-that Johnmerely

envisages,n a generalwty, att! brief prayer or help,not necessarily

including th e name of Jesus. ut in that casewhy shouldJohn say,

not iust "single-phrase prayer," but "single-phrase /eszsPrayer"?

Surely t is more probable hat the prayer contained he actualword

"Jesus"as part of the "singlephrase."The second f our three pas-sages,o be considered hortly, confirms hi s by explicit ly mention-

in g the zcrze f Jesus.' Yet, ifour supposition s correct, t doesnot therefore follow that

the "single-phrase esusPrayer" contains ozljr he name of Jesusand

nothing else.To iudge from other writers prior to TbeLadderor con'

161.15 889D), . 178.

162.28 l l l2B), p. 275r ee bove, ote 155.

16t. (h Watchfulnctt ndHolitets i,72 (PG 91, 15168)rET Prtl, $ 174,p. l9l (therefore prayer").

temporarywith it, we would expect he name o be combinedwithfurther words aswell; for noneof th e early extsspeaks f employingthe nvocation Jesus" n it s own. Diadochus f Photice, or exampleadviseshe useof a prayerbeginning Lord Jesus . .", apparently ol-lowedby somethingmore,althoughhe doesnot tell us what. 6aVar-sanuphius ndJohnof Gazasuggest arious ormulae, uchas:165

"Lord Jesus hrist, havemercyon me""Lord Jesus hrist, saveme ""MasterJesus, rotectme ""Jesus, elp rne"

-but never Jesus" lone.What n laterOrthodoxspiritualityha sbe -come the standard orm of the Prayer, "Lord JesusChrist, Son ofGod, have mercy on me," is first found in TheLife of AbbaPbileuon,l6en Egyptian text perhapsmore or lesscontemporary with TbeLadderIt is probable, hen, that the "single-phraseesusPrayer" containe

more han he simple nvocation f th e name. ohn,however, oesno tlcll us exactlywhat is in hi s "singlephrase,"and so t may be that,like Varsanuphius nd Johnof Gaza,he envisages varietyof possible texts.Writing ashe was at a time when the wording of the JesuPrayer had not yet become stereotyped, he may have preferred tolceveeach reader ree to make his own choiceamong he differentforms.

'l 'hreemattersstrikeus about he contextof the JesusPrayer n$tcp 15 .First, t is linked with th e remembrance f death.This sug-

Scstsha t Johnsaw heJesusPrayeras ,amongother hings,a prayer

of contrit ion andpenitence. robably, hen,he expectedhe Prayer oInclude he words "have mercyon me " or th e equivalent; s alreadnotcd,he recommendshe useof Psalm6:3, Have mercyon me. . ."Sccond,he Prayer s seen sa weaponagainst he demons. hird, itsut c in specially ommendedwhen on the thresholdof sleep.On the

16 1 (, : .ntry 5e,6l i / ' r i l , pt ).270-1.

161. ,brftq,ony'n(lt:(i .Schoin.rs),$ .19. l6, 155, 6li, *16, 659; ,rcn(h rr{rtr. 'y

nqlnrrrf f , f t rr, Tl, lsS,:/ 'N, {a',659. ccNl$) )of t , rhcus,.i l t ol hritbtut t l (c(l l t r. t

na|{l l , :out\ '. tt l i n r'rl . p. l18)

166. ' lrlohtlu ton nu nrlri lott (; rcck Lxr).v, ) l i i {Arhcni 1,,/{x), J4{ (} h th elmlxrrt rn{rol thi r t rxt , r. . l l Kri rot ht i rrc. l )otr. r l rr crtc rrrr l rt ronrrr, lh' n rh




second and the third point, John's approach resembles ha t of Diado-

chus.l67(2 )The secondof the three passages ccurs n Step 2 John is dis-

cussing th e childish fear that overcomesa monk at night when enter-

ing some dark place alone. The solution, he says, s to arm yourself

with prayer:

When you reach the spot, stretch out y our hands an d flog

your enemies with the name of Jesus, since there is no

stronger weapon in heavenor on earth.168

Here, certainly, John has in v iew not just any short prayer for help

bu t specifically he invocation of the name "Jesus."As in Step 15, his

is seenas a weapon against he demons. He further suggests particu-

lar bodily posture, with the arms outstretched in the form of a cross.

T'his he also recommends elsewhere, but without referring to the

name of Jesus. l6e(l ) The third and most important passage omes in Step 27, on

solitude or stillness:

Stillness (ier1,,cbia)s worshipping God unceasingl y and wait-

ing on Him. Let the remembrance of Jesusbe present with

your every breath. Then indeed you wil l appreciate he val-

ue of st i l lness. lTo

'l'here is no explicit reference here to "the JesusPrayr" or to "the

nameof leslls," but only to "the remembrancef Jesus." t may be, then,

that in this passageJohn is not thinking of a short formula of prayer,

frequently repeated, but of "keeping Jesus n mind" in a more dif-fused and general sense. But it is also possible that the "remem-

brance" is in fact the same as the "single-phr aseJesusPrayer"; and

that is how most later readersof Th eLadderhave understood the text.

Three points of i nterest arise in this passage. irst, John states

that the remembrance of Jesusshould be so far as possible uninter-

rupted. In the other two passages he JesusPrayer or invocation of

t6t- .Cenhtry lt Phi l . ,t l \ .26t-2.168. l (9.+5C),.200.

169. 5 (900C), . 184.170. 7 l l l2( l) , pp.269 70

th e name is recommended fo r use n particular situations-when fall-ing asleep.when alone n rhe dark- bur in this third rexr John envis-ages something all-embracing and continuous. Once more, histeaching resembles hat of Diadochus, who insists emphatically thatthe remembrance or invocation ofJesus shall be unceasing.rTl

Second,John says hat the remembrance of Jesus s to "be pres-ent with your every breath"; a more literal translation would run, ',beunited with your

breathing."

'I 'he

phrase has been variously inter-preted, Some see n it no more than a metaphor: we should rememberGod as often as we breathelT2-John is simply underlining his porntabout "worshipping God unceasingly." Others give the phrase a farmore precise sense: n their view, John has in mind a physical tech-nique whereby the "single-phrase Jesus Prayer" is linked with therhythm of the breathing. Such a technique is certainly advocated n aOoptic source, not easily dated, bu t perhaps slightly later than John:

ls it not easy to say with every breath, "Our Lord JesusChrist, have mercy on me; I blessThee, my Lord Jesus,helpme") l?3

In the Greek tradition, however, there are no clear and unambiguousrcfercnces o a "breathing technique" until t he late thirteenth and rh ectrly fourteenth century, in the works of St. Nicephorus of MountAthos, St. Gregory of Sinai, St. Gregory Palamas,and others.rTa

Now it is true thar St . John Climacus accepts he basic principlerundcrlying the physical method propounded by these later writers;

11 1 (.) '1tr l tJ59 .85 , 88 , rnd cspec;xl lv9i : I ,bi/ . .pp . 2?0,2t i5, u7. 291,4.

l7 l ( l , )nr r rc , for c 'rnmple. (i regor l of Nazianzus. Olat ion 27,+ \P C 16 . t6B),^^ dNi l r r r r r f Anc!rrr. 1, / / ,1-Jl,11.)( l 'G19, ia)91)), r 'here he meaning is apparenr ly no more

rh''

r r ( r i l )hor iLx l .

l l f ' fhe \ irtLrcsrrfSr \ l icrr ius", ed E. r\m6lineau. Hitoire t lcsnonast iru ac u/tu|r ' l rr ' ,0r, ( ' \ r, rr, r les lLr lLrs r lc juinrct \ \y: Paris l 8e4), p. l61i cited in J. Goui! tard.

ht i t l ' l ' t lont l & h lr i ' :n l tur, ( l , rrr is t , , )5t), 6l j ;2nd ed . (Par is l96r j ) ,p. jj . On rhc

lorrnl ' rrrrcl irrIhe(l, ) l)r i . \1r. , ' f i rnoclc.scc,\ . ( lui l launont, 'Llcinscri l , r iorrcrprc\ | l t l ' r ' f ' r ' i . r. rk . Jc\U\", ott , l t l i t (. :L ! t in d l \ 'noha *t i t 0{)61]), rt ). r} t! . . lh.

fr. rrrr I ' r , rvcr r, , rrf th. \ l , rnk\ ol l , )gvIr", / irrr, rrr (. lnnhrt Rntt t \ i {)"t),I ' l ' nn I

I ' r l lsr ' rr( irrrI IurrrrIorI I ( l . rr. \ r lr. rr\ rr lrrorcrl r, rrhc;th 8rh(.cnlrrr(\

l14 S. ' f f l , 'U\h.fr, I t mrl 'o[ I ' t rt t twt h:tr ih.rt t tOthr t l t t I l , t \ , t rn t \ . tr t t^

|{ ' ' | r | t | ' , . ' . ' I | (; , , r"11, ' l l , \ \ , , rr, , rr rh , l , f r\ . f , ' l r l l l l rrr" rr | \l l l , , l r , ' , rI

I ht t \ t t , t i ln(d l lr ' r ."rr, r l lr l ' r , rrr \ rs \ , , r1 l , r ' . '1, t ' t , .) t t| l l\ \ \ , ' r ' ll n l { l rf rf \ ' f lh\r(, ' , l t , , r\ , ,1 \rrrar' . / r, r, rr I l ' r t ' l \ \ l l l t r | [ l l ' ) ' ) t l tn




like them, he recognizes hat the mind conforms to the body, that ouroutward posture nfluences ur inward state.lTs ut only in this onesentence n Step 27 doeshe refer specifically o the breathing in con-nection with the name of Jesus;he point is not developed, nd itwould be perilous to base oo much on a single phrase. n default offurther evidence,t seemswiser o interpret he words metaphorical -ly. Probably he parallelphrase n HesychiusrT6houldalsobe given

a metaphorical ense; ut Hesychius'wording is slightlymore precisethan John's, or he alters "remembranceof Jesus" o "JesusPrayer,"and when speakingelsewhereof the JesusPrayer he makesa numberof ot her referenceso the breathing.rTT

Third, in the passagequoted John indicates a connection be-tween "the remembranceof Jesus"and the attitude of stillness(besy-

cbia).Constantly to keepJesus n remembrance s a way of attaininginner quiet: he JesusPrayer helps o make he monk into a "hesy-chast," one who possessesilenceof heart. Heslchiat1ss a key word in

John'sdoctrine of prayer, and the step which h e devotes o it has

proved, with the possibleexception of Step 7 on the gift of tears, hemost influential in the whole of TbeLadder.By "stillness" he meansboth an outward mannerof life-that of the hermit or solitary, ivingin a cell on his own-and also an inner dispositionof continualprayertas n the passage nder discussion:Stillness s worshippingGo d unceasingly."zr

It is the second ensehat chiefly concerns oh n n Step 27-not

---lEls (e00c),. r84:26 000D00rA), 227;28ll B) ,p. 277i ut n these

passageshere s no referenceo the breathing.'fheal lusion o "breathing od" in 4

(688C), .97, s surelymetaphorical. ut in 4 (7248), . 117 nd 14 869A), . 169, hesenses €ss leerr oh nmay me|rn h|t the repeti t ion f a shortphrase rom Scriptureis o be inkedwith the rhvthm of the breathing, ut oncemorea metaphoricalensespossib le.

li6. "t,et the JesusPraver clesve o your breath [or breathing]": O Wbtcbfulnettan dHolinessi,80 \P C91, 5 l7D): E l ' Pr i l , $ 182, . le5.

't77.On WatcbfurrcssndHolinessi,5; i i ,68,85,l7 l48lD, ls i lC, l540CD); Dil ,$g5, 170, 87, 89 pp . 16l, 192, 95, 96). ut in noneof these assagess a metrphoricalinterpretation excluded-

178. SeeL Hausherr, "L'h6sychasme.Etude de spiritualit6", in Hisychasmetpriire(One*alia Chnxiana A ah.to 116: Rome 1966),pp. 161-2371,. Were, "Silence inPrayer: he Merning of Hesychia", n B. Pennington ed.),Or.Jdt Trro CitercianStudiesSeies 29: Ktlamezno 197 ), pp. 22-47

179.See ote 170.

physicalsolation ut interior silence. ometimes,ertainly,he has nview both the outwardand he nward at the same ime:

Close he door of your cell to your body, the door of yourtongue o talk,and he gatewithin to evil spir its.rs0

But moreoften t is the nward evel, th e gatewithin," of which he sspeaking,as n his

celebrateddefinition of the hesychast:

Strangeas t may seem, he hesychasts a man who fights tokeephis ncorporeal el fshut up in thehouse f the body.rs

'Ihe meaninghere s,not that the hesychastwellsspatially eparatefrom others in the desert,but that he confines within his body thepowersof his soul,his thoughts, esires,magination nd the rest;heis not dispersed, ut concentrated pon a single point. The hesychast'srue ourney s not outwardand physical,nto the wildernesbu t inward an d spiritual, nto the sanctuary f the heart. oh n s sa ying the same s St. Basil he Great:

When the intellect s n o longer dissipated mongexternalthings or dispersed cross he world through the senses,treturns to itself; and by meansof itself it ascendso th ethoughtof God.r82

'l 'he hesychasts the one who has returned o himself, ',who has, n$t , lsaac he Syrian'sphrase, entered nto the treasure ouse hat rswithin."r8.rHe has constantlywithin him what John calls,,unsee

mcditation,"r8a mental prayer" or "noetic activity" (noera rgesio).1Understanding tillnessn this nward sense, e see hat t is pos-

riblc to be a hesychastven houghcommitted o worksof di rect ser-vicc to others: he hesychasts not just the solitary,bu t anyonewho

180. 7 ( l l l ) l rA),t ). 6J .l l i . : l ( l l )e7l l) , .2a,2

It2. L t . / 1\ l t( ; 12,22tt^1.fH f ,4ryrr,{i .att t$, l : . l Wcnrinck, . i (rdaprcd).

lr{ . | (66411).l) .Hr

lN l {{a ' r{( j) , I116.




preservesnterior silence midstoutwardconfusion.rs6is the highest orm of hesycbia.Its a great hing, says ohn, o achievestillness n the isolationof a h ermit's cell; but "i t is incornparablygreater o haveno fearof turmoil, and to remain steadfast nder tsassault ith a fearless eart, ivingoutwardlywith menbu t inwardlywith God."r87

Interpreted in this manner, as he hidden silenceof the heart, be-

sychiasignifies n TheLaddermore particularly what Evagrius terms"pure prayer"-prayer, that is to say,unaccompaniedby words, im-ages r concepts.Stillnessmeans he expulsionof thoughts,"wrires

John,r88dapting well-knownphrase f Evagrius,Prayer s the ex-pulsion of thoughts."rseBut "expulsion" is perhaps oo violentaword. John and Evagrius employ the term a?otbetis, hich means

"shedding," putting aside":not a sayage xtirpationor brutal sup-pression f our thoughts, ut agentleye t persistent ctof detachmentor "letting go."

Helscbiaor stillness, hen, is the sameas"the wordless prayer ofthe spirit,"reo sdistinguishedrom the singingof psalms nd hymns,the liturgical prayerof the divine office. Evidently it is this "pure" orwordless rayerof sti l lness hatJohn has n view when he describesprayer as "a turning away from the world , visibleand nvisible,"reror when he says, Do not form sensory magesduring prayer"rq2Such emarkswould not be applicableo all forms of praying.

We ca nnow graspmore fully what John intendswhen, n Step27 ,he connectshe "remembrance f Jesus"with the state f sti l lness.The remembrance r invocation fJesuss oneof the ways-not nec-essarilyhe only one-whereby the aspirantupon he spiritualway senabled o advance rom oral to wordlessprayer. Here, as so often rn

hi s teaching n th e JesusPrayer,Johnseems o be following Diado-chusof Photice. I'hehuman ntellect.so Diadochus bserves.annotrest nactive; f i t is to be prevented rom dispersing tself amonga

186. (700C),. l0l.

187.Parr,9 (l t85A),p. 217; f. 27 10978), . 262.

188. 7 l 12A),p. 269.

189. On PruJer, 70(PG79, I lslC): E l- PDil, $ 71,p. 64.

190. 9 (917D), . 195:iterally non-meteri. l rayer."

l9l . 28 l l l lC), p.277.

1e2.28(l l l6D).p.279.

multiplicity of sensory bjects,t must be providedwith so me nnertask to satisfy ts "need for activity." This need, accordingto Diado-chus, s met by theJesus rayer:

For the complete fulfilment of its purpose we should givethe ntellectnothingbut theprayer Lord Jesus".. . Let theintellectcontinuallyconcentrate n thesewords within its

inner shrinewith such ntensity hat t is not turned aside oan y mental mages.e3

'fhe JesusPrayer s in itself an oralprayer like any other; but, becausthe words are so very simple, the discipline of frequent repetitionhelpsthe intellect to gather itself together, topass rom multiplicityto unity, andso o reachout beyond all words into the pureprayer ofstillness.Such is Diadochus' eaching. oh n is lessexplicit, but he

s€ems o uphold the same standpoint: the jnvocation of the Holy

Name forms the gateway o buycbia.Stillness,as we haveseen, s defined by

Johnas he urceasitgwor-

rhip of God. For the true hesychast,nward prayer s not so much anoccasional ccupation sa continuous tate;t is not merelyon eactiv-ity amongothers, ut rb e ctivity of his whole ife. He smiveso fulfillthe command,Pray without ceasing"l Thess.5:17). is prayercon-tinueseven n his sleep; sJohnputs t, "A hesychasts like an angeon earth . . he says,I sleep, ut my heart s awake"' (Songof Song

l:2[rea he is "at work not only when awake but also whenhe is

tsleep."re5n the wordsof St. saac he Syrian, Even when he s rm-mersedn sleep, he perfumes f prayerwill breathe n his soul spontlncously."re6 n this way the hesychasts not someonewho say

prryers from time to time, but someonewho ri prayeral l the time.His prayer becomes n the true senser4t er of thebeart,meaning by

"hcart" not only the emotions nd affections ut, as n Scripture,he

totelity of the humanpersondwelling in communionwith God. In

th c wrrrds<> ffb el.adder:'l cried out with all my b eart,' said he

119t.:.ntun t9: I 'hi l . , l \ .17(1.

l r, l { l7 ( l ( l l l^), p 2/ '1.

lut :7 {l l l / ,10,). :7l r 1. 20 () ' t l ( j ) , l ) . e7-ri

lt)h. ll.\ t Tirarrrq li'l Wcnsincl, p. 17.r.

INTRODUCTION

psalmist Ps . l8:145).He is referring o body,soul

INTRODUCTION



Sothe hesychast rayswith his whole heart, with eyery aspectof his be-ing, conscious, ubconscious,upraconscious.e is identifiedwithhis prayer.

DioineLight and DiaineLoaeSuch s the hesychast'sim ashe mounts heunseen adder:a di-

rect ouching,a simplegazingupon God thatwil l be,so ar as possi-ble,continuous nd ree rom mentalpictures nd discursivehought.And what l iesbeyond hisl John s guarded.He doesno t us e he lan-guageof "deification" or "divinization" (rleorir),widespreadamongthe Greek Fathers.But, while offering no detaileddescriptions, eprovidesa few hints. The highest evel of prayer,he says, s "rapture(arpagi\ n the Lord,"le8 but he does not deyelop the point.Once healludes o a visionaryexperience f his own;ree vidently his wasec -static n character,or he says, ecall ingSt. Paul'swords 2Cor. l2:2),"and whether,during all this, was n the bodyor out of i t, I cannot

rightly say."Yet in this vision t was not with Christ Himself thatJohnspoke, ut with an angel.This is, moreover,an isolated passage;e doesnot speak else-

where of receivingsuch visions.He does,however,refer in a numberof places o experiencesf l ight or i l lumination,although t is no teasy o determine how far the languages intended to be more thanmetaphorical.he mainpassagesre these:

(l ) Overcomeby chastity, he lust in our souls"receives hatnon-material(a1'lox)ight which shinesbeyond all fire."2oo

(2 ) Purity of heart leads o "enlightenment"or "i l lumination."This "is something ndescribable,

an activity lor energyenergeia)l

hatis unknowingly perceived nd nvisiblyseen."20r(l ) "The truly obedientmonk often becomes uddenly adiant

an dexultantduring his prayers."2o2

197.28 l l40B). . 2i l l . For his sense f "heart , "assigni fying he spir i tual enterof the humen person, eeA. Gui l laumont, l ,es sens es nomsdu coeurdans 'ant i -qui t6", n / ,c CoeurEndu caml l i tainarxix: Bruges1950), p.4l -8l i " l ,e 'coeur'chezle sspir i tuels recs l '6poque ncienne", J ii (1952).ols 228t-8.

198.28 l I 2D), p. 2i6.199.27 l l09C). . 26i j .

200.7 (l i04c), . l l7. Ct 7 (uot tD), . 1.10,eferring o the " inef fable ighC'ofGod.201.7 (8l lB), p. 143.

(4 ) On humility: "You wil l know that yo u have his holy gift

within you . .. when you experience n abundance f unspeakablight."2o3

(5) "For the perfectthere is increaseand, indeed, a wealth of di-vine l ight.... A soul, reed of i ts old habitsand also orgiven, ha

!urely seen hedivine ight."2oa(6)

"In addition to these here is the way of rapture(ekstasis),

hewey of the mind mysteriously ndmarvellously arried nto the ight

of christ."2o5(7 ) Someemerge rom prayer "as if they were resplendent it h

l ight."zoo(8) "When the heart is cheerful, the face beams, and a man

floodedwith the love of God revealsn his body, as f in a mirror, the

tplendor of his soul, aglory like that of Moseswhen he came ace to

frce with God" (cf. Exod. 3429-35).207(9) Finally, there is a long passage t the end of the work To th

$bepberd,n which the shepherd s likened to Mos,es:

You have ascended o the heights,you have dispelled allmanner of darkness nd gloom and tempest-I mean thethrice gloomy darkness f ignorance. ou havedrawn nighto that l ight which is far more awesome, ri l l iant and sub-lime than the flame n thebush. . . While sti ll in this l i fe,you perhaps saw future things from behind (cf. Exod,lJ:23)-l mean that i l lumination of knowledgewhich wil lcome o pass n the last ime.... You were glorified n the

countenancef both your souland your body.208

ln all of thesepassages figurative or metaphorical nterpreta

tlon is by no means mpossible. ut, particularlyn the first, the secon d on d th e eighth,Johnseemso intendsomethingmore han meremctiphor. 'l he phrase non-material ight" in the first passageug

lcrts that John has n view a l ight that is neither merely figurative

2l l l . 2l ( ' r ( )64) .) .221.

l { ){ 26 l0l l l l ) , p. , {1.

I l l r l6 (l (16{A), . l { r, ).1116l (l l l7(i ), I l8l r.

INTRODUCTION

nor yet physicaland created, ut spiritualand uncreated.n the sec-

INTRODUCTION



on d passagehe words"invisibly seen,"while they could apply to ametaphorical nlightenment f the mind, mayalsodenotea higher,mystical llumination,whereby he nitiate gezes-throughhis physi-cal eyes,and yet in a manner hat transcendshem-not upon thematerialobiects f normal sense-perce ption,ut upon the "non-mate-rial" l ight of God. So ar as heeighth passages concerned,he glory

shining rom the aceof Moses, sdescribedn Exodus14, s certainlynot,ust metaphorical,or Moseshas o placea veil over his face oprotect he Israelites rom its brightness.oh n seernso be thinkinghere of the occasionsJrequently ecorded n the l ivesof the saints,when the body of th e holy man or w omanshines isibly with divinelight, as Christ's body sh oneat th e transfigurationon Mount Ta -bor.2oet is significanthat n this passagehe ight is givenan escha-tological nterpretetion: t is an anticipationof "future things," aforetasteof the "i l lumination" that "wil l come to pass n the lasttime." According o the traditionaleaching, he l ight of the age ocome s an existent eality, not a meremetaphor.

With somehesitation, hen,we may placeSt . John Climacus nthe tradition of the "l ight mystics"of the ChristianEast,alongwiththe Homiliesattributed to St. Macarius(fourth-fifth centuries), withSt. Symeon he New Theologianeleventh entury),an dSt . GregoryPalamas fourteenthcentury). While John is far lessexplicit thanthey-and certainly we cannot find in TheLadder, n any clearly ar-ticulated orm, the Cappadocian nd PalamitedistinctionbetweenGod's essence nd His energies2ro-yet oh n seems o agreewiththem n teaching hat theDivinity is revealed suncreatedight, andthat the human personcan participaten this divine l ight not onlymetaphorically ut literally, not only in the age o come but in thispresent ife,and not only with the soulbut with the body also.

il'here are, however, no traces n TbeLadderof the parallel tradi-tion of "darknessmysticism," epresented y Philo heJe w firstcen-tury), St . Clementof Alexandria(third century), St. Gregory ofNyssa fourth century),and St. Dionysius he Areopagitefifth cen-tury). When,as rr the ninth passageited above, oh n refers o th e

209. See K. Wrre, "The Transfiguration of the Body", in A.M. Allchin (ed.). Sdrrlnet t atd Inage ' l 'he Fel lo*ship of St . Alben and St . Sergius : ,ondon 1967), p. l7- t2

210. But in 2J (99iCD), p. 223,John uses he essence-energiesis t indion $i th ref -

darkness f Sinai,he takes his assignifyingsinful ignorance, ot di -vine transcendencend mystery.Unlike Philo,Clement,GregoryofNyssa and Dionysius,John lays no particularemphasisupon th eunknowabil i tyof God; the language f apophatic heologys largeryrbsent from TbeLadder.We are left with the impressionthat Johndoesndeed egardGo dasbeyondhumanunderstanding,ut hedoesno t discusshe matter n detail.

But, even houghJohnha snot fol lowedGregoryof Nyssa n hisinterpretation f the darkness f Sinai, here s another dea.promi-nent in Gregory'sLife of Mosu, hat appearsalso n TheLadder: he no-tion of unceasingdvance,f perpetual rogresshrough he infinitelges of eternity. John doesnot useGregory's technical term epektafi l ,2rr but theconcept tself s plainly presentn h is work. Virtue an dlove,he says, r€ hings hat haveno limit or end-point, i ther n thisl i fe or in theage o come:

There is no boundary o virtue.The psalmistsays,.,I have

seen he end of all perfection,bu t Your commandmentsvery broadan d s without limit" (Ps. 18:96).. . And if i t istrue that "love never ails"(l Cor. ll:8) . . . then oveha snoboundary,and both in the presentand n the future ag ewewill neverceaseo progressn it, aswe add ight to l ight. . .Even th e angelsmakeprogress .. they ad d glory to gloryand knowledgeo knowledge.2z

ln the aststepof all hereturns o the dea ha t ov eha sno limit: ,,It isfhc condition of angels,and, he rogressf eternit!.-2r3

In common, hen,with St. Gregoryof Nyssa,St .JohnClimacusllls s stronglydynamicview of eternity.Movementand progress re

lh cmark of l i fe not only herebelow but in heaven, nd his -s rue oflngclsaswell ashumankind.Th e essencef perfection onsists ara-loxically n the fact that we neverbecomeDerfect. ut advance n-ia.ringly "from glory to glory." In John,as n Gregory, he reason

l l l . l lu t scc 29 ( l l {u lJ ( ) . p. 2t i2, rhich uscs rhe verb e2cf r . i ,onlt (ct . I )hit . I t4).thonly f r f r r rc r t lcser i l t i t' t i ol nNthtu in rc rns of perpetual pr(,grcss: ..

thc r" ' f , , " '

Df l fc ( f lc r l ic r r , rn ,' l rhc pcr lc ( ' r " l r r . l r . I t r ' l t r , sc c ( i rcgor ! of Nyssx, /)t r / / /1, / l f . , ' . ' ,

f lA. f I l r l l r r . r l r r . r rn. l l . l i . rgrrv,rrr, /7'r{, . /zxtrtol l l i \ knt 5:t ' i r i tuur lr Nru \{,rt t t , r i ,

r . | t l , | |l ! l . l

l l l J6( l l )6NAl l ) . I ' t ' l r ( r I


has.himself seenan d heard, an d men whom he ha s himself



for this view is that both of them envisageeternal life in terms ofpersonal ove.21a ternity is progress,because ternity is love: and arelationshipof love between wo persons s never static,never ex-haustivelyexplored,but implies always resh growth, moyementanddiscovery. o t is between umanpersons; o t is between hedivinepersonsof the Holy Trinity; and so t is between he human soul andGod.

John is most insistent about the primacy of love, agreeing herewith his contemporary St. Maximus the Confessor. t is love,so Johnteaches,hat makes he humanperson esembleGod,,insofaras hisis humanly possibls."ztsove stands igher han any visionor ecsta-sy, higher han any mystical evelation. vagrius,n hisscheme f thespiritual ascent, egard,edxois or knowledgeas superior to love; butfo r John th e summit of the ladder s love,an d there can be nothinshigher han his.

After all his negativewords against in, after all his austere e-mands or self-denial, t. John Climacus oncludeshe final chaprer

of Tlx Ladderwith words that are entirely positive:,Love

is the great-es tof them all."2r5

IV. SOURCESAND INFLUENCE

Personal xperiencend TraditionTbeLadder s both a highly personal work, the fruit of creative

originality,an d at the same ime a traditionalwork, drawing uponthe past.

To St.JohnClimacus, swe have een,2I?he Christian ife wasamatterof direct experience.t is not enough,he nsists, or the spiri-tual teachermerely to repeatwith accuracy hings said by others;eachmust relive or himselfwhat he has nherited rom th e D.a.st.beLadders therefore.as might be expected. trongly personal n charac-ter. John'sapproach s empirical.He often mentions hings that he

2 14. In Gregory of Nyssr, eFlrarir is connectedwith apophatic heologi as well asloverprogresss infinite because od can never be known exbausrively. his apophaticaspect of a1'a*rairss not brolught out in Tbe addef.

215. 0 ( l l568),p. 286.

216. 0 ( l l60D),p. 290.

met, suchas John the Sabbaite2rsr Geotgenr.itaitalii iril"*iit. l"n"peaksbout he experience f othJrs,with the reticencl"'h'".r"a".rric of the Christian bast he keepssilent, excepton on e occasion,abourtheeventsn hi sown nner ife. " St.pzeoi p."y".J. ._"irpr., *"maybe confidentha the s speakingromai.."'a lrp..i.r"., y*,"fact he makes o suchclaimro r nimsletr

------ v.rvtr!.!!

,---,1,

an. same ime throughoutTbeLadderpersonalexpericncerslnterwoven with past tradition. John appeals requentlf.to the au_thority of ,,the

Faihers."when he ;;'ht.;;];;.,i..t""ir. n"aalready existedas an established nstitution f".;;;;;;;;;;."".r-uries The-goJden geof th e pioneerswas o"g ,1"""

"u".i;i.r. "* -sted by. John's_ ay a massoi precedents, .iui"ilo^'"r,i'

*.,...r,texts.John is closely amiliarwlth much of thls .".ii.. _"lr".i"f,"f _hough nsistingon

-hislackof learning, e s n reality ar morewide-fy read han hewould haveus

.believel r5r ;aari' )! *ai'rl'irr"c ,work of personal xperience,s a.work"f

.t;;.;1,;;;J.r,i,"g ,r,summary orm the monastic eachings"f

fir. p"ri,fi...itlna..a111;, intesratinsnto a singlewhoteihe

-r"y;ir;r;;;;-"tr"nd" orprevrousredition. t.is a first, andremarkably uc.essful,i,Lpr ,oproduce "directory', f monasticpiritualitv.

As a syntbesizer,ohn Climacus "r"_bla, hi s contemporarMeximusheConfessor.ha tMaximus chievesni'r," i.ii"ircr,rlr_tology,Johnaccomplishesn that of

"""",1"tt.otg;.

-i".i"rir.ai,thc daysof Mohammed nd witnessedr,. .raJ.ri,e.ii'.ro"nrion

that oltowed he prophet'sdeath.Thef uott';;';;;;;i;;:;r.""_tition,at theendof an era,when he newly_establishedowerof Is_llm wasaltering orever he face f theEasternU.ai,".liri.ln'"na ofNorth Africa.Each n h sown waygatheredogett . tfr. iiuii, oi tfr.pt$t,and ransmitted hem to a new age.

Whatar eJohn's ourcesl lh.,";;;;ir;,";i,*.,i.;r'ffi:,T'"13'J,i3"ti'i'f;lijl';,l"1mously.t isat once lear ha the s-ndebtedi.rt of

"i iio if," iiuf.,flgi ylti:l hc quores it h great requency.V.*i',r' S.".;o** f,i,chiefdebt s to 'l'heSalings f rl, Drsertotbrri_1".*" L"CrTJ.. ,r,.Gtrontihon nd in l.atin"ai the 4popbtlxgn*o ortui_*n-ili'a^rr"

{ (71{)Al4 l l) ,l ' t ' . I trl7 (l I L l l l ) , l' ,16', 7

tN.I lrr

INTRODUCTION

back substantially to the fourth and fifth centuries.22o Even when he

INTRODUCTION

centerof the human person, ody,soul and spirit,226nd n the pri-



is not quoting directly from this, i t has often influenced his style an d

presentation. At the same time, in frs Ladder lohn draws together

and unites th e two maior strands n the early spiri tual tradition of the

Christian East: the "intel lectualist" approach exemplif ied by Eva-

grius of Pontus, and the "experiential" aPproach represented by the

Homiliet attrib]uted to St. Macarius.

Although John mentionsEvagrius only once, and then with dis-

approval,22r nd although he makes ar lessuse of technical Evagrian

terminology than Maximus does,yet uac es of Evagrius' influence can

be seen in many parts of Tbe Ladder. John makes use of the basic dis-

tinction between the "active" and the "contemplative" life (prarisl

tbeoia),222although this is not followed out consistently in Tbe Lad'

/er; he derives from Evagrius much of his demonology and his analy-

si s of the vices,223he close ink between dispassionan d love,22a nd

th e conception of prayer as the laying aside of thoughts.22sBu t John

discards altogether Evagrius' speculative cosmology; he is less system-

atic than Evagrius, and more concerned to emphasize the Personal

and consciousexperience of grace.

Whether or not John was directly acquainted with the Macartan

writings-for he never cites them explicit ly-he agreeswith them at

many points, as for example in his view of the heart as the unifying

220. Frcm the Apopbtbegraaralimacusderiveshis storiesabout Antony, Arsenrus

an dothers n 4 (717C), . I 4r 5 (885C, 89C, 92D), p. 175, 78, 79r19 917D), . 195;

25(9r)7C),p.225i27(I I |2D),p.270r29(l l48CD),p83 He s also ami l iarwi th simi ler

marerialn other earlymonasticexts: .g.Pachomius, ' i rstCreek'ife 27 ll]7Al' P.271); al ladius,t 'heLausia(l i t tary 11 4984C], . 217r 5 907C], . 22i);John Moschus,

7b eSpiri tuatlcodou12 6t0l6B]. p.2tt)i ' l 'he Story f Tbatt 26 1064C], 24e) Forde-

tailed references. ee he relevant ootnotesbelow.221.1.1(l t65A).. 166.

222.See,forexemple, '1(677D,68JA),pp.91,95;26(l02lB,0688),P.215, ior f

above, . f2. But John nowhereusesEvagrius' hreefold cheme t ?ruht*t , pbviki

("naturel contemplation"),and rleoriaof God.

223.Se e elow,pp.62-66.Climacus eemso be amil isrwith the work attributed

to Nilus, but probably written by Evagrius, On the :iebt Stirns of WickedaessPG 79,

| 145-6{)i lsowith anothe.compilation irculatingunder he nameof Nilus, Or rlr

EigbtEtil'lhoughts PG 79, 1416-64). hich is in fact a translation in abbrevisted orm)

from the Latin of St.JohnCassian:eeS. Varsil i , "R€sum6 e Cessien ous e nom dc

srint Nil", Recflsbrc;t ique tdemystiquev \1914), p. 2{l-5.

224.See bove, . lJ .

225.See bove. -52 .

macy which he assigns o love. But he speaks ar lesshan the Homiliedo about he work of the HolySpirit.

TheLadder s of course by no means he earliest work in whichthere is to be found a convergence etween he Evagrian and the Ma-carian approaches.A similar ra?procbements alreadyevident in twofifth-century writers, St. Mark the Asceticand St. Diadochusof Pho-tice. Even though

Johndoes not mention either of them by name,

therecan be ittle doubt hat he s familiarwith their writings. FromMark almostcerteinly he deriveshis analysis f temptation n Step15.227 oints of resemblanceetweenDiadochusan d John includetheir teaching n the invocation r remembrancef Jesus; cautiouattitude owardsdreamsi22she distinctionbetween he two forms ofthe withdrawal of God's grace-between the temporary and provr-dentialabandonment ermittedby God for our own good,and he fargraverabandonment ue o God's urningaway rom our sin;22endthe belief hat angercan be turned o gooduse.23o

In his treatmentof th eJesus

rayer,oh n

s probably nfluencedelsoby the schoolof Gaza earlysixth century)r-by St. Varsanuphius,St . John the Prophet,and their discipleSt . Dorotheus-but onceagainhe doesno t mention hemby name.His understandingf spiri-tuel fatherhoodseems ikewise to be indebted to rheschool of Gaza:rnd his moderate seof Eyagrian erminology,n a not very systemSticmanner, esembleshat found n Dorotheus. nother Palestinrawriter, not explicitlycited,on whomJohnseemso draw is Abba sa-ia s fifth century);both havesimilar viewson what is "according ongtUfe."23l

226.See 8 l l40B), . 281, uoted bove, . 51 .Cf. 4 (700C), . 103:he gateway flh c heart i7 (805A), . l l8: "Withdrr w into your heart"; 5 (900C), . t84rpreyerof theharrt ;28 l l37B), . 280:warching ver he heart .I 'hephrese percepriona,rrr i 'd oflhr hcert"occurs rcquent ly.

227.See ekrw. p. 182-i with rh enotes).Mark s also ited, ur nor by name, nll (965D), . 2{)8.

221t. (6r,{)ll-672B), p. 89-9{)i f. Diadochus,Centurl 36 J8 Phil.,pp.261-4).22e. Sce{(7t) l lB),p.0l l r j (777C),p. 19;21(948A),p.200i26(t069A),p.252rr

fn port i ( ' r f fnr (l l l l ( : ), p. l4lr cf. Diadochus,:ertun l6lPhil.,p 2iJ6), sing hc ! ' inrcmf l r l lhr)rof I rx ' thcr wi th hcr chi ld.

It 0 26 lot'rl l l)),fr .251; f. l)i :rdochus, :ntur"y2ll 'hi l . ,p.1121

,J f 2(/ ' l l l6N(:l)), '. l5l i . f . lsi ins, )tsnnru i: crl . AvgousrinorJcnrrrl r r l ', l l l),

pp 1-6i ir c {1"( ' ' )r i l , l' . ll .


ger,despondency);he more advanced, lready nitiated ntocontem-



Writers o whom Johndoes efer by name ncludeOrigen (men-

tioned once, with disapproval),232t. Gregory of Nazianzus, he"Theologian"(cited several imes),233 t. John Cassian23and St.Ephraim the Syrian23sboth cited once).He doesnot mention St.Dionysius the Areopagite, andit is not clear how far he is influenced

by the Dionysianwritings.

Tbe Classiftcatioxof the VicesA particularproblemarises ver he classification f th e vices n

Steps -2 3of The adder. ere, egardingblasphemy sa vicedistinctfrom pride but treating sleepiness s anaspect f insensitivity,wehavea list of fourteen vices. t is not at first sight clear how to relatethis to the more usual ist of eight "evil thoughts" found in Eva-grrus:""

gluttony

lust

avarice

dejection (l1pi

anger

despondency (akidia)

vainglory

Prrqe

The order in which Evagrius l ists the vices is deliberate. It reflects,

first, the generaldevelopment of the spiri tual l i fe: beginners contend

ag:inst the grosser and more mat erialisti c sins (gluttony, lust, ava-

rice); those in th e middle of th e journey are confronted by the more

inward temptations of discouragement and irri tabil i ty (dejection,an -

-uiz j (rgoD), . r r .

2ll. l5 (880C),ote 4, . Tl i 22 9494.),.201-butthisis ossiblyreference0Pope regoryheGreat se e elow, ote 46); 6 1064A),.24lti 8 l1l7C), .280.

234.4\7118),. 114. or Climacus'debto Cassian,ndalso or the mannernwhich he ransforms het he borrows, eeArchimandrite ophrony,De la n6cessrtcdes rois r enoncements hez St- Cassiene Romain et St. JeanClimague", StudicPetrit

tica (Te e rrd Unternehurgen0: Berlin 1962), p. l9l+00.

2)5. 29 1148D),. 281, itedsimplyas rh e Syrian-"

2t6. On rlE Eigbt Tboughts, IPG 40, 1272A).Evagrius s probably drawing upon

plation,sti l l need o guard themselvesgainst he most subtle and"spiritual" of the vices,vainglory and pride. Secondly, he l ist ofeight vices eflects he threefolddivision of the human person ntothe appetitive, the incensiveand the intelligent aspect epitbynitikon

thymikon, ogihon).237 luttony, lust and avarice are more especiallylinked with the appetitive aspect;dejection, anger anddespondency

with the incensive ower; vaingloryan d pride,with the intell igentaspect.238Evagrius'disciple,St . John Cassian,ransmitted his list of th e

eight'thoughts" to the West,but madeon echangen the sequencto make more evident theconnection between dejection and despon-dency, he movedanger up to the fourth place,after avarice.23e ur-ther changes ,r'eremade by St. Gregory the Great, Popeof Rome(590-604), nown in the East as"Gregory the Dialogist." He setpridein a class n its own, as he sourceand motherof all other vices, ndomitted dejection,egarding his as he sarhe s despondency, hilesddingenvy to the l ist. In this way he produced he catalogue f the"sevendeadlysins," amiliar o the ryesternMiddle Aggs:2ao

iranis gloria(vainglory)

inoidia(envy)

ira (anger)

tristitia (dejection)

axaitia (avarice)

ventris tgluvies (gluttony)

lururia (lust)

217.On this hre efold ivision, ee he note n Prl, pp . J7-8. First ormulated y

Phto (seeRc2ltllir, Book iv,4-l4D-441C), it is widely used by the Fathersr Evagrius,ltuctitut uq ed. A. Guilleumont. Jbarrar r,tien/tet171lParis 97l], pp. 680-9), ays hat

h. h6s akcn t f rom (iregory of Nazianzus se e is Posmr,l, i ,47: PG 17, 38lA-

l l t4A). l"or (j l imacus'use fthe Platonic cheme, ee or example arL S (12058), .

1,19.2!lt. l hc vice$ rcexplicit ly inkedwith the hreeaspects f the soul n JohnCrs'

t i rn, (.rrl i |rfud' xi iv. l tr Oessian ivesa ist ofeighteen ices n all, nc ludingallcighr

f rorn hc l lvrrgrianirt. Oorri l lcarr ,)J vi i i , col. 177, ssimilatesll imacus'l istn) rh. t ol '

O ni !n, rut hc corrcsyrndcnccs )y no mcrnsexaci.

2l 'r. scc n tt i tut.t, l lurksv- r i.

INTRODUCTION

St .JohnClimacu,! oesnot follow any of these chemes xactly.

INTRODUCTION

Apart from the fact that dejection s omitted and that despondenc



He pointsout that sin, beingby its very naturedisordered nd amor-phous, annotbe classified ith prec ision.2ar e is familiar with theeightfold schemeof Evagrius,2a2nd like Evagrius he sometimesmakes distinctionbetween he threechief sinsof gluttony,vainglo-ry and avarice, nd the remaining iv e which spring from them.?a3But, alongsidehis eightfoldscheme, ohn s also amiliar with a se-

venfold scheme, or which he expresses preference: his treats valn-glory and pride as a singlevice.2aan practice, owever,he usuallydistinguishes etween he two, discussinghemseparatelyn Steps 2and 23; on the other hand he commonly omits dejectionor gloom(lypi) from his list,2as resumablybecauseike Pope Gregory he con-siders his identicalwith despondencyakid.ia);nd so, after all, heendsup with the numberseven for he omits envy, which figuresonGregory's ist).zro h,r in Step29 he gives he following list:2a?

gluttony

lecherylust)

cupidity (avarice)

despondencyangervainglorypride

241.26 l02lD).D.215.

242. l (l l60c), . l6l: l7 (929B), . 190.2+1. 7 (9298), . )90;26 (l0llA, l02lC), pp. 229, 15.For a somewhar ifferentdistinction etweenhe ive and he hree, ee27 l l09A),p. 267.

2+t. 22 9.f8D-9+9A),. 201.245. ,1pi s mentioned, owever,n the isrof rhepassionsha i assailhemonkat

different imes f the dayr27 l I 2C),p. 269.246.WasClimacus ware f PopeGregory's ist: In 22 949A), . 201,when men'

tioning the sevenfold cheme sdistinguished rom the eightfold, he refers o "Gregorrthe Theologian" as one of those who prefer to reckon rhe vicesas seven n number.Normally his would mern Gregoryof Nazianzusi ut I know of no such eachingnhis works. John may therefore mean PopeGregory: perhaps Theologos" is a scribalerror for "Dielogos" (cf. Couilleau,DS viii, col. 376).But John's ist is not the samear

Gregory the Great's: or, alrhough both leaveout deiection, ohn retainspride asoneofthe seven, nd doesnot include envy.

precedes nger, hese re he same s he eight 'evilthoughrs"of Eva-grius,and aregiven n the saii, order.'' - .I n

Steps8-23,however, ohn expandsEvagrius' ist by addings.evenurther vices,dependenibn the primary seven. n his list of theprimary sevenhe follows Evagrius,except hat he omits deiecrrobut he moves ngerand despondencyp to the beginning, hus plac-

ing the vicesof the soul's ncensive spect efore hoseof its appetitive aspect:

Climacusangerdespondencygluttonylust

Yainglorypride

lohn is normally careful, in Steps 8-29, to point out how the depen-dcnt vicesare l inked with the primary seven: us t as the virtues formI ladder, so the vices form a chain.2as n detail his scheme akes thisform;

anger (8 )

.- deperdentaicesr malice (9)

24t1. (840D-841A),. lJ2. fhus:

anger eads o malicer (li+tA),p. l i4;mNIiceeedli o slander:0 (t1.15ts),. l55rslNndercads o ralkativeness: (852A), . t 58;telkerivenesscads ) (l ) falsehood:2 (tl5lD),p. l60i

(2 ) dcspondency:3 (ll57D), . t62;clrsporrdcn$crds o lust:26 ll09D), p. 268iglul l { )nv cids {, l) lusr

(2 ) n{cnsirivirvr{ (it69D), . l70r 7 (i,r29l}),. l ' ) { ) i

ins'jDsil ivit) '"unlrclicf')anLl .ringIrrr' cld ro fi 'arr1l (,r,l l l l),l' l ,r,rivuinglorv t&ls o pridc: 2 {9{tA),p.201:

Eaagrius

gluttonylustavaricedejectionangerdespondencyvainglorypride

INTRODUCTION

slander 10 )

INTRODUCTION



talkativenessl l)falsehood12 )

despondency13)

gluttony (14)

lust ( 5)avarice 16 )

vainglory 22 )

pride(23)

dependentice: blasphemy 23)

John'sclassif ication f the vices, rawing as t doesupon earlierauthorit ies et adhering lavishly o noneof them, llustrates he walin which hecombines adition andpersonal riginality n Tbe adder.What he borrows he makes is own.

Tbe nfluenceof TbeLadderWhy should TbeLad.der f Diaine Ascenthave proved so remark-

ably popular?2aeartly, no doubt, because f the striking symbolofthe ladder, 'hich binds ogether he whole book,and hascaught hcimaginationof innumerable eaders.More fund amentally, ts popu-larity is surelydue o theauthor's ombination f shrewdnessnd hu -mor, to his skill in drawing so many themes nto a singlesynthesis,and above ll to the depth of his spiritual nsight.

The wide diffusion of TheLadder s reflectedby the large number

of sur viving manuscripts , ometimesllustrated, nd often includingscbolis r commentaries.2s ohe reso ect elt for its author s evidentfrom the unusualprominence hat he enjoys n theecclesiasticalear.Besides av ing in the normal way an annual commemoration nMarch l0 in the calendar f fixed easts, e s alsocommemorated nthe ourth Sunday n Lent, and mostof the i turgical extson that dayrefer to him.251This Sunday commemoration n the Gre:t Fast

249. On ihe inffuence of Tbe adder, eeM. H€pp€ll, introd:uction o The addct4DiaineAscett,ET Archimandrite Lazarus,pp. 25-31;Couilleau, J viii, cols. 182-u.

2J0. Someof these cbo,fiappear n Rader'sedition, and are reprinted io PC88

dependentvices: insensitivity(18)fear 21)

marks John Climacus out as the ascetic author iar excelknce. hosewrit ings providea standard nd model or the whole Church.As al-ready mentioned, Tbe Ladder s appointed to be read in Orthodoxmonasteriesachyearduring Lent.

St . John Climacus' nfluenceon later spiritualwriters hasbeenextensive. t Sinai tself his teaching n prayerand nward stillneswasdeveloped y Hesychius ?eighth-ninth

entury)and Philotheu(?ninth-tenthcentury). The first of these, n his work Or L{/atchfulnand Holiness,rkes up the scatteredallusions n TbeLadder o the JesuPrayerand the invocationor remembrance f Jesus, nd makes hishis dominant theme.Although surprisinglyTbeLadder s nowherecited in the vast eleventh-century anthology entitled Evergetios, twas certainly read and valuedby St. Symeon he New TheologianNicetasStethatos, ymeon's iographer, ecountshow, on a visit tohi s family home shortly before his profession s a rnonk,Symeonfound he book n his ather's ibrary: "and,becoming losely amiliarwith it, like good eanh he accepted he seed

of the word in hisheert."2s2 be adder'snfluence anbe seenn particular n Symeon'tcaching n the gift of tears, nd n his pictureof the spiritual atherln the Discoursen Confessiol.

St. Peterof Damascus twelfth century) quotesTbeLoddNr^t

le:;stthirteen times,and the fourteenth-ce ntury esychasts raw heavilyupon it. There are thirteen citations from TbeLad.dern St. Gregoryof Sinai-far more than from any other author-and, in his l ist ofwriters approved for monastic reading, Gregory puts first the nameof John Climacus.2s3n the Triads n Defensef tbeHoly HaycbaxsbySt. Gregory Palamas,TbeLadder s quoted some twenty-five

trmes,ar.d n the Centur!of St. Kallistosand St. Ignrtios Xanthopoulosmorethrn thirty times. The partsof TbeLadder o which these ourteenth-cantury writers chiefly refer are Step 27 on baycbiaand John'sstate-mcntson the invocation f the nameof Jesus.

'l'heLadderwas soon ftanslated into the other languagesof theChristian East: nto Syriac before he end of the seventhcenrury.

2t2 Lili of S:t.S.tnnn tb. Nc.u 'heologian\ed. L Hausheff, OrientatiaChistiuauxn,n(f , , lJ Ronfc 92lil,p. l2):Symconwa sparticularly elpedby Step tL lht l.uldt is

li lc(l twi.c in Svmcon's irrrcrdr$4, ines540-2i 0, inc t{t), Nlrhough rx {lp0rcntlrhi r othcr writingsl nlr

INTRODUCTION

within a few decades f John's death; into Arabic and Georgian by

INTRODUCTION

(b) P. Trevisan, CoronaPatum Salesiana,eriesgraeca8-9 (2



the tenth century,and also nto Armenian; nto Slavonic y the tenth

century, and into Romanian early in the seventeenth entury.Its in-

fluence n fifteenth-century Russiacan be seenboth upon the leader

of the Non-Possessors, t. Nil Sorskii, and uponhis chief opponentamong the Possessors, t.Josephof Volokalamsk. n the correspon-

dence of Tsar Ivan IV, often styled "the Terrible," next to the Holy

Scripturesthe

bookmost often quoted is TheLad.der.2sahe anony-

mousRussian ilgrim, n the middleof the nineteenth entury, s also

familiar with the work.2ssIn the Westa first translationn Latin, perhaps nlypartial,wa s

made n the eleventh century;a secondversion wasmade n the thir-

t€enth or early fourteenth century by the Franciscan"spiritual" of

the Srict Observance, ngelusClarenus.2s6he first English rans-

lation appearedn 1858,he second n 1959revised dition,1978);2s?

the present English rendering, in the series The Classics f Westerr

Spirituality, s thus the third.

"Ascend, my brothers,ascendeagerly."258 beLadderof St.lohoClimacusgrew out of i ts author's iving experience, nd it requires

from each eadera living,personalesponse. eadhasti ly, n a spirit

of detachedcuriosity, the book is likely to prove a disappointment.But John never meant it to be read n that manner. He expected t to

be pondered lowly, n a spirit of compunction, ndwith a sincere n-

tention on the reader'spart to changehis way of life; and if the bookha sproveddeeply nfluential, hat is becauseo many have ead t in

precisely uc ha way, applying he wordspersonallyo their own sit-

uation.This is a ladder hat we must eachascendor ourselves.

Bibliogrcphical ote(l) TbeGruk Tert. There exists asyet no fully critical edition of

the Greek text of TheLadderand TotheSbepberdhe Greek is at pres-.entayailablen two independent ditions:

(i ) By Matthew Rader Paris 63l). Twice reprinted:(a)J.-P.Migne, PG 88(Paris 1864), ols. 632-1208.

254. SeeHTM. o. xxvii.

255. TbeWaJofa Pilgim, ET R.M. French(London 1954), p. 80,82, 43, t9t,221.

256. Se€ . Gribomont,"Le ScalaParadisi, eande Raithou et Ange Clar eno", Jll

dia Moiattica i (1960\, p. 345-58.

257. For details,seebelov, "Bibliographical Note."

vols.,Turin l94l); includes omeminor corrections f (e).(ii) By the hermit Sophronios,monL of the Holy Mountain

(Constantinople1883); ften superior to the text of Rader-Migne.(ll\ Englisb Translstions.

(i) Father Robert, Monk of Mount St. Bernard's Abtrey(Lerces

tershire, England), TbeHoly Lad.d.erf Perfeaion, y wbicbwemay ascento beavenLondon 1858).Often more a paraphrase han an exact ren-dering.Omits mostof Step27on stillness:this Degree," aysFatherRobert, "as chiefly appertaining to solitaries, has been abridged bythe translator" p. 392).

(ii) Archimandrite Lazarus Moore),TheLadderof Diaire Ascentwith an inuoductionby M. Heppell (London1959). ar more accu-rate than (i). Reissued n revised form by the Holy TransfigurationMonasteryBoston,Massachusetts978)ihis reissuencludes, esideTbeLadder, he work To tbe Sbeplxrdomitted in the 1858and 1959translations). s well as usingth e differentprinted editionsof th eGreek, he revisers onsultedhe ninth-centurySinaimanuscriptno .

,l2l; but regrettably the helpful introduction by Dr. Heppell has beenomitted.

(lll) Studies. or a short but balancedsurvey of Climacus' ife andteaching,with bibliography,se eG. Couil leau,DJ viii (Paris 1972)cols. 169-89.

Consultalso:M.O. Sumner, St. ohn Climams: hePsycbologyf tlx Desert atber

(The Guild of Pastoral Psychology, Guild Lecture no. 6l: London1950)an attempt to understandClimacus n terms of Jungiananalyt-ical psychology; oo brief to be fully convincing, but indicatesan im-

portant field for further research).

J.R. Martin, Tbe llustration of tlx Heaoen\LadderofJobnClimacv(Studiesn Matuscipt llluminatiol 5: Princeton 1954)on illustratedmanuscriptsof TbeLadderl.

I. Hausherr, La th6ologie u monachismehe zsaintJeanClima-que", in the collective volume Tb6ologie e h aiemoflastiqueP^ris

196l), p . 385-410.W. Vijfker, ScalaParadisi.EineStudie xJobannes limacusnd. ug-

hicbeinc /orstudie u Symeon emNercn TlxologerWiesbaden96li) (thc

fullcstand mostsystematic xistingstudy).

l). lfogdanov d, /ea Climaque ats la littiraturc hyzantinc t fu lit-

INTRODUCTION

Fascicule 1l: Belgrade 1968) in SerboCroat , with summary in



French on pp. 215-25; mportant).C. Yannaras, "Eros divin et 6ros humain selon S. Jean Clima-

que", Contactsxi (1969), p. 190-204.C. Yannaras, metapbyihi ou sornatos.poudi tor Ioanni tis Klima-

hos Them*apbyicsof tfu body.A studyofJobn ClimacuslAthens 1971)(helpful discussionof the body, eros nd dispassion).

I have not been able to consult the unpublished Ph.D. disserta-

tion of T.W. Blair, Climatrs and Cbristi.anitl. A Stud.yof the Effeas of

John Climacus' ConceptualCommitments t bisPetceptiol of Cbristianitl(DukeUniversity 1977).

On monastic ife in the Sinai peninsula, seeH. Skrobucha,Jirai(London 1966), p, 1947; D.J. Chitty, TbeDesert Ciry (Oxford 1966),

pp. 168-78 scholarlyand perceptive).

BishopKallistos

LlanfiloCommemoration of the Holy Prophet Moses

4/ 17Seotember 98 0



fohruClimacusIHELADDER FDIVINE SCENT



Snp I

ON RENUNCIATION OF LIFE

When writing to the servantsof God,,oneshould begin with ourGod and King Himself, the good, the supremely good, the all-good.Of all createdand rational beings,endowed with the dignity of free

will, some are friends of God, someare His true servants,someareuseless ervants cf . Luke 17:10), ome are entirely esuanged, ndthere are some who, for all their weakness,ake their stand agatnsrHim. We simple peopleassumehat His friends,O holy Fathei,areproperly speaking hose ntelligent and bodilessbeingswho sunoundHim. His true servants reall thosewho havedoneand aredoingHi swill without hesitationor pause.His useless ervantsare thosewhothink of themselves s having been worthy of the gift of baptism,buthaveno t at all guarded heir covenantwith Him; while, it seems ous, the strangers rom God, His opponents,are the unbelieversorheretics.His enemiesare thosewho not only contraveneand reoudi

ate th e commands f the Lord, but make t.ar, *r, againstall whoobeyHim.

Each of the abovehashis own specialcharacter and is deservrngof fitting analysis.Bu t for ignorant people ike ourselves here isnothing o be gainedby investigatinghesenow. So, hen, with un -questioning bedienceet us reachout our unworthy hand o the trueservants f God, to thosewho devoutlyurgeus on and n faith com.pe l us by their commands. et us makea treatise,with thcir knowl.edgees he implementof writing, a pendipped n their rubducdyo t

73

JOHNCLIMACUS

glorioushumility, applied o the smoothwhite parchments f theirhearts, r rather estingon rhe ablets f the spirit. Let us write on it

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT

burden of his sinsshould mitate hosewho sit by the tombsoutsidethe city. Let him not desist rom ardent raging teers, rom the word-



divine words,or ratherseeds,r nd et us begin ike this.God is the life of all free beings.He is the salvation f all, of be-

lievers r unbelievers, f the us tor the uniust,of the piousor the m-pious,of those reed from the passions r caught up in them, ofmonksor those iving in the world, of the educated r the ll iterate,ofthe healthyor the sick,of the young or the very old. He is like the

outpouringof l ight, the glimpseof the sun, or the changes f theweather,which are the same or everyonewithout exception."ForGod is no respecter f persons" Rom.2: l). An impiou sman s a ra-tional being,one that must die, who will ingly runs away rom life,and refuseso believe n the existence f his own everlastinsCrearor.A transgressors someonewho observeshe divine law o-nly n hisown depravedashion nd holdson to heretical elief n opposit ion oGod. A Christian s an imitator of Christ n thought,word and deed,as ar as his is humanly possible, nd he believesightly and blame-lessly n the Holy Trinity. A friend of God is the one who lives rncommunionwith

all that is naturaland free from sin and who doesnot neglect o do what goodhe can.The self-controlled an striveswith al l hi s might amidst he trials, he snares, nd the noiseof theworld, to be like someonewho risesabove hem. The monk findshimself n an earthly and defiled body, bu t pushes imself nto therank andstatus f the ncorporeal ngels. he monkclingsonly to thecommandments nd wordsofGod in evervseasonnd DIace nd mat-ter. The monk s everembattledwith what he s,and he s the unfail-ing warderof hi s senses. he monk hasa body madeholy,a tonguepurif ied, a mind enlightened.Asleepor awake, he monk is a soulpainedby the constant emembrance f death.Withdrawal rom the

world is a will ing hatredof all that is mrterially prized,a denialofnature for the sakeof what is abovenarure.

. All this is done by thosewho will ingly turn from the things ofthis l ife, either or the sake f the coming kingdom,or becausef thenumber of their sins,or on accountof the ir love of God . Withoutsuch obiectives he denialof the world would makeno sense.Godwho judges he contest standswaiting to seehow it ends or the onewho has akenon this race.

The man urning away rom the world in order o shake ff the

L The Dhrrse 'o r rather seeds"onlv occurs n some text\.

lessmoansof the heart,until he sees esusHimself coming to rollback he rockof hardness2ff him. to free he mind. that Lazarus fours, rom the bondsof sin, o say o His ministeringangels, Loosehim from his passions nd et hirn go to blessed ispassion."3f it isnot done hus, hen t is al l fo r nothing.

Those of us who wish ro get away from Egypt, to escape romPharaoh, eedsomeMoses o be our intermediarywith God, o standbetweenactionand contemplation, nd stretchou t hi s arms o God,that those ed by him may cross he seaof sin and put to flight theAmalek of the passions.a hose who havegiven themselves p to Godbut imagine hat they can go forward without a leaderare surelyde -ceiving themselves. he fugitives from Egypt had Moses,while thoseescaping rom Sodom had an angel for a leader.The former are likethosewho heal he passionsf the soulby the careof doctors; hc y ar ethe oneswho havecome out of Egypt. The latter long to shed he un-cleanness f the wretched body, for which reason hey need an angel

or the help of some ike being.We must havesomeone ery skil led,adoctor, or our septicwounds.

Violence cf .Matt. I l:12)and unendingpain ar e he lot of thosewho aim to ascend o heavenwith the body, and this especiallyat theearly stages f the enterprise,when our pleasure-lovingisposit ionand our unfeelingheartsmust travel through overwhelminggrieftoward the love of God and holiness. t is hard, truly hard. There hasto be an abundance f invisiblebitterness, speciallyor the carelessuntil our mind, that cur sniff ingaround he meatmarketand revel-ling in the uproar, is brought through simplicity, deep reedom fromanger and diligence o a love of ho linessand guidance.Yet full of pas-

2. GK pororcos.ader's ext has2yroreor,of burning."3. Throughout this work "dispassion" ransl^tes he Gk apatheia. orSt.JohnCli-

macusdispassion s the denial of the passions, ot merely in a negativeway by asceticdiscipline, but by redirecting the natural impulsesof the soul and body toward theirpr()pergorl. See he Preface, . 32.

4. John s referring o Exod. Trll-11 end epplying o it an allegoricalnterpreta-tion. In the battle against he Amelelires (the passions) he Israelites soulsunder aspiriturl director) revailed s on gas he armsof Moses th eguide)wereheld aisednprayerby Hur (action) n one sideand Aaron (conremplstion)n the other.Acrirrn(rtdrir) s he ascetic truggleo practicehe virtues nd overcomehe prssion$.r i i rhcncccssaryoundetion or contemplationtrcolia),r,hich s the direcr l4rrchcrr rr r

visionof (ird by ihe ntellect.

JOi lN( j l . lMACUS

sionsand weaknessli we arc, ct us rtlc hcnrt nd let us n total con-fidencecarry to Christ in our r ight hnnd nnrl confess o Him our


Some people when they build a house place bricks on top of



helplessnessndour fragi l iry.Wc wi l l carry wuy morehelp hanwedeserve,f only we constantly us hoursclvcslown nto the depthsofhumi l i ty .

Le t all thosecoming to this marvclous, ough, and painful-though alsoeasy-contest eap,as t wcrc, inlo a fire, so that a non-material lamemay takeup residenccwithin them.But let eachon etesthimself,draw foo d anddrink from the breadof pain and he cu pof weeping, es the marchhimself o ludgment.

If all are not savedwho havebeenbaptiz.ed, will passn silenceover what follows.5

But to securea rocklike foundation, thosewith a mind for the re-ligious ife will turn away ro m everything,will despise verything,will r idiculeeverything,will shake ff everything. nnocence, bsti-nence, emperance-these make a fine thrice-firm foundation. Let allinfants n Christ begin with these, aking real nfantsas heir exam-ple; or amongchildrenno evil s found,nothingdeceitful, o insatia-

ble greed or gluttony, no flaming lust, but it seems har as you feedthem more, h ey grow in strengthunril at last he y come upon pa s-slon.

It is detestableand dangerous or a wrestler to be slack at thestart of e contest, hereby giving proof of his impending defeat o ev-eryone. Let us have a firm beginning to our religious ife, for this willhelp us f a certainslacknessomes ater.A bold and eager oulwillbe spurred on by the memory of its first zealand new wings can thusbe obtained.

When the soul beuays tself, when that initial happy warmth

grows cold, the reasons or such a lossought to be carefully soughtand, once found, ought to be combatedwith all possiblezeal, or theinitial fervor has o turn back through that samegate hrough whichit.had slippedaway.The man who renounceshe world because ffear s like burning ncense, hich beginswith fragrance nd ends nsmoke. he man who leaveshe world in hopes f a reward s ike themillstone hat always urns around on the sameaxis. But the manwho leaves he world for love of God has taken fire frorn the srarr,and like fire set to fuel, it soon createsa conflaqration.

5. Le., tnot a l l the

rocks.Others raisecolumnsup from the ground.Others stil l, whentakinga walk, go slowly for a while, thus givingsinewsan d ointsawarmingup , and hen sride out vigorously. et the perceptivemindunderstandhis analogy. et us run our raceeagerly s f summoneto it by our God and King. Our time is short. Let us not be foundbarren on the day of death and perish of hunger. Instead et us pleas

the Lord as soldiers please he emperor; for at the end of the cam-paign we must give a good account of ourselves.We should be afraidof God in th€ way we fear wild beasrs. have seen men go out toplunder, having no fear of God but being brought up short somewhere at the sound of dogs, an effect that fear of God could notachieven them.

We should love the Lord as we do our friends. Many a tirne Ihaveseen eoplebring grief to God, without beingbothered bout t,and I have seen heseyery samepeople resort to every device, plan,pressure,plea from themselves nd their friends, and every gift, sim-pl y to restore n old relationship psetby s6meminor grievance.

At the beginningof our religious ife, we cultivate he virtuesand we do sowith toil and difficulty. Progressing ittle, we then osour sense f griefor retainvery itt le of it . But when our mortal ntel-ligence urns to zealand s mastered y it, then we work with full joy,determination, esire, nd a holy flame.

All praise o thosewho from the beginningkeep he commandments of God, and do so gladly and eagerly;and greatly to be pitiedare hosewho aftera long ime in the asceticife stil l keep hem withgreat abor f they keep hem at all. And let us not be ho;rif ied at or

iudge harshly those who renounce he religious life because f exter-

na l circumstances.haveseen omemen run awayand accidentallmeet he emperor, arry with him, go to live in his palace, nd takefood with him. I havewatchedseed hat accidentally ell into thegroundbearmuch ruit againand again, hough he opposite asal shappened. have seensomeonego to a doctor for one kind of prob-lem, and, because f that doctor'sskill, be treatedwith an astringenand be cured of failing eyesight, or it often happens hat very defi-nite and lasting esultsemerge hrough chance ather than throughthe workingsof presciencend planning.So et no one ell me hat hcis unfit for the monastic ife because f the weight and numbcr of hi s

misdeeds,r that because f his addiction o pleasure c must r cx .

JOItN;t , tMACUS

greater he need ()r roattncnt, f thc unclcannesss to be done awaywith, for the healthydo not makc hcir wry to the doctor's urgery.


souls He permits them to be embattled from the very beginning, inorder the sooner to reward thenr.



In this world when an cmpcr()rsummonsus to obedience, eleaveeverythingesidean d answcr hc call et oncewithout delaysorhangingbackor excuses. e ha d rttcr bc careful hen not to refuse,through aziness r inertia, he call to the heavcnly ife in the serviceof the King of kings, he Lord of lords, he G<d of gods.Let us notfind ourselves nable to defendourselyes t the sreat tribunal of

judgment.Someone aughtup in the affairsof the-world can makeprogress,f he s determined. ut it is not easy. 'hose earing hainscan stil l walk. But they often stumbleand are thereby njured.Th eman who is unmarriedand n the world. for all that he mav be bur-dened, an nevertheless ak ehaste oward the monastic ife. But themarriedman s like someone hainedhandan d foot.6

Some people iving carelessly n the world put a question to me:"How can we who are marriedan d iving amid publiccares spire oth e monastic ifel"

I answered:Do whatevergoodyou may. Speak vil of no one.

Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do notseparate ourself rom the church assemblies.Thow compassionothe needy.Do not be a causeof scanda l o anyone.Stayaway from thebed of another, and be satisfied with what your own wives can pro-vide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the kingdomofheaven."

Let us hasten with loy and trepidation to the noble contest andwith no fear of our enemies.They are hemselves nseenbut they canlook at the appearancef ou r soul. f they are really o see ur spirirsbowed down by fear, then indeed they will make a harsher sallyagainst s, knowing how much we tremble.Let us courageouslyrmourselves gainst hem.No on egoes o battleagainst plucky ighter.

The Lord has wisely eased he strugglesof novices, est they bedriven back nto the world during their f irst battles.So hen reioicealways n the Lord, all you servants f God. Recognizehi s first signof the Lord's love. It is He Who has summoned you. He has oftenbeenknown to act in the following way: when He sees ourageous

6. Someversionsedd:"so when he wents o run hecannot-"7. Gk toa rynaxeon.he synaxiswas an assembly n church for the Office or the

Eucharist. ere ey people rebeing old hat hey mustnor beebsentrom the weekrv

celebration f the Euchrrist.

The Lord has concealed from those in the world the tough, butf ine, nature of this struggle. ndeed, if peopl e really understood t, noone would renounce th e world. Stil l, offer your labors gladly toChrist in your youth and He will make your old age happy withabundant goodness.sThe things which they have gathered in theiryouth will come to the support an d encouragementof those worn

down by age,so we should toil zealouslywhen we are young and runour course with serioushearts. Death can come at any time. and wehave countless hidden enemies-evil enemies,harsh, deceitful. wick-ed enemieswith fire in their hands, wishing to set the Lord's templealight with the flame that is in i t . ' l "heseenemies are powerf ul, un -sleeping, ncorporeal an d unseen.No novice should heed the devilishwords of his foes as they murmur: "D o no t wear out your body, incase you fal l prey to diseaseand weakness." Hardly anyone can befound in this day and age will ing to bring low th e body, althoughthey may deny it th e pleasureof abundant food. The aim of this de -

mon is to make our entrance nto the stadium weak and lethargic, an da f i t t ing end wi l l fol low this beginning.

The real servantsof Chrisr, using the help of spiritual fathers an dalso their own self-understanding, will make every effort to select aplace, a way of life, an abode,and the exercises hat suit them. Com-munity life is not for everyone, becauseof gluttonous tendencies, andth e solitary l i fe is not for everybody, on account of the tendency toanger. Let each seekout the most appropriate way.

Al l monastic life ma y be said o take one of three forms. There rsthe road of withdrawal an d solitude for the spiritual athlete: there isthe life of stil lnesse haredwith one or t*o oiherr; there is the prac-tice of living patiently in community. "Turn neither to right norleft," says Ecclesiastes Prov. 4:271bu t rather follow the royal wzy.The secondof the three ways is said to be suitable for many people.

11.Gk agatheias, bapa:t egomenon;he HTM reading is..dispzssion."

apotbeias.9. St i l lness be:1chia)s a deep interior peaceartained by r hose wh o pract icc th c

conrtant remembr ance of Cod. Ir is rhe \ubiecr uf Step 27 Allh, ,ugh \r i l ln$s rs n,rr rrrr-possible or monks l iv ing in communitv. sol i tude or n ear solirude is most cr)n(l l |c ivr ,,i t . According to the conrext, therefore, *tycbia is si)metimcs ranslrrcd rs' .vrl irrrdr."St i l lncss s t ' t luivalent to contemplat ion. fo r "h e u,ho has chiercrl sri l l r<rr h{r {rr ivf( l

dl lhcvcr!ccnlcr,)f thcowstcrics"(27 ll l{){r( l l ,p. l(, .1). ccrhr l)f t , lrrr. tr | r0 r l

JOilNCI. tMACUS

"Woe to the man living alonc when hc falls nto despondencyrorsleepiness,arelessnessr dc$peir, or thcn he hasno on eamongmen



to lift him up." This is what Ecclesiastesay s Eccles.4:10),nd theLord says: Where two or threearc gathcred ogether n My name,am thereamong hem" (Matt. t8:20).

Who, hen, s the faithful and wise monk? t is the man who ha skept unquenchedhe warmth of his vocation,who adds ire eachda yto fire, fervor to fervor, zeal o zeal, ove o love, and this to the end of

his life.This is the first step. Let him who has set foot on it not turn

back.

10. Despondency akidhl is a listlessness r torpor-"accidie"-that afflicts e

monk when he relaxeshis struggle o attain the virtues. t beginsas a lossof a sense f

purposeand ends n despairand spiritual death.SceStep ll.

Step2

ON DETACHMENT

If you truly love God and long to reach the kingdom that is tocome, f you are truly pained

byyour

failings and are mindful of pun-ishment and of the eternal judgment, if you are truly afraid to die,then it will not be possible o have an attachment,or enxiety, or con-cern for money, for possessions,or family relationships, or worldlyglory, for love and brotherhood, indeed for anything of earth. Allworry about one's condition, even for one's body, will be pushedaside shateful.Strippedof all thoughtof these, aringnothingaboutthem, one will turn freely to Christ. One will look to heavenand tothe helpcoming rom there,as n the scripturalsayings:I will clingclose o you" (Ps.62:9)and "I havenot grown tired of following youno r have longed or the day or the rest hat man gives" Jer.17116)

It would be a very great disgrace o leave everything after wehave been called-and called by God, not man-and then to be wor-ried about something hat can do us no good n the hour of our need,that is, of our death. This is what the Lord meant when He told usnot to turn back and not to be found uselessor the kingdom of heav-en . He knew how weakwe could be at the start of our religious ife,how easilywe can turn back o the world when we associate ithworldly people r happen o meet hem.That is why it happenedha twhensomeone aid o Him, "Let me goaway o bury my fathcr," lcenswered, Le t the deadbury the dead" Matt. 8:22). ' l 'hcrc rc dc.

JOi lN:t. tMA(;us

mons to assailus after {)ur rcnuncirrtioll () f th c world. Thev make usenvy those who remain on thc outsidc rtrrrlwh o ar c mercifui and com-


worry, by the need to talk, by all-night watching, and I have seethem run away from the madness f their bodies.They turned to the



passionate.They make us regrer that wc sccnrdcprived of these vir-tues.Their hostile aim is to bring us try wry of falsehumility either toturn back to the world or, i f we remlin monks, to plunge down thecliffs of despair.

Conceit ma y leadus to disparage he secular ife or secretly o de-spise hose on th e outside. We may act in this way in order to cscape

despair or to obtain hope. We should therefore heed the Lord whenspeaking o the young man wh o kept almost all the commandments:"You need one thing, to sell what you have and to give it to the poor"(Mark l0:21), or by making himself a pauper the young man wouldlearn to accept he charity of others.

If we really wish to enter the contest of religious life, we shouldpay careful heed to the sense in which the Lord described those re-maining in the world as iving corpses Matt. 8:22).What he said was,in effect, "Let th e living dead who are in the world bury those dead nthe body." Riches did not prevent the young man from coming to re-

ceive baptism, and it is quite wrong to say, as some do, that the l,ordtold him to dispose of his wealth so that he could be baptized. Let usbe sure of this, and le t us be satisfiedwith the promise of very grearglory that goeswith ou r vocation. We should investigate why thosewho have ived in the world, an d have endured nightlbng vigils, fast-ing, labors, and suffering, and then have withdrawn from iheir fel-lowmen to the monastic l i fe, as if to a place of trial or an arena, nolonger practice their former fake and spurious asceticism. have seenmany different plants of the virtues planted by them in the world,watered by vanity as if from an underground cesspool, made to shootup by love of

show, manured by praise,and yet they quickly witheredwhen transplanted to desert soil , to where the world did not walk,that is, to where they were not manured with the foul-smelling waterof.vanity. The things that grow in water cannot bear fruit in &y a.,qarid places.

If someonehas hated he world, he has run away from its misery;but if he has an attachment to visible things, then he is not yetcleansedof grief. For ho w can he avoid grief when he is deprived ofsomething he loves?We need great vigilance in all things. but espe-cially in regard to what we have left behind.

I have observed many men in the world assailedby anxiety, oy

monastic ife with totally free hearts,and still were pitiably corruptedby the stirrings of the body.

We should be careful in case t should happen to us that whi letalking of iourneying along the narrow and hard road we rnay actual-ly wander onto the broad and wide highway.

Mortification of the appetite, nightlong toil, a ration of water, ashort measureof bread, the bitter cup of dishonor-these will showyou the narrow way. Derided, mocked, eered,you must accept thedenial of your will. You must patiently endure opposition, suffer ne-glect without complaint, put up with violent arrogance.You must beready for inlustice, and not grieve when you are slandered; ou mustnot be angeredby contempt and you must show humility when youhave been condemned. Happy are those who follow this road andavoidother highways. heirs is the kingdomof heaven.

No oneca nentercrowned nto the heavenly ridechamber ith-out first making the three renunciations. Me has to turn away from

worldly concerns, from men, from family; he must cut selfishnesaway; and thirdly, he must rebuff the vanity that follows obedience"Go out from among hem," says he Lord. "Go apart from them. Donot touch he uncleannessfthe age" 2Cor.6:17).

Who in the outside world has worked wonders, raised he deadexpelled demons?No one. Such deedsare done by monks. It is theirreward. People in secular life cannot do these things, for, if theycould, what then would be the point of asceticpractice and the soli-tary life?

Whenever our feelings grow warm after our renunciation with

the memories of parents and of brothers, that is all the work of de-mons, and we must take up the weaponsof preyer against hem. In-flamed by the thought of eternal fire, we must drive them out andquench hat untimelyglow in our hearts. f a man hinks himself m-mune to the allurement of something and yet grievesover its loss,heis only fooling himself. Young men who still feel strongly the urgefor physical love and pleasureand yet who also want to take on theregimeof a monastery must discipline rhemselveswith every form ofvigilanceand prayer,avoiding all dangerous omfort, so that th cirlaststatemay not be worse han heir first. For those ailing hc tidcs

of spir ituality know only too well that the religious ife can r n hnr'

JOttNCLTMACUS

bor of salvation or a haven of destruction, an d a pitiable sight indeedis the shipwreck in port of some()newho had safely mastered th e



ocean.

This is the secondstep, and if you tak e it, then do as Lot did, nothis wife, and flee.

Step3

ON EXILE

There is sucha thing asexile,an irrevocable enunciation f ev-

erything n one's amiliar surroundingshat hindersone rom attaining the ideal of holiness.Exile is a disciplined heart, unheraldewisdom,an unpublicized nderstanding, hidden ife, maskeddealsIt is unseenmeditation, the striving to be humble, a wish fo r poverty,th e longing or what is divine. t is an outpouringof love,a denialofvainglory,a depth of silence.

For followers of the Lord, this manner of thinking operateabundantlyat the beginningand they ar e greatlydisturbedby it , asthough by some holy fire. I mean separation rom thei r relations forthe sake f hardshipand simplicity which driveson the oversof this

good. Yet for all that it is praiseworthy, it requires discretion, sincenot every kind of exile is good f taken to extremes.The Lord says hat every prophet s without honor in his own

country (cf. John 4:44). f He is right, then we had better be carefulthat our act of renunciation is not for empty honor. Exile is a separation from everything, n order that one may hold on totally to God. Itis a chosen outeof greatgriei An exile s a fugitive, unning from allrelationships it h his own relatiyes nd with strangers. o not waitfor soulsenamored f the world when you are pressing n towardssolitudeand exile. In any case,death comeswhen leastexpcctcdMany set themselves he aim of rescuing he indiffercnt lnd thclazy-and cnd up lost themselves.

JOHN CLIMACUS

with the passagef time. So, f you have he fire, run, since ou never

know when t may be doused,eaving ou stranded n darkness. ot

all of us aresummoned o rescue thers. My brothers, achon eof us


Leaving home, some at the beginning are full of innocence.Their souls are clean. And then they want very much to go back,thinking, perhaps, ha t they



will give an accountof himself o God," says he holy Apostle Rom.

l4:12).Again,he declares,You teach omeo ne lse, ut not yourself"(Rom.2:21).t is as f he were saying, I do not know about he oth-ers,bu t we have urely o look o what we must do ourselves."

If you choose o go into exile, then be on the watch for the de-

mon of wanderingand of pleasu re, ince he re s an opportunity herefor him.

Detachment s goodand ts mother s exile.Someone ithdraw-ing from the world for the sakeof the Lord is no longer attached opossessions,hat he should not appear o be deceivedby the passrons.If you have eft the world, then do not begin to reachout for it. Oth-

erwiseyour passions ill comeback o y ou. Eve had no wish to bedriven from Paradise, hereasa monk will abandonhis homelandwillingly; shewould havewishedagain or the forbidden ree,bu t hehas rebuffed the sure danger coming from the kinship of the flesh.

Run from the placesof sin as hough from a plague.When fruit is notin plain sight, we have no great urg€ to taste t.You have o beware he waysand he guileof thieves. hey come

with the suggestion o us that we should not really abandon heworld. They tell us of the rewardsawaitingus f only we stay o look

on women an d to triu mph over our desire or them, This is some-thing we mus t not give n to at all. Indeed,we mustdo the very oppo-site.

Then againwe manage or some ime to live away rom our rela-

tives.We practicea litt le piety,compunction, elf-control. nd then

the empty thoughts come ramping toward us , seeking o turn us

back o the placeswe knew. They tell us what a lessonwe are,whatan example,what a help to thosewho witnessed ur former wickeddeeds.f we happen o be articulate ndwell informed, hey assure sthat we couldbe rescuers f souls nd eacherso the world. They tell

us all this so hat we might scatterat sea he treasureswe have assem-bledwhile n port. So we hadbetter mitateLot, an dcertainlynot hiswife. The soul urning back o the regions rom which it c amewill bclike the salt hat has ost savor, ndeed ik e that famouspillar. Run

from Egypt, ru n and do not turn back.The heart yearning or theland therewill neverse e erusalem,he land of dispas sion.r

I l . " l 'he andof dispassion"s an nterpretati on f thc mc:rning ". lcrLrsrr lcnr.

salvation to others, havingattained it themselves.Moses, that man who saw God, returned. Inhi s case t was to save he membersof his tribe. Still, he ran into manydangers n Egypt and wa s caught up in the darknessof the world.

Offend your parents rather than God. He, after all, created andsavedus, while they at times even killed th e ones hey loved, or hand-

ed them over to destruction.A true exile, despite his possession f knowledge, sits like some-

one of foreign speech among men of other tongues.If we have taken up the solitary life, we certainly ought not to

abhor our own relations or our own places,but we ought to be care-ful to avoid any harm that ma y come from these. Here, as in evcry-thing, Christ is our teacher. It often looked as if He were trying rorebuff Hi s earthly parents. Some people said to Him, ,,your

motherand your brothers are looking for you," and at once Christ gave anexample of detachment that was nonetheless, ree from any harsh feel-

Tgs."M y

mother and my brothers are those wh o do th e will of myFather in heaven," He said (Mat. 12:50). o let your father be the onewho is able and willing to labor with you in bearing the burden ofyour sins, and your mother th e compunction that is strong enough towash away your filth. Let your brother be your companion and rivalin the race that leads to heaven, and may the constant thought ofdeath be your spouse.Let your longed-for offspring be the moanrngsof your heart. May your body be your slave,and your friends the hoiypowers who can help you at the hour of dying if they become yourfriends. "'Ihis is the generation of thosewh o seek he Lord" (Ps.2J:6).

Ifyou long for God, yo u drive out your love for family. Anyonetelling yo u he can combine theseyearnings is deceiving himself. ..No

one can serve two masters" (Matt. 6:24). "I did not come to bringpeaceon earth," says he Lord, knowing how parents would rise upagainstsonsor brothers wh o chose o serve Him. ,,It

was for war andth e sword" (Matt. l0:34), o separate he lovers ofGod from the loversof the world, the materially-minded from th e spiritually-minded, th evainglorious from the humble.

Contradiction an d dissent are pleasing to God when they arrsefrom love of Him, but have a care that you do not find yourself swcpraway on a tide of sentiment while you are yet passionately ttnchcd o

u/htt w.ls farnililr to you. Do not let the tears of parentsor Iricnrln ' i l l

J() i lN

(; t , i l \4A(;US

you with pity, lest yo u find yorrrscl l wccping forever in the afterl i fe.When they circle around yo u like lrccs,or rrther wasps, when theypour out their laments yoll,


of it. He may perhapsbe uncorrupted himsell But if he comes o feelcontempt or thosewh o are corrupted, hen assuredly e will ioin



ovcr do tlot hcsitate at al l but think atonce of your death and keep thc cv c ol your soul directed unswerv-ingly to what i t used to do , that you rrry trc atrle to counteract one

pain with another. Our kin, even our friends, make us false promises

so as to restrain us from that noble c()ntcst and so as to draw us backto their own goal. We had better withdraw from our own locality. We

ha d better f lee to placeswhich are lessconsoling and more conducrveto lack of vanity and to humil i ty. Otherwise we wil l take fl ight with

ou r passions.

You are of noble birthi Hide the fact. You are famous? Do notdiscuss t. Otherwise your statusan d your deedsmay come into con-fl ict.

There is no greater example of renunciation than that great

manr2 who heard the command, "Leave your country and your fam-

il y an d th e houseof your father" (Gen. 12:1).Obediently he went to aforeign country where the language was different. And so it is that

anyone fol lowing this model of renunciation is glorif ied all the rnoreby the Lord.

Bu t even though this glory is given by God, i t is sti l l good to de-flect i t with the protecrive shield of humil i ty. When demons or menlavish praise on us fo r our exi le as f i t were a great achievement, et

us remind ourselvesat once of Him Who came down from heaven orou r benefit and exiled Himself to earth. Nothing we could ever dowould match that.

An attachment to any of our relations or even to a stranger is

hard enough to deal with. It can gradually pull us back toward the

world and make cool the fire of our contrit ion. You cannot look toheaven and to earth at the same time; similarly, if yo u have not

turned your back completely on your relativesand others in tho ughtand in bo dy, you cannot avoid endangering your soul.

To establish a good and firm character within ourselyes s some-thing very diff icult and tro ublesome, and one crisis can destroy whatwe have worked so hard to set right. Bad, worldly and disorderlycompany destroys good character (cf. I Cor. 15:33).When a man hasrenounced th e world and sti l l returns to its affairs or draws near tu ir,he will either fal l into i ts snaresor wil l defi le his heart with thoushts

them n their corruption.

Concerningbe dreams f novicesOu r mind is the instrumentof knowledge, ut it is very imper-

fect and filled with all sortsof ignorance.This is a fact that cannotbedisguised.

No w the palatediscriminates etween ariouskindsof food, hehearingdistinguishesetween he things t perceives,he sun showsup the weaknessf theeyes, ndwords revealhe gnorance f a soul.Nevertheless,he law of loveurgesus to reachbeyondourselves, ndso t seemso me-and I do not wish to be nsistent-that, immediately after this discussion f exile,or rather, n the courseof it, somethingought o besaidaboutdreams. or we shouldno t be unawere fthis typeof deceitpracticed y our wily eneniies.

A dream s a stirring of the mind during th e body's est,while afantasy s something hat tricks the eyes whetr the intellect is asleep.Fantasy ccurswhen the mind wanders,while th e bodv is awake.Afanta_sys he contemplationf somethingha tdoesnot ;ctuallyexrst.

It must beclear why I havedecided o speakhere aboutdreams.After we leavehome and family for the sakeof the Lord, after wehave gone nto exile for the love of God, the demons rv to shakeuswith dreams. he y showus our relatives rieving,near eath. polrer-ty-stricken r imprisoned ecausef us. But the manwho believesndreams s like someoneunning to catchup with his own shadow.

The devils of vainglory do their prophecies n dreams.Theyguess he future and,as part of their deceit, hey inform us of ir sothatwe areastonishedo discover ur visions oming rue. ndeedwege tcarriedawaywith the notion rhatwe are already lose o the giftof foreknowledge.

To the credulous, devil is a prophet;and to thosewh o despishim, he s us ta liar.Becausee s a spiritualbeing,he knowswhat ishappeningn the lower regions,hat someones dying, for instance,

ry -by-y"y of dreamshe passeshe informationon to the more gull-

ible. However,demons ackactual oreknowledge.f they did not,these ricksterswould be able o foretellou r deaths.

Devilsoften akeon theappearancef angels f l ightor nrrrryrs

us n us ,

JOItN CI. tMACUS

will reveal heir trick, for what rngcls actually evealar e torments,judgments,and separation,with thc rcsult that on waking up we

trembleand are miserable. nd if wc start o believen the devilsof



our dreams,hen we wil l be heirplaythingswhen we arealsoawake.

The man who believesn dreams howshis inexperience, hile

th e man who distrustsevery dream s very sensible. rust only th e

dreams hat foretell ormentsan d udgment or you, but even hese

dreams may alsobe from demons f they produce despairn you'

This is he third step, qualing henumberof the ThreePersons.

Whoever has reachedt should look neither to right nor left.

Step4

ON OBEDIENCE

It is right thatour treatise houldnow dealwith thewarriorsandathletes f Christ.

As flower comesbeforeevery fruit, so exile of body or will ore-cedes ll obedience. n thesewo virtues, son two goldenwings, heholy soul rises erenelyo heaven. erhapsit wasoithis the piophetsangwhen, filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, .Who

will give me thewings of a dove?"and, "The active ife will give me flighland I willbe at rest in contemplationand lowliness" (pi. S+,2).

We ought no t omit in this treatisea clear descriptionof th eweapo_nsf thosenoble fighters, the shield of faith whiih they holdup beforeGod, and before their trainer, and with which they ward

off, so to speak,all thought of unbelief or backslidins; the spiritualsword that is always drawn and lays low every selfii-h onging; theiron breastplateof meekness nd patience o wa;d off every isuit, ev_ery. jab-and_missile; the protective prayer of their spiriiual masterwhich they haveasa savinghelrnet.They do not standwith their feetclose together,but one foot is advanced owards service,while theother stays irmly planted in prayer.

Obediences a total enunciation f our own l i fe,an d t showsupclearly n th e way we act.Or , again, bediences the mortificationofthe memberswhile th e mind remainsalive.Obediences unoucs.

JOtN (: l . lMA(:LlS

fore death, a safe vovagc, r slcslrcr's orrrncy. Obedience s the burial

place of the wil l an d the rcsurrcction ol Lrwliness.A corpse does not

contradict or debate he good or whltcvcr sccrrrs ad, and the spi ritu-


an d f we startmaking udgments,he n our submissivenessarnsnprofit.

If we wish to preserve nshakenaith n



al father who has devoutly put thc tl isciplc's soul to death wil l answer

fo r everything. Indeed, to obey is, u,i th alldcl ibcrateness, o put aside

the capacity to make one's own judgment.

The beginning of the mortification both of the soul's will and

also of the body 's members is hard. 'I 'he halfway stage s sometimes

diff icult, sometimesnot. But the en d is l iberation from the senses nd

freedom from pain.

The bless ed iving corpse grows sick at heart when he finds him-

self acting on hi s own behalf, and he is frightened by th e burden of

using hi s ow n personal iudgment.So yo u have decided to srip for t he race of spiri tual profession,

to take Christ's yoke on your neck , to lay your ow n burden on the

shoulders of another, to pledge your willing surrender to slavery?

And f or this you want it in w riting that you get freedom in return,

even when you swim across his gr eat sea borne up on the hands of

others?Very well, then. But yo u had better recognize hat you haveundertaken to travel by a short and rough road, along which there is

only one false urning, that which they call self-direction 3 and if that

is avoided----evenn matters seemingly good, spiritual, and pleasing o

God-then straightaw ay one has reached ourney's end. For the fact

is that obedience s self-mistrust up to one's dying day, in every mat-

ter, even the good.

When humbly and with nue longing for salvation we resolve o

bend the neck and entrust ourselves o another in the Lord, there is

something to be done before we star t. If there happens o be any cun-

ning in us, any prudence, hen we should question, examine, and, i f Imay say so, put to the test our master, so that there is no mistaking

the sailor for the helmsman, the patient for the doctor, the passionate

fo'r the dispassionateman, the sea or the harbor-wit h the resulting

shipwreck of our soul. But having once entered the stadium of holy

living and obedience,we can no longer start crit icizing the umpire,

even if we should notice some faults in him. A fter all. he is human

1l . "Self-direction" idiorythnia), ay sscholic,n , Step 17(l l l7B), "i s to fol l ,u'

one's \r-n egime nd o satisfy ne's wn wil l ." According o John t leadso hyprrl r.

e muswrite their gooddeedsndelibly n our heartsan d preservehem inour memories so that, v/hen the demons scatter distrust of themamongus, we can repel them by what we have etained n our minds.The more faith blossoms n the heart, rhe more the body is eager oserve.To stumbleon distrust is to fal l , since ,,whateverdoes nospring ro m faith is sin" (Rom. 4:23).When th e thoughtstrikesyo uto judge or condemn your superior, leapaway as hough from forni-cation.Give no trust, place, ntry,or startingpoint to that snake. athis to the viper: "Listen to me,deceiver, have no right to pass udg-menton my superiorbut he has he authority o be my judge. do notjudgehim; he udgesme."

Th e Fathers av edeclared hesingingof psalms o be a weaponprayer to be a wall, and honesttearsto be a beth. To them, blesseobedience sconfessionof faith, without which no one subiect o oassionswill see he Lord.

He who is submissives passing entencen himself. f hisobedience or the Lord's sake s perfect,even when it doesnot appear o beso, he will escapeudgment.But if in some hings he follows his ownwill, then even houghhe thinksof himselfasobedient, e takes heburdenonto his own self. f the superiorcontinues o rebukehim,then that is good;but if he givesup, I do not know what to say.

Thosewho submit to the Lord with simple heartwill run th egood ace. f they keep heir mindson leash iey will not draw thewickednessof demonsonto themselves.

Above all let us make our confession o our good iudge, and to

him alone,hough o all if he socommands.Woundsshown n publicwill no t grow worse,bur will be healed.

In a monastery oncesaw a iudgment ha t was ruly terrible. twas madeby a superior who was goodas a man and as a shepherd,and t happenedwhile I was stayingthere.A robber soughtadmissronto the monesticife,and thatexcellent uperior, ha t man of healingorderedhim to take sevendaysof completerest so that he mighr gerto know the kind of life in the place.After a week he superiorsentfo r hi m and asked im privately f he would like to live thereamongthem. When th e other man showedgenuineenthusiasmor this, hc

JOHN CLIMACUS

to tell this to the brethren," he said.Since he other man had reallycome to hate his wrongdoing and was not troubled by shame,hepromptly agreed.I wil l confessn the middle of Alexandria tself, f


my wrongdoing o the Lord and You have akenaway he wickednesofmy heart'(Ps.31:5). ut therewasa second eason, here ar eso mamong he brethrenwho havenot confessedheir sinsand I want to



you wish," he said.And so the superiorgatheredhis f lock into the church.There

were 230of them,andwhen he holy servicewas n progress, nd hegospel adbeen ead-for it wasSunday-this irreproachableonvictwas edout by someof the brethrenwho hit him, but lightly. He had

hi s hands ied behindhis back,he waswearinga hair shirt,andasheshad been sprinkled on his head.Everyonewas amazed, nd therewere some houts,or it wa snot clearwhat washappening. ut whenthe robberappeared t the doorsra f the church, hat very charitablesuperiorsaid oudly to him: "Stop! You are not worthy to come nhere."

The robber was astoundedby the voice of the superior comingfrom the sanctuary. He swore afterwards hat he thought he heardthunder and not a human voice.) At once he fell on his faceand hetrembledand shookwith fear.While he lay on the ground,moisten-

ing the floor with his tears, he marvelous ealer urned to him, try-ing everything o as o save im an d o giveeveryone lsean exampleof salyation nd rue humility. Beforeall, he exhorted im to describein detail everything he had done. Terrified, the robber confessed ll,sinsof the flesh,naturaland unnatural,with humans nd with beasts;poisonings,murders,and many other deeds oo awful to hear or to setdown on paper. Everyone was horrified. But when he had finishedhis confession, he superior allowed him to be given the habit at onceand to be included in the ranks of the brethren.

I was amazedby the wisdom of that holy man, and when wewere alone asked im why he had conrived suchan extraordinaryspectacle. For two reesons," his true healer replied. "First, so thatthis man, having confessed ow in shame,might in the future bespared resh remorse or thesedeeds,which is what happened.He didnot rise up from the floor, Brother John, until he had been grantedforgiveness f all his sins.Have no doubt about his. Indeed one of thebrethren who was present old me he saw a terrifying figure holdinga book and a pen and crossing off each sin as t was confessed.Nowthis is quite probable f you bear n mind the words, I shall confess

encouragehem o make heir confession,or without thisno one willbe pardoned."

I saw many other wondersand marvels n the companyof thatunforgettable pastor end his flock, and I will try to tell you a greardealabout hem. For I sta yed uite a while with this man,studyingtheir way of life and being constantly amazedst how these men ofearthsucceededn imitating heavenly eings.

An unbreakable bond of love joined these men together, endmore wonderful was their freedom from all familiarity and idle chat-ter. Above all, they strove never to injure a brother's conscience.Andif ever someone howedhatredof another, he shepherdbanishedhimlike a convict to the isolationmonastery.rsOnce when a brotherspoke ll of a neighbor, he holy man, on hearinghim, had him ex -pelled mmediately. I'm not having a visibledevil herealong withthe nvisibleone," he said.

Among theseholy fathers saw hings that were really profitableand worthy of admiration. I saw a fraternity assembled nd united inthe Lord and with a wonderful combination of action and contemola-tion. They were so aken up with the things of heavenand they piac-ticed so much good that they had little needof the promptings of thesuperior,and t wasout of their own goodwill het they stirredeachto divine vigilance. They had certain holy and divine exercises hatwere laid down, studied,and established.f the superiorwas awayand a brother began o resort to abusive anguage, riticism of others,or merely idle chatter, a discreet nod from another pulled him upshort and quietly stoppedhim. If it happened hat the brother did notnotice, then the one who reminded him would Drostratehimself be-fore him and thengo away.

If they had to speak,what they talked about all the time was theremembranceof death end the thought of everlasting udgment.

I must tell you about he astonishing chievement f the bakerthey had there. Noticing that during his work he preserveda totallyrecollectedstate and a capaciry for tears, I asked him how he hadmanaged o be granted such a grace.He answeredme when I became

IOHN CLIMACUS

insistent: "It always seems o me that I serve God a nd not men," he

said. "And so I judge myself to be undeserving of any rest. And this

firel6 her e reminds me of th e everlasting fire to come."


I saw others among these wonderful fathers who had the whitehair of angels,r8 he deepest nnocence,an d a wise simplicity that wasspontaneousand yet directed by God Himseli The fact is that iust as



There is another achievement of theirs about which we should

hear. Even in t he refectory they di d not cease rom mental prayer,rT

and by secret signs and gestures these holy men reminded each other

of it. And they di d this not only i n the refectory, but everywhere they

met or assembled.

If one of them committed a fault, many of the brothers wouldseek his permissi on to take the matter to the she pherd and to accept

both the responsibility and the punishment. When the great man

found out that hi s disciplesdid this, he inflicted easier punishments,

in the knowledge that the one punishe d was actually innocent. And

he made no effort to discover he real culprit.

And what of i dle talk and levity? Or if one of them started a row

with a neighbor, a third who happened to pass by would undertake

penance for it*and thus dissolve the anger. If he noticed that bad

feeling somehow persisted among the disputants, he would report the

matter to the father who was next to the superior and he would pre-pare for a reconcili ation to be made before sundown. But if they per-

sisted in their hard feelings, they would get no food until they had

resolved their difference, or else they were driven from the monas-

tery.

Praiseworthy sternness of this kind has reached a high point

among them and bears plenty of fruit. Many of these holy fathers be-

came experts n active life and in spirituality, in discernment and hu -

mility. Among them was the awful and yet angelic sight of men

grey-haired, venerable, preeminent in holiness,st i l l going about like

obedient children and taking the greatestdelight in their lowliness. Ihave seen men there who lived in total obedience for all of fifty years,

and when I begged them to tell me what consolation they had won

from so great a labor, some answered that having arrived thereby at

the lowest depths of abasement they could repel every onslaught,

while others declared that they had attained complete freedom from

th e senses nd had obtained serenitv amid everv calumnv and insult.

16. I.€., of t he bakery.

17. By ment.l preyer (noeraergasia) oho rneans a concentrated state of recollect ii,rr

in th e depths of the heart. Elsewhere he says, lf you are careful to train vour mincl

an evil person is two-faced, one thing in public and another in pri-vate,so a simple person is not twofold, but something whole.le Thereis no on e among them who is sil ly and foolish in the way that someold men in the world are, as they say, senile. No indeed. They ar eopenly gentle, kindly, radiant, genuine, without hypocrisy, affecta-

tion, or falsity of either speechor disposition-something not foundin many. Spiritually, they are like children, with God and the superr-or as heir very breath, and with the mind's eye on strict lookout fo rdemons and the passions.

Holy Father and Brothers in God, a lifetime would not beenough to allow me to describe he virtue of tho se blessedmen, or theheavenly life they lead. Still, their great struggles rather than mymeagersuggestions hould adorn this treatisean d should rouse you tobe zealous n th e love of God. After all, the lowly is adorned by theexcellent, and I would only ask you to refrpin from thinking that

what I write is something made up, for a suspicion of this kind wouldonly take away from its value.

So. then. let us resume.

In this monastery to which I have been referring, there was aman named Isidore, from Alexandria, who having belonged to theruling class had become a monk. I met him there. The most holyshepherd, after having let him join, discovered hat he was a uouble-maker, cruel, sly, and haughty, but he shrewdly managed to outwitth e cunning of the devils in him. "If you have decided to accept theyoke of Christ," he told Isid ore, "I want you first of all to lea rn obedi-

ence.""Most holy Father, I submit to you l ike iron to the blacksmith,"

Isidore replied.

Th e superior, availing of this metaphor, immediately gave exer-cise to the iron Isidore and said to him: "Brother, this is what I wanryou to do. You are to stand at the gate of the monastery, and before

18. White hair is often associated with angels \cf. The Lbes of rbe )uert f'attxnl l'b!It isroriu lonocbontn h AegfptolI l, l , Abba O.). The monasric if e is the angclic l i fc on

eNrth bccause hose who have ruly attained it rre l ike the angelsr crvrnn') f

(; 'd , rr l

of rnen, rec lrom sin, and as free as s humanly p(,ss i l ) lerr) 'n n)atcr ix l (r . ( l r

JOHN CLIMACUS

everyone assingn or out yor,r rc o bend he kneeand say,'Pray orme, Father,because am an epileptic."'And Isidoreobeyed,ike anangelobeying he Lord.


He came, genuflected before the abbot and received his blessingWhen he stoodup the abbotsaid nothing at all to him but left himstandingbeside he tableand not eating. t was us t the startof the



He spentseven ears t the gate, nd achieved eephumility andcompunction.

After the statutoryseven ears2o nd after the wonderful stead-fastness f the man, he superiordeemed im fully worthy to be ad -mitted to the rank s of the brethr en and wanted to ordain him.

Through others and also through my feeble ntercession, sidorebeggedhe superiormany imes o let him finish his course.He hint-ed hat his death, is call,wasnear,which in factproved o be so.Thesuperiorallowedhim to stayat his place, nd en days ater,humbly,gloriously, he passed n to the Lord. A week after his death he porterof the monastery was also taken, for the blessed sidore had said tohim, "If I h ave ound favor n the sight of the Lord, yo u too will beinseparablyoined o me within a short time." That is exactlywhathappened,n testimon y o his unashamed bedience nd his marvel-oushumility.

While he wasstil l alive, asked his great sidorehow he had oc-cupiedhis mind while he was at the gate,and this memorable nandid no t conceal nything rom me, for he wished o be of help. "A tfirst I judged that I had been sold into slavery for my sins," he said."So I did penancewith bitterness,great effort, and blood. After ayear my heart was no longer full of gr ief, and I began o think of areward for my obedience rom God Himsell Another year passedand n the depthsof my heart began o seehow unworthy I was olive in a monastery,o encounter he fathers, o share n the divineMysteries. lost he courage o look anyone n the face,bu t lowering

my eyesand lowering my thoughtseven urther, I askedwith truesincerity or the prayers f thosegoing n and out."

Once when I was sitting in the refectorywith the superior,heaskedme n a whisper f I would ike to see oly prudencen someonevery old. When I said wished hat very much, he summoned ro mthe second able a man called Lawrence who had been about forty-eight years n the monastery nd was second riest n the monastery.

20. No monastic rule hid down a seven year probation. But a seven years' penanct

was required by the Apostolic Canons for fornicetio n. ln view of the deacon Mrcedon-

middaymealso that he was ef t standing herea full hour, probabltwo. I w asembarrassedo look his hard-workingman n the face, orhe was completelywhite-hairedand all of eighty years.He stayethereuntil we had inishedeating, nd when we got up, the holy mansenthim off to the great sidore o recite o him the beginningof the

thirty-ninth psalm.2rBeingmyselfa badcharacter, di d no t let slip the chance o teas

the old man, so I asked im what he had been hinkine aboutas hestoodby the table. I thoughtof the shepherd s he male of Christ,"he said. l thoughtofthe command scomingnot from him but fromGod. And so, FatherJohn, I stood praying as f I were in front of thealtar of God rather than the table of men; and because rust and ovemy shepherd, had no malevolenthoughts oncerning im. It is saithat ovedoesnot reckonup injury. But be sureof this much,Fatherthat anyone who freely chooses o be simple and guilelessprovides

the devil with neither he time nor the place or an attack."And the just Lord sent hat shephirdof the holy f lock someon

iust like himself to be bursar of the monastery.He was modest, ikefew others, and gentle as very few are. As a help to the others, thegreat elder once pretended o get angry with him in church and or-dered him out before the usual time. Now I knew that he was rnno-cent of the charge a id against him by the pastor,and when we werealone I started to plead with the great man on behalf of the bursar.But this is what the wi se man said: Father, too know he is inno-cent. But just as t would be a pity and indeedquite wrong to snatch

bread rom the mouth of a starving child, so too the director of soulsdoesharm to himself and to the ascetic f he denies him freouent oo-portunit es o gain crownssuchas he superior hinks hedeserues teach hour, through having to pu t up with insults,dishonor,con-tempt, and mockery.Three things happen hat are very wrong: first,the director misses he rewards due to him for making corrections;second, he director fails to bring profit to others when he could havedoneso hrough he virtue of thatoneperson; ut third, and worst, sthat thosewho seem o b e the most hard-workingand obedientandhence onfirmed n virtue, f left for any engthof time without being

JOilN CLIMACUS

censured r reproached y thc superior,krse hat meekness nd obe-

dience hey formerlyhad.Good, ruitful, and ertile and, f left with-

out the water of dishonor, anrcvcrt to being orestand canproduce


years.And they are right, Father John, or gold is not purified unlessit hasbeen ested."

This fine man Abbacyrus ived for two more yearsafter my arri-



the thorns of vanity, cowardice,22nd arrogance. greatApostle

understood his. Hence his instruction to'l ' imothy: "Be insistent,

crit icize hem, rebuke n season nd out of season"2Tim. 4:2).

But when I argued he matter with that true director, eminding

him of human railty, suggestedhat punishment, eserved r other-

wise, might lead many to break away from the flock. That man, inwhom wisdom had madea home,had this to say o me: "A soul bound

in faith and love to the shepherd or Christ's sakedoes not go away,

even when blood s spilt. He certainly doesnot leave f through th e

shepherd he has received he cure for his wounds, for he bears rn

mind the words,'Neither angels, or principalit ies, or powersno r

any other creature can separateus from the love of Christ' (cf. Rom.

8:38-39).f a soul s not attached, ound,and devoted o the shepherd

in this fashion, t seemso me that the man shouldnot be hereat all;

for what binds him to the shepherd s hypocrisy and falseobedience."

And the truth is that this great man is not deceived,or he hasguided,led to perfection, and offered to Christ blameless acrifices.

Let us listen to the wisdom of God found in earthen vessels nd

marvelat it.While I was here wa sastonished y the faith and the panence

of the novices.With unshakable ouragehey acceptedhe crit icisms

of the superiorand ndeedof those ar belowhim in rank.

For my own edification I put questions o one of the brothers,

called Abbacyrus, who had lived fifteen years n the monastery and

who, as saw, was badly reated by nearly everyone.Those serving at

tabledrovehim out almostdailyfo r

beingnaturally unrestrainedn

his alk. "Brother Abbacyrus," asked,wh y do I see ou throrvnou t

of the refectory every day and going without supper to bed?"

. "Father," he answered, "you may be sure that they are testing

me to find out if I would ever make a monk. They do not really mean

to be harsh. know what the superiorand hey are rying to do, and

so I put up with all this and do not becomeburdened by it. I have

done it now for fifteen years.At the time I came nto the monastery

they told me that those who renounce he world are tested or thirty

22. In pleceof "cowardice" Rader's ext has lewdness" y'olreta).

val at the monastery.Justbefore he passed n to the Lord, he said histo the fathers:"I thank the Lord and I thank you. For my own salva-tion you put me to the test, and for seventeen ears now I have ivedwithout being tempted by devils." And the iust superior gaveordersthat he had earned he right to be buried asa confessorwith the localsaints.

Now I would do wrong to all thoseeager or perfection if I wereto bury in the tomb of silence the achievementand the reward ofMacedonius, he first of their deacons, man zealous or God.

On one occasion,ust two days before he feastof the Holy The-ophany,23 e asked he superior or permission o go to Alexandriafor a certain personalmatter. He promised to get back from the cityin time for the preparation for the feast.The devil, however, wholoatheseverything good, contrived to put an obstacle n the way ofthe archdeacon,who, although permitted to leave he monastery,did

not return for the holy feastat the time setby the superior. He cameback a day late, was deposed rom the diaconateby the pastor, andwas put in the rank of the lowest novices.This gooddeacon2a f obe-dience, this archdeaconof patience,accepted he decision of the fa-ther as calmly as though th e punishmenthad been meted out tosomeone lse.After forty days n that state,he was restored o his pre-vious rank by the pastor;but scarcelya day later the archdeacobegged o be put back to his former condition of discipline and dis-honor, saying, I committedan unforgivable in while I was n thecity." This was unmue,and the holy superiorknew it. The asceti

was ooking for punishment or tbe sakeof humility, and his wishwas granted.Then came he spectacle f a white-haired elder passinghis days as a novice, and sincerely begging everyone o pray for him."I fell into the fornicationof disobedience,"e said,but secretly hisgreatMacedonius xplained o me, owly that I am, why he had vo[-untarily adopteda humbled ife of this kind. "I havenever elt suchabsence f conflict within me, such sv/eetness f divine light, asnow," he said. It is saidof angels hat they do not, or, assomewould

2J. Janu^ty6.

JOHNCLIMACUS

have t, that they cannot all. But men fall, ye t they canquickly r iseagainas often as his may happen o them. Devils,and devilsonly,never iseonce hey have allen."


evening to the abbot's cell he prostrated himself and, in the custom-

ary fashi on, he asked or hi s instructions. However, the abbot eft him

on the ground until the time came or the Office and only then did he



There wasa brother here, he bursarof the monastery, ho hadthis to say o me in confidence: When I was young and had cbargeofthe animals,25ha da very badspiritual ailure,but since t wa snevermy custom to conceala snake n the hiding place of my heart Igrabbed t forthwith by the tail-meaning that I ended he matter-

an d I revealedt at once o the healer.He gaveme a ight blow on thechin, smiled, nd said o me, All r ight, child,go back o your jo b an ddo not be n the slightestway afraid.'With hearton fire I did as wa stold, and within a few days knew I was cured;and so,with a mrx-ture of io y and ear, carriedon."

They say hat every creaturehasdifferences hat mark it off from

others.That is how it wa s n the assembly f th e brothers,wheredif-ferencesof success nd disposition were to be found. If the healer ob-served some showing off before visitors to the monastery from theoutsideworld, he used o heap he worst nsultson them n the pres-

enceofthe visitorsan dused o send hem off on the mosthumiliatingjobs,with the result that they would hastily retreat,and the arrival ofthe secularvisitors would turn out to be an opportunity for self-mas-tery. Thus therewas o be seen he extraordinary pectacle f vanity

chasing erselfout of sight.The Lord did not want to deprive me of the prayer of one of the

holy fathers n the monastery.And so a week before I left He took to

Himself a marvelousman calledMenas, he secondpriest of the mon-astery,a ma n wh o for fifty-nine yearshad ived in the communityand had served n every office. Three days after the death of this

saintly monk, when we had finished with the customary ites, heplace where he lay was suddenly filled with a great fragrance.We

were allowed by the superior to open the coffin in which he lay, andwhen this wasdonewe had sight of what seemedike two streams fmyrrh flowing from his venerableeet.The teacher aid o all of us:

"Look, the sweat of his labors has beenoffered up as myrrh to God,

and hasbeen ruly eccepted."The fathers of that placedescribedmany of the triumphs of this

holy saintMenas.Among them were what follows.On one occasi<-rnthe superiorwanted to test his God-givenpatience.Coming in the

give him his blessing.Bu t the holy man, knowing his heroic endur-

ance, criticiz ed him for self-display and impatience. He did it for the

edification of everyone.

This story was confirmed by a disciple of the holy Menas. "Iwanted to find out if he had fallen asleepwhile he was prostrate on

the ground before the holy abbot. But he assured me that he had recrt-ed the entire psalter while lying down."

There is an emerald to adorn the crown of this discourse,and I

must not forget to tell of it. For on one occasion I initiated a drscus-

sion of stillness among the most experienced elders there. They

smiled and in their own cheerful way they spoke to me courteously as

follows: "Father John, we are corporeal beings and we lead a corpore-

al life. Knowing this, we choose o wage war according to the mea-

sure of ou r weakness,and we think it bettei to struggle with men

who sometimes rage and are sometimes contrite than to do battle

with demons who are always in a rage and always carrying armsagainst us."

One of those memorable men showed me great love according to

God. He was outspoken, and once, in his own kindly fashion, he said

this to me: "Wise man, if you have consciously within yo u th e power

of him who said, I can do everything in Christ W ho s trengthens me'(Phil. 4:13), f the Holy Spirit has come upon you as on the Holy Vir-

gin with the dew of purity, if the power of the Most High has cast the

shadow of patience over you, t hen, like Chris t our God, gird your

loins with the towel of obedience, is e from the supper of stillness,

wash the feet of your brethr en in a spirit of contri tion, an d roll your-

self under the feet of the brethren with humbled wil l . Placestrict and

unsleeping guards at the gateway of your heart. Practice nw ard st ill-

ness amid the twis tings and the turbulence of your limbs. And,

strangest of all perhaps, keep your soul undisturbed while tumult

ragesabout you.

"Your tongue longs to jump into argument , but resft ain it. It is a

tyrant, an d yo u must fight it daily seventy times seven. Fix your

mind to your soul as to the w ood of a cross,strike it with alternating

hammer blows like an anvil. It has to be mocked, abused, ridiculed,

and wronged, though without in any way being crushed or br oken;

JOHN CLIMACUS

some disgraceful garment, an d having thus stripped yourself of it, go

into the practice arena. Put on the br eastplate of faith, which is so

hard to come by, and let it not be crushed or damaged by di strust of


and cry out ,'Come! Let us worship and fall down before Christ, our

King and God' " (cf. Ps . 94:6).

I also paid special attention to the brother in charge of the refec-



your t rainer. Let t he rein of temperance curb t he shameless nward

leap of the senseof touch. With meditation on death bridle those eyes

so ready to wast e endless hours in the c ontemplation of physical

beauty. Hold back your mind, so busy with its own concerns, so

ready to turn to the reckless criticism and condemnation of your

brother. Show instead every love an d sympathy for your neighbor.Dearest father, all men will come to know that we are disciples of

Christ if, as we live together, we have love for one another. Stay here

with us , my friend, stay . Drink down ridicule by the hour, as if it

were living water. David tried ever y pleasure under the sun, and at

the end wa s at a loss saying,'Behold, what is good or what is pleas-

ent?' (Ps. ll2:1). And there was nothing except that brothers should

live together in unit y. But if this blessing of patience ,nd obedience

has still not been given to us, then the best thing to do is, having dis-

covered our weakness, o stay away from the athletes'stadium, t o

bless he contestants,an d to pray that it might be granted to them toendure."

Such was the discourse of this good father and excellent teacher,

wh o argued with me in an evangelical and prophetic way, l ike a

friend. And I was persuaded, so that with no hesitation I agreed to

give first place o blessedobedience.

When I have noted down a further profitable virtue of these

blessed fathers, one that is surely from Paradise, I will come back to

my own unlovely and useless riar patch.

The blessed pastor noticed that some continued to talk while the

rest of us were standing at prayer. He made them stand in front of

the church for a whole week and they had to make a prostration be-

fore everyone going in or out. And, what wa s even more surprising,

he did it to people of clerical rank, that is, to priests.

I noticed one brother during the singing of the psalms. He

showed more feeling than many of th e others, and his movement s and

expressionswere such as to mak e it look as though he were carrying

on a conversation with someone.This was particularly so at the be-

ginning of the hymns. I ask ed he holy man to explain this to me and

becausehe knew it was to my advantage hat he should not be reti-

cent about it, he said this to me: "Father John, it is my custom at the

tory. I noticed that he had a small book hanging in his belt, and I

learned hat every day he noted down hi s thoughts26 n it and showed

them to the shepherd. found out that many of the brothers did this

also as well as he, and I was told that this was on the inst ructions of

the superior.

The shepherd once expelled a brother for having described aneighbor to him as a gossip and a blatherer. For an entire week the

expelled monk remained ar rhe gates of the monastery, begging entry

an d forgiveness.Now when that lov er of souls discovered his, when

he heard that the brother ha d eaten nothing for six days, he said to

him: "I f yo u really want to live in the monastery, will pu t you down

into the ranks of the penitents." The conrite monk gladly agreed,

and the shepherd ordered him to be taken to the separate monastery

for thos e who are in mourning for their failur es. And so it was done.

But since I have rnentioned this monaster y I must say a fe w

words about it.A mile away from the great monastery was a harsh place called

the Prison where smoke,27 r wine, or oil for food or anything else

was never seen, only bread and chopped vegetables. Here were shut

up without permission to go out those who after entering monastic

life had fallen into sin. Nor were they all together. Each had his own

cell, or two at most might be together until the Lord gave the superi-

or some assurance egarding each one of them. A great man named

Isaac was in charge of them, and he demanded of them that they pray

with scarcely an interruption. To ward off despondency they were

given great quantities of palm leaves.28 uch was their existencean d

rule, such their life-style, hese men who t ruly sought the face of the

God of Jacob!It is a good thing to admire the labors of holy men; to imitate

them pr ocures salvation. But it is unreasonable and impossible to

wish to imitate, on a sudden whim, every aspectof the way they live.

26. These thoughts \logisnol are not simply reflectionsbut inward promptings,

someof which may be demonic.The superior would be able o discern which are help-

fu l an dwhich ar enot.

27. Le.. cooked ood.

Joi lN (; t , tMA(;US

When we arc bittcn by rclrrrkcs,ct us bc mindfulof our sinsun-til the Lord, seeing hc dctcrnrinirtiorr f our efforts,wipesaway oursins and turns to ioy that sadncss rrtingour hearts. t is written:"Your consolations avegladdcncd ny soulaccording


that when it is time to go , not he but hi s spiritual director will becalled o renderan account.

If someone reely undertakes task or his spiritual ather and



of my sorrows" Ps.9l:19),ndat rhc r ight imc we should ememberth e words spoken o the Lord: "llow many roubles and evils haveYou shown me,and You turned around to rcviye me. You broughtme up from the depthsof the earth when I had allen" (Ps.70:20).

Blessed s he who, slandered nd despised very day for theLord'ssake, till restrains imself.He will be n the chorusof martyrsand will talk familiarly with angels.Blesseds the monk who thinksof himselfby the hour as havingearnedal l dishonorand contempr.Blessed s he who mortifies his will to the very end and who leayesth ecareof himself o hisdirector n the Lord. He will be Dlaced t theright handof rhe Crucified.Bur he who refuseso accepia criticism.just or not, renounces is own salvation,while he who accepts t,hardor not though t may Lre, il l soonhavehis sins orgiven.

Show God in your heart he faith you have n your spiritual a-ther and the honest ove you have or him. God in ways unknownwill urge him to be well disposed o you and fond of you, just as y<.ruare well di sposedowardhim.

He who exposes very serpentshows the reality of his faith,while he who hides hem still walks he trackless astes.

A man will know that he ruly loveshis brotherwhen he weepsfor the sinsof that brotherand sdelighted y his progress nd by thegifts given o him.

A man should know that a devil's sicknesss on him if he isseized y the urge n conversationo assert is opinion,howevercor-rect t maybe . f he behaveshi sway while talking o his equals,hen

a rebuke rom his seniorsmay heal him. But if he carrieson in thisway with thosewho aregreaterand wiser than he, his sickness an-not be curedby humanmeans.

He who is not submissiven his talk will certainly not be so nwhat hedoes.To be unfaithful n the small hinss s to be unfaithfulin the great,and this is very hard to bring un-der ontrol. Such amonk labors n vain, and from holy obedience e will bring nothingbu t judgmenton himself.

Someonewith a totally clearconsciencen the matter of beingobedient o his spiritual atherwaitseachday for death-as though r

fallswhile doing t, he shouldblamenot the fatherwho gavehim th eweapon but himself. For i t was he who accepted he weapon of battleagainst he enemy,but has urned it insteadageinsthis own heart.But if for the Lord's sake he compelled himself to accept he task,even though he first explained his own weakness o the spiritual fa-ther, hen let him takeheart.He may have allen,bu t he s not dead.

One sweet oaf of virtue I have forgotten to set before you, myfriends. I saw there servantsof the Lord who subjected hemselvesoinsult and contempt or God's sake, o hat by this kind of preparation they would not falter beneath he insults coming from others.

Confession s like a bridle that keeps he soul which reflectson irfrom committing sin, but anythi ng eft unconfessed e continue odo without fearas f in the dark

If we picture for ourselves he face of the superior whenever hehappenso be away, f we think of him asAlways tandingnearby, f

we avoid every gathering, word, meal, sleep,or indeed anything towhich we think he might obiect, hen we have really learned rueobedience. alse hildren aregladwhen the teacher s away,but thegenuine hink it a loss.

I once askeda very experienced ather how humility is achievedthrough obedience. his was hi s answer: A wisely obedientman,even f he is able o raise he dead, o have he gift of tears, o be freefrom conflict, will neverthelessudge that this happened hrough theprayerof his spiritual director;and so he remainsa strangerand analien to empty presumption.For how could he teke pride in some-

thing that, by his reckoning, s due to the effort not of himself but ofhis directorl"

Now, of course, he practiceof the abovevirtue is not somethingknown to the hermit.2eHis conceitattributeshis righteousacts ohimself, suggesting het his achievements re the result of his own ef-forts. For the fact is that he who li ves in obediencehas eludeci wosnares30nd remains n obedient ervant f Christ for the future,

29. Ck hesybarti,one who practices til lness cf. note 9), whether alone,with onc

or two others,or in community. lh e word is translated y "hermit " or "srt l i tary '

is other\r,isehe term s

JOHN CLIMACUS

Th e devil goes o battle with those n obedience. ometimes edefiles them with bodily pollutions and hardheartedness r makesthem more restless han usual,sornetimes e makes hem dry and bar-


judgeand healer,as hough he were Christ. (Very often demonsman-age to persuadeus either to omit confession,or else to confess asthough the sins were committed by someone lseor else o blameoth-ers as responsible or our own sins.)



ren, sluggishat prayer,sleepyand unilluminated.He does his tobring discouragement o their efforts, making them think that theirobediencehasbrought no profit and that they are only regressing.Hekeeps hem from realizing that very often the providential withdraw-al of what seem o be our goods s the harbinger of our deepest umil-

ity.That deceiver s often overcomeby patient endurance,and yet

while he s stil l talking here s anotherangelstandingby to cheatusa litt le later n a different ashion.

I haveknown men living underobedience ho, guidedby theirdirector, becamecontrite, meek,self-controlled , zealous, ree of tur-moil, fervent. Then came he demons. They suggested o them thatthey were now qualified for the solitary life, that as hermits theywould win the ultimate prize of total freedom from passion.Thusfooled, they left harbor and put to sea,and when the storm lowered

onto them, their lack of pilots left them pitifully exposed o disasterfrom this foul and bitter ocean.

This seahas to be stirred up, provoked and madeangry so as ojettison onto dry land the wood, the hay, the corruption carried intoit by the rivers of passion.Notice what happens n nature. After astormat se a omes deepcalm,

The man who sometimes beyshi s director and sometimes otresembleshe personwho puts nto his eyesnow medicineand nowquicklime. t is said, When onema n buildsand anotherpullsdown,what hasbeen he profit of their labor?" Ecclus. 4:21).

Son,obedientservantof the Lord, do not be so ooled by the spir-it of conceit that you confessyour sins to your director as thoughthey were someoneelse's.Lay bare your wound to the healer. Onlythrough shamecan you be freed from shame.3lTell him, and do notbe ashamed:This is my wound, Fath€r; his is my injury. It hap-pened because f my negligenceand not from any other cause.Noon e s to blame or this, no man,spirit or body or anythingelse. t isall through my negligence."

At confessionou should ook andbehaveik ea condemnedman.Keepyour headbowedand, f yo u can,shed earson the feetof your

Habit forms hingsand follows hem. And it is particulerly ru ethat virtue dependson habit, and here God is the great collaborator.

My son, f at the very start you manage o allow your entire soulto suffer indignities, you will not have o struggle for many years n

seerchof blessed eace.You must not imagine that prostrating yourself in confession o

your helper, as f he were God Himself, is in any way wrong. Con-demned criminals, by their sorry looks, by earnest confession andpleadings,have softened he harshness f a iudge and turned his rageto mercy. I have seen t happen. That is why John the Baptist de-

. mandedof thosewho came o him that they make heir confession e-fore baptisrn, not because e wanted to know their sins, but in orderto bring about heir salvation.

We ought not be surprised if the attackscontinue to come even

after confession. n any case, t is better to be battling with ourthoughts32 ather than our sel f-esteem.Do not get excited or carried away by the stories concerning he-

sychasts nd hermits. You are marching in the army of the First Mar-tyr, an d in the event of a fall you should remain on the practiceground, since hen more than ever one needsa healer.He who strikeshis foot againsta rock while being helped would not only havestum-bled unaided, ut would havedied.

It is when we are brought ow that the demons uickly pounce.They suggestwhat looks ike a reasonable retext-though in fact itis not-to take up the life of solitude. Our enemieshope to wound us

when we arecommittingsin.When a doctor sayshe cannot help you, then you must go to an-

other, since few are cured without one. Who, indeed, would disagreeif I were to say hat a ship wreckedwhile there was a skilledpilot

aboardwould quite certainlyhavebeen ost f thereha dbeenno pilot

at all?Humility arises ut of obedience, nd rom humility itselfcomes

dispassion,or "the Lord rememberedus in our humility and saved

us ro m our enemies" Ps . l5:21-24).So we ca n ightly say hat from

JOHN CLIMACUS

obedience omes ispassion,hroughwhich the goalof humility is at -

tained.Humility is the beginningof dispassion,sMoses s the begin-

ning of t he Law, as th e daughtercompleteshe mother and Mary

completes he synagogue.


We should practice complete sil ence and ignorance in the pres-

ence of the superior, for a silent man is a son of wisdom and is always

gaining great knowledge. I have watched while a monk anticipated



The sick who try out a healer, eceive elp from him, an d then,

before being fully cured, iettison him for the sakeof another deserve

everypunishment rom God. Do not run from the handsof him who

hasbrought you to the Lord, for never n your life againwill you re-

spectanyoneasyou did him.It is not safe or an unried soldier to leave he ranks and take up

singlecombat.Equally, t is dangerousor a monk to undertake he

solitary life before he hashad plenty of experienceand practice n the

battle with the passions f the soul. The one ma n jeopardizes is

body, he other his soul.Now Scripturesays, Two are better hao

one" (Eccles.4:9), eaning hat it is better or a son to b e with his

father as, aided by the di vine power of the Holy Spirit, he fights

against is predispositions. e who deprives blind manof his guide,

a flock of its shepherd,a lost man of his counselor,a child of its fa-

ther, a sick man of his doctor, a ship of it s pilot, becomes menace o

everyone. nd he who tries to fight unaidedagainst he spirits gets

himselfkilled by them.Thoseentering a hospital or the first time should ndicate where

they hurt, an d thoseenteringon obedience houldshow heir humil-

ity. Relief from pain is the sign of a return to health for the one, whileincreasing elf-crit icisms the sign for th e other. ndeed, here s no

clearer ign.It is enough that your conscience hould be the rnirror of your

obedience.Those iving in stil lness nd subiect o afatherhaveonly demons

working against hem.But those iving in a communityhave o fightboth demonsand human beings.The first k ind keep he commandsoftheir mastermore strictly since hey are alwaysunder his scrutiny,

while the latter break them to some extent on accountof his being

away.Still, the zealous nd the hard-workingmore han compensatefor this failing by their persistence, nd accordingly they win double

crowns.We ought to be very careful to keep a watch on ourselves.When

a hartror is full of ships it is easy or them to run againsteachother,

particularly f they are secretly iddledby the worm of bad emper.

the words of his superior, bu t I tr embled for his obediencebecause

observed hat this t endency led hi m to pride rather than lowliness.

Let us be all vigi lance, care, and watchfulness as to when and in

what f orm service should take precedence over prayer. For you can-

no t do all things al l the time.

Watch yourself when you are in the presence of your brothersand under no circumstancesshould you put y ourself forward as being

better than they. For if you do, then you will be doubly in the wrong,

provoking them wit h your fake zeal and stirring yourself up to pre-

sumption.

Be zealous within your soul, but do not give the sl ightest sign,

word, or hint of it outwardly ; and you will manage his as soon asyo u

stop looking down on your neighbor, something you may be inclined

to do . And if so, hen become ike your brethren in order not to differ

from them solely by the measureof your cdnceit.

I once saw an inexperienceddisciple who used o boast n certainquarters about the achievement of his teacher. He imagined that in

this way he would win glory for himself from another's harvest. Bu t

he only got a bad name for himself, for ev eryone put this question to

him: "How then could a good tree grow such a dead branch?"

We do not get the name of being patient when we brav ely endure

the derision of our father, but only when we endure it from every

kind of person. For we put up with our father out of respectand be-

cause t is our duty.

Drink deeply of scorn from every man, as though it were living

water handed you to cleanseyou from lust. Then indeed will a deeppurity dawn in your soul and the light of God will not grow drm rn

your heart.

If someone observes hat his brothers are satisfied with him, let

him not s tart boasting to himself. There are thieves all around. Re -

member the warning: "When you have done all that was laid on you

to do , say,'We are unprofitable servants.We did only what we had

to"'(Luke l7:10). We will find out at the time of death what judg-

ment has been passed n us.

A monastery is beaven on earth, so let us tune our hearts ike an-

gels serving thc Lord. It happensoccasionally hat those iving in this

JOHN CLIMACUS

heavenpossess eartsof stone.Yet by meansof compunction they ac-

quire consolationso that they escape rom conceit, and they lighten

their laborswith their tears.

A small ire cansoften great ump of wax,an da small ndignity


If you wander from place o place,you fritter away the gold with

which Christ ransomed you. So let the monas tery be for you a tomb

before the tomb. No one can come out of the tomb before the general

resurrection, and if there be monks who have gone out, then they are



will often ease, weeten, nd wipe away all the heart 'sharshness,n-

sensibil ity nd hardness.I oncesaw wo people itt ing out of sight and watching he toils

and hearing he groans f the ascetics. ne did this so as o be able o

imitate them. But the other di d it so that when the time camehecould laugh at God's laborer and get in the way of his good work.

Do not becomesilent in an unreasonableway that causes istur-

bancean d hard feeling n others,and do not let your behavioran d

progress slow down when you have been told to hurry. Otherwise

you will be worse than the possessed nd the rebellious. haveoften

seen uch hingsas hese, sJobsays cf l Job l3:1), hat is, soulsbur-

dened sometimesby slownessof characterand sometimesby exces-

siveeagerness.wa sastounded y the varietyof evil.

He who is in the company of others can get more benefit from

prayer thanfrom singing the psalms, for the confusion of voices

makeshe psalmsndistinct.

Fight always with your thoughts and call them back when they

wander away. God does not demand of those under obedience hat

their thoughts be totally undistracted when they pray. And do not

loseheartwhenyour thoughts restolenaway. us t emaincalm,an d

constantly al l your mind back.

Whoeverhas secretlyvowed not to give up the struggle until his

very last breath, o endurea thousanddeaths f body and soul,will

not fall easily nto any of thesediff icult ies, or it is inconstancy f

heartand unfaithfulnesso one'splace hat bring aboutstumblings

and disasters. hosewho readily go from monastery o monasteryaretotally unfit sincenothing s moreconduciveo barrennesshan lrn-

Datience.If you comeupon a doctorand a hospitalhitherto unknown to

you, behaveike a passerby nd quietly examine he exPertise f those

living there.Bu t if you discover ha t the doctorsan d the workers n

that place an cureyou of your ailmentsand,especially, f the spiri-

tual pride that weighsyou down, then go to them,bu y your healing

with the gold of humility, and write your terms n lettersof servtce

on the parchmentof obedience, nd et the angels e your witnesses

really dead. Let us be g the Lord not to let this happen to us.

When the more lazy find orders heavy, they decide that prayer is

better for them. But when they are given something easy to do they

run from prayer as f from a conflagration.

Imagine a particular task. Some leave t aside for the sake of abrother's peaceof mind, some eave t because hey are lazy; but th en

some stay with it out of va inglory and some stay with it out of zea l.

If, having bound yourself to certain obligations, you become

aware of the fact that your soul's ey e has made no pr ogress,do no t

seekpermission o quit. The authentic monk will persevereanywhere

and the converse s also rue.

In the world, slander has causedmany d breakup, but in monas-

tic communities it is gluttony that brings about all the falls and trans-

gressions.Keep mistressgluttony under control and every abodewill

then give you dispassion,but let her take hold of you and every place

outside the grave will be a menace to you.

The Lord, who ma kes wise the blind (cf. Ps. 145:8), pens the

eyes of the obedient to the virtues of their sp iritual director and

blinds them to his faults, but does he opposite to the h ater of what rs

good.

Let what we call quicksilver be a paradigm of per fect obedience.

Roll it with an y substanceyou wish, an d it will nevertheless un to

th e lowest place and mix with nothing defiled.

The zealous should be especially careful not to condemn the

easygoing n case hey draw down a worse sentence on themselves.

That, I think, was why Lot was ustified. Despite the sort ofpeople helived with, he never seems o have condemned them.

On every occasion,but espe cially during the singing of hymns,

we should be stil l a nd undistracted, fo r it is by means of disuactions

that devils try to make our prayers useless.

A servant of the Lord33 stands bodily before men, but mentally

he is knocking at the gatesof heaven with prayer.

Insults, belittl ings, and such like have the bit terness of worm-

wood for the soul of the novice ; praise,honor, approval , are like hon-

tl lc, I r lrrtc0|| | | .hrrt .h (cl. n(nc 14, p l( l l)

Jol lN(; t . tMACUS

ey and give birth to everv kind of swcctncss n pleasure overs. But

we should remember the naturc of cach of thcm. Wormwood purifies

al l internal filth, while honey incrcascsgall.


of this. And i f there s a temptationon us to move rom a place, et

that be proof that our life there is pleasing o God. War against us isproof that we are makingwar.

Now I will not besilentaboutsomething hat shouldno t be kept



undcrtaken to care for us in the Lord,

we should trust them completely, even whcn they order us to dosomething that looks like being contrary to our salvat ion.That is the

time when our faith in them is tested as in a furnace of humili ation,

and the sign of the most genuine faith is when we obey our superi ors

without hesitation,even when we see he opposite happening to w hatwe had hoped.

From obedience comes humility, as we have already said. And

from humility comesdiscernment. That is what the great Cassianha s

said in that marvelously philosophic and sublime chapter of his on

discernment.3aFrom discernment comes insight, and from insight

comes foresight. And who would not run this fine race of obedrence

when such blessingsare there ahead of himi The good psalmist had

this great virtue in mind when he said: "O God, in Your goodness

You have made ready Your presence n the heart of the poor obedient

soul" (Ps.67: 0).As long as you live, remember that great athlete who for eighteen

whole years never heard with his outward ears his superior say to

him, "May you be saved." Yet within him eachda y he heard from th e

Lord not just, "May yo u be saved," an uncertain wish, but, "You ar e

saved," definite and sure,34'

There ar e some living in obedience who, on noti cing t he kind-

nessan d indulgence of t heir superior, seek his permission to follow

their own wishes. They ought to know that if t hey get this, they de-prive themselves ompletely of their confessor's rown. Obedience rs

foreign to hypocrisy and willfulness.

A monk was given an order once. He saw that the intention be-

hind it was that no pleasurewould come to him through having car-

ried it out. So he asked o be excused.Another monk understood the

intention but obeyed at once. The question is: Which of them acted

more piously?

The devil cannot act conrary to his own will . Those living a

negligent life, whether alone or in community, should convince yo u

34. John Cassian,Srco"d Confelence, h. 10.

l4e. John the Theban: TbeSalings of tbe DeserrFadrn, John the I heban.

quiet. It would be againstmy fellowman to keep o myself what peo-ple shouldknow.

The renownedJohn the Sabbaite3sold me things well worthhearing. He was detachedand was uncontaminatedby any falsehood

evil word, or bad deed, asyou yourself know, holy father, from per-sonal experience.This is what he told me: "In my monastery in Asia (this good

man ceme rom there), here rvas a certain elder who was extremelycareless nd undiscipli ned. say this not to passiudgmenton him,but merely to state he truth. He acquired a disciple-I could not sayhow-a young man called Acacius, good-heartedand sensible,whoput up with so much rom this elder hat meny will hardly believe t.He was tormenteddaily, no t only with insultsan d indignities,bu tevenwith blows; and yet he accepted t, thopgh not blindly. I wouldseehim every day, and his condition was very bad, ike that of thelowestslave. oftenspoke o him when I met him.'What is t, Broth-er Acacius?How is it with you today?'He would show me a blackeye,or a bruised neck or head.Knowing that he was a worker, I usedto say o him, Well done,well done.Put up with it, and t will be oryour own good.'So for nine years he endured this pitiless elder, andthen departed o the Lord. Five days after he had been buried in thecemeteryof the fathers,Acacius'smasterwent to a certain greatelderliving there,and said o hi m:'Father, Brother Acacius s dead.'Theold man answered:Elder, assure ou I do no t believet!' 'Come andsee,'theother said.The elder mmediately oseup and went to the

cemetery with the masterof the blessed scetic.And he called o himwho in deathwa s ruly alive,and hespoke o him as o a iving being:'Are yo u dead,Brother Acaciusl'And this mostobedientman,obedi-ent even n death, nsweredhe greetelder:'How cou ld someoneru -ly obedientdie, Father?'The elder who had been Acacius'smaste

15 .John, ormerlyof t he monastery f St. Sabbasn P3lestine,s rn el derknown

ro us rom the nerretives f Anastasiusf Mount Sinai se e . Nau, "Le texteSrccdc s

r{cits du moine Anestase ur lcs sainis Paresdu Sinet", Oint (:btistiaatlr i l1902lPp.5tt-8'),$$ 6 and l4).

JOHN CLIMACUS

grew terrified and fell on his face weeping. Later he asked rhe abbotof the Laura36 for a cell near the tomb. He lived devoutlv there. andto the fathers he used to say: ,I have committed murder.i " enj, p.a-

ther John, I think that th e on e who spoke to the dead man was the


So, FatherJohn, he wise John said all this to me as if about

someone lse.That was why he changed is name o Antiochus.3

But in fact it was he who cancel led he bond courageouslyby his pa-

tience cf .Col. 2: 4).



great John himself. For that blessed soul told me anorher story asthough about someone else, when in fact it was about himself- as Ilearned afterwards for sure.

"In th e same monastery in Asia," said John,..there

was someone

who became a disciple of a monk who was very meek, gentle, andpeaceable. When he realized that the elder respected him and caredfo r him, he decided,quite rightly, that this was something that couldharm many. So he asked he elder to send him away, and this wouldcauseno inconveniencesince he elder had another disciole. He wenraway, therefore, and a letter from the elder got him into a monasreryin Pontus. On his first night there he dreamed that his account wasbeing made up, and after he had settled that dreadful reckonins hewas still in debt to the extent of one hundred pounds of gold.-Hethought about this dream after he had awakened and said, .Poor

An -tiochus (for this was his name), you certainly are very far short ofyour debt.'

" 'And,'he continued, 'after l iv ing for three years n total obedi-ence in this monastery, despised by everyone, insulted as a foreigner,for there was no other foreign monk there, then again I had a dreamin which someonegave me a note credit ing me with ten pounds ofmy debt. When I woke up I thought about my dream and said: ,Only

ten! When will I ever pay the rest?" After that I said,,.poor Antro-chus! Sti l l more hard work and dishonor for you!" Thereafter I pre-tended to be a fool,37 though without neglecting anything of myserviceof everyone. When those pit i less fathers sa w that I will ingly

served in the seme status, they loaded all the heavy work of the mon-astery onto me. I spent thirteen years this way, and then in a dream Isalv those who had appeared to me before, and they gave me a recerprto mark ful l payment of my debt. When, therefore, the monks im-posed n any way on me, I remembered my debt and took heart."'

J6. A laura s technically a loose ommunity of hermits whosecells open onro enalleyway.This laura, however, s under an ebbot btgoum.oslarrd s referred to in rhenext per3graphas a cenobium.

31. Gk er;chott. ot the technicalword for someonewbo pretended o be a fool asen ascetic iscipfine (rr'lrt, but clearly in the same radirion (cf. Palladius,TbeLaasiacHiton.

Let us hear what a gift of discernment this holy man obtained

through his perfect obedience.While he was living in the monastery

of Saint Sabbas,hree young monkscame o him wis hing to be hi s

disciples.He received hem gladly and gave hem generoushospital-

ity, for he wanted to refresh them after their long iourney. Afterthree days he said to them: "Brothers, I am very inclined to fornica-

tion, and I cannot receiveany of you as disciples."But they were not

scandalized,or they knew the good work of the old man. Yet for all

that they beggedhim, they still could not make him changehis mind.

Then, prostrating themselves eforehim, they beggedhim at least o

provide hem with a rule by which they might know how and where

to live. He gave n to their pleas and, understanding \r/ell that they

would accepta rule from him in all humility andobedience, e said o

one of them: "My son, the Lord wants yotl to live in a solitary place

under the guidanceof a spiritual director." To the secondhe had this

to say:"Go, sell off your will, hend it over to God, takeuP your cross,

and perseveren a community and monastery of brothers.Then you

will surely have reasuren heaven." o the third he said: Draw tn

inseparablywith your breathing the phrasewhich says,He who per-

severeso the end will be saved'(Matt. 0:22).3e o now and find, if

you can, the harshestand strictest trainer in the Lord, and persever

ing daily imbibe insult end scorn as f they were milk and honey.

Then the brother said o the greatJohn:"But if the trainer s some

how lax, what then?"This is what the elder eplied: Even if you se

him fornicating, do not go away from him. Just say o yourself' 'Why

areyo u here, riend?' Matt. 26:50). hen you will se eal l pride abandon yo u and ust dry up."

Those of us who wish to fear the Lord should strive mightily to

avoid picking up, in the schoolof Yirtue,malice and wrongdoing

cunning and craftiness, uriosity and anger. t can happen,nor is it

surprising.When a man s iust a privatecitizen,a sailor,a laboreron

the land, he enemies f the King do not tak e up armsagainsthim.

3ll. With e pun on aali-ot ?r, "to beer adversities."

]r). An crrly instanceof l inking prayer $r' i thbreathing, bu t no t yd cult ivctcrl rr I

JOHN CLIMACUS

But when they seehim accept he King's seal,aohe shield, he dagger,the sword, he bow, the uniform of a soldier, hen they gnash heirteethand do all they can o destroyhim. So et us not be caughrnap-Prng.


virtues, so that they may not persevereand attain them in due time.

And to those iving in solitud e, he deceiverheapspraise on the hospi-

tal i ty of those l iving under obedience,on their service, heir brother-

ly love, heir community living, their visits to the sick. What the devi l



I haveseen nnocent lovely children come o school or wisdom,education,and profit, and learn only cunning and vice through thecontact hey make with other students.The wise man will under-standwhat I am saying.

Thosestriving completelyto learn a craft makedaily progress. thas o be so.But someknow how they are progressing.Others, by di-vine providence,do not know. Now a goodbankernever lets an eve-ning passwithout his reckoning profit and loss.However, he canhaveno clearpictureof this unless e makes ourly entries n his rec-ord books.For it is the hourly account hat yields he daily account.

A silly person eelshurt when accused r shouted t. He trres oanswer backor elseat onceapologizes o his accuser,not for reasonsof humility but to put a stop to his reproaches.n fact you should besilentwhen ridiculed.Acceptpatiently hese piritualcauterizations,or rather, purifying flames.And when the doctor hasdone his work,ask him to forgive you, for he may not acceptyour apologywhen heis angry.

Those of us who live in community must fight by the houragainst ll the passions nd especially gainst hese wo: a mania orgluttony and bad temper.There is plenty of food for thesepassionsna communtty.

The devil proposes mpossiblevirtues to those who live underobedience,nd unsuitabledeas o those iving in solitude. f yo u lookat the thinking of inexperienced ovices iving under obedience,ouwill f ind ideasout of stepwith oneanother-desire or stil lness,or

extremefasting, for unbroken prayer, for total freedom from vanity,fo r continual emembrance f death, or unceasing ompunction, orabsolute elease rom anger,for deep silence, or outstanding purity.And should hey happenby divine providenceo be without these tthe start, they rush vainly toward a different life because hey havebeen deceived.The enemy persuadeshem to look too soon or these

40. Soldierswere brandedor tattooed. I he " se^1"tthfagida\^lso

alludes o the sealofbaptism; cl JohnChrysostom. Iora.J, 7 ll Co/. PG 61,418),where he comparisonis made xDlicit-

is trying to do is to make both restless.

Very few are able to live in solitude. This is real ly so. Indeed

only those can do so whose labors have been encouraged by God and

whose struggles have receivedHis help.

We should analyze the nature of ou r passionsand of our obedience,so as o chooseour director accordingly. If lust is your problem,

do not pick for your trainer a worker of miracles who has a welcome

and a meal for everyone. Choose instead an ascetic who will reject

any of th e consolationof food. If you are arrogant, let him be tough

and unyielding, no t gentle an d accommodating.We should no t be on'the lookout for those gifted with foreknowledge and foresight, but

rather for those who are truly humble and whose character and

dwelling place match our weaknesses. nd remember the example of

the righteous Abbacyrus, mentioned above.AdoPt the fine habit, so

conducive to obedience,of al ways assuming that the superior is test-in g you, and you wil l not be far wrong. If you are constantly upbraid-

ed by your director an d thus acquire great fai th in him and love fo r

him, then you may be sure that the Holy Spiri t has taken uP resr-

dence invisibly in your soul and th e Power of the Most High has

overshadowed you. But you must not boas t or celebrate when you

manage o be brave under insults and indignities. Rather should you

mourn for having earned cri t ic ism and for having stirred your direc-

to r to anger against you. And what I am going to say to you now

must not shock you. (I n any case have the support of Moses n this.)

It is better to sin againstGod than againstour father. If we make Go d

angry, our director can reconci le Him to us. But i f he is angry, then

there is no one to speak uP for us before God. An d in an y case, he

tw o situations are real ly the same.Or so i t seems o me.

Let us be vigi lant and very careful ly an d prudently decide when

we should gladly and si lently endure accusationsmade against us to

ou r pastor, and when we ought to sPeak up for ourselves o him. I

think we should always be silent when some indignity is offered to

us, since we can profit from that. But where another person is in-

volved we shou ld make a defenseso as to keep unbroken th e bond of

llvc and oeace.

J() l tN t. tMAcus

' I 'hosewho havc'llrokcrr wty from <ltredienceil l insiston rrsvalue, or only rhen have hc y fully understoodhe heaven n whichthey were iving.

He wh o strives or dispassionnd for Godconsidersos tany dav



on which he wasno t criticized.Like treesswayedby the wind an idriving their rootsdeeper nto the ground, hosewh o live in obedi_encebecome trongan dunshakableouls.

. {h.la monk iving in solitudehas ealizedwhat hi s weakpoint

is . an d when he changes laceand sellshimself o obedience,hen,blind ashe wa sonce,he recovers ightan dca nse eChristwithoutdif_ficulty.

.So hen,keep unning,brotherathletes, nd again sa y o you,

keep unning.Listen o thecr y of wisdom: ,TheLord has i ied themlike gold in a furnace,"or, rather, n a community, .andhe has re_ceived.themsburnt offeringsnt o his bosom" Wi;d. l:6).Glory an deternaldominion are His, in companywith th e eternalFatheran dthe holyan dadorable pirit. Amen.

__This step s of equalnumberwith th eevangelists.ee p unning,

athlete, nd do not be afraid.

Step5

ON PENITENCE

Once John outran Peter,and now obedience s placedbefore re-pentance.For the one who arrivedfirst represents bedience,he oth-er repentance.ar

Repentances the renewalof baptismand s a contractwith Godfor a freshstart in life. Repentance oesshoppingfor humility and isever distrustfulof bodily comfort. Repentances critical awarenesand a sure watch over oneself. Repentances the daughter of hopean d the refusal o despair. Th e penitentstandsguilty-but undis-graced.)Repentance s reconciliation with the Lord by the perfor-mance of good deedswhich are the oppositesof the sins. It is the

purification of conscience nd the voluntary enduranceof affliction.Th e penitentdealsout his own punishment,or repentances thefierce persecutionof the stomachand the flogging of the soul into in-tense wareness.

Come,gatherround, l istenhereand I will speak o all of youwho haveangered he Lord. Crowd around me and seewhat he hasrevealedo my soul or your edification.

Let us give first placeto rhe story of the dishonored workers-who sti l l earned espect. et us listen, ake heed,and act-we whomay havesufferedan unexpectedall. Riseup and be seated,ll yo u

JOHNCLIMACUS

wh o have been laid low by your sins. Hear what I have to say, my

brothers. Listen, al l you who long to be reconciled with God again in

a true conversion.

I, the weakling, heard that there was a great an d strange way of


ble to the life around hem, heir minds sunk n thedepthsof humil-ity. their eyes' ears ried up in the fire of despondency.

Others sat in deep thought with gaze rooted to the earth. Theirheads were moving constantly. Like l ions they roared and moaned



l i fe and lowliness for those iving in a separatemonastery called "The

Prison." It was under the authority of that man, that l ight of l ights,

refened to above, and during my visit I asked the good man to let me

see t. This great man, who wished never to causegrief to any soul,

gave his permis sion.

I went therefore to that abode of penitents, to that placeof true

grief, and if I may be so bold as to say so, I actually saw what the eye

of an inattentive man never saw, what the ear of a lackadaisicalma n

never heard, what never entered the heart of a sluggard (cf. I Cor.

2:9). saw things done and said that could only draw down the mercy

of God, deeds and atti tudes of body that quickly win His love for

men.

1 I saw some of those accused et innocent men stand all night un-

/ti l dawn in the open air, their feet never moving, pit i ful ly pounded

fb y th e natural urge to sleep,giving themselvesno rest, reproachingIthemselves,driving sleep away with abuseand insults.

Others raised their eyes to heaven, wept, cried, and implored

help from there.

Others prayed with their hands tied behind their backs, l ike

criminals, their facesblackened with grief an d bent earthward, since

they thought themselves unworthy to look up to heaven Overcome

by their reflections and the weight of conscience, hey could no t

speak, could not pray to God, could not even make a beginning of

prayer; and fi l led, as it seemed,with darkness and empty despair,

they could offer God only a blank soul and a wordless mind.Others sat in sackcloth and ashes on the ground, hiding their

facesbetween their knees,striking the earth with their foreheads.'

Others constantly beat heir breasts, ecall ing their past ives and

the condition of their souls. Some shed their tears on the ground,

while others, unable to weep, struck themselves.Some raised over

their own souls a lament for the dead, since he strength to bear their

heart's grief had left them. Others moaned inwardly, sti f l ing thc

sounds of their wailing until, unable to bear t any longer, they would

suddenly cry out.

who i n look and disposition seemed out of thcir

from their innermost depths. Some were full of hope as they beggedcomplete orgiveness, hile others,ou t of exreme humility, con-demnedhemselvessbeingunworthy to be orgivenand wailed hatit was not in theirpowerto iustify themselveseforeGod. Some m-

plored he Lord to punish hem hereand to showmercy n the nextlife. Others,weighed down by the burdenof conscience,would say nall sincerity, We are unworthy of heaven, ut to be spared rom fu -ture punishmentwill satisfyus."

I saw there humbleand conmite soulswho were saddened y theweight of their burden. The stonesthemselveswould have beenmoved to pity by their voicesand by their cries to God. Lookingdown to the ground, they would say this: "We know, we know thatwe deserye very punishmentan d every torment.Rightly so. Howcouldwe makeup for all that weowe,even f we had heentireworldthere

to weep or usl All we ask,all we pray for, all we implore is that'i n Your angerYo u do not rebukeusor chasten s n Your wrath' (Ps,6:2).Be sparing, t is enough or us f You deliverus rom Your greatthreatand from unknownand hidden orments.We darenot ask orcomplete forgiveness.How could we, when we have failed to keepour vow unstained, ut after all Your past oving kindness nd for-givenessav edefi led t?"

The wordsof David could surelybe seen o be fulfilled there, forthereweremen n hardship ndboweddown to the endof their lives,goingabouteachda y n sadness,heir bodies'wounds tinkingof rot-tenness Ps. 37:6-7) and yet unnoticed by them. They forgot to eattheir bread; heir drink wasmixedwith tears. hey atedustand asheinstead of bread; heir bonesstuck to their flesh and they were driedup l ike grass Ps . 0l:4-12).Th e only words yo u could hear fromthem were these: Woe,woe,alas, las! t is iust, t is iust.Spareus ,spareus, O Lord." Somesaid, "Be merciful, be merciful"; others,more sadly: Forgive us,Lord, forgiveus f it is possible."

Yo u could see he tongueson someof them dry and hangingfrom their mouths n the mannerof dogs.Somepunishedhemselvein the blaz.ingun ,others orturedthemselvesn the cold, while oth.ers,again, rank only asmuch wateraswouldkeep hem fromdying

JOHN CLIMACUS

of it and proclaimed themselvesunworthy to be fed like human be-

ingssince hey had behavedike animals.Would yo u witnessan y laughteramong heml Idle talk? rr ita-

tion?Anger?No, indeed. hey no longerknew what t was or a man


a greet distance?For until they come close o us, our efforts are vainand futile. Our prayer has neither the power of access or the wingsof purity to reach the Lord, unless our angelsdraw near to us andtake t and bring it to the Lord."



to be angry, or grief had doneawaywith their capacity

Where was quarreling mong theml Or merrymaking?Or bold

speech?Or concern for the body?Where among them \vasany trace

of vanity, or longing for comfort, or the thought of wine, or the taste

of fresh fruit, or the enioyment of cooked ood, or the pleasingof thepalate? he fact was hat even he hopeof such hings n this world

had beenextinguished n them.Did any of them wory aboutearthly hingstOr pass udgment

on anyone? ertainlynot.

Thesewere the shouts and cries they raised o the Lord v/ithout

ceasing. tr iking their breasts, s houghstandingbefore he gates f

heaven, omewould say o God: "Open up to us,O JudgelOpen upl

We have shut ourselves ut with our sins.Open up to us!" Others

would say, Just show the light of Your facean d we will be saved"

(Ps.79:4). nother would say; Give light to those itting humbly in

darkness nd n the shadow f death" Luke :79).Another would say,

"Ah, Lord, let Your mercy go speeding before us (Ps. 78:8) or we

have perished in despair and have fallen completely away." Some

said: Will the Lord everagainshow he ight of His face o us?" Ps

66:2\and others, "Will our souls survive the unbearabledebt?" (Ps.

121:5), hile ye t otherssaid, Will the Lord be movedat last o haYe

mercyon us? Judges :18).Will we everhearhim say o those f us n

endless ondage,'Comeorth' (Isa. 9:9) nd o thoseof us n the hell

of penance,Be forgiven'? Has our cry com€ o the earsof the Lord?"

All of them sat ceaselesslyontemplating eath,saying, Ho w

will it go for us?What will be the verdict on us?How will life end forus? Will we receive pardonl Will there be forgiveness or those in

darkness, or the lowly, for the convictedl Is our prayer vigorous

enoughto come before the face of the Lord, or has t been rejected-

and rightly so-for being worthless and shameful! Or, if it came as

far as the Lord, how much could it sway Him? Would it be success-

ful? Powerful?Profitable?Effective?Coming as t does rom unclean

lips and bodies, t doesnot havemuch power. Would our prayer rec'

oncileus completelywith theJudge r only in part,only to the extent

of half our wounds,which arevery greatand requiremuch sweat nd

With failing confidence, hey would often speak o one anotheras follows: "Brothers, are we getting anywhere?Will we be grantedwhat we ask?Will the Lord acceptus once more?Will He open up tous?"Otherswould answer: As our brothers he Ninevites aid,Wh o

knows f God will changeHis mind (Jon.3:9)and deliver us frommighty punishment? et us do what we can. f He opens he door,well an d good; f not, then blessed e the Lord Go d Who in His ius-tice has shut the door on us. At leastwe should continue to knock atthe door as ong as we live. Maybe He will open to us on account ofour persistence."And so they encouragedone another, saying, "Wemust run, brothers, we must run. We have o run very hard becauswe have allen behind our holy company.So le t us run, driving onthis foul and wicked leshof ours,kill ing it as t ha skilled us."

And that precisely s what theseholy mtn who had beencalled o

iaccountweredoing.With knees ike wood,asa resultof all the pros-trations,with eyesdimmed and sunken,with hair gone and cheekwastedand scaldedby many hot tears,with facespaleand worn, theywere no different from coroses.Their breastswere livid from all the

lbeatings, hich had even made hem spit blood.There was no restjfor them in beds,no cleanand launderedclothing. They were bedrag-

{gled,dirty, and verminous. Compared with this, what are the suffer-ings of the possessed,f thosemourning the dead,of the exiled, or ofthose condemned or murderl These are suffering involuntary tor-ture an d punishment.But this is nothing n comparisonwith suffer-ings deliberately sought.

Believeme, brothers, am no t makingall this up.Often they came o the great udge, to that angel among men-I

mean he shepherd-and hey would pleadwith him to put ironsan dchainson their handsand necks, o bind their legs n the stocks ndnot to release hem until death-or even afterwards,a2

I will certainly not passover the marveloushumility of these

42 . l he bodyof a monk namedSarapion asbeendiscoveredn Egypi wccring

coff ir , bclt ,brecefcts ndanklets f i ron (Palladius,be autiac i t ton, ed. lut lcr, vol.i i , p . 215, otc69).Suchpractices, owovcr, er c unusual n Fgypt,e lthrrugh'ottntott

JOHNCLIMACUS

holy men, heir contrite ove or God, andtheir penance.Whenon eof these oo dcitizens f the land of repentance as about o die and

to standbefore he impartialJudge,when he saw that his end wa s

near,he would implore he man in chargeof them with oaths o In-


this hour, and n this one only, ir will discoverwhat is preparedori t .

I cameclose o despairwhen I hadseen nd heardall this amongthem and when I hadcomparedmy own indifferencewith what theywent through.What a dreadfulplace hey ived nl It was



tercedewith the abtrot n his behalfan d o beg hat he be deniedhu -

man burial, but that he be flung into a river bed, ike somedumbanimal,or thrown to the wild beastsn the ield. And often he abbot,

that greatdiscerning ight, would give nstructions hatth e deadbe

carriedawaywithout the singingof psalms r without an y sort of re -spect shown.

The last hour of one of thesewa s fearful to behold.When thepenitents n th e prison earned hat one oftheir number was inish-

ing his course ndgoingon ahead f them, hey wouldgather ound

while his mind was still working. Thirsty, tearful, andsad, hey

would loo k at him compassionately,haking heir heads, ackedwithtenderness,nd heywould speak o the dying man: Brother and el-

low penitent,how is it with you?What will you saylWhat are your

hopes andexpectations?Have you achievedwhat you worked for so

hard, or have you not? Has the door been openedo you, or are youstill under sentence? id you reachyour goal,or did you fail? Has

an y kind of assuranceom e o you, or are you sti l l uncertainn yourhopesl Are you free at last,or doesdarkness nd doubt still hang overyour thoughtslHave you sensed ny llumination n your heart,or is

it still in darkness nd dishonor? id you hearan inner voicesaying,

'You are made whole' (John5:14)or 'Your sins are forgivenyou'(Matt. 9:2) or 'Your faith has savedyou' (Mark 5:14)?Or -<lid-{voice

say, Let sinnersbe cast nto hell '(Ps.9:18);Bind him hand and\ot,

and hrow him into the darkness utside'(Matt.22:13)l 'Let he wick-

ed man be expelled sothat he may not see heglory of the Lord' (Isa.26:10)?an you sayanything o us,brother?Pleaseell us,so hat wernayknow how it wil l be or us,Your time s overan dyo u will neverhaveanother hance."Someof th e dying would answer: Blessed eGod Who hasnot turned awaymy prayer nor His mercy from me"(Ps.65:20). therswould say, Blessed e he LordWho hasnot given

us a prey to their teeth"(Ps. 2l:6). But otherswould be sadan dsay:

"Will our soulpass hrough he mpassable ater ofthe spiritsof the

air?" Ps . 2l:5). Thesewould be unsure, nd would be worried about

th e renderingof accounts fter death.And more sadly yet, others

ine, i l thr'.an.i anaccurate escription.Just he sightof i t would teachyou penitencand mourning.

Ye t what for some s hardand unbearables easyand tolerablfo r thosewho have allenaway ro m virtuean dspiritual reasures.soul hat has ost ts one-time onfidence nd abandonedts hooeofdispassion,hat hasbroken he sealof chastity, hat has squanderethe treasuryof divine graces,hat hasbecome strenger o divineconsolation,hat has rejectedhe Lord's command, hat hasextrn-guished he beautiful ire of spiritual tearsa3-and ha t is woundedand piercedby sorrow as t remembersall this-will not only takeonth e laborsmentionedabovewith all eagerness,ut will evendecidedevoutly o kill itselfwith penitentialworks.,Itwill do so f there s nit only the tiniest sparkof loveor of fearof the Lord. And of such

akind were theseblessedmen.Remembering ll this, hinking of theheightsof virtue from which they hadfallen, they would say: .We re-member he old days(Ps. 142:5) nd that fire of our zeal."Somewould cry to God, "Where are Your old mercies,Lord, which inYour truth You would reveal o our souls?Remember he reoroachand he hardship f Your servants" Ps . 8:50- l). Another would say'"Ah, I wish I were back as I used o be in the monthsof the dayswhen God watched over me,when the lamp of His light shone overthe headof my heart"(Job29:2-3).

They would think of their former achievements nd, weeping for

them as though they were children that had died, they would say:"Where is the purity of my prayer?The confidence hat was n it?Where are the sweet ears, nsteadof thesebitter ones?Where is thathopeof perfectchastity and purification?Where is that expectationofblessed ispassion? here s my faith in the shepherd?Where s theresultof his prayer or us? t is all lostan dgone,as hough t had nev-er appeared.t hasvanished s hough t had neverbeen here."

Someprayed o bepossessedy devils, thers hat hey might be-

4.1.SonreMS Sorrri t spi r i rual . "

JOHN CLIMACUS

comeepileptics.Somewished or blindness o that they might be a

piti ful spectacle,therssoughtparalysis o hat theymight not have

to suffer ater.And I, my friends,was sopleased y their grief that I

was carriedaway,enraptured, nable o containmyself.Bu t I must

return to my discourse.

THE LADDEROF DIVINE ASCEN'T

humble feet with the same rust. Everything is possible or the believ-er, said the Lord (cf. Mark 9:23). havewatched impure souls mad fo rphysical love but turning what they know of such love into a reasonfor penance and transferring that same capacity for love to the Lord.I have watched them master fear so as o



For all that I am mpatientby nature, stayed hirty daysn that

prison beforereturning to the main monasteryand to its great shep-

herd.He noticed hat I was verymuch changed nd that I hadyet to

recovermy forrner self. He understoodwhat the changemeant, or hewa sa very wise man."So,FatherJohn,"he said, you sawhow these

me nwere struggling?"

"I sa w hem, Father,and I wa samazed," replied. It seemso

me that thosewho have allenand arepenitentar emore blessedha n

those who have never fallen and who do not have to mourn over

themselves, ecausehrough having fallen, hey have pulled them-

selves p by a sure esurrection.""That is how it is," he said,an dhe old me this rue story: I had

a brother hereaboutten yearsago,and he was very active and enthu-

siastic.When I saw how zealous e was, really rembled or him rn

case he devil, n envy,should rip his foot against n obstacle she

spedalong-something hat canhappen o those n a hurry. And in

fact t happenedhat way. One evening,ate,he came o me, showed

me an openwound, looked or a dressing, equested auterization,

and was n a very alarmed tate. he physician id not wishto make

too deepan incision, or the man deservedympathy.But when th e

brother saw this, he flung himself on the ground,clappedmy feet,

moistened hem with copiousears,and asked o be s\ut uP in th e

prisonyou haveseen.'It s mpossibleor me o ayoidgoing here,'he

cried, and-something most unusualamong the sicfhe pleaded

with the physician o change is kindnesso harshne#,an dhe hur-ried off to becornea companionand fellow suffereramong the peni-

tents.Th e grief that comesrom lo ving God piercedhis heart ike a

sword, andon the eighth dayhe died, havingaskednot to be given

burial.But I broughthim herean dhad him buriedamong he athers,

as he had deserved,becauseafter his week of slavery he had been

freed on the eighth day.And let me tell you that someone urely

knows that he did not rise up from my foul and wretched feet before

he had won God's favor. It is not to be wondered at, for having rc-

ceived n his heart the faith of the gospelharlot, he moistenedmy

unsparing-ly toward the love of God. That is why, when talking of that chasteharlot, the Lord does not say, 'becauseshe feared,' but rather, ,be-

causeshe loved much'she was able to drive out love with love" (Luke

7:47).No w I know well, my friends, that these abors I have described

wil l seem unbelievable to some, unattainable to others, and be asourceof despair to others sti l l . Yet they wil l actually be sn incentiveto a brave soul, a fiery blast, so that he wil l go away with zeal n hisheart, whereas the man who feels a great incapacity in himself will

. understand his own weakness,be humbled easily by the reproach helevelsagainst himself, and wil l at least try to fol low the soul who isbrave. And I am not at al l sure but that he may even overtake him.But the careless man had better stay away frgm my stories, for other-wise he may fal l into

despair, throw away the l i tt le he has achieved,and prove to be like the man of whom it was said: "From the ma nwho has no eagerness, ven that which he seems o have wil l be takenaway" (cf. Matt. 25:29). t is impossible or those of us who have alleninto the sink of iniquity ever to be drawn out of i t unless we alsoplumb th e depths of the humil i ty shown by the penitent.

Th e sad humil i ty of penitents is one thing. The reproach of con-scienceof those who are sti l l sinners is another. The blessed reasureof humil i ty that, with God's help, the perfect manage o attain rs ye t

another. And we should be in no hurry to find words adequate to thisthird kind of humil i ty, fo r our effort wil l be useless. ut a sign of thesecondkind is the perfect bearing of indignity.

An old habit often dominates eyen someone who mourns. Nowonder, for the iudgments visited by God and our own lapsesmakeup a l ist hard to understand,and it is impossible to be sure which ofour fai l ings are due to carelessness, hich are due to the fact that Godpermitted them, and which arise from God's having turned awayfrom us. I havebeen told, however, that lapses ccurring as a result ofdivine providence cause us to repent swift ly, since He Wh o delivcrsus does not permit us to be held captive for long. But atrovcal l wcmust fight off the demon of dejection whenever we hal)pcn ro sl i l),

JOHN CLIMACUS

for he comes ight beside s when we areprayingan d remindsus of

our former good standing with God and tries to divert us from our

prayer.Do not be surprised f you fall every day and do not surrender.

Standyour groundbravely.And you may be sure hat your guardian


A sign of true repentances the admissionha t al l our troublesand more besides,whether visible or not, were richly deserved.

After Moseshad seenGod in the bush, he went back to Egypt,that s, o the darkness nd he brick makingof pharaoh,wh o is to be



angelwill respect our endurance. fresh,warm wound is easier o

heal han those hat are old, neglected, nd festering, nd that need

extensive reatment, surgery, bandaging,and cauterization.Long ne-

glect ca n render many of them incurable.However, all things arepossible ith God (Matt. l9:26).

God is merciful before a fall, inexorable after-so the demons

say.And when yo u havesinned, ay no attention o him who says n

regard o minor failings: If only you had not committed hat maior

fault! This is nothing by comparison." he truth is that very often

smallgiftssoften he greatangerof theJudge.He who really keeps rack of what he hasdonewill consider s

losteveryday during which he did not mourn, egardlessf whatever

goodhe may happen o havedone.Let no one who grieves for his sins expect reassurance t the

hour of death, here can be no assurancebout he unknown."Spare

me before depart rom here,unsureof my salvation" Ps .38 :4) .

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there he chainsof si n are le t

loose;where here s real humility, all bondsar emade ree;but those

without the oneor the other shouldnot bedeceiyed:hey are n bond-

age.Those iving in the world, and hey alone, rewithout these wo

essurances,speciallyhe first, unless, hrough alrnsgiving, omeso

run their race hat they know at the momentof deathhow much hey

havegained.He who weeps or himselfwill not be wrappedup in the grief,

lapse, r reproachof someone lse.A dog injured by a wild animalbecomes ll the moremaddened gainst t and s driven o implacable

rage by the pain of the niury.We ought to be on our guard, n caseour conscience asstopped

troublingus ,not so much because f it s beingclearbut because f it s

being mmersed n sin.A proofof our havingbeendeliveredrom our failings s the un-

ceasingacknowledgement f our indebtedness.Nothing equals he mercy of God or surpassest. To despair s

therefore to inflict death on oneself.

understoodhere n a spiritual sense.But he returned to the bush.Andno t only to the bush,bu t to the mountaintop.For anvonewho hasexperiencedcontemplation will never despaii of himsllf. The greatJob becamea beggar,but afterwardshe beiame twice as rich.

_ If you have no courage, f you are lazy, then lapses hat occurafter entering religious life are hard to bear. They wipe out the hopeof dispassionand they make us imagine that true blessednesss srm_ply to rise from the pit of sin. But note well thar we never return bythe road on which we strayed,but rather by a different and a shorterroute.

I saw two men traveling he same oute o the Lord, an d at thesame ime. One of them was older, and had worked harder. The oth_er, his disciple, oo novertookhi m and was irst to arriveat the seoul-chreof humility.

All of us-but especially he lapsed-should be especiallycarefulnot to be afflicted with the disease f the godlessOrigin.{ fhis fouldisease sesGod's love for man as an excuseand is viry welcome tothosewho are loversof oleasure

In my meditation,oi-o.a

,""ur"taly, in my actsof repentance,fire of prayer will burn and will consume verythingmaterial.Le tthe holy prisoners,describedabove,be a rule for you, a p"tte.rr,

"odel,a true pictlre of repentance, o hat for as ong asyou live youwill haveno needof a treatise; ntil at last Christ, he divine So nofGod, will enlighten yo u in the resurrectionof true reDentanceAmen.

. _'fhrough repentanceyou have reached he fifth step. you have,in this way, purified the five senses, nd by choosing o acceptpun-ishmenthave herebyavoided he punishment hat s involuniary.

4{ . I.c., hat all would finally be seved. he reaching f Origcn . || l j{ . l t , l) rx lunivcrsal rlvorionwa scondemned t the 'i f th Ecumenical r)unci l it l) .


saint.And yet not every desire or death s good.A habitualsrnnerprayshumbly for death, ut the man who doesnot want to change isways may, in sheerdespair,actually ong for death.And there ar esomewho out of conceit consider hemselves o be dispassionate , ndfor a while they haveno fear of death,while a rare few hunger to



Step6

ON REMEMBRANCEOF DEATH

As thought comesbefore speech,so the remembranc-e f death

and of sin comesbeforeweeping and mourning lt is therefore appro-priate to dealnow with this theme.' To be reminded ofdeath eachday is to die eachday; to remember

one'sdeparture ro m life is to provoke earsby.the hour' Fear of

death s a property of nature due to disobedience, ut terror of death

is a sign oi uniepented sins.Christ is frightened of dying but not ter-

rified, thereby clearly revealing he properties of His two natures'

Just asbiead is ihe most necessary f all foods,so the thought of

deatir is the most essentialof all works. The remembranceof death

brings labors and meditations,or rather, the sweetness f dishonor to

thosJ iving in community, whereas or thoseiving away from turbu-

lence it pioduces freedom from daily worries and breeds constant

p.ry"t ,ttd guarding of the mind, virtues that are the causeand the

iffect of the thought of death.

Tin hasa way of looking like silver but is of coursequite distinct;

and for thosewitir somediscernment, he differencebetweennatural

and contranaturalear of death s mostobvious.You canclearlysin-

gle out thosewho hold the thought of death at the centerof their be-

ing, for they freely withdraw from everything created and they

renounceheir own will.

The man who lives daily with the thought of death is to be ad-

leave y the nspirationof the Holy Spirit.Some,becausehe y ar e puzzled, sk he following question: If

the remembranceof death s so good for us, why hasGod concealed

from us he knowledge f when we will die?" n putting sucha ques-tion, they fail to realizehow marvelouslyGod operates o saveus. Noon ewho knew n advancehe hour of his deathwould accept aptismor ioin a monasteryon gbefore t, bu t insteadwould pass ll his timein sin and would be baptized nd do penance nl y on the day of hi sdemise.Habit would makehim a confirmed and quite incorrigiblesinner.aa"

When you are lamentingyour sins,do lo t ever admit that cu rwhich suggestsha t God is soft-heartedoward men.(Sucha notionma y on occasionbe of help to you when,you see yourself beingdragged own into deepdespair.) or the aim of the enemy s to di-vert you from your mourningan d ro m that fearofGod which, how-ever, s free from fear.

Th e man who wants o be remindedconstantlvof deathand ofGod's udgmentand who at the same ime gives n to materialcaresand distractions,s like sorneonerying at the same ime to swim andto clap his hands.

If your remembrance f death s clearand specific, ou will cutdown on your eating; nd i in your humility,yo u reduce he amountyo u eat,your passions il l be correspondinglyeduced.

To hayean insensitive eart s to be dulled n mind, and ood n

abundance riesup the well of tears.Thirst, however, nd the keep-ing of vigils afflict the heart;and when the heart s stirred, hen th etearsmay run. Now all this may sounddisgusting o the gluttonousand unbelievableo the sluggish, ut a man pursuing he active ifewill try this course nd he experience ill makehi m smile,whereasth e one who is stil l castingabout him will becomeeven more de -pressed.

'l 'he Fathers sserthat perfect ove s sinless. nd it seemso methat in the sameway a perfectsense f death s free rom ferr,

JOHN CLTMACUS

There are many things that the mind of a man leading the active

l i fe can do. On e ca n think about the love of God, the remembrance of

death, the remembrance of God, the remembrance of the kingdom,

the zealof the holy martyrs, the remembrance of the presenceof God

as described n the saying, "I saw the Lord before mg " (p5. l5:8), the


that fact that He accepts hosewho wish to make amends,even afterthe mostprolongednegligence n their part.

Justas somedeclare hat the abyss s infinite, for they call it abottomless it, so he thoughtof death s limitlessan d brings with itchastity and activity. The saint mentioned above proved this. Men



rernembrance of the holy and spiri tual powers, the remembrance of

death,,udgment, punishment, and sentence.The l ist begins with th e

subl ime and ends with that which never fai ls.

This is what an Egyptian monk once said to me: "If i t ever hap-

pened that I was inclined to offer som e comfort to this carcass of

mine, the remembrance of death that had been so firmly establ ished

in my heart would stand before me like a judge; and-a wonderful

thing-even if I wanted to push i t aside, simply could not do so-"

Another monk, this time an inhabitant of the place called Tholas,a5

would go into an ecstasyat the thought of death, and when the broth-

ers found him they had to raise him up and cany him, scarcely

breathing, l ike someonewh o had fainted or had suffered an epi leptic

f i t . And I must certainly tel l yo u about Hesychius the Horebite. Al l

his l i fe he was carelessan d he paid not the sl ightest attention to his

soul. Then a very grievous i l lness came on him, so that he was for awhole hour absent from the body. After he had revived, he begged us

al l to go away at once, bui l t up th e door of his cel l , and remained

twelve years nside without ever speaking o anyone and taking only

bread and water. He never st irred and was always intent on what it

wa s he had seen n his ecstasy.He never moved and had the look of

someone out of his mind. And, si lently, he wept warm tears. But

when he was on the point of death, we broke in and we askedhi m

many questions. Al l he would say was this: "Please forgive me. No

on e who has acquired the remembrance of death wil l ever be able to

sin." It astonished us to see he blessedchange and transformationthat had taken place n someonehitherto so negl igent. We buried hi m

reverently in the cemetery near the fort;46and, some days ater, when

we looked for his holy remains, we could not f ind them. Such ha d

been th e marvel of his reDentance hat the Lord demonstrated to us

45. At the foot of Mount Sinaiabout ive miles rom the fort, St.John Climacus

spent orty years here asa solitary (see he Preface, p.4-i)-

46. The fort was built in 556 7 to protect the monks of Sinai from desert aidcrs

It is the present-deymonasteryof St. Carher;ne

l ike him unceasingly ile fearon fear,and neverstop until the verystrength in their bones s worn out.

We may be sure that remembranceof death, like every otherblessing, s

agift

from God. How elsecan you explain the fact thatoften we can be dry-eyedand hard at a cemetery,yet full of compunc-tion when we are nowhere near such a olace?

The manwho hasdied o all things emembers eath, ur whoev-er holdssome ie swith the world will not cease lottingagainst im-self.

Do not searchabout for the words to show peopleyou love them.Instead, skGod to show hem your lovewithout your having o talkabout t. Otherwise ou will neverhave ime enoughboth for lov rnggesturesand for compunction.

Do not deceiveyourself, foolish worker, into thinking that onetime can make up for another. The day is not long enough to allowyou to repay in full its debt to the Lord.

Someonehassaid hat you cannotpassa day devoutly unlessyouthink of it as your last.Even the Greekshavesaidsomesuch hing,becausehey describephilosophy as meditation on death.

This, then, s the sixth step.He who ha sclirnbed t wi ll neversin. "Remember our lastend,andyo u will neversin" (Ecclus. :36).


If you are endowedwith mourning,hold fast o it with all yourstrength, or it can easilybe lost if it is not well secured. ike waxmelting near fire, it can easilybe dissolved y noise,worldly caresand uxury, but, n particular,by garrulity and frivolity.

The tears hat come after baptism are greater han baptism tself,



Step7

ON MOURNING

Mourning which is according o God is a melancholy of the soul,a disposition of an anguished heart that passionatelyseekswhat it

thirsts for, and when it fails to attain it, pursues t diligently and fol-lows behind t lamentingbitterly.

Alternatively,mourning s a goldenspur within a soul hat hasbeen stripped of all bonds and ties, set by holy sorrow to keep watchover he heart.

Compunction s an eternal torment of the consciencewhichbrings about the cooling of the fire of the heart through silent confes-slon.

Confessions a forgetfulness f nature,since because f this aman forgot o eat his bread cf .Ps. 0l:5).

Repentance s a cheerful renunciation of every creature comfort.Those making some progress n blessedmourning are usually

temperateand untalkative. Those who havesucceededn making realprogressdo not become angry and do not bear grudges.As for theperfect-these are hurnble, hey long for dishonor, they look out forinvoluntarysufferings,hey do no t condemn inners nd theyare n-ordinately compassionate. he first kind are acceptable, he second

-praiseworthy, but blessed urely are those who hunger for sufferingand thirst for dishonor, or they will be filled to abundance ith thefood that cannot satiate hem.

though it may seem ash o say so.Baptism washesoff thoseevils thatwere previouslywithin us ,whereashe sinscommittedafterbaptismarewashed way by tears. he baptism eceived y us aschildrenwehaveal l defiled,but we cleanset anew with our tears. f God in Hislove for the human race had not given us tears, those being savedwould be few indeedand hard to find.

Groansand sadnessry out to the Lord, trembling tears nter-cede for us, and the tears shed out of all-holy love show that ourprayer has beenaccepted.

If nothingbefitsmourning as much as humility, certainlynoth-ing opposest asmuch as aughter.

Hold fast to the blessedand joyful sorow of holy compunctionand do not ceaseaboring for it until it lifts.you high above he thingsof the world to presentyou, a cleansed ffering, to Christ.

Neverstop maginingand examining he abyss f dark ire,aTtscruel minions, he mercilessnexorableludge, he limitlesschaosofsubterranean flame, the narrow descents down to undergroundchambers nd yawninggulfs,and othersuch rnages.hen lust n oursouls may be checkedby immense error, by surrender to incorrupt-iblechastity, nd receiveha t non-materialight which shines eyondall fi re.

When you pray and plead, remble like a convict standingbeforea judge. The way you look and the disposition of your heart mayovercome he anger of the iust Judge.He will not turn away from the

widowed soul standing before Him, burdened with sorrow and wea-rying the TirelessOne (cf.Luke l8:5).He who has he gift of spiritual tearswill be able to mourn any-

where.But if it is all outwardshow, herewill be no end o hisdiscussion of placesand means.Hidden treasure s more secure han thatwhich is exposed n the marketplace. onder his, and apply it toyourself.

47 . fhc'flamcs f hell burn without ighr cf .St. Besi l , lon. i , / t ll { H P( ; 2e ,J72At).

Joi lN ( ; t , tMACUS

Do not imitate thosc who in trurying the dead first lamentthem-and thengo off t()gc rdrunl. Rathcr, e ike hoseprisonersnthe mineswho are logged very hour by their warders.

The man who mournsat on c tirnc and hen goes n for high liv-in g and laughteron anotheroccasions likq someonewho pelts he


their struggles,ather han heir tears; nd suspecthat God does otoo.

Theology and mourning do not go together, or the one dissi-pates he other. The difference between a theologian and a mourneris that the one sits on a professorial hair while the other passes is



dog of sensuality ith bread. t looksas f he s driving him off whenin fact he s actuallyencouraging im to stayby him.

When you are recollected o not show off. Withdraw into yourheart,and remember hat devils ear recollection s hieves eardogs.

We have not beencalled here to a wedding feast.No indeed.Hewho hascalledus ha ssummoned s to mourn for ourselves.

Blind tearsare suitableonly to irrational beings, nd yet therear esomepeoplewho try, when hey weep, o stif l€all thought.Tearsare actually the product of thought, and the father of thought is a ra-tional mind.

Think of your lying in bed as an image of the lying in yourgrave; hen you will not sleepso much. When you eat at table, e-member the food of worms; then you will not live so highly. Whenyou drink water, emember he hirst of the f lames;hen you will cer-

tainly do violence o your nature.When the fathersuperiorvisitsan honorable ebuke, eprimand,

or punishrnent on us, let us not forget the fearful sentenceof the

Judge,so that with meekness nd patience-a two-edgedsword-wemay kil l the rrationalsorrowand bitternesshat will surelybe sownrn us .

Job says: The seawasteswith t irne" (o b 14: ). And with trmeand patience,he things I havebeen alking about are graduallyac -quired and madeperfectwithin us .

Let the thoughtof eternal ire l ie down with you in the eveningand getup witb you in the morning.Then indolencewill never

over-whelm you when t is t ime to sing he psalms.. Wearsomething o encourage ou in your mourning.Thosewh o

lament the dead wear black. And if you find yourself unable tomourn, then lament hat very fact;bu t if you are able o mourn, besure to lament that by your sins you have brought yourselfdownfrom a condition free from toil to one that is full of labor.

Regarding ur tears, s n everythingelseaboutus, he goodan djust Judgewill certainlymakeallowancesor our naturalattributes.haveseensmall eardrops hed ike drops of blood,an d I haveseenfloodsof tearspouredout with no troubleat all. So judge oilersby

days n ragson a dungheap. his, I think, is the reason ehind theanswergivenby David. Although he was a teacher nd a wise man,when he was askedwhy he was n mourning he said: How shallsing the Lord's song n

astrange and?"(Ps. 116:4).

e means,ofcourse, he andof the passions.In the domainof creationas n that of compunction,here s that

which moves tself an d that which is moved by someother agent.When the soul grows tearful, weeps,and is f i l led with tendernessand all this without havingsriven for it, then et us run, for the Lordha sarrived uninvited and is holding ou t to us the spongeof lovingsorrow, the cool waters of blessed adnesswith which to wipe awaythe record of our sins. Guard these ears ike the apple of your eyeuntil they go away, for they have a power greater han anything thatcomes rom our own efforts and our own meditation.

A man misses he true beautyof mourning f he can mourn atwill, rather han because e genuinelywants o, or, moreaccuratelybecauseGod wishes him to. The ugly tears of vainglory rningle fre-quently with mourning which is pleasing o God, aswe shalldiscoverby experiencewheneverwe find ourselvesmourning and yet doingwrong.

True compunction s pain of soul without any distraction. t of-fers tselfno restand hinks hourly of death. t standsn wait for theGod Who brings comfort, like cool waters, to humble monks. Andthosegiftedwith the heart 'sdepth of mourning regard heir l ives as

detestable, ainful, and wearying,as a cause f tearsand suffering,and they turn away from their body as rom an enemy.

If we observe ngerand pride n thosewho have he appearancof mourning n a fashionpleasing o God, then such earswill seemcontradictory o us."Forwhat fellowship s there between ight anddarknessl" 2 Cor. 6:14). rue compunctionbrings consolation hilethat which is bogusproduces elf-esteem.ike the fire that consumesthe straw,so do real ears onsume mpurity of body and soul.

Many of thc Fathers eclarehat this problemof tcars, lrpccirrl lwhere t conccrnsbeginners,s a very obscurcmattcr rtn(l h[rd trlanalyzc incc cars ancomcabout n var iousways. ' lcuf ieotnc ront

JOHN CLIMACUS

nature, from God, from suffering goodand bad, rom vainglory, fromlicentiousness,rom love, from the remembranceof death, and fromnumerous ther causes. aving rainedourselvesn al l thesewaysbythe fear of God, let us acquire-the ure and guilelessears hat comewith the remembrance hat we must die. There is nothing false in


with words, who talk in humble, vague,and halt ing fashion, who arenot ashamed to irnplore the King of heaven persistently from thedepths of a desperate heart and who by their tenacity lay siege to Hisinviolable nature and His comoassron,

The man who takes pride in his tears and who secretly condemns



these,no sop to self-esteern. ather do they purify us, lead us on inloveof God, washawayour sinsand drain awayour passions.

It is not to be wondered at if mourning begins with good tearsand endswith bad,but it is admirable f ordinary and natural earscan be urned round to become piritual.This is something hat willbe understoodby those nclined to vainglory.

If your soul is still not perfectly pure, then be suspiciousof yourtears, or wine drawn straight from the presses annot be trusted.

No one will deny that all tears hat are pleasing o God are prof-itable.But only at deathwill we find out where he profit l ies.

The man who mournsconstantly n a way that pleases od doesnot cease o celebratedaily, but tears without end are in store for theman who doesnot abandon odily celebrations.

There is no jo y or pleasure o be had in prison, and genuine

monks do not feast on earth. There, perhaps, ies the reason or thesad statement: Lead my soul out of prison so that henceforth it mayreioice n Your ineffable ight" (Ps.14l:8).

In you r heartbe like an emperor,seated igh in humi lity, com-manding aughter: Go!" and it goes;and sweetweeping: Come!"and it comes; nd our tyrant and slave, he body:"Do this!" and itdoes t.

The man wearing blessed,God-given mourning l ike a weddinggarment gets o know the spiritual laughter of the soul.

Has any one ever ived so piouslyunder a monastic egime h at

he never misseda day or hour or moment, but spent all his time forthe Lord?And remember hat never n your life;an yo u see he sameday twice.

Blessed s the monk who can lift up the eyes of his soul to thepowers of heaven.And truly safe rom lapse s the man who remem-berssin and deathconstantlyand who moistens is cheekswith liv-ing tears from his bodily eyes. t seems o me that the second statemust surely lead to the first.

I have seen petitioners and shamelessbeggars melt even theheartsof kings by the artful words they use. But I have also watchedenother ind of beggar,hosepoor n virtue, men who haveno knack

thosewho do not weep is rather like the man who asks he king for aweapon against the enemy-and then uses t to commit suicide.

God does not demand or desire that someoneshould mourn out

of sorrow of heart, but rather rhat out of love for Him he should re-ioice with the laughter of the soul. Take away sin and then the sor-rowful tears that flow from bodily eyes will be superfluous. Why lookfor a bandage when you are not cut? Adam did not weep before thefal l , and there wil l be no tears after the resurrection when sin wi l l beabol ished,when pain, sorrow, and lamentation wil l have aken f l ight.

I have seen mourning in some; n others I have watched mourn-ing for the inability to mourn, for though they have it they act as ifthey did not, and through suchsplendid ignorance they remain invio-late. Regarding such, i t was said: "The Lord makes wise the bl ind"(Ps. 145:8).

Silly men often take pride in their tears-hence the reason someare not granted the gift of mourning. And men of this kind, discover-ing that they cannot weep, think of themselves as wretched and give

themselves over to sighs and lamentation, sorrow of soul, deep grief,and utter desolation, al l of which can safely take th e place of tears,though the men in question regard these as nothing and benefit ac-cordingly.

Devils play cruel tricks on us, as we will discover if we are obser-vant. When we have a full stomach they make us feel guilty. When wefast they harden our hearts with the result that we can deceive our-

selves vith spurious tears and then give ourselvesover to high l iv ing,which is the mother of passions.So do not l isten to them, and act in away opposite to what they suggest.

As I ponder the true nature of compunction, I f ind myselfamazed by the way in which inward jo y an d gladnessmingle withwhat we cal l mourning an d grief, l ike honey in a comb. There mustbe a lesson here, and i t surely is that compunction is properly a giftfrom God, so that there is a real pleasure n the soul, since God sccrct.

ly brings consolation to those who in their heart of hearts trc rcpcl l-tant .

L is tcn to a str)ry hat is a sa done hut bcnef ic ia l ( , thc t io l t l ,

JOHNCLIMACUS

to it, for it is an inducement to most valuable mourning and sorrow.

A man called Stephen once l ived here as a solitary. He spent

meny years n the wrestling-scho ol of monastic t i fe. l 'earsan d fasting

adorned his soul, as did many other fine achievements.His cell wa s

on th e side of the sacredmountain where the holy proph et and seerof

God Eliiah had once lived. He became amous and later he decidedto


for a lapsed oulat th e momentof death s the toil of fastingand oftears.

Such peoplenever sing, never raisea loud song, or mourningwould thus be ost.And if you think you can summon t in this fash-ion, you havea ongway to go .Mourning, after all, s he typical pain



practice a vastly more effective, ascetic and strict life of penance, and

so moved on to Siddim, an abode of hermits. He spent sever al years

there and lived very strictly. It was a place lacking every comfort and

was rarely visited, since it was about seventy miles from the fort.

Near the en d of his l i fe, the old man returned to the holy mountain,

to his cell of which two holy disciples rom Palestinehad taken care.

After a few days he was stricken by the illness from which he would

eventually die. On the day before his death, he went int o ecs tasyan d

began to look to the right and to the left of his bed. He seemed to be

rendering an account to someone,and in the hearing of th e bystand-

ers he said: "Of course t is true. That was why I fasted or so many

years." Or again: "Yes, that is correct, but I wept and served my

brothers." Or again: "No. You are accusing me falsely." Or some-

times: "Qgite right. No, I have no excuse.But God is merciful." Thisunseenan d relentless nterrogation was a truly a wful and frightening

spectacle- Worst of all was the fact that he was charged with offenses

of which he was nnocent, and, what is extraordinary, regarding some

of them this hesychastan d hermit would say: "l do not know how to

answer." An d ye t he had been a monk for almost forty years and he

had the gift of tears as well. Alas , alas!Where, then, was the voice of

Ezekiel, to sa y to the tormentor: "I wi l l iudge you as I find you, says

God" (Ezek. l:l l-20)? He was truly unab le to say such a thing. An d

wh y was that? Glory to Him who al one knows, and this was a man

who had reared a leopard by hand in the desert,as r so I was solemn-ly told. So ther/ he was now, called to account, and he died while it

wds happening{ eaving us unsure of th e judgment passedon him, of

his final end or\sentenceor of the verdict rendered him.

Like the wflow who has ost her husband and whose only son is

the single comfdrt remaining to her after the Lord, the only comfort

48. Or: "fed a leopard from his hand." An Adamic closenesso animals was a chrr-

ism of rhe Desert Frthers.

of a soulon fire.For many people,mourning prepared he way for blessed ispas-

sion. t worked over,ploughed, nd go t rid of what wassinful. Some-one well practiced n this said to me: "Very often when I wastempted o be vain, angry, or gluttonous, he thought of mourningwithin me would protest:'Donot bevainor else shallabandon ou.'The same hing happened hen other passionsroubledme. woulddeclare:I shallneverdisobey ou until you presentme to Christ."'

The depths of mourning havewitnessedcomfort, and enlighten-ment has ollowedon purity of heart.Enlightenments somethingn-describable, n activity that is unknowingl y perceived nd invisiblyseen.Comfort s the balm of a distressedoul,which at the same imeboth criesand shoutshappily, us t like a child. Divine help s the re-newal of a soul bowed by grief in sucha way that painful tearsare

marvelouslyransformednto painless nes.Tears over our deathproduce ear, but when fear begets earless-

ness, hen what a ioy comes awning!When foy is without interrup.tion, holy lovecomes lossomingorth.

Drive off with lowly hand every passing oy as somethingofwhich you are unworthy, or if you let it i n, you may be admitting awolf insteadof a shepherd.

Do not hurry to contemplation t the wrong time. Rather, et itcome o you, seeking ut t he beautyof your lowli ness, eady o ioinyou for al l time in a spotlessmarriage.

When a baby starts o recognize ts father, it is filled with happiness. f the father has o spend ime away on businessbefore return-ing home, t ha s ts fill of jo y and sadness-ioyat seeing he one tloves, adnesst the fact of havingbeendeprived o ong of that samelove. Sometimes mother hides rom her baby and is delighted onote how sadly he child goesabout ooking or her, becausehis ishow she eac heshe child o be always ttachedo her andstirsup theflameof its ov e or her.He who hasears o hear. et him listen. s hcLeirdhassaid cf .Luke l4:15).

A man who hasheardhimselfsentencedo deathwill n(,t worry

JOHN CLIMACUS

about the way theatersare run. Similarly, a man who is ruly inmourning will nevergo back o high living,glory,anger, r irritabil-ity. Mourning is the kind of sorrow which belongs o the penitentsoul whosepainsmultiply l ike thoseof a woman n childbirth.

The Lord is just and s holy (Ps.144:17). e leads he inwardlysilent man to inward compunction, nd every day He brings to


It oftenhappenshat the very sightof our solitarydwellingscanstir our minds o compunction. oshua, li iah,andJohnare proof ofthis, and yet they were accustomed o solitary prayer. I have seenmen moved to tears n cities and among crowds so that the thoughthas come hat greet assemblies f peoplemay actually do us no harm.Yet they may draw us back too close o the world, since he evil spir-



the one who is inwardly obedient.But he who doesnot practice om -punctionor submission ith sincerity s deprived f mourning.

Drive far av/ay that hound of hell which comes at the time of

your deepestmourning and whispers that God is neither mercifulnor compassionate. ou will find, if you take the mouble, hat beforeyou s inned he was assuring you that God is loving, compassionate,and forgiving.

Meditation givesbirth to perseverance,nd perseverance nds nperception, nd what is accomplished ith perception annoteasilybe rooted out. On the other hand, however exalted our style of lifemay be, we may label it stale and bogus f our heart is still withoutcontrition; for, if I may so express he matter, it is absolutelyessentialthat those who have apsedafter baptism should clean he pitch from

their handswith continuous ire of the heartand with the oil of God.I haveseenmen who reached he ultimate in mourning, with the

blood of a suffering and wounded heart actually flowing out of theirmouths, nd wa s emindedof the saying: Like grass am cut downand my heart s dried up" (Ps. 0l:5).

Tears causedby fear give someprotection, but tearsproducedbya love that, as may well happen,hasnot yet attained perfection can beeasily tolen.Of course,he reminderof eternal ire canstir the heartat certainefficacious imes, and this humbler way is, surprisingly,very often the safer way.

There are material substances hat can dry up the sourcesofour tears, and there are others that can produce mud and reptiles.Frdm the former came the unlawful intercourse of Lot with hisdaughters cf . Gen. l9:3G-18). rom the latter came he devil 's fallfrom heaven.a9

The forces against us are so abominable hat they can eyen turnthe mothersof virtue into the parents f vice,and hey ca n urn intopride thosevery things hat shouldproducehumility in us.

49. The meterial substences re those which ceusedrunkenness on the one henrl

and Dride on the other.

it s are working hard o bring this about.A single word has often dispelledmourning. But it would be

strange ndeed f a single word brought it back.

When we die, we will not be criticized for having failed to workmiracles.We will not be accused f having failed to be theologiansorcontemplatives.But we will certainly have someexplanation o offerto God for not having mourned unceasingly.

Such, hen, is the seventhstep. May he who hasbeen ound wor-thy of it help me too. He himself hasalready been helped, or by tak-ing this seventhstep he has washedaway tlre stainsof the world.


th e treatmentand cure of this passion nd so give no thought o thesaying, The momentof his anger s his downfall" (Ecclus. :22).

A quick movement f a millstoneca n grind in one momentanddo awaywith more of the soul'sgrain and ruit than anothercrushein a whole day.So we mustbe understanding nd we mustpa yatten-tion, for a strong sudden wind rnay fan a blaze hat will causemore



Step

ON PLACIDITY AND MEEKNESS

As the gradual pouring of water on a fire puts out the flarnecom-pletely, so the tears of genuinemourning can extinguish every flame

of angerand rascibility.Hence his comes ext n our sequence.Freedom from anger is an endlesswish for dishonor, whereasamong he vainglorious here s a limitless hirst for praise.Freedomfrom anger is a triumph over one's nature. It is the ability to be im-pervious o insults,and comesby hard work and the sweatof one'sDrow,

Meeknesss a permanentcondition of that soul which remai nsunaffectedby whether or not it is spokenwell of, whether or not ir ishonoredor praised.

The first step oward freedom rom anger s io keep he lips si-lent when the heart s stirred; he next, o keep houghts ilent whenthe soul s upset; he last, o be otally calm when uncleanwinds areblowing.

Anger is an indication of concealedhamed,of grievance nursed.Anger is the wish to harm someone ho hasprovoked ou.

Irascibility s an untimely flaring up of the heart.Bitterness s astirring of the soul's capacity or displeasure. nger is an easilychangedmovementof one's disposition, a disfigurement of the soul.

Just as darkness etreats before ight, so all anger and bitternessdisappears efore the fragranceof humility.

Some unfortunate people,who havea tendency o anger, neglect

damage o the field of the heart than a ling ering flame could evermanage o achieve.Let us not forget, my friends, that eyil demonssometimeseave s unexpectedly, ith the result hat we may becomcareless bout hese trongpassions ithin us, hinking thern o be ofno consequence, nd become, herefore, ncurably ill.

Take a hard stonewith sharpcorners.Knock t and rub it againsother stones,until it s sharpness nd hardness re crushedby th eknockingand rubbingand,at ast, t is made ound.So oo, akea soulthat is rough and abrupt.Put it into the communityand companyoftough,short-temperedmen.One of two things must happen:Either itlearns hrough patience o cure its wound, or it will run away and, byso doing, t will learn ts weakness,ts cowardly light showing t upas f in a mirror.

An angry person s ike a voluntaryepilepticwho, hroughan n-voluntary endency, reaks ut in convulsions nd allsdown.

Nothing is quite soou t of place n a penitentasan unruly spirir,for conversio n equiresgreathumility, and anger s an indicationofal l kindsof presumptuousness.

A sign of utter meeknesss to havea heart peacefullyand loving-ly disposed oward someonewho has beenoffensive,and a sure proofof a hot temper s that a man, even when he i s alone,should withword andgesture ontinue o rageand ulminateagainst omeabsenpersonwho has given offense.

If it is rue that he Holy Spirit is peace f soul,asHe is said o beand as, ndeed,He is , and if anger s disturbance f the heart,as treally s and as t is said o be , hen there s no greater bstacleo thepresence f the Spirit in us than anger.

We know that the fruits of angerareabundant nd unacceptablyet we recogniz-eha tone of its involuntaryoffspring, houghunlaw-ful, is neverthelessuite useful. have seenpeopledelivered rompassion y the very fact that they had lared up and then pourcdou ttheir long-stored rievance nd, n addition, he y go t fronr thcir of.fendcr cither some reparati('nor some expllnation for whnt hodcauscdhc long'standingr icvance. n thc othcr hnntl, huvc rcn

JOHNCLIMACUS

men who appeared o be displaying stolid patience,but who, in reali-

ty, were silently harboring resentment within themselves.These, it

seems o me, were much more to be pitied than the men prone to ex -plosions of temper, becausewhat they were doing was to keep awaythe holy white do ve with that black gall of theirs. So this is a serpent

that has o be handled carefully, for, l ike the snakeof sensual i ty, t has


The eye of the heart should not be roubled by anger. Rememberthe seying: "My eye s troubled from anger" (Ps.6:8).Worse, howev-er, is to give way to harsh words which reveal the upheaval n one'ssoul. But actually to start fighting is completely inimical to and atvariancewith the monastic, ngelic, nd divine ife.

You wish, or rather, have decided, o remove a splinter frorn



nature for an ally.

I have seen angry men push food away out of sheer bitterness.And yet by this kind of unreasonableabstinence hey merely added

poison to poison. I have seen others who on being offended for someapparently )ustifiable reason gave themselves over to stuffing them-

selves, so that from the pit of anger they fell headlong over the preci-

pice of gluttony. But others, again, I have seen who were intel ligent

about this matter and, like good doctors, they mixed both, and from

moderate consolation they got very great profit.

Singing, in moderation, can occasionallyeasebad temper. But if

it is untimely and immoderate, it may open the path to pleasure.We

should therefore set specific times for singing and make good useof it.

Once, while engagedon some task, I happened o be sitting our-side a monastery and near the cel ls of those iving in solit ude. I couldoverhear them raging alone in their cells an d in their bitter fury leap-ing about like caged partridges, leaping at the face of their offender asif he were actually there. My humble adyice to them was to abandon

solitary living in case he y be turned from human beings nto devils.I have also noticed that peop le who are sensual and corrupt at

heart are often meek. They manifest a kind of flattery, a display offamiliarity, a love of beautiful faces.To these I gave the adyice thatthey should undertake the solitary life, using it l ike a scalpel to cut

away sensuality and corruption of the heart. Otherwise they might

turn from being rational beings nto pitifully irrational animals.' But, again, some old me that they were completely in the grip of

anger and sensuality. therefore forbade them to live as they wishe d

and, in my concern for them, I suggested o their superiors that theyshould allow them sometimes o live one way, sometimes he other,

but always in complete subiection to those in charge of them. There

is the risk that a sensualperson may harm himself and perhaps a close

friend as well; while the angry person, like a wolf, often disturbs the

entire flock and causes offense and discouragement among manysouls.

someone? ery well, but do not go after it wi th a stick instead of alancet or you will only drive it deeper.Rough speechand harsh ges-tures are the stick, while even-temperednstruction and patient repri-

mand ar e the lancet. Reprove, ebuke,exhort," says he Apostle 2Tim.4:2), not "batter."And shoulda beatingbe necessary, ak esurethis does not happen often and get someoneelse o do it instead ofyou.

You will note that many irritable personspractice vigils, fasting,and stillness.For the devils are rying to suggest o them, under coverof penanceand mourning, what is quite likely to increase heir pes-slon.

If what I saidebove s true, namely, hlt a singlewolf, helpedbya demon, can trouble an entire fl ock, then sure ly a single very wrse

brother, helped by an angel,may calm the wavesand make a smoothpath for the ship by pouring a good skin full of oil on the waters. Andas he sentenceon the one will be heavy,so the reward for the otherfrom God Vill be very great, and he will becomean edifying exampleto everyone,

The first stageof blessed atience s to acceptdishonor with bit-ternessand anguish of soul.The intermediatestage s to be free frompain amid all such things. I'he perfectstage, f that is attainable , s tothink of dishonor as praise.Let the first reioiceand the secondbestrong,but blessed e he third, for he exults n the Lord.

Angry people,because f their self-esteem,make a pitiable sight,though they do not realize his themselves. hey get angry and then,when thwarted, they become urious. It was amazing o seeone fallpunishedby anotherand I was full of pity for them as I saw themtaking revenge n sin by sin.The trickery of devils rightenedme andI came lose o despair or my own life.

Someone ho notices hat he s easily vercome y pride,a nastytemper,malice, nd hypocrisy,and who thinks of defendinghirnsclfagainst heseby unsheathinghe double-edgedword of ntcckncrsand pat ience,ucha man if he wishes o break rcc cnt i re ly romthcsc iccs ught o go ivc n a monastcry ,s f i t wcrc l t t l lc r ' r hop

JOHNCLIMACUS

of salyation. n particular,he shouldchoose he most austere lace.He will be spiritually stretched nd beatenby the insults, niuries,and rebuffsof the brothers.He may evenbe physically eaten, ram-pledon , an dkicked, o hat he may washou t the iltb sti l l lying in thesentientpart of his soul. There is an old saying hat reproof s thewashtub or the soul's assions,ndyou ought o believet, for people


named Conceit. My daughters have the names RemembranceofWrongs, Hate, Hostility, and Self-justification. The enemies whohave mprisoned me are the opposite virtues-Freedom from Angerand Lowliness, while Humility lays a trap for me. As for Humility,ask n due ime who it was hat bore her."

On the eighth step the crown is freedom from anger. He who



in the world wh o load ndignit iesonto someone nd hen boast boutit to others ik e to say,"I gavehim a good scrubbing."Which, ofcourse, s quite accurate,

The absence f a tendency o angerwhen it is found in novrcesan d s the resultof mourning-this is one thing; the peace ound inthe perfect s somethingelse. n the one, ears,acting ike a bridle,hold in the anger;but, among he perfect,angerha sbeen mortif iedby mastery f the passions,ik e a snake il led by a sword.

I oncesaw three monks receive he same ype of iniury at the

same ime. The first felt it keenly, but did not speak; he secondwas

delightedby the thought of the reward he injury would bring himand he felt compassion or the wrongdoer; the third wept fervently at

the thought of the harm his offending neighbor was suffering. At

work, then, were fear, the sense f a reward due,and love.The fever suffered by the body is a single symptom but hasmany

causes. imilarly, he seethingmovement f our angerand of our oth-

er passionsarises or many different reasons, o that the same cure

cannot be offered for all of them. Hence I would propose hat each

sick man shouldvery carefully ook for his own particularcure,an dthe first step here is the diagnosisof the causeof the disease.When

this is known, he patientswill ge t the right cure from the handsof

God and from their spiritual doctors.Those who,wish to join us in

the Lord should hereforecome o the spiritual tribunal where we

can be tested n various ways and find out about the passions eferred

to above swell as heir causes.' So, hen, anger he oppressormust be restrainedby the chainsof

meekness, eaten by patience,hauled away by blessed ove. Take it

before he tribunal of reason nd have t examinedn the following

terms: "Wretch, tell us the name of your father, the name of th e

mother who bore you to bring calamity nto the world, the names f

your loathsome onsand daughters. el l us, also,who your enemtes

ar eand who ha s he power o kil l you." And this s how anger eplies:

"l come rom many sources nd I have more than one father.My

mothersare Vainglory, Avarice,Greed.And Lust too. Mv father s

wears t by nature may never come to wear another. But he who hassweated or it and won it hasconqueredall eight together.


away with hatredan d honestgiving brings peace o a soul,so, ut ifth e table is extravaganthen license s brought forth an d gluttonycomesumping in through he window of love.

I have seen hatred shatter a lecherous relationship. and thenafterwards emembrance f wrongsstood n the way of restoring herelationship.Now this is amazing, ne devil cured by another.Still,



Step9

ON MALICE4g"

The holy virtuesare ike the adderofJacoban d he unholyvtces

are ike the chains hat ell of f the chief apostle eter. he virtues ead

from one to another and carry heavenward the man who choosesthem. Vices on the other hand beget and stifle one another. And be-

causewe have us t heard senselessnger describe emembrance f

wrongsas ts offspring,we had bettersa ysomething bout t now.

Remembrance f wrongscomes s he final point of anger. t is a

keeper f sins. t hates lust wa y of life. It is the ruin of virtues, he

poisonof the soul,a worm in the mind. It is the shameof prayer,a

cutting off of supplication, turning away rom love,a nail piercing

the soul. t is a pleasurelesssoeelingcherishedn the sweetnessf bit-

terness.t is a never-ending in, an unsleeping rong, rancor by th e

hour. A dark and loathsomepassion, t comes o be but has no off-

spring,so ha t on eneednot say oo much about t.

' The man who hasput a stop to anger has alsowiped out remem-

branceof wrongs, sinceoffspring can come only from a living parent.

A loving man banishesevenge, ut a man broodingon his ha-

treds storesuo troublesome abors or himseli A banquetof love does

49a. In this Step mniihakia is rendered sometimes as "malice" rnd sometimes as

the more specific "remembrance of wrongs."

50. Reading anidonos ot Rader's aaodlxos, "peinless."

this may be the work of divine providence ether than of demons.Remembranceof wrongs is far removed from sturdy, natural

love, but li ke a flea hidden on a dove, may live next door to fornica-tion.

Let your malice and your spite be turned against the devils.Treat your body always as an enemy, for the flesh is an ungratefuland treacherous riend. The more you look after it, the more it hurtsyou.

Malice s an exponent f Scripturewhich twists he wordsof theSpirit to suit itsell Let the prayer of Jesus9t ut it to shame, hatprayer which cannotbe uttered n the companyof malice.

If after great effort you still fail to root out this thorn,s2go toyour enemyan dapologize,f only with emptywordswhose nsincer-

ity may shameyou. Then as conscience,ike a fire, comes o give youpain, you may find that a sincere ove of your enemy may come olife.

A muesignof havingcompletelymasteredhis putrefactionwillcome not when you pray for the rnan who offended you, not whenyou givehim presents, ot when yo u invite him to sharea mealwithyou, but only when,on hearingof some atastrophehat hasafflictedhim in body or soul,you sufferand you lament or him as f for your-self.

A malicioushesychasts like a lurking snake arrying abour ts

own deadlvooison.

50a.The words "A banquet f love doesaway with h atredand honesr iv ingbringspeaceo a soul"ar enot n Rader'sext.

5l. l'he words "prayer of lesus" liiou i prosntbr-) re sometimes nderstoodas rc"ferring here tr.r he Jesr.rsrayer, "Lord JesusChrist, Son of God. havemercy ,rn nrl.But more probablyClimacusmeans he Lord's Prayer. he petit ion, l 'orgirc us,rrrrtrespasserswe forgivr rhose ,ho$espass gainst s," s particularlrNppi,rit( th eprcscnt (,nrcxt. ec hc Prcface, p.45-51.

52 . )r : "d*t rr)y thissturnbling-blrrk omplercly."

J()HNCLTMACUS

'I 'he remembrance f whnt Jesus uffered s a cure for remem-brance f wrongs, haming r p'werfully with Hi s ;r;i;;,;;;"r*.worms hrrve n a r(, l ten rec;.mal icehrives n thedecept ivelymeekand silent.He who hasexpelledmalicehas ourra o.gii"r,"rr,but he who hugs t is deprivedui."r"y.

Sg... laborandstruggle ar d o earn orgiveness,ut better han



,

:l.j: '.,n..T1"who forgets he wrongsdone o him. Forgivequickly

lii^flt^,*I"be abundantly orgiven.' l.o forget wrongs-is o p.,rue

oneseltruly repenrant,ut to broodon them an dat thJ same ime toimagine ne s practicing epentances to act ike the rnanwlo i" con_

vrncedhe s running when n facthe is fastasleeo.

,I,have eenm.aliciouseople ecommendingorgiuenesso others

an_qnen,snamedby their own words, they managed o rid them_selvesof this vice.

- .Neyermagine ha t this dark vice s a passion f no importance,

for it often reaches ut even o spiritual me'n.

"^_-?:-l jr-*.

ninth step.Le t him who has aken r have he couragenencetortho askJesushe Savior o freehim from his sins.

Step10

ON SLANDER

.I imagine ha t no onewith any sensewould dispute ha t

slanderis the child of hatred and remembrance f *r;;; ti;'ii. n..a ,odiscuss t next in the order after its forbears.

,^^-.t1t-"1:I,it n.offspringof hatred, subtleandye t crass isease,

i:r:T:l'""119rn d escaping otice,wastingand drainingaway the

rireoloooot tove. t prrtson the appearance f love and is th1 ambassaqo r or an unhotyand uncleanheart.An d it is the ruin of chastity.There are girls who flaunt their shamelessness,.,iI"..

".. "afr_rs rvho are much worse, for they put""

at""ppa"ri.r"a-of

gra"a

-ffay*1ip secretlyengaging n abominable' ehauio..So ,t iswrrn snametul rces. nd indeed herearenumerous nsincere

maid_ens:hypocrisy, cunning, rnelancholy,brooding"r;;;;";'i'"i.;"r,

r._

::.,,r.i"^1,:T-pl_l"rthers. heyput on ashoJofdoingo.! ii,,,g_

anc then ac totherwise.

_,-"tnrl: rebukedpeoplewho wereengagedn slander, nd , n self-

oerense,hese vildoers laimed o be actingou t of loveand concernfor the victim of their slander.My arr.we. io ,frri *"" i" ,*, ;r-fr""stop that.kind o- f ove,or elseyo u will be making

"fA , ol i

"ff,irn

I-1:.1*:1t:o,. ^r^drove away the man who secritly slandered his

nerghbor ps . 100:5).f. as yo u insist,yo u love ha t man, hendo normockery f him, but pray for him in secret,

JOItN (:t . tMACUS

on the offender-Judaswa $ )n cof thc companyof Christ'sdisciplesand the robber was n thc c()rn[)rny f killers.Yet what a turnabouttherewas when the decisivemomcntarrived!"

If you want to overcome he spirit of slander, lamenot the per-so nwho fallsbut the promptingdemon.No one wants o sin againstGod,even houghall of us sin without beingcompelledo it.


You can always recognizepeoplewho are maliciousand slander-ous. They are filled with the spirit of hared. Gladly and without aqualm they slander the teaching, the doings and the virtues of theirneighbor. I have known men who secretlyhad committed very gravesins and had not been ound out, yet cloaked n their supposedgood-ness hey ashed ut against eoplewho haddonesomethingminor in



I knew a man who sinnedopenly bu t repented n secret. de-nouncedhim for being lecherous ut he was chasre n the eyesofGod. havingpropitiatedHim by a genuine onversion.

Do not allow human respect o get in your way when you hearsomeone landering is neighbor. nstead, ay his to him: "Brother,stop tl I do worse hingseveryday,so how can crit icizehim?"Yo uaccomplishwo things when you say his. You healyourselfan d yo uhealyour neighborwith the one bandage.

Do not make udgments, nd you will rayel no quicker road othe forgivenessof your sins. "Judge not, so that you may not be

iudged" Luke6:37).Fire and water do not mix, neithercan you mix judgmentof oth-

ers with the desire o repent. If a man commits a sin beforeyou at the

very momentof hisdeath,pass o judgment, ecausehe udgmentofGod is hidden from men. It hashappened hat men havesinned great-ly in the open but have done greater good deeds n secret, so thatthose who would disparage hem have been fooled, with smoke rn-steadof sunlight in their eyes.So listen to me, all you accountantsofother people's aults, isten well; for if, as s certain, t is true that"you shallbe iudgedwith the iudgmentyou haveusedyourselves"(Matt. 7:2),he n whatever in of body or spir it that we ascribeo ou rneighborwe will surely all into ourselves.

Thosewh o pass peedy nd harsh udgments n the sinsof their

neighbors fall into this passionbecause hey themselveshave so farfailed o achieve completeand unceasingmemory of and concernfor their own sins.Anyone untrammeled y selfJove nd able o seehis own faults for what they are would worry about no one else nthis life. He would feel that his time on earth did not suffice for his

own mourning, even f he lived a hundred years,and €ven if a whole

Jordanof tearspouredout of hi seyes.Mourning of that kind has,asknow, no trace n it of slender r harsh udgment.

It is the murdering demonswh o push us into sin. If they arebalkedhere, hey ge t us to passudgmenton thosewho are sinning.therebysmearing s with the stainwe aredenouncingn others.

public.To passudgmenton another s to usurp shamelessly prcroga-

tive of God, and to condemn s to ruin one'ssoul.

Self-esteem, ven when there are no other attendant vices, canbring a man down. Similarly, f we havego t into the habit of passinjudgments, we can be destroyed completely by this alone, for thePhariseewas condemned or this very thing.

A good grape picker chooses o eat ripe grapes and does not.pluck what is unripe. A charitablean d sensiblemind takescarefulnote of the virtues it observes n another, while the fool goes ookingfor faults and defects. t is of such a one that it was said. "Thev havesearchedut iniquity anddied n the search?Ps .6l:7).

Do not condernn.Not even if your very eyes are seeingsome-

thing, for they may be deceived.This is the tenth step, and he who succeedsn it has practiced

loveor mourning.


his sins has akencontrol of his tongue,while the chattererhas yet todiscover imselfashe should.

The lover of silence raws close o God. He talks o Him rn se-cret and God enlightens him. Jesus,by His silence, shamedPilate;and a man, by his stillness,conquers vainglory. Peter wept bitterlyfor what he had said. He had forgotten the one who declared: I said:



Step1I

ON TALKATIVENESSAND SILENCE

The brief discussion n the previous chapter was concernedwiththe greatdanger of passing udgment on others, or rather with beingjudgedand beingpunished y one's ongue, nd t touched n the actthat this vicecan ay hold of the mostapparently pir itual people.

The time hascomenow to indicate he cause f this vicean d togive an adequate ccountof the door by which it enters-or, more ac-curately, by which it goesout.

Talkativenesss the throne of vainglory on which it loves opreen tself and show off. Talkativeness s a sign of ignorance,a door-way to slander, leaderof jesting,a servantof lies, he ruin of com-

punction, a summoner of despondency,a messengerof sleep, adissipation f recollection, he en d of vigilance, he cooling of zeal,the darkening of prayer.

Intelligent silence s the mother of prayer, freedom from bond-age,custodien of zeal,a guard on our thoughts, a watch on our ene-mies, a prison of mourning, a friend of tears, a sure recollection ofdeath, a painter of punishment, a concern with judgment, servant of

anguish, oe of license,a companionof stillness, he opponent of dog-matism,a growth of knowledge, hand o shape ontemplation, id -den progress, he secret ourney upward. For the man who recognizes

I will guardmy waysso hat I may not sin with my tongue" Ps .38:l).He had forgotten too the saying, "Better to fall from a height to theground han to slip with the tongue" Ecclus. 0:t8).

I would prefer not to write too much about this, despite he urg-ings of my wily passions.Someonewho had asked me once aboutstillness old me that telkativenessnvariably results from one of thefollowing causes: rom a bad or relaxed life-style ("the tongue," hesaid, is a memberof the body, like the rest, and therefore needs o betrained in its habits"); or it comes rom vainglory, a particular prob-lem ryith ascetics; r it comesat times from gluttony, which is whymany who keepa hard check on the stomachcan more easily restrainthe blathering ongue.

The man who is seriously concerned about death reduces he

amount of what he has o say, and the man who has received he giftof spiritual mourning runs from talkativeness s rom a fire.

The lover of stillness keepshis mouth shut, but the man wholikes to ramble outside s driven from his cell by this passion.

The man who has known the odor of heavenly ire runs from agathering of men, like a bee rom smoke,since smokedrives off a beejustascompanymilitatesagainst man.

It is hard to keepwater in without a dike. But it is harderstill tohold n one's ongue.

This is the eleventhstep. He who succeedsn taking it has with

one blow cut off a hostof evils.


would argue that hypocrisy is nothing other than a meditation onfalsehood, hat it is the inventor of falsehood acedwith lies.

The man gifted with fear of the Lord has given up lying, forwithin him he hasconscience,hat ncorruptible udge.

Variouskindsof harm ca nbe observedn the passions,nd yingis no exception. So one udgment awaits the man who lies out of fear,



Step12

ON FALSEHOOD

From flint and steel comes ire; from chatter and joking comeslying. Lying is the destruction f charity,an d periury he very denial

of God.No sensibleman imagines hat lying is a minor failing. Indeed

the All-Holy Spirit pronounced the most dreadful sentenceon thissin aboveall others;an d f, as David says o God, "You will destroyeveryonespeakinga lie" (Ps. 5:7),what will happen o thosewh oswear o their lieson oath?

I haveseenmen, proud of their ability to lie, and exciting laugh-te r by their clowning an d oking,wh o havemiserablydestroyed ntheir hearers he habit of mourning.But when the demonsobservethat we stayclearof the sallies f someoutstanding it, as hough we

were avoiding th€ plague, they uy to catch us with two seeminglyplausible houghts, namely that we should not be offensive o th€ p€r-son telling the witty story and we should not give the appearance floving God more than he does.Be offl Do not dawdle! Otherwise thejokeswill start coming back to you when you are at prayer. But dono t simply run away.Breakup the badcompany n a devoutway oysetting beforethem the thought of death and judgment, and if a fewdrops of vainglory fall on you, what harm? Provided of course, hatyou becomea sourceof profit to many.

Hypocrisy is the mother of lying and frequently i ts cause.Some

another he iar who ha snothing at al l to worry about.One man ie sfor the sheerpleasureof it, another for amusement, nother to rarsealaugh among bystanders, nother to trap his brother and do him

harm.Magisuates can root out lying wirh tortures, though it is an

abundance of tears that truly destroys it. A man may lie on thegrounds of prudence, and indeed regardsas an act of righteousnesthe ectual destruction of his own soul. The inventor of lies declaresthat he s ollowing the example f Rahab nd maintainshat his owndestruction is the causeof salyetion or others.s3

Only when we are completely free of the urge to lie may we re-sort to it, end then only in fear and out of necessity.A baby do€snotknow how to l ie, and neither doesa soul cleansed f evil.

A man drunk on wine unwittingly tells the truth ebout every-thing. And a mandrunk with compunction annot ie.

This is the twelfth step. The man who has aken it hasobtainedthe root of all blessings.

51. Rrhcb ied o srvc he ivcsof hcr fcmilv. lf . krshun r ff.


Tedium loves o b e involved n hospitality,urges he hermrt toundertakemanual aborso as o enable im to give lms, an d exhortsus o visit the sick, ecallingeven he wordsof Him Wh o said, ,I wa ssick an d yo u came o visit me " (Matt.25;36).Tedium suggests eshouldcall on the despairing nd the fainthearted , nd shJ-sets nelanguishing eart o bring comfort o another. edium reminds hoseat prayer of some to



Step13

ON DESPONDENCY

Despondencyor tedium of the spirit,5aas haveoften said, s fre-quently an aspectof talkativeness nd indeed s its first chi ld. For this

reason havegiven it an appropriateplace n the chain of vices.Tedium is a paralysisof the soul, a slackness f the mind, a ne-

glectof religious exercises, hostility to vows taken. t is an approvalof worldly things. t is a voiceclaiming hat God hasno mercyand nolove for men. It is a laziness n the singing of psalms,a weakness nprayer, a stubborn urge for service,a dedication to the work of thehands, an indifference to the requirement of obedience .ss n obedi-ent persondoes not know such tedium, for he has used he things ofthe senseso reach he evelof the spirit.

Tedium is rebuffed by community life, but she s a constant com-

panion of the hermit, l iving with him until the day of his death,strugglingwith him until the very end. Shesmilesat the sight of ahermit'scell and comes reepingup to live nearby.

A doctor calls on the sick in the morning, but tedium visi ts thehermit at noon.56

54. li.Cil (see ote 10,p.80).

55. Trenslrting Rader'semendation, a6lpakoiadokimos,lthough all MSS reaoen

hyohoi do*inot, with the oppositesense.

56. The Fatherscommonly attribute despondency o the noonday demon of Ps.90:6.

ob done,and in her brutish way shesearcheout anyplausibleexcuseo drag us rom prayer,as houghwith someKlno ot nalter.

At the hird hour, he devilof tediumcauseshivering, eadachand vertigo.By theninth hour, he patienthas ecovered,i sstrength,an d when dinner is ready,he iumps out of bed.Bu t no w when th etime for prayer comes,his body begins o languishoncemore. He be_gins hi s prayers, ut the tedium makes im ileepy and the verses fthe psalms re snatchedro m hi s mouth by untimelyyawns.

There is a particularvirtue availableo overcome ll the otherpassions. ut tedium s a kind of total death or th e monk.

A bravesoulca nstir up hi sdying mind, but tediumand azinessscatter veryone of his treasures.

. Tedium s on eof theeightdeadlyvices, nd ndeed he gravest fthem all, and so I must discusst as did th e others.Still. iust norethis much.When the psalms o not have o be sung, ediumdoesno tarise,and the Office is hardly over when the eyesare ready to openagarn.

The real me n of spir it ca n be seenat the time when tediumstrikes,or nothinggainsso many crowns or a monk as he struggleagainsthis.Note ho w tediumhits yo u when you ar estanding, nd fyo u si t down, t suggestsha t t would be a good hing to leanback. tsuggestsha t you prop yourselfup against he walli of your cell. t

producesnoise and footsteps-and there you go peeping out of thewtnqow.

The ma n wh o mourns or himselfdoesno t suffer rom tedium.This tyrantshouldbe overcome y rheremembrance f pastsins,bat_teredby hardmanual aboran dbrought o bookby the Loughtof theblessingso come.An d when le d before he tribunal, et thesebe hequestions ut to him: "You tbere!Yo u crassand sluggish reaturc,what was t that evilly begot he ikesof youi Wh o ar eyirurchildrcnlWh o are your enemiesiWh<lca n destroyyou?"And tcclirrnr rrtybcconstraincdo rcply: l cannot aymy head mong hoscwho rc tru"ly obcdicrr t , nd I l ivc quicr ly

JOi lN :t. tMACUS

Stolidity of Soul, 'orgctfulncss l rhc l'hings of Heaven,or, some-times,'l 'ooHeavya Burdcnof lroublcs. My children who live withme are Changing rom Placc o l) lacc, )isobedienceo One'sSuperi-or, Forgetfulnessf theJudgmcnt o (lomc,and sometimes,he Aban-donmentof One'sVocation.l he singingof psalms nd manual aborare my opponentsby whom I am no w bound. My enemy is thethoughtof death,but what reallyslaysme s prayerbacked y a firm



hope in the blessings f the future. And as to who gave birth toPrayer, ou mustaskher."

This is the thirteenth victorv. He who has won it is reallv our-standing n al l virtue.

Step14

ON GLUTTONY

In our self-crit icismwe must refer patticularly o the stomachand indeed I wonder if anyone breaks ree

of this mistess before heotes.Gluttony is hypocrisyof the stomach.Filled, it moansaboutscar

city; stuffed, nd crammed,t wailsabout ts hunger.Gluttony thinksup seasonings,reates weet ecipes.Stop up one urge and anotherburstsout; stop that one and you unleashyet another.Gluftony hasadeceptive ppearance:t eatsmoderately ut wants o gobbleeverything at the same ime. A stuffed belly produces ornicition, while amortifiedstomacheads o purity. The manv,ho petsa ion may ameit but the man who coddleshe bodymakest ravenous.

The Jew celebrateson Sabbathsand feastdays.The gluttonous

monk celebrateson Saturdaysand Sundays.s? e counts the days roEaster,and for days n advancehe gets the food ready.The slaveofth e belly ponders he menu with which to celebrate he feast.Theservant f God, however, hinksof the gracesha t may enrich him.

If a visitorcalls, hen the slaye f gluttony engagesn charitableacts-but fo r the reasons ssociated it h hi s love f food. He thinksthat by allowingrelaxationsor himself,he s bringing cons(,lationohi s brother. He thinks that the dutiesof hospitaiitventit lc hinr ro

J7 )o ihc prohi l) ir i {)n}f r$ t ng )n Snturdrys nd SLrntlrvrcc ;rr i l r

J() t N (; t . tMACUS

help himself to somc $,inc, so thlt u l t i lc apparently hiding hi s vrrru-ou s love of temperancc,hc is actrrrr l lv rrrning into a slavJ of inrem_perance.

\ranity and gluttony sometinrcs vi c with on e another and theystruggle fo r th e poor monk as f he wcrc ln acquired slave.The onetells hi m he should take t easyand thc othcr sugg.rt, th"t he ought toernergevirtuously triumphant over hi s urge t,, giatify hi s appetite.A


ought to do is to deny ourselves attening foods, hen foods har warmus up, then whatever happens o makeour food especiallypleasant.Give yourself food that is satisfying and easily digestibie,' herebycounteracting ndless ungerby giving yourselfplenty. n this waywe may be freed from too great e longing for food as hough from aplague by rapid evacuation.And we should note too that irost foodthat inflates the stomachalsoencourages esire.



sensiblemonk, however, will avoid both vices,-usingon . id rep..lrethe other.

As long as the flesh is in full vigor, we should everywhere and at1ll.,i l.:

cultivate temperance,and when it has been r_J_",r_._thrng l doubt can happen this side of the grave_we should hide ou rachievement.

.I have seenelderly priesrs ricked by demons so that on feastdays

they dispensed he young men with a biessing, hough they _.r. no ,In tnerr charge, ro m abstinence rom wine and so on. Now if prrestsg.i]]lq,-ti:h,t"l-issionarequiteclearly olymen,we may rfu,.,lge.lJut wlthin limits. If suchpriests end to be careless,hen we shouldrgnore he permission heygive,and we shoulddo soespeciallvf weare n rhe hick of the fight againsthe flesh.

I remember he case f Evagrius,s8 hom an evil demon ed tothe notion that of al l men he was he mostsensiblen al l he thoughtand said.The poor man was quite mistaken, f course, nd in thismatter,asn manyothershe provedhimselfoutstandingly oolish.Hesays:'-whenour soulwantsdifferent oods, eep t on breadand wa-ter,'ts8. statement ha t is like tell inga child to climb the entire ad_der in a singlestride.So let us rejeit hi m and say:When our soulwants different foods, t is looking for what is proper to its nature.He.nce.we have o be very cunning in the

-ay*e j.al with this mosr

skillful opponent.Unlesswe ar ecaughtup in some risisor unlesswe

happen o be doing penance or someparticular ail ings,what we

58. EvegriusPonticus c 34t-j99) left a promising ecclesiasticalareer n Consran_t inople o become monk f irst in palest inean d then n Egypt,where .

"p.n,ro. , ,

years n Nitria and fourteenat the Cells.He becamehere rh-e'."a,ng .t.o..iil"i *p*nentof the_monasr ici fe.H sOrigenist osmologyed o hiscondem"nat iont he Fif thLcumenrcalounci lof j j t . Bu r hi sascer icheology, it h ir ssharp ist indionberwcenact ionen dcontemplar ion,ts is rof eightpr incipai emptat ions,nd ts account f dis_passroneaorngo tove, emainedundamentalor monast icism. l imacus,n sDrrc,) lhi sabuseofEvagr ius,sctear lymuch nf luenced y him {"ee he p.efac.,p. i t ; '

58a.Evagr ius, radicrr 6(ed.cui l l rumont, Sourceshir iennts7t . r) i4(D.

.Be sure o laughat the demon rJho,when supper s over, says

that in future you should eat later, for you may bi-sure that at the

ninth hour he will change he arrengementsmadeon the previousoayThere is one sort of temperance or thoseof good conduct and

another for those nclined to particular weaknessei.Amonq the for_mer any kind of bodilystirring evokes n mmediate rge o-restraintwhile among he latter here s no reliefor relaxation -rom uc hstir_n-ngsuntil the very day they die. The former strive always or peaceof mind, but. he atter ry to appease od by their spiritualgriei andfnelr contr t t lon.

Joy and consolationdescendon the perfect when they reach hestateof complete detachment.The warior monk

eniovs he heat ofbattle,bu t the slave f passionevels n the celebratjoni f Easrer.5e

.In his-heart, the glutton dreams only of food and provisions

where-as ll who have the gift of mourning think only of judgmentandof punishment.

Control your appetites60 efore hey control you, and shamewillgreatlyhelp you to maintainsuchmastery. hosewho have umbledheadlongnt o the pit of sin know what I am talkingabout,and ndeedonly the eunuch s without suchknowledge.6r Jlet us restrainou rappetiteswith the thought of the fire to come. Some have been somightily enslaved y their appetitesha t they actuallycut off their

own genitals, nd therebydied twice over.62 or the truth is . as one

59. Lirerally: "the Feastof feasts nd Festivalof festivals."

.60 . t- i teral lyr the bel ly."Among he ascet ic r i tersglut tonyand ustare tways

closelyconnected.61 . " ' lhe eunuchs re hoseof whom the Lord said ha t they havemadc hcnr.

selves unuchsor thekingdom f heaven sekeM.rr. 19.12),nd wh o rrc prrcr i t rng||gencral bsr incnce.or the other kind of eunuchs o not di f fer ar ll fr,,rrr rrorn{ryntcnus ar es hc pessionsnto which he y el l ar econcerned"sch,) lx)nt l876l l l )

62 . 1.e. , hysical ly nd spir i rual ly i he 2.t thApost( , l ic anon srntcr t{ei hyrr .r lwh o nrrr t i l I tcs inrscl f r) hrccycnrN'dcpr ivor ionf ( i r rnrnunion

JoltNct. tMAcus

wi l l d iscover , hat thc l rc l l l i s Ihc cnuscofal l human shipwrecl .A fast ing man prrys austcrc l ) , , ru t thc mind of someone ntem-

perate s f i l led up wi th unclc l r r i l r r rginings.A ful l stomach dries up onc's wccping, whereas the shrivel led

stomach produces hese ears.And thc mrrn who looks after his bel lyand at the same ime hopes o control th e spir i t of fornicat ion is l ikesomeone rying to put out a f i re with oil.


hand and foot in sleep,doesanything he wants with us, befoulsbodyand soulwith hi sdirty dreams nd emissions.

It is truly astounding ow the incorporealmind can be defiledanddarkened y the body.Equallyastonishings the fact hat the rm-material spirit can be purified and refined by clay.

If you have promisedChrist to travel the straightand narrowroad, hen keepyour stomachn check; or if you giv-en to it. if you



Begrudge the stomach and your heart wil l be humbled; pleasethe stomach and your mind wi l l turn proud. An d if you watch your-sel f

early in the morning, at midday, and in the hour before drnner,yo u will discover the value of fast ing, fo r in the morning yourthoughts are l ively, by the sixth hour they have grown quieter an d bysundown they ar e finally calm. I f you can begrudge th e stomach,your mouth will stay closed, because he tongue flourishes wherefood is abundant. Fight as hard as you can against he stomach an d le tyour vigi lance hold it in. Make th e effort , however litt le. an d th eLord will quickly come to help you.

_If ieatherbott lesare kept supple, they can hold more; but they do

not hold so much if they are neglected. The man who stuffs food intohis stomach expands his insides, whereas the man who f iehts hi s

stomach causes t to shrink, an d once i t has shrunk there is rio possi-bility_ of overeating, so that henceforth one fasts quite naturally.

.Sometimes hirst quenches hirst, but it is difficult if not impossi-

ble to end hunger by means of hunger. And i f the stomach tr iumphsover you, tame it with hard work, and if you are too weak for this,f ight it by keeping vigil. If you f ind yoursel f gett ing sleepy, ur n tomanual work, but keep away from that if you happen not to besleepy, for you cannot serve both God and Mammon.63 That is to sav.yo u cannot turn your attent ion at the same time to God and to th ework of your hands.

You should rememberthat frequently a demon can take up resi-dencp in your bel ly and keep a man from being sat isf ied,euen after

having devoured the whole of Egypt and after having drunk al l of theNi le. After we have eaten, his demon goesoff and sends he spirit offornicat ion againstus , saying:"Get him now! Go after him. When hisstomach s ful l , he wil l not put up much of a f ight." Laughing, th espirit of fornicat ion, that ally of th e stomach'sdemon, comes,binds us

enlarge t, you are breaking your promise.Listen and hear the wordof warning: "Wide and spaciouss the roadof gluttony. It leads o the

catastrophe f fornication,and thereare many who travel hat way.The gate s narrowand he way of fasting s hard, hat way eading othe life of purity, and there are few to make the journey" (cf. Matt7:13-14).

The fallen Lucifer is prince of the demons,and gluttony isprinceof the passions. o when you sit at a well-ladenable, emem-ber deathand rememberudgment, ndevei then you will only man-age o resrain yourselfa little. And when you drink, keepalways nmind the vinegarand gall of your Lord. Then indeedyou will be ei-ther temperate r sighing; ou will keepyour mind humble.For youmust not fool yourself.

You will not escape rom Pharaohand youwill not see he heavenlyPassover nless ou constantlyea t bitterherbsand unleavened read, he bitter herbsof toil and hard asring,the unleavened readof a mind madehumble. oi n o your breathingthe word of him who said: When devilsplaguedme, I put on sack-cloth, humbledmy soul with fasting, nd my pra yerstuck o the bo -somof my soul" (Ps.34:11).

To fast s to do violence o nature. It is to do away what whateverpleaseshe palate.Fastingends ust, rootsout bad thoughts, reesonefrom evil dreams.Fastingmakes or purity of prayer, an enlightenedsoul, a watchful mind, a deliverancerom blindness. astine s the

door of compunction, umblesighing, oyful contrition,anjend tochatter, n occasionor silence, custodian f obedience, ighteningof sleep, ealthof the body,an agentof dispassion, remission f sins,the gate, ndeed, he delightof Paradise.

Le t us pu t a question o this enemyof ours, his architect f ou rmisfortunes, his gatewayof passion,his fall of Adam and ruin ofEsau, his destroyer f the Israelites,hi s one who bares hc shnrnc fNoah, his betrayerof Gomorrah, hi s reproach f l,ot, this killcr ol'the sonsof Eli the priest, hi s guide o every unclcanncs$,,ct lu [rk

1. Monks supported hemselves y the saleof their handiwork.

J()t N ( t. lMACUS

her from whom shc s xrrn,who hc r chiklren are,what enemy hereis to crushher,who finally trri lgs lrcr krw. ,e t us

"sktt is ban'e f at t

men, hispurchaserrfcvcrl . rhing irh rhcgoldct-r in f greed: ,Howdld you gain accesso us ! Ii r what docsvour coming ead?How doyou depart rom us?"

Angeredby suchabuse, agingand f<raming, luttony answersus :"Why are you complaining. ou who arc my servants? ow is it



tnat you are trying to ger away from mel Nature hasbound me toyou. l he door to r me s what foodactually s, ts character nd quali_

ty . The reasonor my teing insatiables habit.Unbroker, "bit, Outt_nessof soul,and the failureto rememberdeathare the rootsof mypassion.

-And 1r-ows it that you_are ooking for the namesof my ofi-springl For if I were o count hem, heir-numberwould be sreaterthan the-total-of the grains of sand.Still, you may 1.".r,

"ti.?rt tfr"

namesof my firstborn and belovedchildren. My iirstborn son is theservantof Fornication, the second s Hardnessoi Heart, and the thirdis Sleepiness. rom me flow a seaof Dirty Thoughtr, *"u"" oiflt.t,floodsof unknownandunspeakablempurities. ri y daughte.s

".eL" _

zrness..alkativeness.reezyFamiliarity,Jesting, acetiousness,on_tradiction, Stubbornness,Contempt, Diso6edierice, tolidity of ii,Iind,Captivity, Boastfulness, udacity, Love of Worldly fnineJ, iotiow"aby Impure Prayer, Distracted Thoughts, and sudden

".d"oi "nurr""_

pectedCatastrophes, it h which is linked that most evil of al l mydaughters,. amely_, espair.The thought of past failings i,

"noU.t"_

cle to me,but hardly overcomesme. The thought of deith is my ene-my alwayq bu t nothing humancan reallywip-eme out. He wlio hasreceived he Paracleteprays to Him against'me; and the paraclete,when entreated,doesnot allow me to act passionately.But thosewhohavenever tastedHim inevitably seekpleasure r, rn'y *.a,ar.rr.,,

Vicrory oyer his vice s a braveoni. He who is able o achieve t

shouldhasten owardsdispassion nd rotalchastity.

Srep 5

ON CHASTITY

We have heard from that raving mistressgluttony, who has us tspoken,.that he r offspring is wa r against bodies.An d no wonder, fo rou r ancrent ancestor Adam also teachesus this. Indeed if he ha d no tbeen overcome by th e belly he would no t have known what a wifewas. Therefore those who keep the first commandment do not fallinto the second transgression, but remain sons of Adam withoutknowing what Adam was. They were made a little lower than the an_gels (cf. Ps. 8:6) n being subject to death.6aAn d this was ro Drevenrevil from becoming immortal, as he who is called the Theologransays.b4'

^. 1ob.. chaste is to put on the nature of an incorporeal being.6s

Chastity is _ supernatural denial of what one is by nature, so that a

mortal and corruptible body is competing in a ruly marvelous waywith incorporeal spirits. A chasteman is someonewlo ha sdriven ou tbodily love by means of divine love, who has used heavenlv fire roquench the fires of the flesh.

64 . I he words in beingsubjecto death"do not occur n some crr ir r r rs64A.Sr . ;rcgoryof N

^r janzus,Or.4j , 8 (p C 16.6l lA) .

65 . Rrdcr 's ex r 5 rranslared er ealrhough senrenceas rnr l , , r r l r rcr l l l .lro;tperoul. I l N4 ddsi l 'ur i ry is hc l( 'ngcd-for ouse fChr isrand hc c hly hrrrvrn t th ohenrt ."Rndcr 's * n l ,n l in rmnslnr ioncnr ls:.pur irvi\ rhc , ,nUc( l . l i , r,,Irr ,r l t;hthlr tnr l hc curthly hickl r ) t /{ ;

JOHN CLIMACUS

Chasti ty s a name ommon o al l vi r tr rcs.A chastema n feelsno srirringsor changcwithin himselfeven

when he s asleep. chasteman scomplctclyoblivious o th e differ_encebetween odies.

Th e rule and imit of absolute hastity s to have he same eel_ings regarding nimateand nanimatebeings, ationaland rrational.

. .Anyone rained n chastity houldgivehimselfno credit or an y


is l ike the star of morning, the second ike the moon when i t is full,th€ third like the blazing sun. And al l three have their home in heav-en. Light comes rom the dawn an d amid l ight the sun rises,so et al lthat has been said be the l ight in which to meditate and learn.

A fox pretends to be asleep; the body and the demons pretend tobe chaste. The former is on the watch to seize a bird, the latrer tocatch a soul. So as ong as you live, never trust rhat clay of which youare made and



achievements,or a man cannotconquerwhat he actually s. Whennature sovercome,t shouldbe admitted ha t this s due o Him Wh o

is abovenature, since t cannot be denied hat th e weakeralwavsyields o the stronger.

.The beginning of chastity is refusal to consent o evil thoughts

and occasional reamless missions;he middle stages to be free ofdreams nd emissions ve nwhen thereare natural ovements of thebody brought on.by-eating to o much; th e completionof chastrtycomeswhen-mortified thoughts are followed by a mortified body.

'

Truly blesseds the man totally unstirred by any body, any coloror any beauty.The chasteman is not someonewith a body undefiledbut rathera personwhosemembers re n complete ubieition o thesoul, for a man is great who

is free of passioneven when touched,thoughgreater ti l l is the ma n unhurt by all he has ookedon. Suchaman has truly mastered he fires of earthly beauty by his attentionconcentrated on the beautiesof heaven. n driving off this dog bymeans f prayer he s l ike someone ho hasbeen ighting a lion. Hewh o subduest by resistanceo it is someone till chasing n enemy.But the man who has managed o reduce its hold comp-letely, venwhen he himself s sti l l in this ife, s someonewho hasalread-vrsenfrom the dead.

A sign of real chastity is to be unaffected by the dreams thatcomewith sleep.Equally,a signof complet. .nru"l i,y is to be iable

to emissions rom bad thoughts when one is awake.. .Tl.

man.who strugglesagainst his enemy by sweatand bodilyhardships s l ike someonewh o has ied hi s adversarywith a reed. fhe ights him with remperance, leeplessness,nd keepingwatch, it isas f he had put fetterson him. If he fights with humili iy, calmness,and thirst, t is as houghhe hadkil led th e enemyand buried him insand, he sandbeing owliness ince t doesnothine to feed he uas_sionsand s only earthan dashes.

One man keepshi s tormentorundercontrolby strugglinghard,anotherby beinghumble,anotherby divinerevelation.-he fir i t ma n

depend on it until the time you stand beforeChrist Himsel i An d never imagine that abst inence will keep youfrom falling. It was a being

who never ate that was neverthelessthrown out of heaven.

Some wise men have said that renunciat ion is hosti l i ty to thebody and war against he stomach.

A_mong beginners lapses usually occur because of high living,something that, together with arrogance, brings down also those whohave made som€ progress. But among those nearing perfectron, alapse s solely due to the fact of passing udgment on oni 's neighbor.

-Some have praised those who are naturplly eunuchs. They say of

them that they have been freed from the martyrdom of the body.'Butas far as I am concerned my praise goes out each day to those who

take the knife, so to speak, to their own evil thoughts.I have seen men who lapsedagainst their wil l and I have seen

me n who would will ingly lapsebut are unable to do so. These I pityfar more than the daily sinner, for though impotent they long for cor-ruptlon.

Pity the man who falls, but pity twice over the man who causesanother to lapse, for he carries the burden of both as well as theweight of pleasure tasted by the other.

Do not imagine that yo u will overwhelm th e demon of fornrca-tion by entering into an argument with him. Nature is on his sidean dhe has the best of the argument. So the man who decides to struggleagainst his flesh and to overcome it by his own efforts is fighting rnvain. The truth is that unless the Lord overturns the house of theflesh an d bui lds the houseof the soul, he man wishing to overcome thas watched and fasted for nothing. Offer up to the Lord the weak-nessof your nature. Admit your incapacity and, without your know-ing it, you will win for yoursel f the gift of chast i ty.

A victim of sensual i ty who had overcome his weakncss ol d nr conce that within people of his kind there f lourishes a yc0rni [ f{)rbodies, a shemelcssand terr iblc spirit that asserts rscl l [ t thr vrrv

Joi lN (:t . lMACUS

heart 's core. Shecr physict l prtirr rurns so fiercely in the heart that itis l ike being scorchedby rr nolrn firc,' l 'hc sufferer f inds that becauseof this he has no fear of (iorl, hc sl)urns th c thought of punishment,turns away from prayer, and thc sighr of a corpsc moyeshi m no morethan i f it were a stone. He is l ike sonlconc ou t of his mind, in a daze,and he is perpetual ly drunk with desire firr nlan or beast.And i f alimit were not placedon the act ivi t ies of this demon, no one would besaved,no one who is made of clay mingled with bkxrd and foul

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENI'

ing two reasons:irst, that everywherewe may have plenty of oppor-tunity for lapses; and second, that we may receive greaterpunishment.The truth of all this was personally iscovered y theman who formerly was n chargeof donkeysbut then wretchedly fellunder the sway of wild donkeysand wasdeluded.He had once ed onthe bread of heavenbut now he lost it, and even after he had repent-ed, our founder Antony said,66" ith bitter lament, that a great pillar



ture. Ho w could they be saved? fter all, everything created ongs rn -satiably for its own kind, blood for blood, the worm

for a worm, clayfor clay. And what does flesh desire if not fleshlThose of us who try to restrain nature and who long to take the

kingdom of heaven by force (cf. Matt. l l :12) try variJus art i f icesagainst hi s demon. Lucky the man who has no t experienced he kindof conflict I have been talking about! So let us pray that we may al -ways escape rom such a trial because hose who slide into the oit fallfa r below those others climbing up and down the ladder.66A;d in-deed they have to sweat copiously and pract ice extreme abstinence fthey are eyer to get far enough out of that pit to be able to start theclimb again.

When our spir i tual foes ar e drawn up to do batt le with us, weshould ponder what it is they can do, just as we would take precau-t ions in a visible war. For those foes have rheir proper tasks, trangeas this may seem. An d whenever I thought about those who weretempted. I noted that their lapseswere of varying seriousness. .H e

wh o ha s ears o hear, et him hear'r(Matt. I l:15).

-In his trattle against asceticsan d those leading th e solitary life,

th e devi l regularly uses all his force, zeal, and low skil l, al l his in-tr igue, cleverness, nd evi l designs o overpower them by means ha tar e unnatural rather than according to nature. An d so t happens ha twhen ascetics meet women and find themselves assailed niither bydesire nor by evil thoughts, they occasionally come to imagine thatthey have achieved true blessedness.Poor idiots! They do not realizethat a smal ler lapse was not required since a maior fal l had in factbeen prepared for them.

Those accursedmurderers, in my opinion, manage o attack uspoor wretchesan d bring us down with unnatural sins for the fol low_

66. I.e., he angelswhomJacob aw n hisdreemascending nd descending lad-der reaching p to heavenGen.28:t2).

had allen.That wise mandrew a veil over he natureof the sin, an dhe knew well that the sin of fornication doesnot require the availabil-

it y of anotherbody.We carry a sort of death within us, a sin that is catastrophic,al-

wayswith us andespecially hen we ar eyoung. haveno t the cour-age o describe t, for my hand s restrained y him who said t is ashame o talk of, write about, or hear of the things done try them insecret cf. Eph. 5: 2).

This flesh of mine, and yet not mine, this enemy and friend, wascalled deathby Paul. "Who will deliver me from this body of death?"he asked Rom. 7:24).Another theologian6?escribed t aspassionateslavish and nocturnal. For a long time I wondered why they spoke

this way. If, aswas saidabove, he flesh s death, hen whoeverdefeatsit will surelyno t die. And yet, who is the man who wil l l ive and notseedeath n all the impurity of his bodyi

I ask you to consider who is greater, he man who dies and nsesagain, r th e man who doesno t die at all. Thosewho would pick thelatterare certainlywrong, for Christ Himself died and rose.Bu t hewho opts for the former suggestsn effect that one should not despairover he dying,or , rather, he apsing.

Our relentlessenemy, the teacherof fornication, whispers thatGod is lenientand particularlymerciful o this passion, inie it rs sovery natural.Yet f we watch he wilesof thedemonswe wil l observ

that after we haveactuallysinned hey wil l affirm that God is a iustand nexorableudge.They sayone hing to leadus nto sin,anotherthing to overwhelmus n despair. nd if we aresorrowfulor inclinedto despair,we are slower o sin again,but when the sorrow and thedespair avebeenquenched,he tyrannicaldemonbegins o speak ous againof God's mercy.

66a. A rcfcrcncc to St. Antonv thc ( ireat; Ihc Safingtof r tu lhnrt Itth t, Antrtry

l{ .

67 . Sl . ( ;rcgr)ry'r l

Nrr irnrurr If arf.4r, l r ( / ' ( ; t6 , 1 ' {4Al l)

JOItN ;t , lMAcus

.Thel-ord, bcing inr:orrupriblc nd incorporeal, ejoices n th e

purity an d cleanliness f our lrrxl ics,As firr the demons, othing issaid o pleasehem more han hc lirul snrcllof fornication. nd noth-ing del ighrshemasmuchas hcdcfi lcnrcnr f the body.

Chasti tymakes s as amil iarwith ( iod and as ike Him asanyma n may be.

Th e motherof sweetnesss earthan dclew.l'hc motherof chasti_ty is stillness nd obedience. ften the dispassion f body


two people,he goes o work on the inclinations of eachof them-andthen lights the fire of passion.

It often seems hat those who incline towards sensuality end tobe sympathetic,merciful, and possessedf compunction, rvhile thoseager or chastity appear o lack thesecapacities n some measure.

A v ery well-informedman onceput this question o me: "Leav-in g asidemurder and th e denialof God , what is the most serious f



ysti l lness asbeendisturbedwheneyer he world impingedon it. Bu tdispassion chieved

hrough obediences genuineand s everywhereunshakable.I haveseenhumility emerge rom pride, an d I thought of the

ma n who said: Who has athomed he mind of the Lord?" (Rom.I :34).The pit an d he fruit of arrogances a fa ; bu t a fall is oftenanoccasion f humility fo r thosewilling to profit by it.

Th e ma n who imagines e canconquer he demonof fornicationby gluttony and by stuffing himself is quite like someone whoquenchesire with oil. And th e man who tries o pu t an end to thisstruggleby meansof temperance nly is like somlone rying to es -cape.from he se aby swimming with iust one hand.However, oi n

humility to temperance, or the one is uselesswithout the other.Th e man who observes imself succumbing o some passion

should irst of all fight against his,especiallyf it hasmade ti abodewith him, fo r until this particularvice s wiped out it wil l be uselessfor us o havemastered ther passions. il l this Egyptianand we willsurelyhavesightof God in the bushof humility (cf.Exod.2:12; :2).

In the season f temptation ha d he feeling ha t this wolf wasgiving me ioy, tears, nd ndeed onsolationn my spirit. Of coursewa s being deceivedwhen I childishly magined hait was derivingbenefit insteadof harm from this.

Every other kind of sin is external to the bodv. but the sin of im-purity is a sin againsthe body,since he verysubstancef the lesh sdefiled by pollution in a way that cannot happen n the caseof othersins.And a goodquestion o ask s this: ,Whydo we normallysay e-garding everyother kind of sin that so-and-so asslipped,whireas wesa ysorrowfully hat someone as allenwhen we discoverhat he hascommitted fornication?"

A fish turns swiftly from the hook. The passionate oul turnsfrom solitude.

When the devil decides o forge somedisgracefulbond between

"To lapse nto heresy," replied.

"In that case," e said, why does he CatholicChurch readmihereticswho have honestlycome o reiect their beliefs?Why are theydeemed it to share n the holy Mysterieswhen, by contrast, manwho hascommitted ornication s excludedrom these acredMyster-ies for a number of y ears,and this by th e direct commandof theApostolic Canons,even though he may have not only confessed utevenabandonedhis sinful ways?" The questionastonished ne,and Isti l l do not know the answer.68

During the singingof the psalmswe ,shouldexamine, onsiderand observewhat kind of sweetness omes o us from the devil of for-

68. When the same question was put to Timothy of Alexandri. (archbishop 380-5)

he replied: "Because the one, the sin of the heretic, is committed with the free co-op€r-

stion of the will through ignorancei and so the Church's discipline is designed to make

heretics more ready to return and fornicators less eag€r to sin" lRett. Con.20, in l.B.

Pitra, luri EcclesiaaiciGraecorumHitoria et Mownenta, vol. i, p. 635r. The canonicel po-

si t ion seems o have been as ol lows. Exclusion from Communion $as a penitential dis-

cipl ine for those who had sinned after baptism (i.e., or those who were already in the

Church). The Apostol ic Penitential Caoons prescribed seven years'deprivation of

Communion for fornicators- Heretics were deemed outside the Church. They were

baptized and chrismated on reception and could then proceed to Communion without

further delay (ci C.non 7 of Leodicea). However, those heretics who had lapsed after

receiving Catholic Baptism and who then returned to the Church had to spend three

years in the catechumcnate, followed by e further ten years without Communion un_

less their repentrnce was especially fervent (cf. Canon 12 of Nicaea). Heretics were

therefore not treated so much more leniently than fornicators. The point was that ihe

former, if they hsd not previously been Catholics, were not liable to disciplinarv mea-

sures. The schol iast o account for the apperently more serious nature of fornicrtt i ,r t

s' rggests he fol lowing: "Heresy is a deviation of the mind and a ministry of I hc tor l l lut.

whence comcs crror. Fornication seduces nd transforms r l l thc scnscs (i ,x(tr l t i r r .r l

the body .rncl oul, ch:rnging thcm from thc inragc and l ikenessartd .;rr l i r rg lh( rrr rr lu

nothingncssr hcrcl i )rc i t is I lso cul lcd rr fel l l lcrcsy c()ntcs rrxn prt. i rrr l t l t l i [ l l , $ l l lk '

fornicrtion c,nrrrr l r r ,rrr rxl i lv r ' ,,rrr l i r r t. lcr( l ias thcrcf,rrc utrrr in | tr ' l t ' r ' t tr rrr hrrr tt l l t

humil inti r)n. \cnsr l i r l i thr," ' (h Innl i lv r l l ' l i t l io l ' (sthol iorr ,16lel t l ) ' , l lAl)

JOITNCt,tMACUS

nicat ion and what kind comcs to us from the words of the Soirit an dfrom the grace and power which is in them. Know yoursel f well,young man. For in fact I haveseen men pray earnest ly or their lovedones,men who thought they were fulfi l l ing the requirements of love,when in real i ty it was the spirit of fornicat ion that was st i rr ing them.

Th e body can be defi led by the merest touch, fo r of al l the sensesthis is the most dangerous. So think of the man who wrapped hi s

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCEN]'

during sleep, or the aim of the demons is to def i le us while we ar e

sti l l awake by causing us to harp on our dreams.

Let us pay attent ion to another tr ick of our enemies.Just as ba d

food makes one sick after some time or indeed after some days, the

same can happen in the caseof actions that defile the soul l have seen

men give way to soft living and not notice at once the onset of the

enemy. I have seen others take a meal with women, talk to them, and

al l the t ime be unaff l icted by bad thoughts of any Lind. In this wa y



hand in an ecclesiast ical arment when he was about to carry his sickmother.68" et your hand be dead to everyrhing narural or oiherwise,

to your own body or to that of another.I do not think anyone should be classedas a saint unt i l he ha s

made holy his body, if indeed that is possible.

. _We have to be especial lysober and watchful when we are lying

in bed, for that is the time when our mind has to contend with de -mons outsideour body. And i f our body is inclined to be sensual henit wil l easi ly betray us. So let the remembranceof death and the con-cise JesusPrayer go to sleep with you and get up with you, for noth-ing helps yo u as hesedo when yo u are asleep.

-Some think that sruggles with passion an d eiaculat ionsduring

sleepar e causedsolely by what we haveeaten. Yet I have noticed thatvery sick people or strict practitioners of fasting can also fall prey rothese defilements. I once asked a very experienced and celebratedmonk about this, an d the holy ma n clearly explained the matter tome. "Emissions during sleepare the result of eat ing too much and liv-ing too well," this famous ma n declared. ,They

come too when weget complacent or when we preen ourselves becausea long time mayhave elapsed since we experienced such emissions. They come also ifwe start passing udgment on our neighbor. The las.t wo problemscan occur evenamong the sick,an d perhapsal l three." I f someonedis_covers that he is untroubled by these, he is surely lucky to be free of

such passions.An d if ever he suffers t, the reasonmust l ie in the ieal-ousy of the demons, something God allows to happen for a whiie inorder that this man, after such an accident, whii l i of course is freefrom sin, may achieve he purest humility.

Never brood by day over the fantasies that have occurred to vou

68a. Rosweyde, ,itoePatmm v, g 68, p. j72: pL ?1, 8738i ed.Nau, $ I5a: Xeoae 'gl'Ofientcbritienxiii \1908), . 52.

they were deceived and encouraged to grow careless and to imagine

that they were safe and at peace. Then came suddendestruction in

their cel ls. What bodi ly and spir i tual destruct ion affl icts us when we

are alone?The man who suffers temptation knows well. And the man

who goes about untempted has no need to know.

When temptation comes, our best weapons af€ sackcloth and

ashes, l l -night vigi ls standing up, hunger, the merest touch of water

when we are thirsty, t ime passedamong the burial placesof the dead'

and most important of al l , humility of heart; and if possiblea spir i tual

director or a helpful brother, old in wisdom rather than years,should

also support us. Indeed i t would come as A great surprise i f anyone

could, by his efforts alone, savehis ship from the sea.

The same sin earns punishm€nt a hundred t imes greater for oneperson rather than another, depending on character, place, Progress

and much elsebesides.

I wa s told once about an astonishing evel of chast i ty attained by

someone. "There was a man6e who, having looked on a body of great

beauty, at once gave praise to its Creator and after one look was

stirred to love God and to weeP copiously, so that it was marvelous

how something that could have brought low one person managed to

be th e causeof a heavenly crown for another. And i f such a man feels

and behaves n simi lar fashion on simi lar occasions, he n he has al-

ready r isen to immortalitybefore the general resurrect ion."

The same guidel ine ought to direct us when we sing songs and

hymns, for the lovers of God are moved to holy joy, divine love, an d

tears by songs both worldly and spir i tual , iust as lovers of Pleasur

are moved to the opposite.

Some sol i tary monks, as I have said already, have to face vast ly

6I).Sr .Nrrnnrrs.rishrrprf I tc ln4r,r l isR,,sw ydt, iraL 'ar n |' 1t t1 1 I' l 7 'A rl

JOIINCI,IMACUS

more dangerous attacks from thc dcrnons. And no wonder, since

theseare the placeswhere thc dcvils choosc o lurk, because he Lord,

out of concern for us, has driven thcm to desert placesTo nd to the

dark reachesof hell. The devils of fornication launch vicious attacks

on solitary monks. They try to drivc thcm back into the world, by

making them think that their time in the desert has been wasted. Dev-

ils do not bother us when we are in the world, and this is becausethey think that, if we are not attacked here, we will continue to stay


thers have actually dared to call it freedom from passion. But therc

are some who would claim that anyone who has tasted sin can never

be called pure. I disagree, nd for the following reason.You can easily

graft a good olive onto a wild olive if you so wish. Now if the keys of

th e kingdom had been given to someonewho had lived always in vir-

ginity, the claim mentioned above might have some force. But let the

proponents of the claim be silenced by the man who had a mother-in-

law and who nevertheless received the keys of the kingdom after he



with worldly-minded people. The place of temptation is the place

where we find ourselves having to put up a bitter fight against theenemy, and wherever we ar e not involved in a struggle is surely the

place where the enemy is posing as a friend.

If we have to go ou t into the world on some legitimate task, we

have the hand of God to guard us, probably because ur spiritual di-

rector is praying that we may not be a causeof blasphemy against he

Lord. Sometimes we are protected by our insensitivity or by the fact

that long experience has exhausted or us the spectacleof the world,

its sounds and all its works. But sometimes the reason lies in the fact

that the devils have left deliberately so that only the demon of pride

remains to take over from all of them.

Bu t all of you who wish to practice purity and preserve t shouldlisten now to another cunning stratagem of that deceiver, for I have

been told by someone who had to suffer the experience that the de-

mon of sensuality often hid himself completely. Then he would have

a monk sit or talk with women. He would inspire him with great pi -

ety and even a flood of tears, and then suggest that he speak about the

remembrance of death, judgment, and chastity. The unfortunate

women, deceived by his words and spurious piety, would rush to

him, thinking him to be a shepherd nstead of the wolf he really was.

Acquaintance would grow into familiarity, and the wretched monk

would suffer his downfall..W e should strive in all possibleways neither to seenor to hear of

that fruit we have vowed never to taste. It amazes me to think we

could imagine ourselves to be stronger than the prophet David, some-

thing quite impossible ndeed (cf. 2 Kings [2 Sam.] I l:2-4).

Purity deservessuch great and mighty praise that some of the Fa-

70. It was a common idea thet demons dwelt in the desert: soliraries went thcre

oartlv to do batde with them.

had become pure,Tl

The serpent of sensuality has many faces.To those who have hadno experience of sin he suggests the idea of trying it once and then

stopping. Then the crafty creature, exploiting the recollection of hav-

ing sinned once, urges them to try again. And many of the Peoplewithout experience feel no conflict within themselYes because they

do not know what is evil, whereas the experi enced,knowing the evil

for what it is, suffer disturbance and conflict, though sometimes the

opposite can happen too.

When we rise from sleep in a good and peaceful frame of mind,

we may assume that this is a secret gift frorh the heavenly angels, par-

ticularly if we had gone to sleep after much prayer and vigil. Some-

times, however, we get up in a bad mood, and this is caused by baddreams and fantasies. For "I have seen the enemy all puffed up, high

and tossing n me like the cedarsof Lebanon" (Ps. 16:15) nd I passed

by with temperance, and see,his rage was not as it had been before,

and I looked for him with humble mind and no place or race of hi m

could be found in me.

To have mastered one's body is to have taken command of na-

ture, which is surely to have risen above it. And the man who has

done this is not much lower than the angels, f even that.

That spirit should fight with spirit is not surprising. The real

wonder is that a man dwellingin his body, and always struggling

against hi s hostile and canny matter, should manage o rout spiritual

foes.

The great concern of the good Lord for us is shown by the fact

that shynessacts as a cur b on the shamelessnessf women. For i f thc

woman chased he man, no flesh would be saved.

Among the discerning Fathers, distinctions are recrtgnizcd rc -

71. Pctcrwe snrrrricd: cc \ ' ln l t . 6:19, ,ulc 4:t l i and I ( i r r'r 5

Jol N ct. tMACUS

twe€n p rovocation, coupling, asscnl, clPlivity, struggle, and th e dis-

easecalled passion,which is in thc soul.Tr 'l hcse blessedFathers say

that provocation is a simple word or irnlgc encountered for the first

time, which hasentered into the hcrrt. (irupling is conversation with

what has been encountered, whether this be passionatelyor other-

wise. Assent is the delighted yielding of thc soul to what it has en-

countered. Captivity is a forcible and unwilling abduction of the

heart, a permanent lingering with what we have encountered and


has been able to detect such a subtlety, someone with the gift of

mourning, may be able to explain how with the eye alone, with a

mere glance, by the touch of a hand, through a song overheard, the

soul is led to commit a definite sin of unchastity without any notion

or evil thought.

Some say that it is the thought of fornication that inroduces pas-

sion into the body, while others deny this, insisting that evil thoughts

derive from the capacity of the body to experience things sensual.



which totally undermi nes the necessary rder of our souls. By strug-

gle they mean force equal to that which is leading the attack, and this

force wins or losesaccording to the desires of the spi rit. Passion, n

their view, is properly some thing that lies hidden for a long time rn

the soul and by its very presence it takes on the character of a habit,

until the soul of its own accord clings to it with affection.

The first of these conditions is free of sin, the second sometimes,

and the condition of the soul determines whether or not the third is

sinful. Struggl e can earn a crown or punishme nt. Captivity is iudgedin differ ent ways, depending on whether it happens at the time of

prayer or at some other time, whether it happens in regard to what rs

unimportant or in the context of evil thoughts. But passion is un-

equivocally denounced n every situation and requires suitable repen-tance or future punishment. From all of which it follows that he who

regards the first encounter with detachment cuts off with one blow

all the rest that follow.

The most exact of the spiritual Fathers point to another more

subtle notion, something they call pararripismos, or disturbanceT3 of

the mind. What happens s this: In a moment, without a word being

spoken or an image presented,a sudden passionateurge lays hold of

the victim. It comes aster than anything in the physical world and is

swifter an d more indiscernible than any spirit. It makes ts appear-

ance n the soul by a simple memory, which is unconnected with any-thing, independent of time and inexpressible, and in some cases

comes without the person himself realizing th e fact. Someone who

72. See, or exsmple.St. l\'lark he Ascetic,O theSpnitualLaq $$ I 19-42(PG4,5,

921-4: ET Phil.,$$ I 18-41,pp.l 19-20), nd St. Msximos the Confessor, '' /,00r, ti4. I

i I (PG90,980,991:L'I ThePbilokalia, ol. ii). l here s avaluableanalysisof the terrns

which Climacususes n the Glossaryof lbe Pbilokalia, ol. , pp. 364-6.

71. This is an expression sedby St. N,lark he Ascetic, drter a NicalashcSalitary,

PC 65. t0408IET Pbil.D. t'l).

The former declare that if the mind had not taken the lead, the body

would not have followed.T3'But the Iatter maintain that their view isproved by the depravity of bodily p assion, or, very often, a pleasing

sight, a touch of the hand, the scent of perfume, or the sound of sweet

voicescan be enough to generateevil thoughts. If anyone can do so rn

the Lord, let him explain what really happens. It would greatly bene-

fit those living actively to understand this, though this problem need

not re ally concern those practicing virtue with simple hearts. Stil l,

not everyone has the necessary degree of understanding and not ev-

eryone possesseshe holy simplicity that is.a breastplateagainst the

cunning of evil demons.

Some passions enter the body by way ofthe soul, and some work

in the opposite way, the latter affect ing people living in the world,

the former assailing hose iving the monastic ife and, hence, acking

stimulus from the outside. All I can say here about it is that if you

look for wisdom among evil men, you most certainly will not find it(cf. Prov. 14:6).

After we have fought long and hard against hi s demon, this ally

of the flesh, after we have driven it out of our heart, torturing it with

the stone of fasting and the sword of humility, this scourge goes nto

hiding i n our bodies, ike some kind of worm, and it uies to pollute

us , stimulating us to irrational and untimely movements. This partic-

ularly happens to those who have fallen to the demon of vainglory,for since dirty thoughts no longer preoccu py their hear ts they fall

victim to pride. Such people can discover whether or not this is true

if once they have attained a certain stil lness hey quietly take stock of

themselves. For they will then discover that deep down in thcir

hearts, ike a snake in dung, is the notion that by their own cffirrtr

and enthusiasm they made great advances n purity, Poor wretchcrl

71r. Sc cSt . 4ark hc Ascctic,Ol thrSlirituul .au,$ 12 0 /t;61,9t(l(; l ' l , t l l , II 19 , ). l8).

JOHNCt.tMACUS

They forget he saying: What haveyo u got that you did not receiveasa gift either rom God or asa resultof the helpan dprayers f oth-ers?" ci I Cor. 4:7).Let them beware hen. Let them with al l zeal

eiect rom their hearts he snakementioned bove . Let them kill it

with greathumility, so hat when they havegot rid of it they may bestrippedof their garments f skinTa nd sing, ike purechildren,a tri-

umphant hymn of chastity o the Lord. Only let us hope hat whenthey are thus stripped, they may not find that they are bereft of the


I was once at a gathering of holy men and I noticed a zealous

brother troubled by evi l thoughts. There was no place where he could

go aside for secret prayer, and so he went out, as if on a call of nature.

There he armed himself with intense prayer against the enemy. I

criticized him for having gone to an inappropriate place, bu t the an-

swer he gave me was this: "I chosean unclean place n which to pray

to be cleansed rom fi l th, that I might drive out unclean thoughts."

Al l demons try to darken our minds so that they may then sug-



humility and reedom rom maliceso natural o children.

This demon is especiallyon the lookout for our weak momentsand will viciouslyassailus when we are physicallyunable o pray

against t.The effort of bodily prayer can help those not yet granted real

prayer of the heart. I am referring to the stretching out of the hands,the beating of the breast, he sincere aising of the eyesheavenward,

deepsighsand constantprostrations. ut this is not always easible

when otherpeoplearepresent, nd this is when the demonsparticu-

larly like to launch an attack and, becausewe have not yet thestrength of mind to stand up against them and because he hiddenpower of prayer is not yet within us, we succumb.So go somewhere

apart, f you can.Hide for a while n some ecret lace. f you can, iftup the eyesof your soul, but if not, the eyesof your body. Stand stillwith your arms n the shape f the crossso that with this sign youmay shame nd conquer our Amalek.?5 ry out to God, Who has he

strength o save ou. Do not bother with elegantand cleverwords.

Just speakhumbly, beginningwith, "Have mercy on me, for I am

weak" (Ps.6:l). And then you will come o experiencehe power of

the Most High and with help from heavenyou will drive off your in-

visible oes.The man who gets nto the habit of waging war in thisway will soonput his enemies o flight solelyby meansof spiritual

resources,or this is the reward God likes to bestowon thosev/ho putup a goodstuggle, and rightly so .

74. -fhe "garments of skin" .llude to Gen. l:21 and represent hat which was add-

ed to human nature asa result of the fall, i.e., he passions, exurl stirrings and mortal-

ity. For a discussionof the patristic use of this expression e€Gregory of Nyssa, 7r.

Life of Moter,El Malherbe and Ferguson TbeClasshof l|/estenSliitualit!), pp. 160-1,

note 29,

75. Like Moseswith his ,rms raised n the bettle with the AmaLekitescf- Exod.

l7:r ) .

gest to us what they want us to do, and so long as the mind stays

awake we wi ll no t be robbed of our treasure.But the demon of forni-cation ffies harder than all the others. First, by darkening our minds,

which guide us , i t urges and incl ines us in the presenceof other peo-

pl e to do things that only the mad would think of. Then when our

minds are cleared we becomeashamedof these unholy deeds,words,

and gestures, not only before those who saw us but before ourselves,

and we are astounded by this earl ier bl indness of ours. The result is

that frequent ly as a consequence of realizing what had happened,

men turn away from this part icular evi l . .

Drive out that enemy which, after you have sinned, comes be-

tween you and your prayers, rneditation, and vigi l . Remember the

saying: "Because he soul tormented by earl ier sin is a burden to me, I

will save t from it s enemies" (cf. Luke l8:5).

Who has won the battle over the body? The man who is contrite

of heart. And who is contri te of heart?Th e man who has denied him-

self, for how can he fail to be contrite of heart if he has died to his

ow n will?

There is a kind of passionate person, more passionate than most,

who confesses is defi lementswith pleasureand delight.

Dirty, shameful thoughts in the heart are usual ly causedby th e

deceiverof the heart, he demon of fornication, and only restraint an d

indeed a disregard for them will prove an antidote.By what rule or manner can I bind this body of minel By what

precedent can I iudge himl Before I can bind him he is let loose, be-

fore I can condemn him I am reconciled to him, before I can punish

him I bow down to hirn and feel sorry for him. How can I .rtc hint

when my nature disposesme to love him? How can I brcirk lu'rtv

from him when I am bound to him forever? How can I cscnlr l) 'ottt

h im when he is going to r ise wi th mel How can I makc hinl inet t l r t t l t t

when he has recc ived a corrupt ib le nature? low crrn l r r rgt l r w i th

him whcn al l the argumentsof na lurc orc on his s i ( lc l

JOIIN ;l , lMAous

If I try to bind him through asting, hcn I am passingudgmenton my neighborwho doesno t fast-with th€ result ha t I am handed

oyer to him again. f I defeathim by no t passing udgment turn

proud-and I am n thrall to him oncemore. le is my helperandmy

inemy, my assistant nd my oPPonent! protectorand a traitor' I am

kind io him andhe assaults e. f I wear him out he getsweak. f he

hasa resthe becomes nruly. If I uPsethim76 e cannotstand t. If I

mortify him I endangermyself. f I strike him down I havenothing

Step16



left by which to acquirevirtues. embracehim. And I turn away

from him.What s thismystery n me?What s the principleof this mixture

of body and soul?How can I be my own friend and my own enemy?

Speak o mel Speak o me, my yoke-fellow, my nature! I cannot ask

"nyoneelseaboutyou. How can I remain uninjured by you?How

can I escapehe dangerof my own nature? havemade a Promise o

Christ thai I will fight you, yet how can I defeatyour tyranny? But

this I have esolved, amely, hat I am going o master ou .

And this is what the fleshmight say n reply: "I will never el l

you what you do not already know. I will speak he knowledge we

both have.Within me is my begetter, he love of self. The fire that

comes o me from outside s too much pampering and care'The fire

within me is pasteaseand things long done. conceived nd give

birth to sins, and they when born beget death by despair in their

turn. And yet if you have earned he sureand rootedweaknesswith-

in both you and me, you have manacledmy hands. f you starveyour

longingi, you havebound my feet, and they can travel no further' If

you hru. taken up the yoke of obedience,you have cast my yoke

aside. f you hav€ taken possession f humility, you have cut off my

head."This is the fifteenth reward of victory. He who has earned it

white still alive hasdied and beenresurrected.From now on he has atast6 of the imrnortality to corne.

ON AVARICE

As mostof the experts eckon he matter, he demonof avaricethat spirit of countlessheads,comes next afier the tyrant describedabove, and who am I to run counter to the sequencewhich these

learnedmen suggestlHence I follow the samepractice, nd after afew words on the diseasewould like to talk briefly about the remedy.

Avarice s a worship of id ols and s the offspring of unbelief. tmakesexcuses or infirmity and is the mouthpieceof old age. t is theprophet of hunger, and the herald of drought.

The miser sneersat the gospeland is a deliberate ransgressor.The man of charity spreads is moneyabout him, but the man whoclairns o possess oth charity and money is a self-deceivedool. Theman who mourns for himself has renouncedevenhis body and doesnot spare t in due season.

Do not say that youare interested n money for the sakeof thepoor, for two mites were insufficient to purchase he kingdom (cf.

Luke 2l:2) .A generousman met a miser,and the miser said he other man

waswithout discernment.The man who hasconquered his vice hascut out care,but thc

man rappedby it ca nneverpray freely o God.'[ 'hepretextof al msgiving s the startof avarice, nd hc finirh lr

detestation f the poor.'I'hecollector s stirredby chnrity,but, whenthe money s n, thc gr ip t ightens.

76. Gk tainonenot. "fM teads iainometor,if I turn eway n loathing "

JOHNCLIMACUS

I haveseen he poverty-strickengrow rich and forget their want,

through iving with the poor n spirit

Tthemonk *ho is greedy or money s a stranger o tedium of the

spirit.Alwayshe urns overwithin himself he wordsof the Apostle:

' i lh. tnrr, who does no t work doesnot eat" (2 Thess.3:10)and,

"Thesehandsof mine haveservedme and thosewh o werewith me "

(Acts20:34).Such then is the sixteenth contest' and the man who has tri- Step17



umphed in it has either won love or cut out care'

ON POVERTY

The poverty of a monk is resignation rotn care. t is life withoutanxiety and travels light, far from sorrow and faithful to the com-

mandments.The poor monk is lord of the world. He has handed allhis caresover to God, and by his faith hasobtained all men as his ser-vants. If he lackssomething he doesnot complain to his fellows andhe acceptswhat comeshis way as f from the hand of the Lord. In hispoverty he turns into a son of detachment and he sets no value onwhat he has. Having withdrawn from the world, he comes o regardeverything as refuse. ndeed he is not genuinely poor if he starts toworry about something.

A man who hasembracedpoverty offers up prayer that is pure,while a man who lovespossessionsrays to material images.

Those living in obedience o another xre free of all cupidity, forwhen the body hasbeengivenup, what else s there to call one'sown?The only way they can be harmed is by readily and easily movingfrom place o place. haveseenmonkscontent to remain in one ocal-ity on accountof material possessions,ut my praise s for those whoare pilgrims for the Lord.

The man who has asted he thingsof heaven asily hinks noth.ing of what is below, but he who has had no tasteof hcevcn indtpleasuren possessions.

A man who is poor or no good csson alls nto c doublonhfor.

JOHN ll. lN' lA( lus

tune. He goeswithout Present oods rnd s deprivedof these n the

future.We monks should be careful no t to be less rusting than the

birds,which are not anxiousan d do no t gather nto barns cf Matt '

6:26\.The man who givesup possessionsor religiousmotives s-great'

bu t the manwh o renounces is will is holy indeedTh e on ewill earn

moneyor gracea hundred imesover,bu t the otherwill inherit eter-

Step18



na l life.

Waves ever eave he sea.Anger and gloomnever eave he mi -

serly.Th e man who thinks nothing of goodsha s reed himself from

quarrelsan d disputesBu t the lover of possessionsil l f ight to the

death for a ,teedie.Sturdy faith cuts off cares,and remembranceof

deathdenies he body There was no traceof avarice n Job,and so he

remained anquil when he osteverything

Avarice siaid to be he root of all evil (l Ti m 6:10)' nd t is so

because t causeshatred, theft, envy, separations'hostility' stormy

blasts,emembrancef pastwrongs' nhumanactsandeven.murder'

A small ire canburn down an entire forest'But onevirtue can

helo manv o escape ll the vicesmentioned boveThat virtue is de-,".h*.n,, which ls a withdrawal from al l evil desires'an d which

grows from an experienceand taste of the knowledge of God and

irom a meditation on the account o be renderedat death'

The careful readerwill recall the story of the mother of every

evil.76"Listing her wicked and accursedoffspring, she named the

stoneof inseisit ivity as he r second hild. The many-headederpent

of idolatry prevented me from giving it its own due place.'The dh-

."rni.rg Fat'hert, or reasons nknown to me' give it third Placen the

chainof eightcapitalsins.

'I have-saidnough about avarice, nd I plan to saysomethingabout nsensit ivityasihe third infirmity, despite eingborn second'

Then I will go on to discuss leep' eepingvigil, as well as childish

cowardly ear,al l fail ingsof beginners'

This is the seventeinth tep.He who hasclimbed t is traveling

to heaven nburdened y material hings

ON INSENSITIVITY

Insensitivity is deadened eeling in body and spirit, and comesfrom long sicknessand carelessness.ack of awarenesss negligencethat hasbecomehabit. It is thought gonenumb, an offspring of pre-disposition, a trap for zeal,a noose or courage,an ignoranceof com-punction, the gateway o despair, he mother of forgetfulnessgivingbirth to lossof fear of God and, in turn, to a deadened pirit, like adaughter earinghe rown mother.

The insensitive man is a foolish philosopher, an exegerecon-demned by his own words, a scholar who conradicts himself, a blindman teachingsight to others.He talks about healinga wound anddoes not stop making it worse. He complains about what has hap-penedand does not stop eating what i s harmful. He prays against tbut carries on as before,doing it and being angry with himself. Andthe wretchedman s n no way shamed y his own words. I'm doing

wrong," he cries,an d zealously ontinues o do so. His l ips prayagainst t and his body struggles or it. He talks profoundly aboutdeathand actsas f he will neyerdie. He groans ver he separation fsoul and body, an d ye t lives n a stateof somnolence s f he werceternal.He hasplenty to sayaboutself-control nd ights or o gour.met l ife. He readsabout the iudgmentand begins o smilc,olx)olvainglory nd s vaingkrr ious hi lehe s reading. c rcci tcrwhrt hrhas earnt about kccpingvigil, nnd et oncedropsofl to rlcop,Prtylrhc cxtols, nd runs frrxn it tr if from I plaguc. llcrrirrgrhe rhowrtr

76r. See + (869D), . 170.

JOHNCl-IMACUS

on obedience.nd s the first to disobey Detachment e praises, nd

he shamelesslyightsover a rag.When he s angryhe getsbitter, and

then hi s bitteinessmakes im angry,so hat havingsufferedonede-

feathe ails o notice hat he hassuffered nother.He gorges imself,

is sorry,anda litt le later s at it again.He blessesilence ndcannot

stop ;lking about t. He teaches eeknessnd requentlygets-angry

-hllehe iteaching it. Havingcome o his senses,e sighsandshak-

ing hisheadembraces is passion ncemore.He denouncesaughter,


keepme going, im e adds o my stature ndba dhatrit ixesme n sucha way that he who possesses e will neverbe rid of me. But if you arcalwayson the watch and hink of eternal udgment,maybe shall etgo of you to someextent. If you discover why I came to be withinyou, t will be possibleor you to do battlewith my mother,sincesheis not the same or all. Pray often where the dead are laid out andpaint n your heartan ndelible mageof them, rac ed here with thebrushof fasting.For otherwise ou will neverdefeatme."



an i while ecturingon mourninghe sal l smiles.n front of othershe

criticiz.esimself or beingvainglorious, nd n making he admissronhe is looking or glory. He lookspeople n t he eyewith passion nd

talksabout hastiiy. Ou t in the world he is full of praise or the soli-

tarv life and cannotse e ow much he s disgracing imself'He glori-

fiei almsgivers nd despiseshe poor. n everythinghe showshimself

up fo r *ilat he s,anddoes ot clme to hissenses,hough would not

sa yhe was ncapable f doingso .

I haveseensuch men weep as they hearof death and the dread

iudgment, and with the tears still in their eyes hey rush off to din-

,r".] And it gmazedme to seehow this stinking tyrant by meansof

complete nsensitivity ouldevenmanageo overpowermourning

I havedescribed,as much as my poor talents permit, the wiles

and the havocwrought by this stony,stubborn, aging, gnorantpas-

sion,and I refuse o dwell on it. If there is anyonewith the God-given

skill to heal the sores, et him not shrink from the task' I am not

ashamedo admit that my powers fail here, or I am very sorely tried

by this vice and I would not have beenablealbne o analyze ts wily

ways f I had not laid hold of it, gripping it hard, examinin-gt to dis-

"oue,,rrhat has been describedabove,scourging it with fear of the

Lord and endlessprayer. That is why this tyrannical evildoer said

this to me: "Those who areundermy sway aughwhen they see he

bodiesof the dead.At prayer they are stony,hard, and blinded lnfrdnt of the altar they feelnothing. They receive he Holy Gift as f it

were ordinary bread.And I laugh at people when I see hem stirred

by compunction.My father taught me to kill everything born of cour-

"n. "trdlou". I am the mother of Laughter' the nurse of Sleep, he

fiiend of the Full Stomach.When I arn ound out I do not grieve, and

I am heally of FakePietY."

Amazedby the words of this demented ury, I asked, n my as'

tonishment, or the nameof her father."I wasno t born of iust on c

Darent."sh e said. I am of mixed and uncertainorigin Big meals

Step 9

THq LADDEROF DIVINE ASCENT

inspirebad houghts, thersge t us o leanagainst he wall as houghwe were weary or to start yawning over and over again,while stillotherscause s to laughduring prayerso as o provoke he angerofGod against s.Some etus n our lazinesso hurry up with thJ sing-ing, while others uggest e shouldsingslowly n order hat we maytake pleasuren it. Others,by sitt ing on our mouths,shut them sothat we can scarcely pen hem.

However, he man who considerswith sensitivityof heart ha t



ON SLEEP.PRAYERAND THE SINGING

IN CHURCH OF PSALMS

Sleep s a natural state. t is alsoan imageof deathand a respiteof the senses. leep s one,bu t like desire t hasmany sources. hat is

to say, t comes rom nature, from food, from demons,or perhaps n

some degree even from prolonged fasting by which the weakened

flesh is moved o long for repose.

Just as too much drinking comes rom habit, so too frorn habit

comesoverindulgencen sleip. For this reasonone has o struggle

against t especially t the start of one' s eligious ife, because long-

standing habit is very di fficult to conect.Let us observe nd we shall ind that the spiritual rumpet??ha t

summonshe brethren ogether isiblys

alsohe signal or the nvrsr-

ble assemblyof our foes.Somestand by our bed and encourageus to

lie down againafter we havego t up. "Wait until the first hymns are

over," they say."Then it will be time enoughto go to church." Oth-

ers get thoseat prayer to fall asleep.Still others causebad and unusu-

al stomachache,hile othersencourage rattle n the church.Some

77. The usual meansof summoning monks to prayer wes by e wooden gong ()r

plank known l^t er es the talanton. erome,howcver, says hat Pachomianmonks wort

summonedby t he sound of a trumpet (PZ 23, 698).

he s standingbeforeGo d will be an immovable illar in prayer,and

noneof the demonsmentioned bovewill deludehim.The truly obedientmonkoftenbecomesuddenly adiantand ex-ultant during his prayers.He is like a wrestler who was earliertrained and madeeager or his enterprise.

Everyonecan pray in a crowd. For some t is apray with a singlekindred soul.But solitaryprayervery few.

When chantinghymnswith others t may be mpossibleo praywith the wordless rayerof thespirit. But your mind shouldmeditateon the words beingchantedor read.Or elseyo u should havea setprayer to say while you are waiting for the alternate verse of thechant.But no oneshouldunderrake ny additional ask, r rather,dis-traction,during the time of prayer.This is something hat Antonyth e Great earned learly rom his attendant ngel.??.

A furnace tests gold. Prayer tests he zealof a monk and his lovefo r God.

To draw close o God, o drive out the demons-there s a task obe oraised!

77t lh,\ityrtr9r ol thr t r t l,ath.n, l\|tntry 1

good thing to

is only for the

Step20


The bell rings or prayer.The monk who lovesGod says, Bra-vo l Bravo!"The lazymonk says, Alas! Alas!"

Mealtime eveals he gluttonous, rayer ime the loversof God.The formerdance nd he atter rown when the table s made eady .

Long sleepproduces forgetfulness, but keeping vigil clears thememory.

The farmer collects is wealth on the threshing lo or and n thewinepress.Monks collect their wealth and knowledgeduring the



ON ALERTNESS

Somestand weaponless nd without armor before he kings of

earth,while othershold insigniaof office,shields, nd swords.The

former are vastly superior to the latter since they are regularly thepersonal elations of the king and membersof the royal household.

Le t us se enow what happenswhen we stand n prayer during

the eveningor throughout he day and night beforeGod our King.

Some keep nightlong vigil, their hands aised n prayer ike spirits

free of every burden. Others sing the psalmsor read, v'hile some,out

of weakness, ravely fight sleepby working with their hands.Others

think constantlyof deathand try in this way to obtain a contriteheart.Of all these ypes, he first and astperseveren nightlongvigil

out of love for God, the seconddo what is appropriate for a monk,

and the third travel the lowliest road. Still, God accepts ndudges

the offerings of each type in accordancewith their intentions and

their abilit ies.Alertness eeps he mind clean.Somnolenceinds he soul.The

alert monk does battle with fornication, but the s leepy one goes o

live with it. Alertness s a quenchingof lust, deliverancerom fanta-

sies n dreams,a tearful eye, a heart made soft and gentle, thoughts

restrained, ood digested, assions amed, spirits subdued, ongue

controlled,dle maginings anished.The vigilantmonk is a fisherof thoughts, nd n the quietof the

hoursof eveningan d when are t and con-

temolation.Excessive leep s amore from the lazy man.

The inexperienced

bad companion, stealing half a lifetime or

monk is wide awake when talking to his

friendsbut half asleep t prayer ime. The laz y monk s a great alkerwhoseeyesbegin to shut when the sacred eading s sta rted.Whenthe trumpet sounds he deadwill r ise,and when idle talk begins he

dozingwake.The tyrant sleep s a cunning iend who, lipsaway rom us when

our stomachs re ull and attacks trongly when we ar e hungry an dthirsty. t proposeshat we do manualwork at prayer ime, or in noother way can it interfere with the prayers of those who are keepingwatch. ts first step s to attackbeginners,rying to make hem care-less rom their first day. Or it strives o prepa re he way for the de-mon of fornic ation.Henceuntil we conquer t we ought neverseek obe absent rom common prayer, sinceshameat least may keepusfrom dozing off.

The demonof vainglory s the enemyof sleep,us t as he houndis the enemyof hares.

At day'send h e merchant ou ntshi s profits,and he monk doesthe samewhenpsalmodys over.

When prayer is over, wait quietly and you will observehowmobs of demons,as though challenged y us, will try to attackusafterprayerby means f wild fantasies. atchcarefullyand you willnote hose hat are accustomedo snatchaway the first fruits of thesoul.

It ca nhappen hat our meditation n the psalmsma ypcrsist vcttintoour t imeof slecping.l hiscln sometimesecruscd y dctntt t trt torder o lcld us o vainglory. would not havemcntior tct lh i r h ld I

n(rt )ccncorrrpcllcdo do so. lut in fnct thc sorrl ntllcrr ly ttortccupicd rydrrywith thc worr lof ( rr l w i l l krvc o lr grrcrx'cttpiodry t l t t

JOHNCLTMACUS

sleep oo. This secondgrace s properly a reward for the first and will

help us o avoidspirits?8 nd antasies.Such hen is the twentieth steo.He who ha sclimbed t has re-

ceived ieht in his heart.

Step2I



pnevmaton. tomotott,

ON UNMANLY FEARS

If you pursuevirtue n a monastery ; in gatherings f holy men

you are unlikely to be attacked by cowardice. But if you passyourtime in solitary abodes, ou must strive not to be masteredby cow-ardice, he child of vainglory, he daughter f unbelief.

Cowardice s childish behaviorwithin a soul advancedn yearand vainglory. t is a lapse rom faith that comes rom anticipatinthe unexpected.

Fear s danger asted n advance, quiver as he heart takes rightbefore unnamed calamity. Fear is a lossof assurance.

A proud soul s the slave f cowardice. rusting only itself, t isfrightened by a sound or a shadow.

Those who mourn and those who are insensitive suffer no c<.rardice, but the fearful and the frightened often collapse and theirminds are unhinged.Nor is this unreasonable.or the Lord rightlywithdraws His protection rom the proud so hat the rest of us ma y

not become ain.While cowardsare vainglorious, ot everyonewh o is frec frorn

fear s alsohumble.Thievesan d grave obbersmay be untroublc(l lyfear.

Do not hesitatc o go in the dark of thc night to thr,rc pla(orwhere you ar c norrnrlly fr ightcncd. l he slightcst ortccrrkrttu lhlr

. l ( t N ( t . t \4ACUS

witlr \ 'ou. So ls lorr grr rr r . r r . t r . ighru, i l l la v hold of you, pu t on thearmor of Pral'cr., rrt l rr hcn \..u r.(.rch hc slx)t, stretch out your handsand fkrg 1'our cncnries uirh t l r r . , , " , , , " ,i f J"rur , since t iere , , nostrongerwer lx)n in hcuvcrr )r . r ) rcrtrt l l . r \nd when you dr ive the fearawav, give praise o th e ( i r r l \ \ '1r , , r . r . , , l t . l i lc rcd ,ru,an d He wil l pro_tect yo u fo r al l eteroit.i ', provitlcrl \ .orr rcrrrain grateful. Just as onemorsel wi l l nor f i l l your stomach,so yo u u, i l l not defeat ear i, , on emove. It wi l l fade in proport ion t() . i ,our In()rr rn ingand the lesswemourn th e greater will be our cowardicc.

Ste?2?



"M y hair and my flesh shuddered" (Job 4: -s).These were thewords of El iphaz when he wa s talk ing abour rhe cunning of th is de-

mon. Fear starts sometimes n th e soul, sometimes n th i body, andth e on e communicates rh e weakness o th e othcr. Bu t if your ioul is

i"{r i i {even when the. body is terrified, you ar e close to being

heated./v lowever, it is barrennessof soul, no t th e darkness or theemptiness_ofplaces,which gives th e demons power against us. Andthe providence of God sometimes allows rhis to happln so that wemay learn from it .

Th e servanr of the Lord will be afraid only of his Master, whileth e m.anwho does no t ye t fear Hi m is often scaredby his ow n shad_

ow . -I 'he body is terrified by the presenceof an invi;ible spirit. ye rwhen an angel stands nearby, th e soul of th e humble is exultant. So fwe detecr€n angel by the effect he is producing, le t us hasten o praysince ou r heavenly guardian ha s come to join us.8o

ON VAINGLORY

rl In l r rc t ( ; r . ( , , rv lh c ( jrcir -l hc cighl pr incipal rcnprrrr iorrs,,t t.\,,[, l | r \ $r,r

f l Irr ,,rr , I| l \ t, i 'vnr icc, dLiccr i ' ,n, ngcr, dcslxrndcnct ( rccidic ), ! r , , rg t , , , r r , r l 1 t r , ,x .( r t ' i !r i tt tr l t l tr lu(.r l rhrs is r t , ) thc Wcsr l ,,rPc ircgory th c (;r0rr , r , l rn . , l r l r r rrrrrrr l r-rl, ' rcrrn l' \ . ' l r .r lN,l l . l rn! r .rrrrgl ,ry u rrh I,r i ( l f i ' r ( l i l . j ( \ ' r r ,,r ' r rrh ,I r t " , r l I rrr l r r llr \ | l r trnl | l nNr \\ ( | rh. l f. l .r r( , l ! / ' t

f l , f f l ' r \ . f f \ r rs rror l t. | rr ()res0rrIl r . t1 r . r . r hcoIl rrrr t.t l t , t ,nh I t t t \t , . t t ,l x \ t l t t t t r l ( | | , ' tr , ' l ( fr tr(r \ r , ' ,rsrrrr l rr | ,rrrrr tr . l | r \ l i r r ,t| t/,( . i r i ,rr | | \ l

Some would hold that vainglory i3 to be distinguished frompride, and so they give it a spec ial place and chapter. Hence theirclaim that there ar e eight deadly sins.

Bu t against this is the view of(iregory the Theologiansl an d other teachers ha t in fact the numoeris seven. also hold this view. After all, what pride remains in a uranwho ha s conquered vaingloryl The difference is between a child anda man, between whear an d bread, for the first is a beginning and th esccrrndan end.'I'herefore, as the occasiondemands, et us talk aDourthc unholy vice of self-esteem, he beginning and completion of theprssions;and let us talk briefly, for to undertake an exhaustiyediscussion would be to act like someonewho inquires into the weight of th ewirrds.

l i rom the point of view of form, vainglory is a changeof nature, a

Irerversi()nof character, a taking note of criticism.sr" As for its quali_lv , il is il wtste of wrlrk an d sweat,a betrayal of treasure,an offsPring

79. I l ' IM adds: "But actual freedom from col..ardicecomes when \t e cr , tc , . tv , ( . .cept al l unexpectedevents wi th a contr i te heart. ' ,

80 . H' l M adds: "He \aho ha s conquered cowardice ha s clenrly dcdic, .( l h ,s t , t (an d soul to Cort "

lot N(; l . tMAcus

of unbelief,a harbingcrol pridc, shipwreck n port, the ant on thethreshing loor, small rrndycr with designs n all the fruit of one'slabor.Th e ant waitsuntil lhc whcat s n, vaingloryuntil the richesofexcellencere gathered;hc onc a thief, he othera wastrel.

The spirit of despairexulrsat the sight of mounting vice, hespirit of vaingloryat the sighrof the growing reasures f virtue.Thedoor for the one s a mass f wounds,while the gatewey or the otheris the wealth of hard work done

Watchvainglory.Notice how, until the very day of the burial it

THE LADDEROF DIVINE AS(]I.]N' I '

you behind your back or indeed in your presence, how hirrr rrrc rrrrrtry to compliment him.

It is a great achievemenr o shrug rhe praiseof men off orrc's ,rrrlGreater stil l i s to reiect the Draiseof demons.

It is not the self-critical who revealshi s humility (for doesnor cveryone have somehow to put up with himself.r).Rather it is the rrrarwho continues to love the person who ha s criticized him.

I have seen the demon of vainglory suggesting houghrs to oncbrother, revealing them to another, and getting the secondman to



rejoicesn clothes, ils,servants, erfumes, nd such ike.Like th e sun which shines n all alike,vainglorybeams n every

occupation.What I mean s this. fast,and turn vainglorious. stopfasting so that I will draw no attention to myself, and becomevain-gloriousovermy prudence. dresswell or badly,an dam vaingloriousin either case. talk or I hold my peace,and each irne I am difeated.No.matterhow I shed his prickly thing, a spike emains o standupagarnslme .

A vaingloriousman is a believer-and an idolator.Apparentlyhonoring God, he actually is out to pleasenot God but men. To oe ashowoff is to be vainglorious,and the fast of such a man is unreward-

ed and his prayer utile, sincehe is practicingboth to win praise.Avainglorious asceticdoubly cheats himself, wearying his body andgettingno reward.Wh o would not laughat this vaingloriousworker,standing or the psalms nd movedby vainglorysometimeso laugh-ter and sometimes o tears or all to see?

The Lord frequently hides rom us even he perfectionswe haveobtained.Bu t the man who fraisesus, or, rathe;,who misleads s,opensour eyeswith his words and once our eyesare openedour trea-sures anish.

The flatterer is a servantof the devils, a teacherof pride. the de-stroyer

of contrit ion, a vandalof excellence, peruerr. guide.Theprophetsays his:"Thosewho honoryou deceive ou" (Isa.J:12).Men of high spirit endureoffense obly and will ingly. Bu t only

the holy and the saintly can passunscathedhrough praise.And Ihaveseenme n n mourning who, on beingpraised, earedup in an-ger,one passion ivingway to anotherasat somepublicmeeting.

"No on e knows the thoughtsof a man except he spirit withinhim" (1 Cor. 2:l l). Hence thosewho want to praiseus to our faceshouldbeashamednds i lent .

Whenyou hear hat your neighboror your friend ha sdenounccd

the first what he is thinking and then praising him for his ability toread minds. And that dreadful demon haseven lighted on parts of th ebody, shaking and stiring them.

Ignore him when he tells you to accept the office of bishop or ab-bo t or teacher, t is hard to drive a doq from a butcher's counter.

When he notices hat someoneha i achieveda measureof inleriorcalm, he immediately suggests o him the deed to return from the des-er t to the world, in order to save hose who ar e perishing.

Ethiopians have one kind of appearance, tatuesanother. So toois it the case hat the vainglory of those iving in community is differ-en t from that which obtains in the desert.

Vainglory anticipat€s the arrival of guests from the outsideworld. It prompts the more friyolous monk to rush out to meet them,to fall at their feet , o give the appearance f humility, when in fact heis full of pride. It makes him look and sound modest and directs hiseye to the visitors' hands n the hope of getting something from them.It induces hi m to address hem as "lords and patrons, graced withgodly life." At table it makes hi m urge abstinence on someone elseend fiercely criticize subordinates. t enables hose who are standinsin a slovenly manner during the singing of psalms o make an effort lthose who have no voice to sing well, and those who are sleepy ro

wake up. It flatters th e precentor, seeks he first place in the choir,lnd addresseshi m as father and master while the visitors are stil lthere.

Vainglory induces pride in the favored and resentmen t in thoscwho are slighted. Often it causes ishonor insteadof honor, bccnusc rbrings grcat shame o its angry disciples. t makes hc tprick-tcrrrpcrcrkxrk mild bcforc mcn. l t thr ives amid talent and f rcr ; r rcnr ly rr ingr cr .tr$trophc on thosc cnslaved o il

I hrvc sccn clcrnonhnrm tnd chascawrry his own lrrothor, 'hi"lofr ln)nl thc outri i r lcworkl crrnrc rrsr l i t nrorrr t . t r r h ln r l r f r t lh t l

J()HN CLIMACUS

got angry and rhc wrcrchcdman gavehimselfover to vainglory.Hewas unable o scrve wo prssions t the one ime.

The-seryant f vaingkrry cads double ife.To outwardappear-ance, e iveswith monks;bu t in his heartof hearts e s n the world.

-I fwe really ong or heavenlyhings,we will surely aste he glo_

ry above.And whoeverhas asted ha t will think nothinq of earthlvglory. For it would surpriseme if someone ould hold t-he arrer ncontemptunless e had asted he former.

It often happens ha t having been ef t oakedby vainglory,we


You havebecomegreatby conquering my shamelessmother.' J'urn-ing to him I answered ppropriately,making use of the rest of theverse:'Defeat ndshame n all who say, Well donelWell done!" 'And how is it, I asked im, that vainglory s the motherof pride. Hisanswerwas his:"Praiseexalts nd puffs me up, and when the soul sexalted, ride ifts it up as high asheaven-and then throws t downinto the abyss."

But there is a glory that comes from the Lord. "I will glorifythosewho glorify Me," He says l Kings 1 Sam.]2:10). nd there s a



turn aroundand strip it ourselyesmorecleverly.For I haveencoun-teredsomewho embarked n the spiritual if e out of vainglory,mak-ing therefore badstart,andyet they finishedup in a mosiadmirableway becauseheychanged heir ntentions.

A man who takespride in natural abilities-I meancleverness,the ability to learn,skill in reading, ooddiction,quickgrasp, nd allsuchskillsaswe possess ithout having o work for them-ihis man,I say,will never eceive he blessings f heaven, ince he man who isunfaithful n litt le is unfaithful andvaingloriousn much.And thereare men who wear out their tiodies o no purpose n the pursuit oftotal dispassion, eavenly reasures, iracleworking, and prophetic

ability,and he poor oolsdo not realize ha t humility,no t hardwork,i: the mother of such things. The man who seeks quidpro qao fromGod buildson uncertainty,whereashe man who considlrshimselfadebtorwill receive uddenandunexoectediches.

When the winnowers2 ells you to showof f your virtues or th ebenefit of an audience,do not yield to him. ..What

shall it profit aman to gain he wholeworld anddestroyhimself?" Matt. l6:26).

Our neighbor is moved by nothing so much as by a sincereandhumbleway of talkingandof behaving.t is anexample nd a spur oothersnever to turn proud. And there is nothing to equal the benefit

of this.. A man of insight told me this: "I was oncesifting at an assem-bly," he said. The demonof vaingloryand he demonof pride cameto sit on eithersideof me.One pokedme with the ingerof yaingloryand encouragedme to talk publicly about somevision or labor ofmine in the desert. shook him off with the words: ,Let those wh<rwish me harm be driven backand let them blush'(Ps. 9:15).T'henthe demonon my left at oncesaid n my ear:'Well done!Well done!

glory that follows t which is contrivedby the demons, or it is said,"Woe to you when al l men shallspeakwell of you" (Luke6:26). oucan recognize he first kind of glory when you look on it asdangerousand run from it in every possibleway, hiding your life-style whereveryou are. And you may be certain of the other sort when you findyourselfdoing something, oweversmall, with the hope that menmay noticeyou.

Dread vainglory urges us to pretend that we have some virtuewhich doesnot belong o us . t encouragess with the text: Le t yourlight s o shinebeforemen that they will see our gooddeeds" Matt.5:16).

The Lord often humbles he vainglorious y causing omedis-honor to befall hem. And indeed he first step n overcoming ain-glory is to remain silent and to acceptdishonorgladly.The middle!t.ge is o checkeveryac tof vainglorywhile t is still in thought.Thecnd-insofar as one may talk of an end to an abyss-is to be able orccepthumiliationbeforeotherswithout actually eeling t.

Do not concealyour sin because f the idea that you must nottcrndaliz-e our neighbor.Of course hi s injunction must not be ad-hercd o blindly. It will depend n the natureof one'ssinfulness.

If everwe seek lory, f it comes ur way uninvited,or if we plan

fi)mc courseof actioo because f our vainglory,we should hink ofour mourning and of the blessed ear on us as we stood alone nprryer lrcforcGod. f we do this we will assuredly urflankshamclcsvtinglory, that is if our wish for true prayer s genuine. l'hismly bcInrufficient. n which case et us briefly remember hat wc nurit dic,Should this also prove ineffective, et us at leastgo in fcrrrol thcthamc th0t nlwayscornesafter honor, for assurcdlyhc who exnllrhim;clf wil l I rchurnblcd otonly therebut hercnlso,

Whcn hoscwho praisc s!or, rather! hoscwlro rtr l t t r tr t t ly,btgln to crrr l tus,wc should rr icf ly cmcmtrcr hc ntult l t t r ( l ! f ot |?2. Le., he devil.

Joi lN ( ; t , tMACUS

sins and in this wav wc wil l d iscovcr hat we do not deservewhateveris saidor done in our honor.

Some of the prayers of thc vlinglorious no doubt deserve o winth e attention of God, but lle rcgulrrrly anticipates their wishes an dpeti t ions so that their pride may not lre increased by the success ftheir prayers.

Simpler people do not usuallv succumb to the poison of vainglo-ry , which is, after al l , a loss of simplicity and a hypocritical mode ofbehavior.

Step23



A worm, fully grown, often sprouts wings an d can f ly up high.Vainglory, fully grown, ca n give birth to pride, which is the begrn-ning and the end of all evil.

Anyone free of this sickness s close to salyation. Anyone affectedby it is far removed from the glory of the saints.

Such, then, is the twenty-second step. The man untouched byvainglory will not tumble into that senseless ride which is so detest-able to God.

ON PRIDE

Pride s a denialof God, an inventiofiof the devil, contempt or

m€n. t is the motherof condemnation,he offspringof praise, sign

of barrenness.t is a f l ight from God's help, heharbingerof mad-

ncss, he xuthor of downfall. t is the cause f diabolicalpossessio

thc sourceof anger, he gatewayof hypocrisy. It is the fortress of de-

mons. he custodian f sins. he sourceof hardheartedness.t is the

dcnialof compassion, bitter pharisee, cruel udge. t is the foe of

God. It is the root of blasphemy.Pride beginswherevainglory eaves fi Its midpoint comeswith

th c humiliation of our neighbor, the shameless arading of our

achicvements,omplacency, nd unwill ingness o be found out. It

cnds with the spurningof God's help, he exalt ingof one'sown ef-

forts anda devilishdisposit ion.

l. isten, herefore, l l who wish to avoid hi s pit. This passion f-tc n drcws strcngth nit ially from the giving of thanks,and at f irst it

dm s not shamelessly rge us to renounceGod. I have secnpcoplc

wh(, $pcuk loud hcir thanks o God but rvho n their hcrrts rrc gk r

rlfying thcmsclve$,omething emonstratedy that Phariscc it h hi r

"()( i rx l . I thrnk You" (l ,ukc l i r l l ) .

Pridc tskcsup rcsidcnccwhcrcvcrwc hlvc lrrPsd, irr u hpra ir

In frct rn indicnt ion f pr idc .Anc lan rdmirablc r r { t r ni( lo l l r r ln l l l f l

Jol tN cLIMACUS

"T'hink of a doz.en hlmcful ptssions. ov eon eof them, meanpride,and t will takeup the space f all thc other eleven."82a

A proud monk argues ittcrly with others.Th e humblemonk isloath o contradict hem.

Th e cypress ree doesno t bend o the ground n order to walk,no r does he haughtymonk n order o gainobedience.

The proud man wants o be in chargeof things.He would feellostotherwise.

"God resists he proud" (James :6).Wh o thencould havemercy

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT'

God. You may be proud only ofthe achievementsou hadbefore hetime of your birth. But anythingafter hat, ndeed he birth itself, s agift from God. You may claimonly those irtues n yo u that are hereindependently of your m ind, for your mind was bestowedon you byGod. And you may claim only thosevictories ou achieyedndepen-dently of the body, for the body too is not yours but a work of God.

Do not be self-confident before judgment has been passedonyou. Remember the guest et the marriage feast. He got there, andthen, tied hand and foot, he was thrown into the dark outside (cf.



on them? BeforeGod every proud man is uncleanand who thencould purify sucha person?

For the proudcorrecrion s a fall, a thorn (cf.2 Cor. l2:7) s a dev-il, andabandonment y God is madness.Whereasn the first two rn -stanceshereare humancuresavailable,his lastcannotbe healed yman.

To rejectcrit icism s to show pride,while to accept t is to showoneself ree of this fetter.

Prideand nothingelsecaused n angel o fall from heaven. ndso one may reasonablyask whether one may reachheavenby humil-it y alonewithout the help of any other virtue.

Pride loses he profits of all hard work and sweat.They clam-ored, but there wasnone to save hem, becausehe y clamor;d withpride. They clamored to God and He paid no heedsince thev werenot really rying to root out the faultsagainstwhich they *.r" p."y-lng.

An old man, very experiencedn thesematters, nc espirituallyadmonished proud brother{'ho said n his blindness:,Forgiveme ,father,but I am not proud." "My son," said he wiseold man,.,whatbetter proof of your pride could you have given than to claim thatyou were not proud?"

A help to the proud is submissiveness,tougherand humblermodeof life, and the readingof the supernatural eatsof the Fathers.Even hen herewill perhaps e itt le hopeof salvation or thosewhosuffer from this disease.

While it is disgracefulto be puffed up over the adornments ofothers, t is sheer unacy to imaginethat one hasdeservedhe gifts of

Matt. 22;ll). So do not be stiff-necked,inceyou area materialbeing.Many althoughholy and unencumbered y a body were hrown outeven rom heaven.

When the demon of pride finds a place or himselfamong hisown, he appears o them, in sleepor awake,and he looks like a holyongelor martyr and he hints at mysteries o be revealed r spiritualgifts to be granted, hat the wretchesmay be deceivedand driven ut-terly out of their minds.

If we were to die ten thousand imes or Christ. we would sti l lnot have epaidwhat we owe, or in value'rather han physical ub -stance here s no comparison etween he blood of God and that of

His servants.We shouldalwaysbe on the lookout o compareourselves ith

the Fathers nd he ights who havegonebeforeus . f we do, we willdiscover hat we havescarcelybegun he ascetic ife, that we havehardly kept our vow in a holy rnanner, nd that our thinking is sti l lrooted n the world.

A real monk is one whosesoul'seye s not haughtyand whosebodily senses re unmoved.

A monk is on e who fights his enemies,ike the wild beasrsha tthcy are,and harries hemas he makes is escaperom them.

'l bbe a monk is to know ecstasy ithout end and to grieve orlifc,

A monk s shaped y virtues n the way that othersar eshapcd yplcosurcs.

A rnonkhasan unfai l ing ight n theeyeof theheart .A tnonk s an abyss f humi l i ty n which everycvi l spir i t hrrr

bccnpl ungcd nd smothcrcd.Pridc nrnkcsus forget our sins, or thc rcnrcrnlrrurtcr l lhout

lcrdl to hunri l i ty.l ' r i r lc s ut tcr p)vcr tyof s(,ul isguiscd s ic l rcr, r r l rgr r r l rvlght

82a. St. Mark the Ascetic,Ofl rheSfiritual Lau, t 136IPG6s,92tc) (retding dolcka\:El 'Pr 'L, $ l l t , p. I19.

JOHN CLIMACUS

where n fact there s darkness. his abominable ice not only stopsour progress but even tossesus down from the heights we havereached.

The proud man is a pomegranate, one bad within, radiant out-side.

A proud monk needsno demon. He has urned into one, an ene-my to himself.

Darknesss alien o light. Pride s alien o everyvirtue.Blaspheming ords riseup in the heartsof the proud,heavenly


cationwill laughat the horsean d ts rider and will loyfully sing he

songof triumph: 'Let us sing to the Lord, for He hasbeen ruly glori-

fied. Horse and rider He has hrown into the sea' Exod. 5:l), into

the depthsof humility."Such s the twenty-third step. Whoever climbs it, if indeed any-

one can,will certainlybe strong.

Concerningwupeakab\ bl.asphemousbougbtsAs we have already heard,from a troublesome oot and mother



visions n the heartsof the humble.A thief hates he sun. A proud man despiseshe meek.It happens, do not know how, that most of the proud never

really discover their true selves.They think they have conqueredtheir passions nd they find out how poor they really are only afterthey die.

The manensnared y pride will needGod'shelp,sinceman s ofno use o him.

I captured his senselesseceiver nce. t was rising up in myheart and on its shoulders was vainglory, its mother. I roped themwith the noose fobedience nd lailed hem with the whio of humil-

ity. Then I lashed hem and asked ow they had managedo gain ac -cess o me."We haveno beginningand no birth," they said, for weare the sourceand the begettersof all the passions. he strongestop-position to us comes rom the contrition of heart that grows out ofobedience.We can endure no euthority over us, which is why we fellfrom heavenwhere we surely had authority. In short, we are the au-thors and the progenitors of everything opposed o humility, for ev-erything that fevorshumility brings us ow. We prevaileverywhereexcept n heaven. o, hen,wherewill yo u run to escape s?You willfind us often where there is patient endurance of dishonor, where

there is obedienceand freedom from anger, where there is willing-ness o bear no grudge,where one'sneighbor is served.And our chil-dren are he fallsof thosewh o lead he ife of the spirit. Their names:Anger, Calumny,Spite, rascibility,Yelling, Blasphemy,Hypocrisy,Hatred,Envy, Argumentativeness,elf-will,Disobedience.

"There is only one thing with which we cannot nterfere,an dthe violence ou do us will makeus admit what this is. If yo u ca nhonestly condernn yourself before the Lord, then indeed you willfind us as limsy as a cobweb.For, you see,Vainglory s pride'ssad-dle-horse n which I a m mounted.But holy Humility and Self-depre-

comesa most roublesomeoffspring. What I mean s that unspeakablblasphemy s the child of dreadful pride. Hence the need o talk about

it, since t is no ordinary foe but is far and away the deadliestenemy

of all. Worsestill, it is extremelyhard to articu latean d to confesst

and therefore to discuss t with a spiritual healer, and the result has

been o cause rustration and despair n many people, or like a worm

in a tree his unholy enemygnawsawayall hope.

This atrocious oe has he habit of appearingduring the holy ser-

vices and even at the awesomehour of the,Mysteries, and blasphem-

ing the Lord and the consecratedelements, hereby showing that

these nspeakable,nacceptable,nd unthinkablewords are not ours

but rather those of the God-hating demon who fled from heavenbe-

cause,t seems, f the blasphemies e uttered here too agai nst he

Lord. It must be so, for if these dreadful and unholy words are my

own, how could I offer humble worship after having partaken of the

secred ift? How could revilean d praise t the same ime?

This deceiver,his destroyer f souls, asoftencausedmen o go

mad. And no other thought is as difficult to admit in confession

which is why so many aredogged y it all their days. n fact nothing

givesdemonsand evil thoughts such power over us as to nourish

them and hide hem n our heartsunconfessed.

If yo u haveblasphemoushoughts,do not think that yo u are oblame.God knowswhat is in our heartsan d He knows hat ideas f

this kind comenot from us but from our enemies.

Drunkennesseads o stumbling.Pride eads o unholy houghls'l 'he drunkard will be punishednot for his stumbling but firr hil

drunkenness,'l 'hoseuncleanand unspeakablehoughtsconrent llfi when wl

rr c prnying,but, if we continue o pray to the end, hcy will fsllr lt '

fo r theydo not strugglc gsinst hosewho resist hctn.' l i rxl

JOHN CLIMACUS

that s divine. t stirs up the dirtiestand mostobscenehoughtswith-in us, hereby trying to force us ro give up praying or to fall into de-spair. t stops he prayerof manyand rurnsmanyaway rom the holyMysteries. t hasevilly and y rannously ausedhe bodies f some obe worn away with grief. It hasexhausted therswith fasting and hasgiven hem no rest. t hasstruck at people iving in the w6rld, andalsoat those eading he monasticife,whispering ha t there s no sal-vation in store for them, murmuring that they are more to be pitiedthan any unbeliever r pegan.


for the man who tries to conquer spirits by talk is like someonehop-ing to lock up the winds.

There was once a zealousmonk who was badly troubled by thisdemon. For twenty years he wore himself out with fasting and vigils,but to no avail, ashe realized.So he wrote the temptation on a sheetof pap€r,vent to a certain holy man, hended him the paper,bowedhis face o the ground and dared not to look up. The old man read t,smiled, ifted the brotherand said o him: "My son,put your handonmy neck." The brother did so. Then the great man said:"Very well,



Anyone disturbedby the spiritof blasphemy nd wishing to berid of it shouldbear n mind thar houghtsof this type do noi origi

nate n his own soul but are caused y that uncleandevil who oncesaid o the Lord: "I will give yo u all this if only You fall down an dadoreme" (Matt. 4:9).So et us make ight of him and pay no regardwhatever o his promptings.Le t us say: ,,Get behind me, Satan!will worship th e Lord my God and I will serveonly Him' (Matt.4:10).May your word and your effort reboundon you, and your blas-phemiescome down on your own head now and in the world tocome."To tackle he demonof blasphemyn any way other han hi sis to be ike a man rying to hold ightning n his hands. or how ca n

you take a grip on, seize,or grapple with someonewho flits into theheartquicker han he wind, talksmore rapidly hana flash,and henimmediatelyvanishes? very other kind of foe stops,strugglesawhile, lingersand givesone time to grapplewith him. But not thisone.-He hardly appears nd is gone again mmediately.He trarelyspeaks nd hen vanishes.

This particulardemon ikes o takeup residencen the mindsofsimpler and more nnocentsouls, nd theseare more uosetand dis-turbed by it than others.To such peoplewe couldquite rightly saythat what is happening o them is due not to their own undue self-

esteembut to the iealousyof the demons.. Let us refrain from passingudgmentor condemnation n ourneighbor. f we do, then we will not be rerrorizedbv blasohemousrhoughrs, ince he one produceshe other.

The situationhere s like that of someone hu t uo in his ownhousewho overhears ut doesnor oin in the conversation f passers-by. The soul that keeps o itself overhears nd is disturbedby theblasphemiesf devilswho aremerely ransients.

Hold this foe n contemptan dyou will be iberated rom its tor-ments.Try cleverly o fight it and you will end up by surrendering,

brother. Now let this sin be on my neck for as many years as t hasbeen or will be activewithin you. But from now on, ignore it." Andthe monk who had been empted in this fashion assuredme that evenbefore he had eft the cell of this old man, his infirmity wasgone.Theman who had actually experienced this told me about it, givingthanks o Christ.

He who hasdefeated his vice has banishedoride.

Step24


munity, checks renzy,curbsanger. t is a ministerof joy, an imita-tion of Christ, he possessionf angels, shackleor demons, shielagainst bitterness. The Lord finds rest in the hearts of the meekwhile the turbulent spirit is the home of the devil. "The meekshallinherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5), ndeed, ule over it; an d the bad-temperedshall be carried off as booty from their land.

A meeksoul s a throneof simplicity,but a wrathful mind is acreatorof evil.

A gentlesoul will makea place or wise words,since he "Lordwill guide he meek n Ps .24:9), r rather, n discretion.



ON MEEKNESS.SIMPLICITY,

GUILELESSNESS.AND WICKEDNESS

The light of dawn comesbefore the sun, and meekness s the pre-cursor of all humility. So le t us listen to the order in which Christ,our Light, places hese virtues. He says: "Learn from Me, becauseam meek and humble of heart" (Matt. I l :29).Therefore before gazrngat the sun of humility we must let the l ight of meekness low over us .If we do, we will then be able to look steadily at the sun. The trueorder of thesevirtues teachesus that we ar e totally unable to turn ou reyes to the sun before we have first become accustomed to the light.

Meekness s a mind consistent amid honor or dishonor. Meeknessprays quietly

and sincerely for a neighbor however troublesome hemay be. Meekness s a rock looking out over the sea of anger whichbreaks the waves which come crashing on it and stays entirely un-rnoved. Meekness s the bulwark of patience, th e door, jndeed th emother of love, and the foundation of discernment. For it is said:"The Lord will teach His ways to the meek" (Ps. 24:9). And it ismeekness ha t earns pardon fo r ou4 sins, gives confidence to ourprayers and makesa place fo r the Holy Spiri t . "T o whom shall I lookif not the meek and the peacefull" (lsa.66:2).

Meeknessworks alongside of obedience,guides a religious com-

iudgment"An upright soul s the companion f humility, but an evil one rs

the daughterof pride.The soulsof the meek shall be filled with wisdom, but the angry

mind will cohabitwith darkness nd gnorance.A bad-temperedman met a dissembler,and not an honest word

passed etween them, for if you open the heart of the one you willfind frenzy, and if you examine the soul of the other you will semalice.

Simplicity s an enduringhabit within a soul hat hasgrown rm -pervious o evil thoughts.

Evil is a deliberate ind of knowledge.Or, rather, t is a deformrty of the devil. There is no truth in it. And it imagines t can avoidbeingdetected y many.

Hypocrisy s souland body n a state f opposit ion o eachother,intertwinedwith everykind of rnventron.

Guilelessnesss the oyful condit ionof an uncalculating oul.Honesty is innocent thought, a genuinecharacter,speech hat is

neitherartif icial nor premeditated.Innocences a soul aspure as he da y t was created nd always

concerned or everyone.Malice s honestyperverted, deluded hought,a lying disposi

t ion, perjury,and ambiguouswords.Malice s a falseheart,an abysof cunning,deceit hat hasbecome abitual,pride that is second a-ture. t is the foe of humility, a fakepenitence,mourning depletcd,a refusal o confess, n insistence n gettingone'sown way. lt is thcagentof lapses, hindrance o resurrection, tolerance f wrongdrring, falsegrief, alse everence.t is life gonediabolical.

' l hc evi l man s henamesakendcompanion f thc dcvl l ,whleh

R; | ,uirrwrrr.I t \.1codszlrrrra./ iun st.rnlc.r(rrr,lr rlrrnrtnf

J() i lN Ot.tMACUS

is why thc Lord trrrrglrr s to cxll thc devil by that name, saying, ,,De-

l iver us from the l . lv i l )rrc" (M.rrr , . r : l l ) .Le t us run frorn rlrc prccipicc of hypocrisy, from the pit ofdu-

plicity. Le t us heed thc words of him who said: ,,Theevildoers shall

be destroyed" (Ps. ,16:!r);likc rh c grass they shall wither and likegreen herbs shall they fall awav" (cl. Ps , 16:2).Peopleof this kind arefodder fo r demons.

God is called uprightness us t as I Ic is called love. This i s why inrh e Songof Songt he wise man says ro rhe pure heart: ,,Uprightness

has loved you" (Song of Songs l:4). l hc fathcr of the wise


noranceand lack of learningcan make hem humble.Ye t now andagainyo u find men who pride themselves n their ignorance.

Paul th e Simple,ssha t thrice-blessed an ,was a shiningexample to us. He was he measure nd type of blessed implicity,and noon eha severseen r heardor could see omuch progressn soshortatrme.

A simplemonk is like a dumb but rationalan d obedient nimal,He layshi s burdenon his spir itualdirector.And like the animalwhoneveranswersback o the masterwho yokeshim, th e upright soul



"'I'he Lord is good an d upright" (P s 24:fJ). Ie says hat those who ar eGod's namesakes re saved: He saves he upright of heart" (ps. 7;11)."His countenancesees nd visits the honest and the just" (Ps. 0:8).

Unadorned simplicity is the first characteristic of childhood. Aslong as Adam had it, he saw neither the nakedness f his soul nor th eindecency of his flesh.

Good and blessed s that simplicity which some have by nature,bu t better is that which has been goaded ou t of wickedness by hardwork. The former is protected from much complexity and the pas-sions, while the latter is the gateway ro the greatest humility an d

meekness. There is not much reward for the one and no end of re-ward for the other.

If you wish to draw the Lord to you, approach Him as disciplesto a master, in all simplicity, openly, honestly, without duplicity,without idle curiosity. He is simple an d uncompounded.8aAnd Hewants th e souls that come to Him to be simple and pure. Indeed youwill never seesimplicity separated rom humility.

The evil man is a f alse prophet. He imagines ha t from words hecan catch thoughts, from appearancesthe truth of the heart.

I have seengood souls turn eyil from the example of evil people,

and it amazed me that they could so quickly shed their natural srm-plicity and innocence. But it is as easy for the honest to lapseas it ishard for evildoers o change heir ways. Still, a genuine turning awayfrom the world, obedience, and a guarding of the lips have oftenproved very effective and have wonderfully restored those whoseemed to be beyond recall.

If knowledge ca n cause most people to become vain, perhaps ig -

doesnot talk back o his superior. nstead, e follows wherehe is di -rected o go and will raise no protesteven f sent to his death."I t is hard for the rich to enter he kingdom" (Matt. l9:2J). t is

hard oo for the foolishly wise" to enter simplicity.A lapseoften saves he cleverman, bringing him salvation nd

innocencen spiteof himself.Fight to escape rom your own cleverness. f you do, th€n you

will f ind salvation nd an uprightnesshroughJesusChrist our Lord.Amen.

If you have he strength to take this step,do not lose heart. Fornow you are mitatingChrist your Masteran dyo u havebeensaved.

It4. Ct St. Basil, h'.rsus Euromtum ,2l 29,

8J Pnul hcSimplcwcnl i) f fro io in St . Antony n the dcscrtxt ' tcr rrrrhrng | rwil t in thc ct of ndultcry.Sr .Antony houghthinr ro o ld ro Irconrc ntorr l . rrr t t l r r lru l,rn it tcd r) hc scvcrcrr isc ip l incwirh suchunqucsrioningrbc{lrcrr.rh{t l { t ! lal ivc ly rh()rr ir t | . hc {c( l i rcd rI ir i t Il | l ' rwcrr vc n grcr| lcr hurr lr lrr . l St A T IVScc 'nffrr f irr : , .tu l. tutfuLIl inr\ch22tIhLiwtr l t l l " l \ t trr I th t,rh,.1,, l t l . t | | r l r

Step25


"Humility is constant forgetfulness of one's achievements,"someonesays.

"I t is the admission that in all the world one is the least rnoor-tant and is also he greatestsinner," another says.

"I t is the mind's awareness hat one is weak and helpless,"a thirdsays.

"lt is to forestall one's neighbor at a contentious moment and tobe the first to end a quarrel."

"It is the acknowledgement of divine grace and divine mercy.""I t is the disposition of



ON HUMILITY

.Do you magine ha t plain wordscan precisely r truly or appro_

priately or clearlyor sincerely escribehe loveof the Lord, humil_ity, blessed urity, divineenlightenment, earof God, an d assuranceofthe heartlDo you imagine ha t

al k of suchmatterswill meanany_thing to someone ho ha sneverexperiencedheml If you think so ,then you will be like a man who with words an d examplesrres oconvey he sweetnessf honey o peoplewho havenever asted t. Hetalksuselessly.ndeed would sa yhe is simply prattling.The sameapplies n the first instance. ma n stands eviaiedas either havinghad no experience f what he s talking aboutor ashaving allen ntothe grip of vainglory.

Our theme setsbeforeus as a touchstonea treasurestor€dsafelyin earthen essels,hat is, n ou r bodies. hi s treasure s of a qualitythat.eludesdequate escription.t carriesan nscriptionof heavenlyorigin which is therefore ncomprehensibleo that anyoneseekingwords fo r it is facedwith a greatan d endlessask.Th e inscriotronreads s ollows: Holy Humility.'

Let all wh o are ed by th e Spirit of God comewith us nto thisspiritualand wise assembly. et them hold in their spir itualhandsth e tablets f knowledgenscribed y God Himself We have ome o_gether.We havepu t our questions.We have earchedor th e meanrnsof this preciousnscription.

and the abdicationof one'sown wi l l . "

I listened to all this and thought it over carefully and soberly,an d wa s not able to grasp the senseof that blessed irtue from what Ihad heard. I was the last to speak; and, l ike a dog gathering crumbsfrom a table, I collected what those learned and blessed fathers hadssid and went on from there to propose my own definition: ',Humil-i ty is a grace in the soul and with a name known only to those wh ohave had experienceof it. It is indescribabldwealth, a name and a giftfrom God.'Learn from Me,'He said; that is, not from an angel, no tfrom a man, not from a book, but 'from Me,' that is, from My dwell-

ing within you, from My illumination an d action within you, for'I0m gentle and meek of heart' (Matt. tl:29) in thought and in spirit,

on d your souls will find rest from conflicts and relief from evilthoughts.

1'he appearance f this sacredvine is one thing dur ing the winterof passions,another in the springtime of flowering, and still anotherin the harvesttime of all the virtues. Yet all these appearanceshaveone thing in common, namely, jo y and the bearing of fruit , and theyrl l give sure signs and evidenceof the harvest o come. As soon as hecluster of holy humility begins to flower within us, we come, after

htrd work, to hate all earthly praise and glory. We rid ourselvesofrrge and fury; and the more rhis queen of virtues spreadswithin our

touls through spiritual growth, the more we begin to regard al l ou rgood decds asof no c onsequence, n fact as loathsome.For every dnywc sonrehow imagine that we are adding to our burden bv nn igno.rtnt scattcring, that the very abundance of God's gifts to rn ir ro

much in cxccssof what wc deservc hat th e nunishmcnt duc t0 $t lto.

come$ hercby nll thc greatcr. lence ou r minds rcmtin rcfltrc, lrrl td

Up in lhc pursc of n l (x icsty, nwnrc of the knockr rrrrr l he lr t l f t t l

JOilN (:t . tMACUS

thieves nd yet untroul)lc(l ry thcm, because odesty s an unassail-ablestrongroom.

We have o ar r iskcda cw wordsof a philosophical ind regard-ing the blossoming nd thc growth of this everblooming ruit. Butthoseof yo u wh o are close o the l,ord llimself must find out fromHim what the perfect eward s of rhis holy virtue, since here s noway of measuring he sheerabundance f such blessedwealth, norcould wordsconvey ts quality, Nevertheless, e must ry to expressthe thoughts hat occur o us about ts distinguishing haracteristics.

Real repentance,mourning scrubbed f al l impurity, and holy


mility therewill be no signof hared, no species f quarrelsomenesno whiff of disobedience-unless of course some ouestion of faitharises. he man with humility for his bride will be gentle,kind, in-clined to compunction, sympathetic,calm in every situation, radiant,easy o get along with, inoffensive, alert and active. In a word, freefrom passion. The Lord rememberedus in our humility and deliv-eredus from our enemies" Ps .135:23-24),hat is, from ou r passionan d ro m our impurities.

A humble monk will not preoccupy himself with mysteries. Aproud monk busies imselfwith the hidden f God.



humility amongbeginners re asdifferent and distinct rom one an-other as yeastand flour from bread.The soul is ground and refinedby visible epentance. he watersof true mourning bring it to a cer-tain unity. I would evengo so ar as o speak f a mingling with God.Then, kindledby the fire of the Lord, blessed umility is made ntobreadand made irm without the leavenof pride. The outcome of allthis is a three-stranded ord (cf. Eccles.4:12),a heavenly ainbowcoming together as a single power and energy, with its own effectsand characteristics.peak f one and we imply the other two. And Iwill now briefly try to prove the truth of what I am saying.

The first and principal token of this excellent and admirable ri-ad is the delighted readiness f the soul to accept ndignity, to receiveit with open arms, o welc ome t as something hat relieves nd cau-terizesdiseases f the soul and grevioussins.The second olen is thewiping out of anger-and rnodestyover the fact that it hassubsided.Third and preeminent is the honest distrust of one's own virtues, t<.r-getherwith an unendingdesire o learnmore.

"The end of the law and the prophets s Christ, for the iustifica-tion of everybeliever" Rom. 0:4).And theend of impure passionssvainglory and pride for every manwho fails to deal with the problem.

But their desroyer is a spiritual stag86which keeps he man wholives with it safe from every poison. Ihe deadly bane of hypocrisyand of calumny ca n surely never appearwhere there is humility.Wherewill this snake estle nd hidet Will it not be oulled out fromthe heart's arth o be killed and doneaway withl Where here s hu-

86. The stag vas hought to be able o kill snales after first drawing rhem our oftheir holeswith rhe bresth of its nostrils (cf. Origeq Hon. 2, Il in Cant.: PC tl, t6C).

udgmentsDemonsonce heapedpraiseon one of the most discerning of thebrothers. They even appeared o him in visible form. But this verywise man spoke o them as ollows: "If you cease o praiseme by wayof the thoughts of my heart, I shall consider myself to be great andoutstanding because f the fact thar you have eft me. But if you con-tinue to praiseme, I must deduce rom suchpraise hat I am very im-pure indeed, since every proudhearted man is unclean before theLord (cf. Prov. 16:5).So leave me, and I shall becomegreat, or elsepraiseme ,and with your help shallearn more humility." Struck bythis dilemma, hey vanished.

Let not your soul be a hollow in the streamof life, a hollow some-times ull and sometimes ried up by the heatof vaingloryan dpride.lnstead, may your soul be a spring-headof dispassion hat wells upinto a river of poverty. Friend, remember that corn and the fruit ofthe spirit will standhigh in the valleys cf .Ps .64:14). he valley s asoulmadehumbleamong he mountainsof laborsand virtues. t al -ways remains unproud and steadfast. n Scripture are the words, "Ihumbledmyself,and he Lord hastenedo rescueme " (Ps. 14:6); ndthesewordsare here nstead f "I have asted," I havekeptvigil," "Ilry down on the bareearth."

Repentanceifts a man up. Mourning knocksat heaven's ate.Holy humility opens t. This I say,and I worshipa Trinity in Unity.nd e Uni ty in Tr inity.

'I-hesun ights up everything isible.Humility reaches cross v.crything done according o reason.Where here s no light, nll is indlrkncss.Where here s no humility, al l is rotten.

In the ent ireuniversehere s a uniqueplace hst s[w thc iunjurt once.And therc s a uniquc hought hat hasgivcn irc to hr r tn l l ,

J() l tNcr.rMACUS

i ty, l 'hcrc w.rs r uri{ luc tlrryon which the whole world reioiced.An dthere i5 a unir luc vrr. t t rc he t lcrrrons annot imi ta te.8?

J'o exal t oncscl l ' is )nc hing, not to do so another,and to humbleoneself s someth ng clsc crr rcly'. r\ mirn may always be passing udg-ment on others, whilc :rnorlrcrnlan pissesiudgment neither on othersno r on himself. A third, hou,ever, hough actually guil t less, ma y al -ways be passing udgmcnt or r hinrsclf.

There is a difference tretwccn bcirrg humble, striving fo r humil_ity, and praising th e humble. l he lirst is a mark of the perfect, th esecond of the obedient, and the third of all the faithful.


haveeveryone of these irtueswithin you, hen you wil l havean ac-curate senseof how far from God you still are."

No one of uscan describe he powerand nature of the sun. Wecan merely deduce ts inminsic naturefrom its characteristicsand ef-fects.So too with humility, which is a God-givenprotectionagainsseeingour own achievements,t is an abyssof self-abasementowhich no thief can gain entry. It is a tower of suength against thecnemy. Againsthim the enemywill n ot preveiland heson or , ath-er, the thought)of iniquity will do him no harmand he wil l cut of f



A man tru ly humble with in h imsel f wi l l never f ind his tonsucbetraying him. What is not in rhe treasury cannot be brought

-our

through th e door.

A soli tary horse can often imagine itself to be at full gallop, bu twhen it finds itself in a herd it then discoversho w slow it actuallv is .

-..1 { it"! : ig"of emerging health is when ou r thoughts ar e no l;ng-

er f i l led with a proud senseof our aptitudes. As long as the stench ofpride Iingers in the nose, he fragrance of myrrh wii l go unnoticed.

Holy humility ha d this to say:,,The one who loves rne wil l no tcondemn someone,or pass udgment on anyone, or lord it over some-

on e else,or show off his wisdom unti l he ha s been united with me . Aman truly joined to me is no longer in bondage o the Law.,'

The unholy demons once began o murmur praise n the heart ofan asceticwho was struggling to achieveblessedhumil i ty. Howcver,Go d inspired hi m to use a holy trick to defeat the clevernessof thesespiri ts. The monk got up and on the wall of his cell he wrote in se _quence he namesof the maior virtues: perfect love, angelic humil i ty,pure prayer, unassailable hastity, an d others of a similar kind. Theresult wa s that whenever vainglorious thoughts began o puff him up ,he would say: "Come! Let us go to be judged." Going to the wall he

would read he names here an d would cr y out to himself:,,When you

87. The schol ias texpla ins tw o of these al lus ionsas fo l lowsr . .Theunioue olace s

th e f loor of the Red Se adur ing th e cross ing of Is rael . The day of uni ,ersal lo y is noneothe. then the day of the resurrection of our Lord and Sevior, on which our racc wasfreed from the erernal bonds of Hades. Others say thar it is the day of the nativiry, onwhich the glory to God in the highest of the angels was heard.Others say rhat ir is th eda y on which Noah and bis companionscime out of the ark" (schol ion 0 [1005B] ) .Ac -cording to another schol ion, at t r ibured to John of Rai thu, the unique rhoughr is

. . tht

constant thought of death, and medi tar ion on eternal iudgmenr ,nd on the Cross . r r rd

his enemies eforehim" (Ps.88:21-24)nd will pu t to flight thoswho hatehim.The great possessor f this treasu re hasother properties in his

soul besides hose referredto above.These properties,with one ex-ccption, are manifest tokensof this wealth. You will know that youhave hi s holy gift within you and not be edastraywhen youexperi-rnce an abundanceof unspeakable ight together with an indescrib-rble love of prayer.Even before reachingthis stage,you may have t,if in your heart you passno judgment on the faults of others. And aprecursorof what we havedescribed s hatred of all vainglory.

'f he manwho has come o know himself with the full awarenesof his soul has sown in good ground.However, anyone who hasnot

mwn in this way cannotexpecthumility to flower within him. An dtnyone who hasacquired nowledge f self hascome o understanth e fearof the Lord, and walking with the helpof this fear, he haserrivedat the doorwayof love.For humility is the door to the king-dom,openingup to thosewh o come near. t wasof that door, be-licve, ha t he Lord spokewhen He said: He shallgo n and comeou tof l i fe" and not beafraid an d he shall ind pasture"John 0:8-9)an dth c greengrass f Paradise. nd whoeverha senteredmonasticife bytomeother door s a thiefand a robberof hisown life.

'l 'hose f us who wish to gain understandingmust neverstopex -tmining ourselves nd if in the perception f your soul you realizethrt your neighbr.rrs superior o you in all respects,he n the mercyof Ood s surelynearat hand.

Snow cannotburst nto flames. t is even essoossibleor hunri l .I ty to alr iden r hcrctic. h is achievementelongi nly ro rhc piou:Ind thc f$i thful , ncl hcnonly whcn h ey have een uri f icd,

Most of us woukl dcscrilrc ursclvcs ssinncrs.An d prrhl;lr wllonl ly hink so. lut i t is ndigni ty hoishows p thc ntc i tr t ! rr f h ,

JOHN CLIMACUS

Whoevcr is crgcr l irr the peaceful haven of humil i ty wil l never

cease o do all hc possibly can to get there, and with words an dthoughts, with considcrrl ions and explanations, with questionings

an d probings, with evcry dcvicc, with prayer and supplication, with

meditation an d reflection, hc wil l push onward, he lped by God, hu-

mil iated and despisedand toil ing mighti ly, and he wil l sai l the ship of

his soul out from the ever-stormy occan of vainglory. For the man de -l ivered from this sin wins ready pardon for al l his other sins, ike the

publican in Scripture.

Some drive out empty pride by thinking to the en d of their l ives


A man says that he is experiencing the ful l fragrance of thismyrrh within him. Someonehappens o praisehim, and if he feels heslightest stir of the heart or i f he grasps he full import of what is be -ing said, then he is certainly mistaken, and let him have no illusionabout that fact.

"Not to us, not to us, but to Your name, O Lord, give glory" (Ps.

l l3:9). I once heard a man say this with total sincerity. He was a manwh o well understood hat human nature is such that i t cannot remainunharmed by praise. My praiseshall be from You in rhe great assembly, Lord" (Ps.2l:26),



of their past misdeeds, or which they were forgiven and which now

serve as a spur to humil i ty. Others, remembering the passion of

Christ, think of themselves as eternally in debt. Others hold them-

selves n contempt when they think of their daily lapses.Others come

to possess his mother of gracesby wa y of their continuous tempta-

tions, weaknesses, nd sins.88There are some-and I cannot say if

they are to be found nowadays-who humble themselves in propor-

tion to the gifts they receive from God and live with a sense of their

unworthiness to have such wealth bestowed on them, so that each day

they think of themselvesas sinking further into debt. That is real hu-

mil i ty, real beatitude, a real reward! And you may be sure that it is by

this particularly blessed route that anyone has rxyeled who in a few

short years has arrived at the summit of dispassion.

Love and humil i ty make a holy team. The one exalts. The othersupports those who have been exalted and never falls.

There is a difference between conrition, self-knowledge, and hu-

mil i ty.

Contrit ion is the outcome of a lapse. A man who has lapsed

breaksdown and prays without drrogance, hough with laudable per-

sistence,disarrayed and yet cl inging to the staff of hope, ndeed using

it to drive off the dog of despair.Self-knowledge s a clear-eyed notion of one's own spiri tual ad -

vance. t is also an unwavering remembrance of one's ightest sins.

Humil i ty is a spiri tual teaching of Christ led spiri tually l ike a

bride into the inner chamber of the soul of those deemed worthy of i t,

and it somehow eludes al l description.

88. H'l'M has a fuller version of.this sentence: "Others. as a result of their bcsct-

t ing t emptations, inf irmit ies and sins, have mortif ied thei r pride. Others for want of

hat is, in the li fe to come, and I cannot acceprit before that without risk to myself.

If the outer l imit, the rule, and the characteristic of extremepride is for a ma n to make a show of having virtues he does not actu-al ly possessor the sakeof glory, rhen surely the token of extreme hu -mil i ty wil l be to lower ourselvesby claiming weaknesseswe do notreally have. This was what one man did when he took the bread andcheese n his hands,se his too was the way of the man who was freeof al l f leshly lust but who used to take his.clothesoff and paraoe na -ked through the whole city.eo Men l ike thesedo not worry abour giv-ing scandal, for through prayer they have received the power toreassureall men invisibly. Indeed, to be afraid of censure s to showlack of abil i ty in prayer. An d when God is ready to hear our prayerswe can achieve anything.

Better to offend man than God. For God is delishted when Heseesus courting dishonor for the purpose of crushin-g,striking, an ddestroying our empty self-esteem. And virtue of this sort comes onlyfrom a complete abandonment of the world and only the really greatcan endure the derision of their own folk. This should not surprrseyou. Th e fact is that no one can cl imb a ladder in a single stride. An din this matter it is not on account of the devils subjected o us rhat

men wil l recognizeus as disciplesof God, but because ur namesar ewritten in the heavenof humil i ty (cf. Luke 10:20).

A lemon tree naturally l i fts its branchesupwards when it hls nofruit. ' l 'he more its branches bend, the more fruit you wil l f ind rhcrc.'Ihe meaning of this wil l be clear to the man disposed o un(lcrslrn(li t .

l lo ly hunri l i ty rccq ivcs rom God the powcr ro yic|r , | rrr i r th l r ty.

Ht , Alr l r l rS irrrrrrr l\ ' . \ t t ' t ,agt l tk I)r! 1 /,r/1,r,] .Sinx"r

J0I IN CLIMACUS

fold, sixtyfoldan d rr htrnrlrcdf<rld.l he dispassionatettain that lastdegree,he couragcoushc nriddlc,and eveiyone an rise o the first.

Th e ma n who hascorlc to know himself s never fooled ntoreachingor what is bcyondhim. lle keeps is eethenceforth n theblessed athof humility.

Justasbirds ear he sightof a hawk, hosewh o practice umilityfear hesoundof an argument.

Many haveattained alvationwithout the aidof prophecies,llu-mination,signsand wonders.But without humility no on ewil l enterth e marriagechamber, or humility is the guardianof such gifts.


greatat one and the same ime. Humility cannotbe genuinean d atone and the same ime havea worldly strain.e2 enuinehumility isnot in us f we fall into voluntarysin,and his s the sign hat there ssomethingmaterialstill within us .

The Lord understoodha t the virtueof the soul s shaped y ou routward behavior.He thereforetook a towel and showed us how towalk the roadof humil ity (cf. John tJ:4).Th e soul ndeed s moldeby th edoingsof the body,conforming o and akingshape rom whatit does. o one of theangelst was he factof beinga ruler that ed opride, hough t wasnot for thisreasonhat he prerogative asorigi-



Without it, they will bring disaster n the frivolous.Because f our unwil l ingnesso humbleourselves, od hasar -

ranged that no one can seehis own faults as clearly as his neighbordoes.Henceour obligation to be grateful not to ourselvesbut to ourneighbor and to God for our healing.

A humblema n will alwayshatehi s own wil l asa cause f error.In his petitionso the Lord which he makeswith unwaveringaith helearnswhat heshoulddo and obeys.He doesnot spendhis -ime cru-tinizing th e lifestyleof his superiors.He laysall his burdenon theGod Who usedan ass o teachBalaamwhat had to be done. All theacts, houghts,and words of such a man are directed to the will ofGod and henever trusts himself. Indeed, o a humble man, self-conf!dence s as much a thorn and a burden as he ordersof someoneelseare o aproudman.

In my opinion, an angel scharacterizedby the fact that he rs nottricked nto sinning.And I hear hosewordsof an earthlyangel:e1.I

am awareof nothingagainstmyselfand yet I am not thereby usri-fied. t is the Lord Who is my Judge" l Cor.4:4).So we mustalwayscondemnan dcriticizeourselvesn order thatby means f deliberate-ly chosen umil iationswe may protectourselvesro m unwitting sin.

And if we do not do this,ou r punishmentat deathwill be heavy n-deed.

The man who asksGod for less han he deserveswill certainlyreceivemore, as sshown by the publicanwho begged orgiveness utobtained alvation cf . Luke l8:10-14). nd the robberasked nly tobe rememberedn the kingdom,ye t he inheritedal l of Paradisecf .

nally granted o him.A man who sitson a throneacts n oneway. and the man who

sits on a dunghil l acts n another.That, perhapi, s the reasonwh ythat greatan d us t mane3 aton the dunghil loutsidehe city. Totallyhumbled,he said n all sincerity, I despisemyself,wasteaway"(J o42:6), nd have egardedmyselfasdust andashes.

I note that Manassehinned ike no other man. He defi led hetempleof God with idolsand he contaminptedhe sacred iturgy (c t4 [2 ] Kings2 :4).A fastby all the world could not havemade eparation for his sin, and yet humility could healhis ncurablewound. ,I f

You wantedsacrifice would havegiven t," Davidsays o God, ,,butYo u will no t be satisfiedwith holocausts,"ha r is, with bodieswornout by fasting. Th e sacrificeor God s acontritespirit.God wil l no tdespise humblean dcontrite heart"(Ps.50:17). ol lowinson adul-tery and murder,blessed umility oncecried out to GoJ, '. 1 havesinnedagainst heLord," and he replywa sheard: ,TheLord haspu r.way your sin" (2Kings 2 Sam.] 2 :13) .

The wonderfulFathersproclaimed hysical abor o be the wayto and hefoundation f humility.To this I would ad dobediencendhonestyof heart,since heseare by natureopposed o self-aggrandize

ment.If pride turned someof the angels nto demons, hen humility

ce ndoubtlessmakeangels ut of demons.So take heart,al l yo u srn-ners.

Luke 23:43).In the created world fire cannot naturally be both small and

rr l l his prrss,rgcs ohscurc.r rnNl-)c rrnslarcd ] tcrnnr;vch t t rr rnl rr$tLh t rrrcc ! f i rc, whcrh(r rnrrr l l r grqrr,crist iD! l r ' - nNruro n tn) (rrdtrrrr Slxtt latlt, t hi rnD(,rr i l , lc0 src rrry t rnccol thc l i rrrrr f rDd cr (i .c. , in )ct( isri f l { |.rx|| l tu h0||| l l-h)"'

JOHN CLIMACUS

Le t usstrivewith all our might to reach hatsummit of humility,or let us at least l imb onto hershoulders. nd if this istoo much orus, et us at least ot tumbleout of herarms, inceaftersucha tumblea man will scarcely eceive ny kind of everlasting ift.

Humility has ts signs. t also has ts sinewsand its ways,an dtheseare as follows-pove rty, withdrawal from the world, the con-cealment f one'swisdom,simplicityof speech,he seeking f alms,the disguisingof one'snobility, the exclusion f fre e and easy ela-tionships,he banishment f idle talk.

Nothing can ever so humble he soul asdestitutionand thesub-

Step26



sistenceof a beggar.We will show ourselves rue loversof wisdomand of God if we stubbornly run away from all possibility of aggran-otzement.

If you wish to fight againstsome passion, ake humility as yourally, for shewil l treadon the aspan d the basilisk f sin and despair,and she will uample under foot the lion and theserpentof physicaldevilishnessnd cunning(c f Ps .90:13).

Humility is a heavenlywaterspoutwhich can lift the soul fromthe abyssup to heaven'sheight.

Someonediscovered n his heart how beautiful humility is, and

in his amazementhe askedher to revealher parent'sname. Humilitysmiled, oyousand serene: Why are you in such a rush to learn thename of my begetter?He has no name,nor will I revealhim to youuntil you haveGod for your possession.o Whom be glory forever."Amen.

The sea s the sourceof the fountain, and humilitv is the sourceof discernment.

ON DISCERNMENT

Among beginners, iscernments re al self-knowledge; mongthosemidway along he road o perfection, 'it s a spiritualcapacity odistinguishunfail ingly betweenwhat is truly goodand what in na-

ture is opposed o the good; among the perfect, t is a knowledge re-sulting from divine illumination, which with its lamp can light upwhat is dark n others.To pu t the mattergenerally, iscernments-

an d s recognizedo be-a solid understandi ng f the will of God inal l times, n al l places,n al l things;and t is found only among hoswho arepure n heart, n body,and n speech.

The man who hasdevoutly destroyedwithin himself he threehas also destroyed he five.ea f he has neglectedany of the former,then he will not be able to overcomeeven a singlepassion.

Discernment s an uncorrupted conscience.t is pure perception.

No one seeing r hearingsomething n monastic ife that has aforce oyer and beyond nature should, out of ignorance,becomeunbe-licving.For much hat s supernatura l appenswhere he supernaturs l God abides.

Every demonic upheavalwithin us arises rom the followingthree relatedcauses, amely,carelessness,ride, or the envy of dc .

t. l . A(c{'r(l ing o l)vrgrius /'l i l . . | , ' |8), hc thrceprincil)nl vi l rh'lrlhtr rtr l l l l l .torty,vl inglory nd lvuritci thcrcgivc risc o thc r, lhcr i!c, hrr t, lo|,rrlbnr 'v, Irl th,

(: l (; l i rnrro\ . 6{

JOHN CLIMACUS

mons..-l 'heirsr is pitirblc, rh e seconddeplorable, ut th e third isblessed.

Le t ou r Gocl-dircctcclqronsciencee ou r ai m and rule n every_thing so hat,_knowingow rh c wind is blowing,we ma yse tour sailsaccordingly.e6

,Amid al l ou r efforts rr plcaseGrxl, hreepitfal ls ie, preparedor

us oy oemons. lrsr s rheirattempt o impede ny sortof worthwhileachievement;nd f this ails, he ystrivesecondlyo ensureha twhatwe do shouldno t be n accordance it h th e wiil of God. An d if thescoundrelsai l in this oo , he n he ystandquietlybefore


If the day of our souldoesnot turn to eveningand become ark,

no thieveswil l come hen o rob or slayor ruin our soul.eTRobbery s a hiddenbondage f the soul.Th e slayingof the soul

is the deathof a rationalmind that has allen nto evilways.Ruin is

despair f oneself ol lowing on a breachof God's aw.No on eshouldplead nabili ty o do what s asked f us n thego s

pels, since there are soulswho have accomplished ar more than ts

commanded. f this tuth you wil l be entirely persuaded,ivenwhat

is saidabout he man who lovedhis neighbormore han himselfan d



ou r soulan dpraiseus for the fact that in every respectwe are iving asGod wouldwish. We should fight these isks, thi first by ,eal

"nifear of death,

th e secondby obedience nd self-abasement,he third by unceasrngself-condemnation.,This work is aheadof us unril the fire of Godshallenterou r sanctuary"cf .Ps .72:16-17),nd he n ndeed he pcrw-er of our predispositionswill no longer constrainus. For our God is afire consumingal l lusts,al l stirringsof passion, ll predispositrons,an dall hardness f heart,both within an i without, both visiblean dspiritual.

Demons, n th e otherhand,bring about he very oppositeo al lthis.Grabbinga soul, he ypu t out the light of th e mirrd orrti t n ou rwretchednesse find ourselvesackingsobrietyor discernment,elf_knowledgeor shame;and we areburdJned nsieadwith inaiife."r,"e,insensitivity,want of discernment,nd blindness.

All of this is r,r'ellknown to thosewho haveabandonedornica_tion and become chaste, who have reined in their tongues andswitched from shamelessnesso modesty.They know that ivhen themind wa s cleansed,ts callousnessnded,oi rather it s muti lationhealed, hameil ledthem or what theysaidan ddid previouslyn theseason f their blindness.

95. HTM readsmeta beot nsteedof kata tlfton: ,Aftet God,let us haveotrr con,

96. The scholiastcomments: 'A ship is sometimes verwhelmedbv storms rom

1.,:::-,f.,_ld::.*'-essinks hroug} l pringing teakwithin. W".". *-J*"" p.._

::Ll i l . lsl: l l . : :-m.ittedexternatry,nd sometimes re destroyed v evir hougnts

wrrntn.we must herelore or hkeepwatch or th e external t tacks f spir i ts. nd bai lour rne mpurrry f evil rhoughrs i rhinjOnly moreeffortmust be madewirh tu . un _derstandinggainst vi l rhoughts' ,schol ion [l0j7ABD.

who laid down his life for him, in spite of the fact thatthe Lord hadnot orderedhim to do so.e8

Those who have been humbled by their passionsshould take

heart. Even if they tumble into everypit, even f they are trapped by

everysnare,even f they suffer everydisease, till after their return to

health they becomea light to all, they prove to be doctors,beaconpilots.They teachus th e characteristicsf everymaladyan d out of

their own experience hey canrescue hoseabout to lapse,Anyone in the grip of previousba d rabitsand yet sti l l able o

give teaching,althoughonly by their words, should doso. (Of course

they shouldnot hold positionsof authority.)Shamedby their ow nwords, they may finally begin to practice what they preach. And

there may even happen in their casewhat I have seen happen withpeoplestuck in the mud. Mired themselves, hey warned passersb

tell inghow they had sunk,explaining his for their salvation o hat

they too might not fall in the samemanner, and the omnipoten tGod

rescued hem from the mud so thatthe others might be saved.Bu t anyonewho is dominated y passionsnd who quite wil l ing-

ly embracespleasureshould be a lessonby his very silence.Jesusbe-

gan both "to do and o teach" Acts :t).

We humble monks have o travel a truly dangerousea,a sea ullof winds, ocks, nd whirlpools,of pirates,waterspouts, ndshallows

of monsters nd waves.A rock n the soul s wild and suddenanger

A whirlpool is the hopelessnesshat lays hold of the mind on ever

ride and struggles o drag t into the depthsof despair.A shalkrw s

r)7. l l - l l\ 4 tlds rwt, r. 'nrcn.csi 'l hcf i is loss f property. hclt is (l r, rr l r. 'h.l lr

nrrl grxxl rs if il wcrc good "r) l l .Al rt rrr,c oof (l0pt ' l r l rxil , uhrr grvc hi r l i fc to rcrlccnrhr(r | ' [ | t i ! t' ott l .r t

JOHN CLIMACUS

the ignorance that makes a good of what is evil. A monster is thisgross and savage body. Pirates are those deadly servants of vainglorywh o snatch our cargo, the hard-won earnings of our virtues, A waveis the swollen and packed stomach that by its gluttony hands us overto the beast.A waterspout is pride, the pride that flings us down fromheaven, bears us up to the sky, and then dashesus into the lowestdepths.

Educators can distinguish between th e programs of study suit-able for beginners, for the intermediate, and for teachers. And weought to ensure that we do not spend an unduly long time at the be-


those who live in the world. Those leading a religious life but havingall they need of a material kind may suffer the onslaught of the de-mon of gluttony and fornication. But asceticswho live without com-forts may find themselves plagued by the tyrant of despondency andingratitude.

And I have noticed how the wolf of fornication increased he suf-ferings of the sick and, while they were laid low, causedstinings of

the flesh and even emissions. It v/as amazing to see how the body, for

all its agonies, could still rage and lust. And when I looked once more

I saw sick men comforted by the power of God or by the workings of



ginner's stage, for it would be a disgrace to have an old man going tokindergarten.

Here for everyone is an excellent alphabet: A----obedience, B-fasting, f-sackcloth, A-ashes, E-tears, Z-confession, H-silence,O-humility, I-vigil, K-bravery, A----cold, M-struggle, N-hardwork, E-humiliation, O-contrition, Il-forgetfulness of wrongs,P-brotherly love, !-meekness, T-simple an d unquestioning faith,Y-freedom from worldly concern, O-unhating rejection of parenrs,X-detachment, V-innocent simplicity, O-voluntary abasement.

For the advanced, the following is a good plan and indeed a sign

of progress: lack of vainglory, freedom from anger, good hope, still-ness,discernment, continuous remembrance of the judgment, com-passion,hospitality, g€ntleness n criticism, passionless rayer, lack ofavarlce.

And a measure, ule, and law for those n the flesh aiming at per-fection in spirit and body is the following: A-an unfettered heart,B-perfect love, f-a well of humility, A -a detached mind, E-anindwelling of Christ, Z-an assuranceof light and of prayer, H-anoutpouring of divine illumination, @-a wish for death, I-hatred oflife, K-flight from the body, A-an ambassador for the world, M-an importuner of God,

N-fellow worshiper with the angels, E-a.depth of knowledge, O-a dwelling place of mysteries, II-a custodi-an of holy secrets, P-a savior of men, )-lord over the demons, T-master of the passions, Y-lord of the body, <D-controller of nature,X- a stranger to sin, V-home of dispassion,e-with God's herp animitator of the Lord.

We have o be particularly vigilant whenever th e body is sick, orat such a time the demons, observing our weaknessand our inabilityto fight against them as usual, rush in to attack us. In times of illnessth e demon ofanger an d even ofblasphemy may be discoveredaround

compunction, and because hey were comforted they kept the pain atbay and even arrived at a disposition where they had no wish to re-

cover from their illness. At other times I saw men freed from their

souls' passion by grave sickness, as though it were some kind of pen-

ance, and I could only praise the God who cleansclay with clay.

A mind disposed to the things of the spirit is certainly endowedwith spiritual perception and this is something that, whether we pos-

sess t or not, we should always seek to haye. And when it comes, our

senses desist from their natural actiyities. This is why a wise man

once seid, "You shall obtain a senseof what is divine."ee

In the matter of actions, words, thoughts, and movements, themonastic life has to be lived with a perceptive heart.roo Otherwise it

will not be monastic or indeed angelic.

One has to disti nguish between divine providence, divine assis-

tance, divine protection, divine mercy, and divine consolation. Provi-

dence is shown in all of nature, assistance among the faithful alone,protection among those believers whose faith is most alive, mercy

among those who serve God, and consolation among those who love

Him.

One man's medicine can be another man's poison, and something

can be a medicine to th€ same man at one time and a poison at an-other. So I have seenan incompetent physician who by inflicting dis-

honor on a sick but contrite man produced despair n him, and I have

seena skillful physician who cut througb an arrogant heart with thc

knife of di shonor and thereby drained it of all its foul-smelling pur, I

99 . l l ' l M s iys hr|t l lussi0n orcairr iburcshi s$aying o Sr Nilurr, lStrrr t l, ,prcrunobly Nilus rr fAnr 'yrr) .

l0(1. ho rch(, l i !s l rrL|| " l lc(rurc th c rrronl must c!rr l i r l l r rxvrrt l l r t f t l l hhm||v(f irrnt i t vc n ht're ,l hi r thr 'uIht i" (rrh(, l i rnt8 | l{)4{ l l) l )

JOHN CLIMACUS

haveseen sickman striving o cleanse is mpurity by drinking th emedicine f obedience,y moving,walking,and stayingawake. hatsamema n when the eyeof his soul wassick did not move,madenonoise,and was silent. Therefore, he who hasears o hear, et himhear" (Luke 14:3 ).

Since I am not so proud as ro pry into the gifts of God, I cannotsa ywhy it is that somepeopleappear o be naturally nclined o tem-peranceor silenceor purity or rnodesty r meekness r contrition.Others have o fight hard against heir own natures o acquire these,they have o force themselves n to the best of their ability, suffering


t ianssunk n the watersof tears.But if God hasno t ye t arrived n us ,who will understandhe roaringwaves f the sea, hat s, of our bod -ies?Whereas f, because f our works, God riseswithin us, His ene-

mies will be scattered;and if we draw near to Him throughcontemplation, thosewho hate Him will run from beforeHis face"(Ps.67:2) nd from ours.

Let us seek o discoyer he things of heaven hrough the sweat ofour efforts, rather than by mere talk, for at the hour of death it is

deeds, ot words, hat must be displayed .Those wbo learn of treasure hidden away somewhere ook for i t,



occasional efeaton the way; and it seems o me that the very fact ofhaving o struggle gainst heir own natures omehow uts hem ntoa highercategory han the first kind.

Neverboast,man,about he wealthyo u acquiredwithout havingto work for it. The heavenlyGiver anticipateshow you may be in-jured, weakened, r ruined and therefore givesyou somehelp by wayof thosegifts,which you certainlydid not deserve.

What we learned schildren,ou r education nd our studies,maybe a help or a hindrance o us in virtue in monastic ife, when wecomeof age.

Angelsare a ight for monksand the monastic ife is a light for allmen.Hencemonksshouldspareno effort to become shiningexam-pl e n all things,and heyshouldgiveno scandaln anything hey sa yor do. For if th e light becomes ark, then all the deeperwill be thedarkness f those iving in the world.

And if you will lenda willing ear o what I have o say,yo u willagree hat it would be bad for us to spread ourselves oo thinly, tohaveour wretchedsoulspulled n all directions, o takeon, alone,afight against housands pon thousands nd ten thousands pon tenthousands f enemies, ince he understanding f their evil workings,

indeedeven he listing of them, s far beyondour capacities.nsteed,.let us summon th e Holy Trinity to help us as we marshal hreeagainst hree.ror f we fail to do this we will make very hard work forourselves. or if God reallydwells n us, he God Who madedry landof the sea, hen the Israel within us, the mind that looks to God, willsurely makea safecrossing f this seaand t will look on the Egyp-

l0 l . Self-contro l,ov eend humil i ty ,says he scholiast,gainst ensuali tv .variccand ambit ion scholion 9 l044AB]):he hree etterare he principelevit houghrs c-cording o Evagrius se e ot e94 ,p.

and when they find it, they makesure o hold on to what they havefound. But those who get rich without any effort arequick to squan-

der what they have.It is hard to shake ff old habits,especially ad ones;an d when

others are added o these,despair can result and obedienceproves o

be without value.Still, I know that God.can do anything, hat for

Him nothing s mpossible.Certain people put a particular question to me, a question very

difficult to solveand certainly beyondmy capacities. or is it deal t

with in any of the books hat have come my way. The question ook

this form: "What are the special offspring of the e ight deadly sins,and which of the three chief sins produce the other five?" To my

credit, I pleaded gnorance and was therefore put in the position of

being able to learn the following from those men of great holiness:

"Gluttony is the mother of lust and vainglory s the mother of de-

spondency.Deiection and anger are the offspring of those three,lo2

and he motherof pride s vainglory."The statementof these ever-memorable athers inspired me to

put more questions egarding the lineageof the eight sins,which pro-

duced which. And thesemen, free as hey were from passion,kindly

instructedme ,saying hat no orderor reason anbe ound among heirrational passions,hat indeed every brand of disorder and chaos

may be discoveredn them. The blessed athersconfirmedal l this

with persuasive xamples nd numerousproofs!someof which I in-

clude n this section.They will be a light by which to analyzc hc

others.

10 2 l.c.( inthcl ' lv gr i nrthcnrc)ofg luttony,vaingloty in( lrv i |e l l t l t ( l l l t t tr | t tr

docsnot n f$ct rrrcntionrvrrr ir 'cn th c l|rcrcntPassegc,l lhoughhc r. l l r l l t r rl a ol

thc thrcc h ic l v icrf rrSlcp 17.

IOHN CLTMACUS

For instance,iokesat the wrong time can be the product of lust,or of vainglorywhen a man mpiouslypretends o be pious,or highliving. Excessive leepcan arise rom luxury , from fasting when thosewho fast becomeproud of it, from despondency, r sometimes romnature. Garrulity sometimescomes from gluttony, and sometimesfrom vainglory.Despondencyan deriveno w from high living, no wfrom lack of fear of God. Blasphemy s properly the child of pride,bu t can oftenariseout of the readinesso condemn ne'sneighbor orthe sameoffense, r it can be due to the untimely.nuy oid"rnorrr.Hardheartednesss sometimes he consequence f gluttony, frequent-


and Lord discoyers eoplegetting lazy in their religious ives,Hemay humble heir bodiesby illness, s f by a lighter form of asceticism. llness oo cansom€times urify the soul rom evil thoughtsan dpassrons.

Whatever happens o us, whether seenor unseen,can be accept-ed by us well, or passionately, r in some ntermediate ashion. oncesaw three brothers punished. One was angry, one did not feel anygrief, but the third profited greatly from the fact that he rejoiced nhis punishment.



ly of insensitivity, nd alsoof beinggrasping. nd to be grasping anbe due o lust,avarice, lurtony,vainglory,and ndeed o many othercauses. alicecomes rom conceitand from anger,while hypocrisycomes rom independencend self-direction.

The virtuesopposedo theseare born of opposing arents.An dsince haveno t the time to examine hem n detail, will merelyob -serve hat the remedy or all the passionsistedabove s humility.Those who possesshat virtue havewon the whole battle.

The motherof all wickednesss pleasure nd malice. f these rein a man, he will not see he Lord; and to abstain rom the first with-

ou t alsogiving up the secondwill not be of muchuse.The fear we have in the presenceof rulers and of wild beasts

could serveasan exampleof fear of the Lord, and physical ove can bea paradigm fthe longing or God.(There s nothing wrong with us-ing opposites or the purposesof finding examplesof the virtues.)

This presentgeneration s wretchedly corrupt. It is full of prideand hypocrisy. It works as hard as he Fathersof old, but it has noneof their graces.And yet there has been no era so much in need ofspiritual gifts as today. Still, we got what we deserved,sinceGod ismademanifestnot in laborsbut in simplicityand n humility. If the

power of the Lord is brought to perfection in weakness,he Lord will.definitely not reject a humble worker.

If we happen to observe hat one of our spiritual athletes s seri-ously ill, we must not maliciously try to discover he reason or hisillness.Simplyand ovingly we shoulddo what we can o healhim asthough he were a part of our own body and because e is a fellowcampaignerhurt in battle.

Illness can occur sometimes o cleanse s from our sins andsometimeso humble our thinking. When our ever-gracious aster

I have watched farmers sowing the same ype of seed,and yeteachone haddifferent deas f what hewa sdoing.One wasplanningto pay off his debts. Another was hoping to get rich. Another wantedto be able to bring gifts to honor the Lord. Another was hoping toearn praise for his work from the passers-by n life. Someone elsewanted to irritate a jealous neighbor, while there was yet anotherwho did not want to be reproachedby men for laziness.And as forthe seedshrown into theearth, heir name.sre asting, eeping igil,almsgiving, ervice, nd suchlike.So let bur brethren n rhe Lordkeepa carefuley eon their motives.

When we draw water rom a well, t can happen hat we inadver-tently alsobring up a frog. When we acquirevirtueswe can some-times find ourselves nvolved with the yiceswhich are imperceptiblyinterwovenwith them. What I mean s this. Gluttony can be caughtup with hospitality;ust with love;cunning with discernment;malicewith prudence; uplicity,procrastination,lovenliness,tubbornneswilfulness, nd disobedience ith meekness;efusal o learn with si-lence; onceitwith ioy; laziness ith hope;nastycondemnation ithIove again;despondency nd indolencewith tranquill ity; sarcaswith chastity; amiliarity with lowliness.And behindal l the virtues

followsvaingloryasa salve, r rather a poison, or everything.We must not become pset f for a while the Lord seemso allow

our requestso go unheard.Naturally the Lord would be delighted fin one momental l me n became isspasionate.ut He knows, n IIisprovidence,hat this would not be o their advantage.

When requests re made o God and are not immediatclv n-swered,he rcasonmay beoneof the fo l lowing: i thcr h , r t hc pct i -tion is prcmrturc, or bccnuse t has been madc unu'orthily rt tvaingloriously, r lrccrusc,f gronted, t would lcrrd o contcit, or hd.

JOHN CI-IMACUS

Demons and passionsquit the soul entirely or for some ength oftime. No one ca n deny that. However, the reasons or such a depar-ture are known to very feu.

Some of the faithful and even of the unfaithful have found them-selves n the position of being bereft of al l passionsexcept one, andthat one proved so overwhelming an evil that it took the place of allthe others and was so devastating hat it could lead to damnation.

The material of the passions is done away with when consumedby divine fire. It is uprooted, and all evi l urges retire from the soulunless the man attracts them back again by his worldly habits and by

hi s laziness.


stance, we are standing at prayer and some brothers approach us. We

have to do one of two things, either to ceasepraying or to upset abrother by ignoring him. Now love is greater than pr ayer, since thelatter is a particular virtue while the former embracesall virtues.

Long ago, n my young days, I came to a city or to a village, an dwhile sitt ing at table I was afflicted at the same ime by thoughts ofgluttony and of vainglory. Knowing and fearing rhe outcome of glut-tony, I decided to give in to vainglory. I also knew that in the young,the demon of gluttony often overcomes the demon of vainglory. Thisis not to be wondered at, for among people of the world love of mon-

ey is the root of al l evi l , whereas n monks it is gluttony.



Demons leaveus alone so as to mak e us careless. he n Dounceonour miserable souls. And those beastshave another trick, of which Iam aware; namely, to depart when the soul has become thoroughlyimbued with the habits of evil, when it has turned into its own be -trayer and enemy. It is rather like what happens to infants weanedfrom the mother's breast, who suck their fingers because he habit hastaken hold of them.

There is a fi fth kind of dispassion. t comes rom great simplicityand from admirable innocence. To such is help rightly given by the

God Who saves he upright of heart" (Ps. 7:l l) an d Wh o rids them ofall evil without their perceiving it . ' I 'hey are l ike infants who whenundressedhave no realiz ation of th e fact that they are naked,

Evil or passion s not something naturally implanted in things.God is not the creator of passions.On the other hand, there are manynatural virtues that have come to us from Him. These clearly inc ludeth e following: mercy, something even the paganshave; ove, for evendumb animals bewail the lossof one of their own; faith, which all ofus ca n generateof ourselves;hope, since we all l end, and take to th esea, and sow seed, expecting to do well out of it. Hence if love comes

naturally to us-and it has been shown to be seif it is the bond andthe fulfilment of the law, virtues cannot be too far from nature. Forwhich reason, hose wh o claim to be unable to prac tice th e virtuesshould be very ashamedof themselves.

At a level above nature are chastity, freedom from anger, humil-i ty, prayer, keeping vigil, fasting, uninterrupted compunction, an dwe learn about these from men, from angels, and from the 'I'eacher

and Giver, God the Word.

When confronted by evils, we should c hoose the least. For in-

God in His providence often leaves some vestiges of passion rnpeople of a very spiritual disposition. He does so in or der that, bytheir endlesscondemnation of what are very minor defects, hey mayobtain a wealth of humility that no on€ can plunder.

Humility ca n come only when you haVe earned to pract ice obe-dience. When a man has a self-taught skill, he may start having highnotions about himself.

The Fathers say that two virtues dominate the active life, name-ly, fasting and obedience.They are quite r ight about this, since fast-

in g destroys sensuality and obedience completes the destr uction bybringing in humility. Mourning too ha s a double effect by destroying

sin and producing humility.

A pious man tends to giye to anyone who asks. Someone morethan usually pious gives even to t hose who do not as k. But to omit theopportunity to demand the return of something from the person whotook it is characteristic, think, only of the dispassionate.

Regarding every vice and every virtue, we must unceasinglyscrutinize ourselves o seewhat point we have reached,a beginning, amiddle, or the end.

Attacks by demons afflict us for three reasons: because we aresensual, because we are proud, or because the demons envy us. Thelast is a ground for rejoicing, the middle fo r pity, and where the first

is concerned, he prospect s l i felong failure.

Endurance of hards hip is a kind of perception or habit. l hc nrnnwho has t wi l l nevcr be afra id of pa in,or to i l or hardshigr, or u , i l l hcrun frorn them. It was th is marvelousgrace hat cnatr lcd hc lo t t l r u lthc mrtrtyr$ (, r isc sl rpcr i i , r ( , hci r torments.

Kccping gunrd ovcr onc's thoughts is onc rh ing l worching ovet

JOHN CLIMACUS

one's mind another. Distant from each other as the eest from thewest, the latter is more significant and more f"Urrlru.-ii""'tfr. for_mer.

It is one-thing o pray fo r rescuerom bad houghts,another oISno_.up

gainst hem,an d anotherstil l to despise id ignore hem.The first situation is exemplified by the one *tio ,"ia, i.O"

ClA. .orn.an d helpme" (Ps.69:2);he second y, ,, I will ,pe"k a *ord of.onr.a_diction to thosewho reproachme " (ps. 1lg:42), na,,yoo tau" m"aeus a contradiction o ou r neighbors" ps.79:7). nd of the third th ewlrness s the psalmist: .I wa ssilentan d did not open my mouth, Ipu t a guardon my mouthwhen th esinnerwasb.foie m",,


the latter is unlikely to operate 'ithout the former.

Ecclesiastes eclares hat there is a time for everything under

heaven cf . Eccles. 3:l), and "ev erything" may be taken to refer to our

spiri tual l i fe. If this is so, then we ought to examine the matter; and

we should do everything in proper season.For those entering the

struggle-I mean novices-there is a time fo r dispassionan d a time

for passion. There is a time for tears and a time for hardness of heart,

a time for obedienceand a time for command, a time for fasting and a

time for eating, a time for the battle against the body our enemy and a

time for quiet in our flesh. There is a time for the soul's upheaval and

a time fo r calm in the mind, a time for heart's sorrow and a time fo r



1p"."The proud have gone too far in breaking the law, but i-h1u. ,ro.turned aside.frommy contemplation f yoi,, 1ps. rd,sr).So l" _" nwn o stands n rh emiddle positionwill often makeus eof th e first oftnese, rnce e s insufficientlyprepared,whereashe ma n wh o is stil lar rne ttrst stage annotus e he secondmethodasa wa y of overcom_ing his enemies.However, the man who hascome as fir as he thirdstepwill completelygnore he demons.

-The incorporeal cannot be hemmed n by what is corporeal;but

th e man who hasGo d or his possession"n ao ,ny,t;r,g

"l

;f i.

..__^lu:lto"" with a irealthy.sense f smellca n ietect*hiddenper_tumes,an d a pure soulca nquickly recognizen others he sheer ra _grance of goodness hat he himself has received from Goj. Andindeed,he,canalso recognize-as others cannot_the foul odor fromwnrcnne hrmselt asbeen iberated.

.Noteveryone an achieve ispassion. ut al l ca n be savedan d

can be reconciled o God.Have a care hat alien thoughts may not securea hold over you. I

mean those hat push you into being anxious to prob" eithe. ihe ,rr,-speakableecisions f God.sprovidence r. ho.. uir ion, thri Uu u_ _rn g to othersgive

rise o the notion that th e Lord shows avorrtism.Such houghtsare he manifest utcome f prideThere is a demonof avarice ha t often takeson the guiseof hu_

mility. There ar edemons f vaingloryan dof sensuality"iJ'it "" . "n _ouragehe givingof alms. f we ca nkeepourselveslearof these,we

ought to do the worksof mercywithout cease,Somehold that demonswork against ac hother.Bu t I do know

that al l of them work to destroyus .Ou r ow n determination

^.,dnteation ogetherwith th e help of

Go d come nto play n every

lo y of spiri t, a time for teaching and a time for listening, a time for

pollutions, perhaps on account of conc eit, and a time for cleansing by

humility, a time for effort and a time for secure rest, a time for sti l l -

ness and e time for undistracted distraction, a time for unceasing

prayer and a time for honest service. Proud zeal must therefor€ never

be allowed to deceive us and we should never strain for what wil l

come in i ts own good time, since winter is,not the time for summer's

goods nor seedtime the proper season or the harvest. There is a time

for the sowing of labors and a time to reap the astounding fruits of

grace; and if it were otherwise we would not receive in due timewhatever was proper to the season.

God in His unspeakable providence has ananged that some re-

ceived the holy reward of their toils even before they set to work, oth-

er s while actually working, others again when the work was done,

an d still others at the time of their death. Let the r eader ask himself

which one of them was made more humble.

There is a despair that results from the great number of one's

sins. t comes ro m a burdened consciencean d intolerable grief, when

the soul, engulfed by the mass and the burden of its wounds, slips

into th e deep waters of hopelessnes s. ut there is also another kind ofsorrow. It comes from pride and conceit and arises when a man

thinks it unfair that he lapsed n some way. Now there is a distinctivc

cspect to each of these conditions which the observant wil l discovcr,

Th e one man gives himself over to indifference, the other cr)ntitttlcr

to practicc his asccticdisciplines even though his despair pcrsirtn in

him, which is a contrad ict ion. l 'cmperancean d g<xxlhopc crr l hcl l

the f i rst mrn l thc { , lhcr wi l l bc curcd by hunri l i ry rrndbv t l rs pr l r ' l iec

of judging no onc.

JOHN CLIMACUS

selveswatching someonedo evil behind a cloak of f ine words. Afteral l , i t was overweening pride that destroyed the serpent in Paradise.

Whatever you do, however you live, whether you live under obe-dience or whether yo u are independent, in what yo u do openly or inyour spiri tual l i fe, let it be your rule an d practice to ask if what yo udo is in accordance with the will of God. When we novices, for rn-stance,do something and the humility deriving from that action isnot added to the possessionsof our souls, then the action, great orsmall, has no t been undertaken in deference o the divine wil l . Fo rthose of us who are untried recruits in the life of the spirit, growth in

humility comesou t of doing what the Lord wants; for thosewh o have


The eye of the soulis spiritual and very beautifuland next to in-

corporeal beings t surpassesverything. And so t haPPens hat peo-

ple who are still subject o the effects of the passions an frequently

tell what the thoughts are of othersbecause f their great love for

them. This is particularly true of thosewho have not been over-

whelmed by the defilements of the flesh.For the re is nothing so di-

rectly opposed o immaterialnature as materialnature. Let him who

readsunderstand.For laymen, superstitious observancesare contrary to God's

providence.But for monks they are contrary to spiritual knowledge.



reached midway along that route, the test is an end to inner conflict;and for the perfect there is increaseand, indeed, a wealth of divinelight.

The tiniest thing may not seem so to the great. But to those whoare small, even great things are not quite perfect.

Th e sun is bright when clouds have eft the air; and a soul, freedof i ts old habits and also orgiven, ha s surely seen he divine light.

Distinctions have to be made between sin, idleness, indifference,passion, and a lapse. The man who can analyze such matters, with

God's help, should do so.Some people are full of praise for the gift of miracle working and

for thoseother spiri tual gifts that ca n be seen.What they do not knowis that there are many more important gifts and that theseare hiddenand are therefore secure.

A perfectly purif ied ma n ca n look into the soul of hi s neighbor-no t of course into its actual substance-and can discern its-or."e.rrstate, He who progresses urther can even tell the state of t le soulfrom the body.

A small f ire can wipe out an entire forest and a small fault can

ruin all our work.' There comes a breathing space from hostility when the powersof the mind are awakened without stirring the fire of passion.Thereis too an exhaustion of the body that can actually evoke the flesh'slust. So "we shall put no trust in ourselves" (2 Cor. l :9). We ought,rather, to depend on God, Who in His own secret way can mortifyour l iving lusts.

If i t comes o our attention that there are some who love us in theLord, we must be very careful io keep our distance from them, srnce

Faltering souls should recognize he visitation of the Lord from

their bodily circumstancesnd dangersan d outward temptations

The perfect shouldrecognize t from the coming of the Holy Spirit

and the acquisition f graces.

There is a demon who attacksus when we are lying in bed. He

fires evil and dirty thoughts at us,so that, too lazyto get up and arm

ourselvesagainsthirn with prayer, we might fall asleepwith all thes

dirty thoughts in us and havedirty dreams.'

There is a demon called the forerunner. He lays hold of us as

soon as we awakenand defilesour very first thought.

Give the first fruits of your day to the Lord, for it will determrn

the rest of the day.An excellentservant of the Lord once saidto me

somethingwell worth hearing. I ca n ell from my morning how the

restof the daywill go."

There are many roads o holiness-and to hell. A pa th wrong for

on ewil l suit another, et what each s doing s pleasing o God.

Demons,using the temptations hat occur to us, ight to make us

sa yor do somethingmproper. f they cannotge t at us in this way,

they turn quiet andwhisper o us that we shouldoffer up arrogan

thanks o God.Thosewith minds centeredon the things of heaven,after the sep

arationof soul andbody rise up on high in two Parts.03Thosewith

mindsdirected o what s belowwil l travel hat downwardroute, or

there s no intermediate altingplace or soulsseparatedro m thcir

bodies.Only one of God's creations as ts being n something ln

an dnot in itself.rr)aet it is amaz,ingow it ca ncome o cxisl xltridc

that in which it rccc'ivcd cing.

Tr t i rrr th. r. rr l , t rt l l t rrr, f t rr lhc rcrurrcctr, , rr.hc ' r lv

JOHN CLIMACUS

Piousmothersbearpiousdaughters,nd the mothers hemselvesare born of the Lord. And it makesgoodsenseo apply this norm inreverse.

Th e cowardshouldnot goout to battle.This wa s he iniunctionof Moses, r ratherof Go d Himself (cf.Deut.20:g), nd he reason,goodone,wa s n casehe astspiritual apse houldbe worse ha n hefirst fall of the body.

Ou r eyes rea l ight to all th e body.Discernment f the virtues sa l ight to all the mind.

On Ex?ertDiscernment


presson a harp whateverailshim, surelya rationalmind and a rea-sonable oulca nprovidebetter eaching han something nanimate.

Yet this perfect and easy ule is rejectedby many for reasonsofpride. Instead they have sought to discover he will of God by theirown resources nd within themselves nd heve hen oroceeded o of-fer us numerous nddifferentopinionson this whol; issue.

Some of those rying to discover he will of God abandonedev-ery at tachment. They asked God to be the arbiter o f any thoughtsthey might have oncerninghe stirringsof their souls,whether o dosomethingor to resist t. They prayed hard for a fixed number of daysand they laid asideany inclination of their own. In thisway they



. As the hart parchedwith thirst pants or running water(cf. ps .4l:2), he monk ongs or a knowledge r graspof the g:ood nddivinewilL And indeedhe ongsalso or knowledge f what s no t totallyofGod, even of what is opposed o God. Theie is herea vitally impor_tant theme,and oneno t easilyexplained.What I mean s this. Whatshouldwe do at once,with no delay andas soonaspossible,as s rec-ommendedn th esaying, ,Woeto him who delaysro m day to day,,(Ecclus.5:7-8)and from period to period?On the other hand, whatshouldbe donemoderately nd with discretion,n accordance it h

th e saying, Wa r is madeby leadership"prov. 20:18) nd ,,Let al lthingsbe donedecentlyand n du eorder" (l Cor. 14:40)?ot every_on ecan makequickand precise ecisionsn suchdelicatematters ndeven hatma nwho hadGod within hi m an d he Holy Spirit speakingfor him, even he prays for this gift and says: ,TeacL

me to do yourwill, sinceYo u are my God" (Ps. 142:10),nd .,Direct me to yourtruth" (Ps.24:5), nd "Show me, Lord, the roadI must travel, or Ihave ifted up my soul o You" (Ps.142:8)ro m all the cares nd pas_sionsof this ife.

Thosewho wish o discoverhe will of Godmustbeginby morri_

fying their own will. Then havingprayed n faith an dsimplicity,al lmalice spent, they should turn humbly and in confidence o the fa-thers or even the brothers and they should accepttheir counsel,asthough from God Himself, even when that couniel goesagainst hegrain, evenwhen the advicecomes rom thosewho do not J".* lo"ruspiritual.God,afterall, s not uniust.He will no t ea dastray he souiswho,trustingan dguileless,ield in lowlinesso the advicean ddeci-sionof their neighbor.Even f those onsulted restupid.God irnma-terially an d nvisiblyspeakshroughrhemand anyoni wh o faithfully

found out what God wil led, either hroughsomedirect mannerofin-telligiblecommunication rom Him or by the completeevaporatiofrom their soulsof whatever t was they had proposed o do.

Others ound so much trouble and distractionn whatever he vweredoing that they were ed to think that botherof this sort coulionly havecome rom God, n accordance ith the saying,We want-ed to come o you onceand once again,6ut Satanpreventedus " (l

Thess.2: 8).But there rvere others who found that a venture of theirs had

proved unexpectedly successful,and so they inferred that it hadpleasedGod, and they went on to declare hat God helpseveryonewho chooseso do the right thing(c i Rom.8:28).

The man who through i l lumination has come to possess odwithin himself both in things requiring imrnediateaction and inthose hat take time wil l find immediatedivine reassurancey thesecondway.

Wavering udgrnentan d ingeringdoubtare he signsof an un-enlightened nd vainglorious oul.

God is not unjust. He wil l not slam the door againsthe man

who humbly knocks,In everythingwe do, n what has o be donenow or later, he ob -

iectivemust be sought rom God Himself; and every act that is notth e productof personalnclinationor of impurity will be mputcd rrus for good,especiallyf done or the sake f God and not for s()nrcone else.['hisis so,even f the actionshemselvesre n()tcornl)lctclg(x)o.

' l 'hcreis always dangcr n scekingor what s rcyottdrttr l t t .

mcdiatc crch, nd whr l ( iod h$s ccidcd or us s trr t l l r lx! l l r t l ' [ l i ,

lo i lN ot. tMACUS

that even if wc kncrr l l rorrt i l, wc would disobey t, thereby renderingOurselvesia l ) lc o grcxtcr l )unish| | rcnl .

An honest helrt is unshrrkcnby th c varioussortsofdistraction. Itsai lsalong safely t r rhc ship o l inrrr rcnce.

"fhere are brave souls who lovingly an d humbly undertake tasksthat ar e well beyond them. 'l hcrc ar c proud hearts ha t do the same.Now it often rappens that ou r cncmies dcliberately irrapl." u" to Aothings beyond ou r capacities,an d their objective is'to m'akeu, f"fterso that we abandon even what lies within ou r power, an d _rk" oua-selves idiculous to ou r enemies.

I have observed me n who were sick in soul an d body an d who,ou t


appreciatet see t only in part. How is it, for instance,hat when weare living in luxury and abundancewe can keep vigil and remainawake,whereaswhile fastingand wearingourselves own with toil,we are wretchedly overcomeby sleepl Why is it that our hearts growcallousedwhen we are dwelling alone n silence, nd ye t compunction may be stirred n us when we are nvolvedwith others? ow is tthat dreams empt us when we arehungry and omit to do sowhen wear e ull? Amid want we become loomy and ncapable f compunction, while after somewine we gro'w happy and are quite able to becontrite. Anyonewho, with God's help,can shed ight on this ought

to do so, or the sakeof the unenlightened. or we really are unillu-



of the great number of their sins, tr ied ,o dL _h". *" ,beyond their power, an d therefore failed.

.I.othese I say that Go d

iudges our.repentance no r by ou r exertions bu t by ou r nu'_ifi iy.

- ,, ":-., ,T.rone's upbringing ma y be responsible or the greatest

..J1,].ll-.lr..rit maytrehe.companyekeep, nd often tinay be

rne- heerperversity f thesoul ha t produces isaster. he monkwh orj.fr.:9f th c first two may escapehe third as well. Bu t the ma n af -ttrctedby the third is discredited verywhere,or there s no placesafer ha n heaven.os

In an y conflictwith unbelieversr heretics, e shouldstoDafterwe have wice reproved he m (cf.Titus 3:10). ut where*,

"r'.a."t-

in g with thosewh o are eager o learn the truth, we ,hou['.,.r0",grorv ired.ofdoing the right thing (cfi Gal. 6:9).An d we shouldus eDotnsttuatronso testou r ow n steadfastness.

,A ma n who despairs f himselfafterhearingabout he supernat_

ural achievementsf the saints s very unreasonable.n fait theyshould each ou on eof two things,either o b. .ou."g.*, t i-t l tl"_in . he striving fo r excellence, ielse to be deeplyh;-bl;;; l .o "scious f your inherentweaknessy way of thrice'-holyrumil-it-y.

Someof the impure demons

"i . -o.."

than otheis. n.f i.tt u,

1' 1 to sl n alonebut.tobring companywith us ,an d he y tell us his norder

-th_atur punishmentma y be al l the more seveie. havewir_

nessedhe case f someone ho learned sinful habit from another.Th e lanercame o hi ssenses,epented, nd desisted.r - ." i i Ur , f, i,change f heartwa sof no us ebecausef what hi sdisciplewa sdorng.

Th e wickedness f the evil spirits s truly astouniing an d it issomethingno t witnessed y many, an d indeei even hosi few wn<r

minated where all this i s concerned.) But switches of this sort, ofcourse,do not always come from demons. n my own case-and forreasons do not understand-I too experiencehis kind of changeasaresult of the temperamentwhich I havebeengiven and my burden ofgrubby an dgreedy lesh.

Regarding hesechangesmentionedabove, hanges hat are sohard to explain, et us sincerely nd humbly pray to the Lord. But ifafter time and prayer we still experience he same orce at work in us,

we should accept hat this is due to nature and not to demons.And

divine providenceoften likes to help us by meansof adversity and to

restrainou r pride n €veryway.It is a hardy enterprise o inquire into the depthsof God's ludg-

ment, or the nquisit ivesail n the ship of conceit.106Someoneasked his question of a discerning man:"Why is it that

God confersgifts and wonder-working powers on some,even hough

He knows in advance hat they will lapse?"His answer was that God

does his so that other spiritual men may grow cautious,and to show

that the human will is free, and to demonstrate hat on the day of

iudgment there will be no excuse or thesewho lapsed.'Ihe Law, in its imperfection, says: Attend to yourself" (Deut.

4;9).The Lord, in His perfection, tells us to correct our brother, say-ing, "l f your brothersins against ou, etc."(Matt. l8:15). f your rc-proof,or rather your reminder,can be pure and humble, hcn do rtt

the l,ord commanded, articularly n the case f thosewho will nc-

ccpt t. But if your progress asno t reachedhis far, at lcrsl do wh*t

thc l ,nw says.

I t)6. l l M rrrk ls "Yct lr tr 'uurrof thc wcnlncsso[ rrunv, rorncthllt rhlruhl }| |

r l id "05 . Ye t Satan el l f rom heaven.

JOItN ( j l . rMACUS

,. ^ Yo u should .rrot rc surpri ,scd f.rhose yo u love turn agalnst yo uafter yo u hlvc rclrrrkcrl hcrrr. l lre frivolous'are "r*r^.", i"f , fraaa

-un,:;, .n, jar c uscrl, .sPcciirl lv rgrrinst he demons.ana_i.r".

"

,.,, il:.;',.;";J',liif"'l'i;J,;ll,;nl,,::1i:ffi:1,:",1T1X:1',yilhelpus owardvir tuc,and wlrncrine o readiry . ,h . ,,r., .l:]]."ltlL

the.devil s against s' we still

rhs.n acr, ";,';;i];::l'fi,':,;l,i:: iff il?.t.Jl#rnues o hold onto ir s narure. ,iw is l, as r, . gr.ri'Cffiy'p",, ,, ,: l : : i iT

the mage f.God. ermrngrcdwith clayroT s ir no t a factrnata creatureof God that hasstrayed .o_ it , "rartJ n"t.r.e wiftcontinuously ry to return


appearedas a determination to commit sin, and who actually enticedthe harlot to take up the ascetic ifelloe Or , again, it once happenedthat a bunch of grapes was brought early one morning to an asceric.When the person who brought the grapes had left, the hermrt atethem, seeming to stuff them in, but in fact taking no pleasure inthem, an d in this way he fooled the demons into imagining that hewas a glutton. Another on e of the brethren once lost a few palmleavesl10 nd he pretended all day to be very upset about this.

However, people like this should be wary. In their efforts to foolthe demons they may fool themselves. t was to these hat

the refer-ence was made: "As deceiversan d ye t true" (2 Cor. 6:8).



to it s original r"di,i";;l;;;ii..ro."shouldstruggle o raisehi s cla

"rc'dA:; ;#," rd:f*' ;l;lffi : ;"::li:,1::J:T:;nd - he door li e open. To hearr athers tirsmindand

""r,,, i,l?;:,tj;

achievementsf thespiritual

Doctrine listened o is a light in darkness,a road home to th e losttraveler, an illumination fo r therer of health,

"d.rrroy.,. of ,it"tkblind

A discerning man is a discov-

. .Those who look with admiration on tri f les do so fo r tw o reasons:either through profound ignorance

or else because,nay-"L. -u.r,;l;',lirr".n.'r

neighborsfhi.u. o ttr, tn.y i._."i"l,r'_"y,.*r,We shouldno t sparwith d

on them. n th e first iasea ,",t ]:T:::I:thould makeoutright war

r",,;;;; ;;';;.-y il:n'':'il:lTff::::;&:' '*n,butn he

I ne ma n who ha s conquered th e passions ha s iniured th e de _11ns,

andby pretendingo bestill ..b];"; ;;h;; ill.J.,il* nunemiesnd emainsnvulnerableo hem. u."inl."""-"

iil*a,disgrace ut in hi s hearthe wasuntroubledby it and n hi s mind hewa s prayerful.However. e lamenred

^t^,,A

^;; , ,- . : ,_:: ,"1'

hi d hi sdispassion. nother ..r1::lt1^'',tld

and bv feignedpassron

.,i ",;. ,.,,n *ft ;# HHi .,',i: fj: ,iTT'"i"j*?:;peakof the chastityof the brother ,rh. ;;;;-;';;;ij"#''.,n",

If anyone wishes to present to the Lord a pure body and a cleanheart, he must perseyere in freedom from anger and in chastity. Allour work is useless f we lack these.

Eyes show different colors and the sun of the spiri t may shine rndifferent ways in the soul. There is rhe way of bodily tears and thereis the way of the tears of the soul. There is the way of the contempla-tion of what is before us and the way of the contemplation of whatremains unseen.There is the way of things heard at secon d hand an dth e way of spontaneous oy within the soul. There is the way of stil l-

ness and the wa y of obedience.And in addit ion to these here is thewa y of rapture, the wa y of the mind mysteriously and marvelouslycarried into the light of Christ.

There are virtues, and there are begetters of virtues, and it iswith these atter that a wise man would have his dealines.The teach-er of these parent virtues is God Hims elf in His propei activity, andthere are plenty of teachers or the derivative virtues.

We should be careful not to make up for lack of food by sleepingtoo much, and yice versa.This is a practice of fool ish men. I hayeseenssceticswho, having yielded a l i t t le to their appetites,afterwards pun-

ished heir poor stomachsby standing al l night, thus teaching rhem robe content if they were not fi l led up .

' l 'he demon of avarice f ights hard against those who have norh-ing. When it fai ls to overcome them, i t begins to tell thenr xlx)ut rh(.wretched condit ions of thc poor, thereby inducing thosc in rhc rctr.g ious l i fe to l rccome onccrncd oncc more wi th matcr i l l th i r rgn,

,r" Jf,tl);;t"o' cre8orv the Grearof Romebut Gregorvof Nazianzus:r 14,6

-108. H'IM has.a onger version ofthrs sentence:. ,1texcites he mind an d soul t0mutarron to hear rhe spiritual feats of thi f".f,.rr,

"na,i.i. ,.r;;.;;;,;;: ;." ,",o imitare them through listening ro rheir reachrns., ,

l l19 S rr l ' i , r r thc Srrrr Irrrr te,cr ' , Ntrr , " l l in lr irc rl r 'l hrrrr", rrrr ln / l . l l l r tr( ; t t f l r ' l \\ , I l l

JOHN CLIMACUS

^*n.: yo u are depressed,ea r n mind th e Lord,s command orerer ro torgrvea sinner seventy imesseven cf . Matt. lg:22).An d

you may be sure that He Who gave this command to".oil".

*ittHimself overymuchmore.Bui if""

tr,."i-i".'i"r,i,

*1"rr..r_"to o self-assured,et us rememberwhat ha sbeen "i a

"toit, i.p"rron

who.keeps he-wh.ole piritual aw"n a

y.t. t,"uing ,li;;;J'i".,"r .assron,har.otpride. s guilty of al l (c t James : 0j .

"^ ^-","^1.^::llan d ealous.spiritsf their ow n accord eaveholy me n

:-t:.,ro-l.pr'*theseof the opporruniry o win rh e prizeof victory

over nem_

Pl::::1 l: peacemakersMatt' 5:e).No on e will denv this.rrur I nave ee n


that the Lord will guard the coming in of your fear an d the going ou tof your love (cf. Ps. 120:8),hen love has no boundary, and both in thepresent and in the future age we will never cease o pr ogress n it, aswe add light to light. Perhaps his may seemstrrnge to many. Never-theless t has to be said, and the evidence we have, blessedFather,would lead me to say that even the angels make progress and indeedthat they add glory to glory and knowledge to knowledge.

Do not be surprised if demons often inspire good thoughts in us,together with the reasoned arguments against them. What these ene-

mies of ours are trying to do is to ge t us to believe that they knoweven our i nnermost thoughts.



"... "theoemakers ho arealsoblessed.wo monksoncede _veloped n.unhealthyondnessor on eanother_u."

Ji.".Li"g""aery experienced ather brougtrt them to the st"g. of d.iesting .acf,

other. He made hem enemies-byelling e".h rnai fr" _^ l.i"g"1""_

l:l.d ?tthe.other,an d by this piece i

"ti""""rf t. _".j. j,n ,f,.qemons matrce, nd by causinghatredhe broughtan en d to what

was an uncleanaffection.Again, herear esomewh o infringea commandmentor th e sake

of a commandment. haveknown young me n wh o were bound byties of honorableaffection but who, ,, ,"r.ia ""y-r.".j"i "*l.a aavoideachother'scompany or a rrmc.

-

Lilj a weddingan d a funeral,pride an d despairar e opDosites.| 'ut sutttctent onfusion an be caused y demons o make he mseemof a kind.

Th": y" begin religious life, someuncleandemonssive us les_sons n the interpretation of scripture_. his happensparti.ui".ry lnth ecase f peoplewh o ar eeithervainglorious r'who"u .

n"J""".u_

li:l::::':l:,-lo-jtreseare radualr/r.an,o ,.,.,y ;J;;;;p1._y

\Jne ma y detecl hi s diabolical eachingaboutGod, or rather wa ragainstGod, by th e upheaval, onfusionl

"" a untot/;oy i"', i.,ouldurinq lessons.

^Tihe hings that have come rnto being have received from the

9j:",f:-,1:1proper lace,.theireginn;nf ;, i. ,"-" ."r.1, n"i,

eoq. r 'ut there-ts..nooundary o virtue. The psalmist avs, .J havcseen.ne en d ol all perfection, ut your commandmenrs very br,,adan d s without limit" (ps. l8:e6).No w if it ir;;; i;;-;. 'Jrra

",eticspass rom the strensth of,action ,o ,fr."..ngit

,i'.,rr",".pr"-tion (cf.Ps .8J:7), nd f it i true ha t ovenever riLiii c".. ' l i,t i, ,",r

Do not be a harsh critic of those who resort to eloquence to teachmany important things, but who have few actions to match theirwords. For edifying words have often compensated for a lack ofdeeds.Al l of us do not ge t an equal share of every good, and for s omethe word is mightier than the deed (cf. Ps . 102:20-21; Pet. 5:8)an dvice aerss ot others.

God neither caused nor created evil and. therefore. those who as-sert that certain passions ome naturally to the soul are quite wrong.What they fail to realize is that rve have taken natural attributes

ofour own an d turned them into passions.Fo r instance, he seedwhichwe have for the sake of procreating children is abused by us for thesakeof fornication. Nature has provided us with anger as somethingto be turned against the serpent, but we hav e used it against ourneighbor. We have a natural urge to excel in virtue, but instead wecompete in eyil. Nature stirs within us the desire for glory, but thatglory is of a heav enly kind. It is natural for us ro be arrogant-againstthe demons.Jo y is ours by nature, but it should be jo y on acc ount ofthe Lord and for the sake of doing good to our neighbor. Nature hasgiven us resentment, but that ought to be against the enemiesof our

souls. We have a natural desire for food,lll but not surely for profli-gacy

An active soul is a provocation to demons, yet the greatcr our

confl icts the greater our rewards. There will be no crown for thc rnrrnwho has ncver been under at tack, and the man who pcrscvcrc$ Inrp i tc of any fn i lurcs wi ll t rc gkrr i f ied as a champion lr y thc tn l .c l r ,

I I L lf | 1\l $rrlr l r lerrurr"(/,y/ 'r,,) ir r "f ' nxl" rrnphu)

JOHN CLIMACUS

He Who was threenights in the earth cameback and lived forev-er. He who hasconqueredhreehourswill neverdie. 12

If , after ising n us, hesu n ,,knowshi sgoingdown" (ps.103:19)

fo r our providentialchastening,,h emadedarknesshe placeof hi sconcealment"Ps . 7:12). he night cameon, the night in which th efierce young lions go prowling oncemore after they had eft us alone,the lionsand all the beasts f the woodsof thorny passions,oaring toseize he hopethat is in us, and seeking rom God their food of thepassions ither n thoughtor in deed.Through th e darkness f ou r

humility,th e su nrises ver us,and hewild beasts atherwhere heybelong, n sensual earts nd not in ours cf .ps . tOj:22).


He only demands rom ussuchactionsas ie within our power. Greatis the man who doesall that l ieswithin hispower,bu t greater till is

the man who, n all humil i ty, tries o domore.Demons often prevent us from doing what would be easyand

valuable or us.Instead hey like to push us into trying what is hard-er .

I find that Joseph s deemedblessedbecause e avoidedan occasion of sin and not becausee showedevidenceof dispassion cf. Gen.

39:12). ence he question f the type end number of sins,he avoidanceof which is rewarded by a crown.There is a difference betwee

running from a shadowand the greateract of hastening oward the



th e de _mons speak o on e enother: ,The Lord delighted n doing grearthings or them." An d we speak: , He ha sdone great hingi fo r usand we are glad'(cf.Ps. l5:4) but you are banished.,',See,ih e Lordrideson a swift cloud," on the soul raisedaboveearthly longrngs,"and He shallcome nto Egypt," into th e darkenedheari. .andHeshallshatter he man-madedols"(lsa. 9:l), he empry astrioningsfthe mind.

Christ, although all-powerful, fled bodily from Herod. So et thefoolish

learn not to fling themselvesnto temptation. It is said:..Let

not your foot be movedand et not your guardianangelslumber" (cf.Ps.120:3) .

Like bindweedround a cypress, anity twines itself aroundcour_age. And we must be ever on guard against yielding to the merethought that we haveachievedany sort of good.We have o be reallycareful about this, in case t should be a trait within us, for if it is,then we havecertainly failed.

If we watchou t continually or signsof th epassions,e wil l dis-cover hat thereare manywithin us which, n our sickness. e nevernoticed.We were oo weak,or theywere oo deeply

ooted.God judgesus by our intentions, but because f His love for us

l12. Whet s meantby "three hours" s obscure. chol ion le 008tA), quoringasayingof Abba Elias,suggestshar they aredeath, he coming n to the presence f God,an d udgment. chol ion tb (l08tA) of fersother nterpretarions:ourh,maturi tyantlold ege,or pleasure, ainglory and avarice,or the three remprations f the demon(prr-sumably he three emptat ions f Chiist io rhe wi lderness). s the conoucror f thr

sun of righteousness. or to bein darkness s to stumble and to stum-

ble is to fall, and to fall is to die.Those brought down by wine often wash with water, but thos

brought down by passionwash with their tears.There is a distinction betweenclouding, darkness,and blindness

Temperance i l l cure he first, solitude hesecond. he third wil l be

cured by obedienceand by the God Who fgr our sakesbecameobedi

en t (cf.Phil. 2:8).Two examples, rawn from the world, will provide useful analo

gies or those with minds intent on the things ofheaven.A monasticommunity living according to the Lord is like a laundrywhere the

dirt, grossness, nd deformity o f the soul are scrubbedaway; end the

solitary life for thosewho are moving from the monastery o total se

clusion s like the dye-workswhere lust, the herboring of wrongs, and

angerare erased.Some would cla im that our repeatedapses n some matter a re

causedby our failure to do adequate enance or earlier falls. But theproblem then arisesas o whether those who have not fa llen into the

same ype of sin over and over againhaveactually repented as they

should.People ommit the samesin againand againeither becausthey have thoroughly forgotten their previous sins, or becausen

their ow n pleasure-loving ay they keep hinking that God is merci

ful, or becausehey havegivenup all hopeof salvation. ow-and I

may be severely riticiz.edor this-it seemso me hat their realdiffi-

culty is that hey havenot had he smength ogrip firmly what n fac

is a dominat ing abi t .l lere is a (luorition,Wh y docs he ncorporeal oul ni l trtpcrcciv

thc realchsrcctcr f thc cvi l rp ir i t l thst come o dwel lwi th i l? ' l 'h!

JOHN CLIMACUS

known only to the One Who bound he mtogethern the first prace.An experiencedma n onceaskedme earnestlyo tell him which

spiritswereaccustomedo depresshe mind whenwe sin and whichto exalt t. The questionef t me at a loss, nd had o swearmv iqno_rance.So this man,himselfso eager or knowledge,aughtme ,

say-

ing: "I shallgive you the leavenof discernment rieflv and I shallleave ou to find ou t the restby your ow n efforts.Th e spiritsof lust,of anger,of gluttony, of despondency, nd of sleepinesso not usual-ly raiseup the horn of the mind. Bu t th e spiritsof money-grubbing,of ambition,of talkativeness,nd manyotherspileevilonioivi l . This

also s the reasonwhy the spirit of criticism s so near he arter."monkwh o ha sspentan hour


Men can heal the lustful. Angels can heal themalicious. )nly

God can heal he proud.It may be hat anaspect f love s o allowa neighborwh o come

on frequentvisits o do what hepleases.ertainlywe mustshowhi meverykindness.

Here is another problem. Isthere a kind of repentance hatcandestroygood n the sameway asevil? f so,how, to whatextent,an din what circumstances?

We must be very shrewd n themstter of knowing when to standup againstsin, when and to what extent to fight againstwhatevenourishes he passions, nd when to withdraw from the sruggle. Be-



.A or a day visitingpeople ut in theworld or entertaining he m as guests houldrejoici ai the time ofparting, like someone eleasedrom a trap. If howeverwhat he feels sa pang of regret, then this shows that he has become he playthingeither of vainglory or of lust.

We must always in d ou t which way the wind blows, es twe se tou r sailsagainst t.

.S-howindness and givea little respite o old men leading he ac_

tive life whosebodiesar e worn ou t by ascetical ractice.B; t insist

thet youngme n who haveexhaustedheir soulswith si n must be re_strained nd must hink of theeternal orments.I havealready said that at the beginning of one's ife asa monk

one cannot suddenlybecome ree of gluttony and vainglory. But wemust not counter vainglory with high living simply because mongnovices, o defeat gluttony is to run into vainglory. So let us fight iiby way of frugality. The time will come-and injeed is alreadyherefo r those eallywishing t-when the Lord will enableus o tramoleon thisvice.

At the start of religious life, the young and those of advancedyears

are not troubled by the samepassions, ince very often theyhavequi-teopposite ailings. Hence the fact that humiliiy is so trulyblessed,or it makes epentancesafeand effective or botL young aniold.

Do not makea fussaboutwhat I am going o saynow.'Ihere ar esouJs,rue, upright, and rare,who know nothing of malice,hypocnsyand deceit, nd wh o ar equiteunable o l ive n religious

"o--rn,t,.r.elpedby a spiritualdirector, he y ca n eave hJharbor of solitudcand riseheavenward ithout everwishing for an dexperiencinghc

causeof our weakness hereare times when we must choose light ifwe are to avoid death. We must rvatchand see for perhaps here eretimes when we can neutralize gall with bitterness)which of the de-monsuplift us, which depress s, which makeus hard, which bringus consolation,which darken us, which pretend to enlighten us,which makeus lazy, which shifty, which make us sad and whichcheerful.

At the start of our religious lives,we may find that our passionare sfionger than they werewhen we were in the world. This should

not upsetus ,and f we remove hecauses f our sickness,hen healthwill corne o us. Those beastswere formerly concealed n us,but theydid not reveal hemselves.

It may happen hatthosewho areotherwise ttainingperfectioare tripped up by the demonson someminor matter. They shouldatonce use eyery means o wrench this out of themselvesa hundredtimes or/er.

Like the winds,which sometimesn calm weather uffle only thesurface of the seaand at other times stir up the depths,so there arethe dark blastsofevil. Think about them. They reachdown to disturb

the very heartsof those dominated by the passions,whereasamongthosewho have madeprogress, hey merely ruffle the surfaceof themind. That is why the latter soon recover their usuel calm for theirheartswere eft undefi led.

It is characteristic f the perfect hat theyalwaysknow whethea thought comes rom within themselves,r from God, or from thcdemons.Remcmber hntdcmonsdo not automatically roposc vil rtthe outsct. crc wc hfivc Problem ruly hard to penetrntc.

'l 'wo corporcnlcycr givc light to the body, and thc cycrof th l

A BRIEF SUMMARYOF ALL THEPRECEDINGSTEPS


Silence and solitude are the foes of vaingl ory. I f you ar e irr rrcrowd, seekou t dishonor.

A gloomy environment wil l cure open pride, but only He who isinvisible from all eternity can cure the pride hidden within us.

The deer destroysal l visible serpentsand humility destroys hoseof the sp ir i t . rr3

We ca n learn to perceive ntelligible things clearly by means ofevery thing that exists n the natural world.

A snake can shed its old skin only i f i t crawls into a tight hole,

and we can shed our ol d tendencies,our worn-out soul, and the gar-

ment of the old man only if we take the straight and narrow path offasting and dishonor.



A strong faith is the mother of renunciation. Th e opposite of thisis qu te evident.

,Unswerving

hope is the gateway to detachment.The opposite ofthis is perfectly obvious.Love of God is the foundation of exile. The opposite of this is

quite evident.

Self-crit icism begetsobedienceand the longing fo r health.Self-control s the mother of health. Th e mother of self-control s

th e thought of death an d the memory of the gall and vinegar of Godour Lord.

The solitary l i fe is the helper and the foundation of chastity.Fasting quenches he fires of the flesh. An d contrition of heart is thefoe of dirty thoughts.

. Faith an d withdrawal from the world are the death of avarice.Compassion and love are betrayers of the body.Unremitting prayer is the death of despondency.Remembrance of the ludgment is an encouragement o zeal.

-Love of being dishonored is a cure for anger. And the singing of

hymns, th e display of compassiop,and poverty are quenchers of sor-row.

Detachment from the things perceived by the sensesmeans th cvision of things spiri tual.

Just as a large-bodied bird cannot fly heavenward, neither ca nanyone who f eedshis flesh and gives in to it.

Dried-up mud draws no pigs. Dried-up flesh harbors no demons.To o many sticks can choke a fire and put it out, causing a lot of

smoke, An excess of sorrow can often make a soul turn smoky and

dark and dries up the stream of tears.

A blind archer is useless. n argumentative disciple is a lost one.

Tempered iron can sharpen what is untempered. A zealous

brother can frequently save a lazy one.Eggs warmed in dunglla hatch out. Unconfessed evil thoughts

hatch evil actions.

Galloping horses vie with each other. A zealouscommunity en-

courages ndividual zeal.

Clouds hide the sun. Evil thoughts bring shadows to the mind

and ruin it.

A condemned man on his way to execut ion does not discuss he

theater. A man genuinely lamenting his sins will never pander to hi s

stomach.

Poor men are all the more conscious of their own deprivationwhen they look at regal neasures. A soul reading of the gr eat virtues

of the Fathers adopts a much more humble outlook.

Iron is drawn wil ly-ni l ly by a magnet. A man in t he grip of brrd

habits is masteredby them.()i l tamcs thc reluct{nt sca. Fasting puts down thc inv olunt||ry

fires of thc lxxly,

l l l Src r inc Nn ,ll " ' l l l

JOHN CLIMACUS

Dammed waters run back upstream.The soul constricted bydangersoften returns to God and is savedby repentance.

A wearer of perfume isdetected,whether hewishes t or not, bythe aromes round him. A carrier of Go d'sSpirit is detected n hisspeech nd n his owliness. 5

Winds stir the deep and temper stirs the mind morethan eny-thing else.

What the eye has not seenand what hasonly been heardof doesnot greatly stir desire. So ignorance is therefore a great help to thechaste.

Thieves do not pouncewhere royal armor is stored.Spiritual

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCEN]'

the sameway that a starvingma n hinks of bread.Tearscan washawaysinsaswater washes way somethingwrlt-

ten. And as some, acking water,use other means o wipe off what iswritten, souls acking earsbeatan dscouraway heir sinswith grief,groans, nd deepsorrow.

A dung heapbreedsworms n abundance.ilesof foodbreedanabundancef lapses,vil thoughts, nd dreams.

A man whose egs are bound cannot walk freely. Those whohoard reasures annotclimb to heaven.

A new woundca neasily ecured,but theyeryopposites true of

soulswith long-standing ounds. f they are healed t al l , i t isonlywith the greatestdifficulty.



on the man wh o ha sunited his heartwith prayer.

Fire does not give birth to snow, and those seeking honor herewill not come o enjoy t in heaven.

One spark has often set fire to a great forest, and it has beenfound tha t one gooddeedcan wipe away a multitude of sins(cf.James3:5.5 :20) .

It is mpossibleo destroywild beasts it hout arms. t is mpossi-ble to achievereedom rom angerwithout humility.

Justas by nature we cannot exist without food, wecannot affordto slip into carelessnessven or an instant at any time up to the mo-ment of death.

Like the sun's ray passinghrough a crackan d lighting up thehouse,showing up even he finestdust, the fear of the Lord on enter-ing the heartof a man showsup all h is sins.

Crabs are easy to catch, for sometimessometimes ackward. n the samewav. the

walk forward and

that tries laughter

A deadma ncannotwalk. A man n despair annotbe saved.A man who assertshat he has he true faith andye t continues o

sin s ike a man without eyes. nd the man who hasno faithbut whodoesgood is like someonewho draws water and then pours it into abarrel with holes.

A ship with a goodnavigator comessefely to port, God willing.A soul with a goodshepherd l imbseasily'heavenward,ve n f it hasearl ierdonemuch wrong.

A man, no matter how prudent,may easilygo astray on a road ifhe has no guide.The man who takes he roed of monastic ife underhis own directionmay easilybe ost,even f he hasall the wisdomofthe world.

lf anyone s weak n body and if he hassufferedgrievous alls, lethim turn onto thepathof humility, takingon himselfwhat is typicalof that way, or there s no other road o salvation.

Justas someonen the grip of a long l lness annot eturn to in-stant health, t is not possible o overcomepassions-not eyen one ofthem-in a quick moment.

Keep rack of the exactcondition of eachpassionand of eachvir-tue, and you will know exactly how youare making progress.

Thosewho take mud in exchange orgold are suffering a loss.Sotoo with thosewho hold orth on thingsspiritual or the sake f matc-rial advantage.

Many havebeenspeedily orgiven hei r sins.But no on ehrs rop-id ly acquired ispassion,or th is requiresmuch ime and krnging,l ran d(iod.

/,r,,r,t/)r rn (/t,rtu|| l l

theysoul

now, grief then, high l iving some other time, crnnot make progress.

The sleepy are easily robbed and those living close o the world

are easily despoiled of their virtue.' When a man fights a lion, it is fatal to glance away for even a mo-ment. So too with the man fighting against his body, w ho yields fo r

the merest instant.

It is dangerous o cl imb a rotten ladder, an d in the same way all

honor, glory, and power pose a danger to humility.

A man eager fo r salvation thinks of death and the iudgment in

115.HTM adds sentence:As the sun makes ol dglitter,so virtue makcs ranr.

JOHN CLIMACUS

We should ind out which animals ndwhich birdsseek o harmus at the time of sowing,at the time when the shoots regreen, ndatthe time of harvest, nd we shouldarrange ur trapsaccordingly.

A man in a fever ought not to commit suicide.And right up tothe momentof deathwe shouldneverdespair.

It would be quite wrong for a manto go straight r om buryinghis father o his own wedding,and t would be quite wrong for thosein mourning for their sins to look for honor, rest,or glory in this lifefrom men.

Citizens ive n onesortof place, onvicts n another,So oo there

ought to be a difference n statusbetween hosewho mourn their slnsand hosewho are nnocent.

Step27

ON STILLNESS



A king ordains hat a soldierbadly wounded n hispresencenbattle should not be dismissedbut, in fact, promoted. In the sameway, he King of heaven ivesa crown to themonk who hasenduredmany perils from demons.

Perception s a propertyof the soul. Sin is a batteringof thisproperty. Perceptionbrings aboutth e end or the lessening f evil,

and it is a product of conscience.Conscience s the word and censurethat come rom our guardianangel,an d we have t from the time of

baptism. And it is for this reason hat the unbaptizeddo not feel verymuch bitterness f soul or their evil deeds.Th e lesseningf evil yieldsabstinencerom evil, and suchabsti-

nence s the startingpoint of repentance. he beginningof repen-tance s the beginningof sah'ation, nd he beginningof salvations agood intention, which, in turn, is thebegetterof labors. The begin-ning of laborss virtue and he beginningof virtue s a flowering,an dthe flowering of virtue is the beginningof activity.

The offspring of virtue is perseverance. he fruit and offspringof perseverances habit,and he child of habit s character.

Good character begets ear, and fear begets observanceof thecommandments,by which I mean hoseof heavenand earth. To keepthe commandmentss to show ove,and the startingpoint of love rs

an abundance f humil ity, which in turn is the daughterof dispas-sion. To havedispassions to have he fullnessof love,by which Imean he complete ndwell ing of God in thosewho, through dispas-sion,ar epure of heart or they shallse eGo d (Matt. 5:8). o Him bcglory foreverand ever.Amen.

We are like purchasedslaves,ike seryantsunder contract to the

unholy passions.And becausehis is so,we know a little of their de-

ceits,ways, mpositionsand wiles.We know of their evil despotism n

our wreiched iouls. But there are others who fully understandthetricks of these spirits, and they do so because f the working of the

Holy Spirit and because f the freedomthey themselveshaveman-

aged o achieve.We in our sickness an only imagine he sort of relief

that would cornewith good health;but they, being healthy, can un-

derstandand talk about the weekness hat goes hand in hand with

sickness.Now this is why, being weak and infirm, I hesitate o hold forth

to you in this discourseon the havenof solitude. know only too well

that at the tableof good ellowship here s alwayssomedo gweiting

to grab a pieceof bread,a soul n other words, to run off with it in itsmo=uth tti to devour it at leisure.Therefore I want nothing said by

me to give room to that dog,to give a chance o thoseon the lookout

for suchan opportunity. I do not think it right to talk aboutpeace o

thosebrave olln*"rt of our King, thosewarriors who are in the

midst of battle. will merelysay hat crownsof peace nd calm ar

ready <r r hosewh o do not weakenn thefight.

Still. th c srrbicct houldbe mentioned oasno t to offendanyone

I shall hcrcforc,with your pcrmission, peak rief lyaboutstillness'

JOHN CLIMACUS

of one's feelings and perceptions. Sti l lness of soul is the accurateknowledge of one's thoughts an d is an unassailablemind.

Brave and determined thinking is a friend of sti l lness. It is al-ways on the watch at the doors of the heart, ki l l ing or driving off in-vading notions. What I mean by this wil l be well understood by thema n who practices sti l lness n the deep placesof th e heart, while th enovice will have no experienceor knowledge of i t.

A shrewd hesychastrequires no words. He is enlightened bydeeds ather than by words.

Th e start of sti l lness s the rejection of al l noisinessas somethingthat wil l

trouble the depths of the soul. The final point is when oneha s no longer a fear of noisy disturbance,when one is immune to it.

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCEN'I'

A solitary l i fe is suitable for someone who is f ighting his clay,provided the time is right an d provided he has a spiri tual director,

The fact is that you need the suength of an angel if you are to live a

solitary l i fe. Here, of course, arn talking of those who l ive a real l i fe

of soli tude in soul and body.

When a hesychastgets azy, he starts el l ing l ies. He hints at oth-

ers to ge t him out of his solitude, and when he leaveshi s cell he puts

the blame on devils. What he doesnot know is that he has urned into

his own devil.

I haye known hesychasts whose flaming urge for God was limit-

less. They generated fire by fire, love by love, desire by desire.A hesychast s like an angel on earth. With th e paper of lov e and



He who when he goesout does not go ou t in his intel lectrr? is gentle

and wholly a house of love, rarely moyed to speech and never to an-ger. The opposite to all this is manifest.

Srange as it may seem, the hesychast is a man who fights to keephis incorporeal self shut up in the houseof the body.

Th e ca t keeps hold of the rnouse.The thought of th e hesychastkeeps hold of his spiritual mouse. Do not mock the analogy. Indeed, ifyo u do, i t shows you sti l l do not understand the meaning of stillness.

A soli tary is not the sameas a monk living with another monk. Asolitary has to be very much on guard, and his mind has to be alert.The second kind of monk often helps his brother, but an angel helpsthe soli tary.

Th e powers of heaven ioin in l iving and worship with the rnanwho practices sti l lness in his soul. I shall not say anything to youabout the opposite situation.

The profundities of dogma ar e great and the mind of the soli taryleapsover them not without danger. 8

It is risky to swim in one's clothes. A slaveof passionshould notdabble in theol ogy.

. Th e cell of a hesychast s the body that surr ounds him, and with-in him is the dwell ing placeof knowledge.

When a ma n sick with a passion n his soul attempts the soli tarylife, he resemblesa man iumping from a ship into the se aand imagin-ing that he wil l reach shore safely on a plank.

I17. I.e.,who maintainsnnersolitudewhen he goes ut of his hermiragr.l l8. Or: "capers mong hem not wirhourdanger."H-[ M r.anslares:lc:rps vc r

the letters of zeal, he has freed his prayer from sloth and carelessness

Openly he cries out: "O God, my heart is ready" (Ps.56:8).He says, I

sleep,bu t my heart is awake" (Songof Songs 5:2).

Close he door of your cell to your body , the door of your t ongue

to talk, and the gate within to evi l spiri ts. Th e endurance of the sailor

is tried by the noonday sun or when he is becalmed, and the endur-

ance of the soli tary is testedby his lack of necessary upplies.The one

iumps into the water and swims when he is impatient, th e other goes

in searchof a crowd when he is discouraged.

Do no t be afraid of loud nonsense.The spiri t of mourning is nei-

ther afrai d of it nor upset by it .

Those with a mind accus tomed o true prayer talk directly to the

Lord, as if to the ear of the emperor. Those praying aloud fall down

in fr ont of the Lord as if befor e the entire senate.Those who l ive rn

the world make their pleas to the emperor in the midst of bustling

crowds. Now if you have learned the technique of prayer systemati-

cally, you wil l certainly grasp what I am saying.

Si t in a high placean d keep watch if you can, and you will see he

thieves come, and yo u wil l discover how they come, when and from

where, how many and what kind they are as they steal your clusters

of grapes.

When the watchman gets tired, he stands up and he prays. And

then, sitt ing down once more, he bravely carries on with his task.

A man knew about all these hings from experience anclwtntcrl

to describc hcm in ckrscdctai l . But he was afraid. c did not wish to

discourrge th()sc lrci(ly cngfigcd in this or by his wrtrt ls o rc{ts of f

those on thc point of cnrlrrtt 'king )n this way.

ru l r t ly knowlcr lgc r l rorrt t l l l .

JOHN CLIMACUS

nessstirs up th e demons against himself, for there is no one elsewh ocan so hold up their evi l work to contempt.

He who has achieved stillness has arrived at th e very center ofthe mysteries, but he would never have reached these depths if he hadnot first seenand heard the sound of the waves and of the evil soiri ts.if he had not even been splashed by those waters. Paul confirmi this.If he had not been caught up into P aradiseas nto sti l lness,he wouldnever have heard the unspeakablewords (cf. 2 Cor. l2:4). The ear ofthe solitary will hear wonders from God. Hence the words of the all-wise Job: "Wil l not my ea r receiveamazing things from Him?" (Job

4:'12).The solitary runs away from everyone, but does so without ha-

THE LADDEROF DIVINE AS(;I iN'I '

Tbe Differexces betweer tbe l/aious Kinds of Stillrcss

As everyone knows, there are differenc€s of concept and it irrr tt

each of the sciences, here are defects n all, becauseof some foil trtc

of zeal or strength. Hence some enter this harbor, this sea,or indcc(l

the abyssof soli tary life because he y cannot control their tongues () r

becauseof some previous habit of the flesh. Others do so because hey

have a bad temper, which they cannot restrain in comPany' or be -

cause hey arrogently think it better to sail on their own rather than

under th e guidance of someoneelse.Others do so because f they l ive

smid material things they cannot do without them. Some think that a

life of solitude will enhance heir zeal,an d some wish to punish them-selves n secret for their faults. Some think of the glory a solitary life



tred, just as another runs toward the crowd, even if without enthusi-asm. The solitary does not wish to be cut off from the divinesweetness.

Go now. At once. Give aw ay everything you have. ("Sell whatyo u own." That needs time.) Give to the poor monks so that theirprayers may be with you in your solitude. Take up your cross, carry-ing it in obedience, and endure srongly the burden of your thwartedwill. And then, "Come, follow me" (Matt. l9:21).Come to union with

most blessed stillness and I will teach you the woikings and the be-havior of the spiritual powers. They never grow tired of their ever-lasting praise of their Maker, nor does he who has entered into theheaven of stillness cease o praise his Creator. Spirits have no thoughtfor what is material, and those who have become mmaterial in a ma-terial body will pay no attention to food, for the former know noth-in g of it and the latter need no promise of i t; t he former ar eunconcerned about money and chattels an d the latter are heedless f

the malice of evil spiri ts. In those dwelling above, here is no yearn-ing for the visible creation, while those on earth below hav e no long-ing for what can be sensed,

because the former never cease o makeprogress n love and the latter will never cease o imit ate them. Theformer know well the value of their progress; he latter understandtheir own love and longing for the ascent o heaven.The former wil l

desist only when they rise to the realm of the Seraphim; the latterwill grow tired only when they come at last to be angels.Blessed s hewho hopes; hrice blessed s he who lives to see he promise of beingan angel.

wil l earn them. An d there are some-may the Son of Ma n find them

on earth when He comes back-who undertake this holy way of life

becauseof a delight in, a thirst for the love and sweetnessof God, and

they achievea u;ion of this kind only after they have shedall despon-

dency. For to link despondency to the loving of God is rather l ike

committing adultery.

I have put together a ladder of ascent, though my meager knowl-

edge makes me something of a second-rate architect. Still, let each one

take note of the step on which he is standing. Is it on the step of self-will, of fame, of a loose tongue, of hot temper! Or of possessiveness?

Is it on the step of atonement for sin, of greater zeal, of loving fire

added to fire? "The last shall be first and the first last" (Matt. l9:30).

The first seven are the work of the world's week, and some are good

while others are not. But the eighth clearly bears the mark of the age

to come.

O solitary monk, watch out for the hour of the wild beasts, be-

cause f you do not, then you will be unable to get ready the approPri-

ate traps. If you have managed to shake off despondency, this ttsk

will be superfluous, bu t if i t sti l l plaguesyou, I do not know how you

ca n endure the life alone.

Why is it that there were not as many lights among th e holy fa -

thers at 'l 'abennisi as at Scetis?re Cope with that question if vo u ca n

I cannot sa y why. C)r rather, I do not wish to .

-n,r.l" l ,"uuiri

n (l l t lx:r ':gypt es hcsite f StP.chorrrirrs'rrtt rrr.rr{rt{r l lr

(hrrNaicrrst ic lc r l r l rc \ wcrr a r l r r ( . l ( { , l l lnr r ln i ly l i fc undr : r r rn nl 'hr l $rl l t In0' l ' l l ld

JOHN CLIMACUS

Some work ro reduce rh e passions.Others sing psalmsand spendmostof their t ime in prayer. Some turn to th e depihs of contempla-t ion. Bu t whatever th e situation is, et it be investigated n accordancewith the ladder an d accepred n th e Lord.

There are some idle souls in the monasteries.Giving way rowhatever feeds that idleness, they come to an utterly bad end. Ot'hersby living in community strip themselves of idleness.This often oc -curs not only with th e careless ut with the zealous oo .

Th e same ma y be said regarding th e sol i tary l i fe, for i t ha s re _ceived many experienced monks bu t has rejected thern becauseof

their self-directionan d proved them to be lovers of pleasure. t hasacceptedothers an d made them zealousand fervent by fear an d con_

THE LADDEROI. 'DI\ ' INI. ]AS( I 'N

ar e wedded to this orderly an d admirablc w:ry rII o|It ' t I t t ' t Ir' , I l lFtd lf t

manifestations-validated by the divinely inspilctl l ' ' r t l r l rr rt l t l

brought to Perfection in their ow n time-manifcsl: l l iorrs nlrrr l l r l l '

nied by daily increasean d progress.There is an advlncc itt lrrtttt lttl

mi l i ty. There is lessening of ba d temper, which tttt tst l l trt dl l

diminish as the gal l is depleted. Darkness is scattercd rn d lovc tt l t

proached. There is an estrangement from passions,an csclpc Irottt

hatred. Lust, under ceaseless riticism, diminishes; despondencv ts

unknown; an d zeal grows. There is compassionate ov e an d a banish-

ment of pride. This is what everyone must seek, hough fe w will bc

completely successful.A well without water does not deserve it sname, an d hence th e obvious conclusion fo r those with understand-



cern for th e burden of their iudgment.Th e ma n wh o is foul-tempered and conceited,hypocritical and a

nurse of grievances,ought never to enter the l i fe of sol i tude, for fearhe should gain nothing but the loss of his sanity. Someone free ofthese aults will know what is best.Or perhaps, think, not even he .

The following are the signs, the stages,a;d the proofs of practic_in g stil lness_in

-theright way-a calm mind,

"pu.i f i"d displsition,

rapture in the Lord, th e remembrance of everlasting tormints, th e

imminence of death,an insatiableurge for prayer, constant watchful_ness, he death of lust, no senseof attachment,death of worldliness,an end to gluttony, a foundation for theology,r2oa well of discern_ment, a truce accompanied by tears, an end to talkativeness. an dmany other such things al ien to most men.

-Th e following are signs of st i l lness practiced wrongly_poverry

of spiri tual treasures,anger on the increase,a growth oi.ar"r,t-"rr,,love diminished, a surge of vanity. An d I will sa y nothing about al lthat follows from these.

Ou r chapter ha s now reached he point at which we must dealwith those living in obedience,especially as this srep is direced fo r

.the most part towards them.With regard to thosewho lawfully, chastely,and in pure fashion

rng.

A young wife who strays from he r marriage defi les her body' A

soul u;fai thful to his vow difi les his spirit. The former is denounced,

hated, beaten,and, most pitiable of al l , thrown ou t t2 r Fo r the latter

there is pollution, forgetfulnessof death, an insatiable belly, eyesou t

of contrl l , vainglory at work, a longing fo r sleep, a cal loused heart '

insensitivity, a storing up of ba d thoughts, an increaseot consent'

captivity oi heart, spiri tual upheaval, disobedience,argumentative-

ness, atiachment to thittgs, unbelief, doubt, talkativeness' and-mosts€rious this-free and easy relationships. Most wretched of all is a

heart without comPunction, which, in the careless, s succeededby

insensitivity, the mother of devils an d of lapses

Of the'eight evil spirits, f iYe attack th e solitary an d three assai l

those living in obedience.22

A moik practicing stil lness an d struggl ing againstdespondency

is often harmid, fo r th e time to be given to Prayer an d contemplation

is wasted in th e tricks an d wrestlings needed o fight his problem

I was once sitt ing in my cell having become slack lndeed.l wrrs

thinking of leaving it. But some visitors came, an d when they bcgnn

to praisi me fo r leading th e l i fe of a hesychast,my slackness avc wrly

---i i tt t" rncicnl lirciplinc f rhc lhurch lkt*'cd cprlrt iorrr 'rrrr tr rrrtrrthlr

spousc. Inricct l"

pric"r *, i , rt r lrr irct l t rr divorcc hi s $i lc il sh c (- ' )rrrrrrr l l f i l r l l l l lory

'l hcrc * 'rrs nrtqrrest ir ' l l ,h. \ ' tv(r, rt lr l l lNrrriSc'-

r: : . S.t , , t i ,u, l4(t t : lo(:) i ' l rrrr i l i t rrhcf ivc'rst lcslr ' rrrr irr( ' l ' \ ' r inl lrrr ' l rrk lt ' ' rh

iccri lrr lnt l rrngtr ' , , rrrr l lr t lhrtr r l lrrt lrt r! , lrrrt , rrrr l' rr ' r l t r

l"r 'r

i l r l I l l l r l l l l t rrol

worship in common. Sceiis th e Wadi Natrun) in Lower Egypt was a center for hcrnrrr,ages,where st i l lnesscould be pract iced by solirariesor small groups of monks. Sccriswas sometimesusedas a general name to inctude Nitr ia as well, some orry milcs k) ihcnorth. Vany of rhe famous Fathers * hose sa). ings re recorcled n thc grerr c, , l lccr , ,n.of the Apophthegmata came from Scetisor Nitr ia.

l lrr. l he, ' logy here means he direcr (; ,

JOHN CLIMACUS

to veinglorious thoughts and I was amazedby the manner in whichthis three-horned demon stood up againstall the others.

The spirit of despondency s your companion. Watch him everyhour. Note his stirrings and his movements, hi s inclinations and hischanges of face. Nore their character and the direction they take.Someonewith the gift ofcalm from the Holy Spirit well understandswhat I have n view.

The first task of stillness is disengagement from every affair goodand bad, since concern with the former leads on to the latter. Secondis urgent prayer. Third is inviolable activity of the heart. And iust ab

you have to know the alphabet if you are to read books, so if you havemissed out on the first task, you cannot enter upon the other two.

THE LADDEROF DI\/ INI i AS(:I ' ]N'I '

A small hair disturbs he eye.A minor concern trttr lclr i rvllhstil lness,or, after all, stil lnessmeans he expulsionof thorrglttr ttxl

the reiection of evenreasonable ares.

He who has ruly attainedstillnessgnores he flesh (itxl rlrcr

not make alsepromises.

The man who wishes to offer a Pure mind to God but who is

troubled by cares s like a man who exPects o walk quickly even

though his egsar e ied together

th"r" a.e not many outstanding experts n worldly philosophy.

But I would claim that rarer still are hos€who are truly expert in the

philosophy of stillness.-A man without experienceof God ought not to undertake the



I myself wa s occupied with the secondof theserasksand enteredthe intermediate stage. A light came to me as I was thirsting and Iasked there what the Lord was before He took visible form. The angelcould not tell me because he was not Dermifted to do so. So I askedhim: "I n what state s He now?" and t-heanswer was that He was rnthe stateappropriate to Him, though not to us. "What is the nature ofth e standing or sitting at the right hand of the Father?" I asked."Such mysteries cannot be taken in by the human ear," he replied.Then I pleadedwith him right then to bring me where my heart waslonging to go, but he said that the time was not yet ripe, since the fireof incorruption was not yet mighty enough within me. And whether,during all this, I w as in the body or out of it, I cannot rightly sa y (cf. 2Cor. l2:2).

It is very hard to shake off the sleep of midday, particularly insummer time. Then-and perhaps only then-is manual work to bepermitted.

The demon of despondency, as I have discovered, opens the wayfor the demon of lust. It greatly weakens the body and causes thatsleep which brings about pollutions in those practicing stillness.

Fight hard against these demons and they in turn will furiously at -tack you. They will try to force you to desist from your labors, which,they will tell you, are of no value. But there is no better proof of thefai lure of th e demons than the violence with which they attack us.

When you come out in public, be sure to protect what you haveaccumulated. When the cage doors are opened, the birds fly out. Andif that happens, hen there is no point in continuing with stillness.

solitary lif€. He leaveshimself open to many hazards.Stillnesschokes

the inexperienced.Never having tasted he sveetnessof God, such

people waste time in being set upon, robbed, madedespondent,dis-

tracted.A man who has experienced he value of Prayer avoids crowds

like a wild donkey.After all, it is prayer ttpt makeshim resemble he

donkey and makeshim shun everybody.

A man who is gripped by passions nd lives in the desert istens

to their prattle. I wastaught this by that blessedelder, George Arsi-

laites,l2twhorn our reverencel24nows.He wasonce he directorof

my useless oul and the guide who brought me to stillness. "I have

observed,"he said,"that the demonsof vainglory and concuPiscenc

usually attack us n the morning. In the middle of the day, the attack

comesfrom the demons of despondency,gloom, and anger; and it

comes n the evening from the dungJoving demonsof the miserable

stomach."It is better to live poor and obedient han to be a solitary who has

no controlover his houghts.

The man who hasenteredon stillness or a good reasonbut who

fails to see how it benefits him daily is either practicing it in thewrong way or is being robbedof it by self-esteem.

Siillnesss worshippingGod unceasingly nd waitingon Him

I2l. A spir i turl nt .stcr whosc nrme occurs n the narrat ivcs of Anrstrt irr i , N,r|{

f r! , . j , lt ) an d 12 .

f2l. Lc., fohn, Ahlx' l ol l i ! i tht l , xt whosc rcquesr' lhe ulh ' etrr vrt l tctr

JOHN CLIMACUS

. I,e11ne remembrance f Jesust25 e presentwith your everybreath.Then indeed ou will appreciatehe valueof stil lness.

Self-will s he ruin of the monk iving in obedience. ut ruin fo rthesoli tary s he nt€rrupr ion f prayer.

If you reioicebecauseisitorshave om e o your cell,yo u shouldrealize ha t yo u are takinga holidayno t iust from despondencyutfrom God. So the model for your prayer should be the widowwrongedby her adversarycf lLuke l8:l-8), and or your stil lnessha tgreatan d angelichermit Arsenius.r26n your soliiude hink of thismarvelous esychast nd rememberho w he used o sendaway hose

who came o visit him, lesthe be deprivedof the betterpart.I am awareof the fact that demonsoften persuadeoolish oot_loosepeople o go around visiting

THE LADDEROF Dl\ ' lNI AS(: l ' :N'

ment, is done according to the Lord, then thc Lord's u',rtk tr r|rrle

with spiritual perception as f He were there Himscll. llttt rl rt 1lr' t,rrris somehow robbed, then he is not ye t living in lccordrtttr 'c stl l t

virtue.

"With the harp I wil l expound what I have o say" (Ps.4l lr5) rrrr

what I wish. And it will be in accordancewith my impcrfi'ct jrrrlg

ment- And in my prayer I will offer up my will, and from Grrl I u il l

draw assurance.

Faith is the wing of prayer, and without it my prayer will return

to my bosom. Faith is the unshaken stanceof the soul and is unmovccl

by any adversity. Th e believing man is no t on e who thinks that Godcan do all things, but one who trus ts that he will obtain everything.



hermits.r2T he de-mons do this to crerte somehindrance, f they can, even throughthese..Soatchou t for suchpeople nd do not worry aboutoffendingthemby your devourbehavior.ndeed, ffensivenesif this kind mavstop heir footloose areer.Bu t be careful.Do not make he mistake foffending a soul who in his thirst has come o draw water from y<.ru.Discretion s necessaryn everything.

The life of stil lness, specially hen practiced y solitaries,mustbe guidedby consciencend commonsense.f yo u run the

raceas rshouldbe run, if every enterprise,utterance,hought, step, move-

Faith is the agent of things unhoped for, as the thief proved (cf. Luke

23:42-l). The mother of faith is hard work and an upright heart; the

one builds up belief, th e other makes t endure. Faith is the mother of

the hesychast, or after all, how can he practice stillness f he does not

believe?

A man chained in pri son is fearful of his judge, an d the monk in

his cell is fearful of God. But th e court holds less error for the one

than the judgment seat of God for the other. My good friend, you

have to be very much afraid if you are to practice stillness,and noth-ing else s quite so effective in scattering despondency. I 'he prisoner

is always on the watch for the judge to come to the iail, an d the true

worker is ever on the watch for the coming of death. A weight of sor-

row bearsdown on the one,while for the other there is a fountain of

tears.

Take hold of the walking st ick of patience,and the dogswill soon

stop their impudent harassment. Patience is a labor that does no t

crush the soul. It never wayers under interruptions, good or bad.'l hc

patient monk is a faultlessworker who has turned his faults into t ie-

tories. Patiencesets a boundary to the daily onslaught of suffering lt

makes no excusesand ignores the self. The worker needs Pltietlccmore than food, since the one brings him a crown whilc th c otltcr

brings destruction.'Ihe patient man has died before his tlcrth, hi s ccl l

being his tomb. Patie'nce omes rom hope and mournitrg, rtntl l tt lcrd

to lac k those s to bc rrslrtvc o dcspondency.' l hc warrior of ( lhr ist knows how t() a t t i lck s(, l t lcct l r l l l le r I t l l

distance and sonlc Nl c l ()sc lu Ir tcrs. Somcl inrt 's hc l i lhl r I f l l i I

crown irnd s{ } rncl inr(r ht' uttwil l ingness o f ig l r t hns prrxl rrr t l d l r t r '

l2 j . The remembrancefJesuss usually he conrextn \r , .h ichhe Jesusrayeris

practiced. ere t seemso be equivalent o the Prayer tself cf .note l and he pref-,ce, p. 48).

126.Arseniuswa sa Roman f senator ia lank who ha dheldoffice n the mperi elpalace.He was mistakenly hought by hagiographicsources o havebeen rhe rutor ofthe Emperor 'fheodosius'sonsArcadius and Honorius. Toward the end of the fourthcentury he eft Romeand retired ro e hermitege n Sceris,where he ived until its dev,astationbv bartlariao nomads n 414. He was st Canopusnear Alexandria for a omc,

wherehe w3s requently onsultedy Archbishop heophilus d.412). frer he devas-'tation of Scetishe lived at '[ ro6, betweenCairo and Helouan. He was frmous for hisausterity and avoidance f visitors.The alphebetical ollectionof TbeSayings f tbeDc-selt Fathers ssigns orty,four sayingsor maxims to him, with 3 further two under Rattributed to a monk of Rome.For a full lisr of references ee 116t iv. cols. 7,ti_7.

127.From h€ ate ourthcenturyonwardvis itors ame o the Egyprien eserrnlargenumbers o see or themselvesow the monks ived.Somewereseriousntru ir trsl ike Basi l ,Rufinus,Jerome nd Palladius. )thers eremere ourists.On the rrrrarxrrrcausedby some visitors see, or example, TbeSaJing of tbeDetelrFrrr.ru, Arsenius 2t,end TbeLiM of theDesertFatberr . t9-2\.

JOHN CLIMACUS

ter. Hard and fast rulescannotbe laid down for such matters, incewe all havedifferencesof characterand disposition.

Keep a specialwatch for the one spirit that unfailingly attacksyo u whetheryo u stand,walk, sit, stir, get up, pray, or sleep.

Some who presideover the race of stillness always keep before

them he words: l see he Lord beforeme continually" Ps . 5:8).Bu t

all the loavesof heavenly bread do not have the same appearance.Others the refore keep to the words: "In your patience possess oursouls" Luke 21:19). thers: Watch an d pray" (Matt.26:41).Others:"Prepareyour works for your death" (Prov.24:27).Others:"I was

humbledand He savedme "(Ps.

14:6).Others: Th e sufferings fthepresent time are not to be compared with the glories of the future"(Rom.8: 8). Othersconstantly onder he words: Lest he snatch ou

THE LADDEROF DIVINE ASCIiN'I '

various evels f meaingr2since, eingobscure,hey may rringdrrlknessover the weak,

A singlecup s sufficient o reveal he flavorof a wine, and a sirr-gle word from a hesychast an reveal o thosewirh tastehis wholc in-ner conditionand activity.

Let the soul'seye be ever on the watch for conceit,since nothingelse anproduce uc hhavoc.

Onceoutside your cell, watch your tongue, or the fruits of manylaborscan be scattered n a moment.

Stayaway rom what doesno t concern ou , or curiosityca nde -

file stil lness snothingelse an.When people visit you, offer them what they need or body andspirit. If they happen o be wiser than we are, he n let our own sr-



away and there be no one to deliver you" (Ps. 49:22).All race, but

only one receives he prize without ef fort.Someonewho has madeprogress s at work not only when awake

but also when he is asleep.Some, herefore, even n sleepshow their

contempt for the demonswho approach them, and urge chastity on

the wanton women oftheir imaginings.On the otherhand,do not be

on the lookout for these visitations, preparing for them in advance,

becausehe conditionof stil lnesss essentially impleand ree.Anyone planning o constructa tower and cell of stil lnesswill

first begin the job by sitting down to count th€ cost. He will feel hisway by prayer. He will ponder whether he haswithin himself what ittakes o complete he task,and he will be careful not to lay the foun-dations nd hen provea ok e o his enemies nda hindrance o otherswho labor cf .Luke 14:28-10).

Pa ycarefulattention o whatever weetnessheremay be n yoursoul, n case t hasbeenconcoctedby cruel and crafty physicians.

You shouldspendmost of the night in prayer and only what isleft of it in psalmody.And during the day prepareyourselfas best

you can.Light an d recollec tion ome o the mind by way of reading hc

Scriptures. he words are hoseof the Holy Spirit, and hey provideguidanceo the readers. et your readingbe a preliminary o action,sinceyou are a doer cf .James:22).Put the words nto practice, ndthen further reading will be unnecessary. ry to be enlightened bythe words of salvation hrough your labors and not from books.Anduntil you haveacquired pir itualpower,do not readworks hat havc

lence revealour wisdom. If they are brothers who share with us thesame ype of life, we should open the door of speech o them in prop-er measure.Bestof all, however, s to deem everyoneour superior,

I would have iked to forbid novices o engage n any toil duringtimes of vigil in common. But I demurred because f the monk whoall night carriedsand n his cloak.r2e

Docuine tells of the holy, uncreated,and adorableTrinity. Andthere is a contrasthere with what is saidabout the orovidential incar-nationof One of the Persons f the hyrnnedTrinity. What s plural nthe Trinity is single n Him. What there s single s plural here.r3Similarly, somepracticesare appropriate for the way of stillness,andothers for those iving in obedience.

Th e divine Apostle said: "Who has known the mind of theLord?" (Rom.11:34). will say:"Whoha sknown the mind of the manwho is a hesychastn body and spirit?"

Wealthand numeroussubiects onstitute he power of a king.Abundanceof prayer constitutes he power of the hesychast.

128. .e.,worksofan allegoricel stur€, or which spir i tuald iscernments nct.cnsary n ordcr ()pcnctr i tc o thc true meaning,

129. l he young 'xchomius as hus ra inedby hisabbr,Palam(,n.r) {y twaladuringvig i ls thr)ughr frc! thcy(rrr icd th c sand n baskets):echorrrrur.t t . t ' . t f ia ,6; Rosweydc, i lu l ' t t run,l t . l ll

110. n thc lr in irythcrc lrr thrccPcrrontbut(,Dennturr i in( j l t r l r t t l t trhonf

Pcrrrn bu t two nrtrrrcr.

Step28

ON PRAYER

THE LADDEROF DIVINE AS(]EN'I '

without the dress appropriate to those who appear beforc thc KrrrgHe should command His servantsand His slaves o lay holtl of us, rodrive us out of His sight, to tear up our petitions and to throw llrcrrrin our faces.

When you set out to appear before the Lord, let the garment ofyour soul be woven t hroughout with the thread of wrongs no longerremembered. Otherwise, prayer will be useless o you.

Pray in all simplicity. The publican and the prodigal so n werereconciled to God by a single utterance.

Th e attitude of prayer is the same for all, but there are many

kinds of prayer and many different prayers. Some talk and deal withGod as with a friend and master, lifting their praises and their re -quests to Him not for themselves but for others. Some look for great-



Prayer is by nature a dialog and a union of man with God. Its

effect is to hold the world together. It achievesa reconciliation with

God.

Prayer is the mother and daughter of tears. t is an expiation of

sin, a bridge across emptation, a bulwark against affliction. It wiPes

out confl ict, is the work of angels,and is the nourishment of all bodi-

lessbeings. Prayer is future gladness, ction without end, wellspring

of virtues, source of grace, hidden progress, ood of the soul, enlight-

enment of the mind, an axe against despair, hope demonstrated,sor-

row done away with. It is wealth for monks, treasure of hermits,

anger diminished. It is a mirror of progress,a demonstration of suc-

cess,evidence of one's condition, th e future revealed,a sign of glory.

For the man who really prays it is the court, th e judgment hall, th e

tribunal of the Lord-and this prior to the tudgment that is to come.

' Let us arise and pay heed to what that holy queen of the virtuescries out to us in a loud voice, saying: " 'C ome to me, all of you who

labor and are weighed down, and I will give you rest. Take upon

yourselves my yoke, and you wil l f ind rest for your souls' (Matt:

I l:28-29), and a balm for the blows that fall on you. 'For my yoke is

easy'(ibid. l0) and is a remedy for great sins."

Those of us wishing to stand before our King and God and t< r

speak with Him should not rush into this without some preparationJ

lest i t should happen that-seeing us from aflr without arms $n(l

er spiri tual treasuresan d glory and for greater assurance n theirprayers. Some beg to be freed entirely from their adversary. Somelook for rank and others for relief from all their debts. Some seek free-dom from gaol or for charges against them to be dropped.

But heartfelt thanksgiving should have first place n our book ofprayer. Next should be confession and genuine contrition of soul.After that should come our request o the universal King. This meth-od of prayer is best, as one of the brothers was told

by an angel of theLord.

If you ever found yourself having to appear before a human

ludge, you may use that as an example of how to conduct yourself inprayer. Perhaps you have never stood before a iudge nor witnessed across-examination. n that case, ake your cue from the way patientsappeal o surgeonsprior to an operation or a cautery.

In your prayers there is no need for high-flown words, for it isth e simple and unsophisticated babblings of chil dren that have moreoften won the heart of the Father in heaven.

Try not to talk excessively n your prayer, in caseyour mind is

distracted by the search or words. One word from the publican suf-ficed to placateGod, and a single utterance saved he thiel'I'alkrrtivcprayer frequently distracts the mind and deludes it, whercas rrrc-vi tyr3r makes or concentrat ion.

If it happens that, rs you pray, some word evokcs clclight ol rc .

l l l . <; l n, tolok\t , t(

v i i i ( l { )72) ,c ,n. ll l

\h, Ir l , rrrr r r ' l v r icd.r)nrcnl. Src rhr I tr l l l r f , lt {, lr ,l l

JOHN CLIMACUS

morsewithin you, ingerover t; for at thatmomentou r guardian n-ge l s prayingwith us .

Ho*euer pure you may be,do not be forward in your dealings

with God. ApproachHi m rather n all humility, an dyo u wil l begiv-

en still moreboldness. nd even f you haveclimbed he whole ad -

der of the virtues, pray still for the forgivenessof sins. Heed Paul's

cry regarding inners of whom I am the first" (l Tim. l:15).

Oil and salt are the condimentsof food; chastity and tearsgive

flight to prayer.If you are clothed in gentleness nd in freedomfrom anger,you

will find it no trouble to free your mind from captivity.Unti l we haveacquiredru e prayer,we are ike thosewho intro-


quantity as well asquality in the words of our prayer, he formcmaking a way for the lat ter, in accordancewith the saying about giv-in g prayer to him who praysresolutely, lbeit mpurely and aboriously cf . I Kings 1 Sam.]2:9).

There is a difference between he tarnish of prayer, itdisappearance, he robbery of it, and its defilement . Prayer is tarnished whenwe stand before God, our minds seethingwith irrelevancies. t disappears when we are led off into useless ares. t is robbed when ourthoughts suay without our realization of the fact. And it is defiledwhen we are in any way under attack,

If we happen not to be alone at the time of prayer, let us formwithin ourselves he demeanorof someonewho prays.But if the servants of praiseare not sharing our company, we may openly put on



ducechildren to walking.

Make the effort to raiseup, or rather, to encloseyour mind with-

in the words of your prayer; and if, like a child, it gets ired and fal-

ters, raise t up again.The mind, after all, is naturally unstable,but

the God Who cando everything can alsogive it firm endurance.Per-

severe n this, therefore,and do not grow weary; and He Who setsa

boundary to the seaof the mind will come to you too during your

prayer and will say,"Thus far you shall come,and no farther" (Job

it' tt;. Spi.it cennotbe bound,bu t where He is found everythingyields to the Creator of sPirit.

If you have everseen he Sun,you will be ableto conversewith

Him in an appropriateway. But if you havenot, then how can you

truly talk to Him?

The beginning of prayer is the expulsionof distractions rom the

very start by a single thoughtil32 the middle stage s the concentra-

tion on what is beingsaidor thought; ts conclusions rapture n the

Lord.Prayerbringsone sort of io y to those iving in community,an d

another o thosepraying n stillness. lation s sometimesharacteris-tic of the former, but humility is always o be found in the latter'

If you are careful to train your mind neverto wander, t will stay

by you even at mealtimes.But if you allow it to stray freely, then you

will never have it besideyou' "I would prefer to speak ive words

with my understanding" l Cor. 14:19) nd so on, says he mighty

practitioner of great and high prayer. But prayer of this sort is for-

eign to infant souls,an d so because f our imperfectionwe need

the appearance f thoseat prayer. For among the weak, the mind of-ten conforms to the body.

Total contrition is necessary or eve ryone, but particularly forthose who havecome o the King to obtain forgivenessof their sinsWhile we are still in prison, let us listen to him who told Peter toput on the garmentof obedience,o shedh1sown wishes,and, havingbeenstripped of them, to come close o the Lord in prayer, seekinonly His will (cf.Acts l2:8).Then yo u will receivehe GodWh o takethe helm of your soul andpilots you safely.

Rise from love of the world and love of pleasure .Put care asidestrip your mind, refuseyour body. Prayer, after all, is a turning awafrom the world, visible and invisible. What have I in heaven?Noth-ing. What have I longed for on earth besidesYou? Nothing excepsimply to cling always o You in undisracted prayer. Wealth pleasesome,glory others, possessions thers,but what I want is to cling toGod and to put the hopesof my dispassionn Him (cf. Ps, 72:25,28)

Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven.

Those of us who are swept by passionmust ceaselesslyray tothe Lord, for all thepassionate ave advanced rom passion o dispass10n.

Even if the judgehas no fear of God, yet because soulwidowcdfrom God by sin and by a fal l disturbsHim, He will take evcngc rnthe body, he soul'sadversary, nd on the spirits who dcclercwrr onhe r (cf. Luke l8: -7).

Ou r goodRedccmer, y rpccdilygrantingwhrt ir lrhod,drt*r

TOHNCLIMACUS

praying a long time beforeHim, hungeringand thirsting fo r whatthey want, since a badly trained dog rushes off as soon as t is given

bread and leaves he giver behind.After a long spell of prayer, do not say that nothing has been

gained, or you have already achievedsomething. For, after all, what

higher good s there than to cling to the Lord and to perseveren un-

ceasing nion with Him?A convicted man doesnot feer his sentenceasmuch as a zealous

man the time of prayer. So if he is shrewd and sensible,he will re-

member his and will therefore be able o avoid reproach,anger,anxi-

ety, concerns,affliction, satiety, emptation, and distractions.Get ready for your set time of prayer by unceasingprayer in

your soul. In this way, you will soon make progress. have observed


copewith boutsof i ll temper, something our enemiesaim for.Every virtuous act we do-and this is particularly true of

prayer-should be done with great sensitivity. A soul prayswith sen-sitivity when it hasovercomeanger.

Whatever is obtained as a result of long and persistent prayerwill remain.

When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use wordswhen he s praying, for the Spirit Himself will intercede or him withgroans hat cannot be uttered (cf. Rom. 8:26).

Do not form sensory magesduring prayer, for distraction will

certainly ollow.The confident expectationof gaining that for which one is beg-ging will show up during prayer. Confidence s doubt absent.Confi-



that thosewho were outstanding n obedienceand who tried as ar as

possible o keep in mind the thought of God were in full control of

their minds and wept copiously as soon as they s tood in prayer, for

holy obediencehad prepared hem for this.One can be held back and distracted by the singing of psalms n a

congregation.This doesnot happen when one s a solitary. However,

despondencycan assail he latter, while in the former situation the

brethren can give help by their zeal.War reveals he love of a soldier or his king, and the time and

practice of prayer show up a monk's love for God. So your prayer

shows where you stand. Indeed, theologians say that prayer is a

monk'smirror.Someonewho is occupied with some ask and continueswith it

at the hour of prayer is being fooled by the demons, or these hieves

aim to stealone hour after another from us.Do not refuse a request to pray for the soul of another, even

when you yoursel f lack the gift of prayer. For often the very faith of

the person rnaking the requestwill evoke he saving contrition of the

.one who is to offer the prayer.Do not becomeconceitedwhen you have prayed for others and

havebeenheard, or it is their faith which has been active and effica-

crous.A child is examined achda y without fail regardingwhat he has

learned from his teacher.And it is reasonable o ask that there oe a

reckoning of eachprayer we have undertaken, n order that we may

havean de aof the power we have eceivedrom God . You shouldscc

to this. And whe n you haveprayed soberly,you will soon have rt

dence s proof of the uncertain.If prayer is a matter of concern to you, then show yourself to be

merciful. Monks will receivea hundredfold if they are merciful, andthey will receiveeverything else n the life to come.

When fire comes o dwell in the hea6 it resurrectsprayer; andafter prayer has been revived and taken up into heaven,a descentoffire takesplace nto the upper chamberof the soul.

Someclaim that prayer is better than the remembranceof death.But for my part, my praise goesout to the two natures in one per-son.133

When a good horse is mounted, it warms up and quickens its

pace. The singing of psalms is the pace and a determined mind is the

horse. It scents the battle from afar, is ready for it, and dominates the

scene.

It would be very wrong to snatch water from the mouth of a

thirsty person. Worse, however, is the case of a soul that is praying

with compunction and is snatched away from its task before it has

completed its longed-for prayer.

Do not stop praying as long as, by God's grace, the fire and the

water have not been exhausted,l3aor it may happen that never again

in your whole life will yo u have such a chance to ask for the forgivc-

ness or your sins.

A man with a taste or prayer may defile his mind wit h onc clrc.

I l l . Pr|ycr rnd lhc rcnrcnrhrrnccfdclth (bvcrnd fetr) iJrr r t tntty nrht l t t t tr

to rhatbctwccn hc d iv inc nd hurtutrnaturc i n (, 'hr is t.

l , 'nH s cr vor,rnr l

JOHN CLIMACUS

lessword, and then at prayer he wil l not ge t what he wants in theway he used o.

To keep a regular watch over the heart is one thing; to guard the

heart try means of the mind is another for the mind is the ruler and

high priest offering spiri tual sacri f ices o Christ. When heaven'sholy

fire lays hold of the former, i t burns them because he y stil l lack puri-

f ication. This is what one of those endowed with the t i t le of Theolo-

gian tel ls us.r3sBut as or the latter, i t enl ightens them in proPortion

to the perfection they have achieved. It is one and the same fire that is

cal led that which consurnes ci Heb. 1229) and that which i l lumi-

nates(ci

John l:9). Hencethe reason why some emerge from prayer

as from a blazing furnace and as though having been relieved of all

material defilements. Others come forth as if they were resplendent


opposite sex, or the enemy may come at you from the unprotcctcdside,l3?

Do not insist on confessingyour carnal acts n detail, since youmight becomea traitor to yourself.

The hour of prayer s no time for thinki ng over necessities,oreven spiritual tasks,because ou may lose the better part (cf. Lukel0:42).

Hold on to the staff of prayer and you will not fall. And even afall will not be fatal, since prayer is a devout coercion of God (ci

Luke 18:5).The valueof prayer can be guessedrom the way the demonsat-

tack us during servicesn church, and its fruit may be inferred fromthe victory over the enemy. "By this I know You are on rny side be-



with l ight and clothed in a garment of io y and of humil i ty. Bu t as or

those who emerge without having experienced either of these effects,

I would say that they have prayed in a bodi ly, not to say a Jewish,manner, and not spiri tual ly.

A body changes in its activity as a result of contact with another

body. How therefore could there be no change in someone who with

innocent hands has touched the Body of Godl136

We may note that our all-good King, like some earthly monarch,

sometimes distributes His gifts to His soldiers Himself, sometimes

through a friend or a slave, and sometimes in a hidden way. But cer-

tainly it will be in accordance with the garment of humility worn by

each of us.

A man stands before an earthly monarch. But he turns his face

away and talks to the enemies of the king, and the king will be of-

fended. In the same way, the Lord will be offended by someone who

at prayer t ime turns away toward unclean thoughts. So if the dog

keeps coming, drive him off with a stick and never give in to him,

however much he may persist.

Ask with texrs, seek with obedience, knock with patience. For soit goes that he "who asks receives, and he who seeks inds, and to him

wh o knocks it wi l l be opened" (Matt. 7:8).

In your prayers be careful not to beg too much on behalf of th e

l15. St .GregoryofNazianzus: f. Or 21,2 (P G15 ,1084D).

116.Le.,how ere we not transformed y receiving he Body of Chrisr n l lo lv

Oommunion?

cause he enemy will not come o gloatover me" (Ps.40:12)n thehour of battle. I cried out with all my heart,"said he psalmist Ps .

I l8:145).He is referring o body,soul,an d spirit,an d where he lasttwo are gathered,God is in the midst of them (cf. Matt. 18:20).

We are not all the same,either in boy'yor soul. Someprofit fromsinging the psalms quickly, others from doing so slowly, the onefighting disraction, he otherscopingwith ignorance.

If you ar ealways n dialogwith the King in regard o your ene-

mies, take heart whenever they attack you. A long struggle will notbe necessaryor you, for they will soon give up of their own accord.Theseunholy beingsare afraid that you may earn a crown as a resultof your battle against them through prayer, and besides, whenscourgedby prayer they will run away as hough from a fire.

Always be brave,and God will teach ou your prayer.You cannot learn to see ust because omeone ells you to do so.

For that, you require your own natural power of sight. In the sameway, you cannot discover from the teaching of others the beauty ofprayer.Prayerhas ts own special eacher n God, who "teachesman

knowledge" Ps .93:10). e grants he prayerof him who prays.AnclHe blesseshe vearsof the iust.

l17. Lc., i) m th c rrdc ol thc wcrpon (prrycr) r i thcr th l |n rrt t t lh r d{ h tf lh ,

shicld rsccsis).

Snp29

ON DISPASSION


pen to know, was that Egyptianl38 who joined others in lengthyprayer and held out his hands without ever resting them.

One man is dispassionate, nother is more dispassionatehan thc

dispassionate.3e The one will loathe evil while the other will havc

the blessi ng of an inexhaustible store of virtues. Purity is also said to

be dispassion, and this is right, for it is a foretaste of the general res-

urrection and of the incorruption of the corruptible. A dispassionat

man was he who said that he had the mind of the Lord (cf. I Cor.

2: 6), and the same s true of the Egyptianr4owho asserted hat he was

no longer afraid of the Lord. Similar too was the man who prayed

that his passionsmight return to him.lar Ha s anyone been granted so

much dispassionprior to the coming glory as that Syrian!142David,

the most glorious of the prophets, says o the Lord: "Spare me so that



So here we are, stuck in the deepestpit of ignorance, n the darkpassions f the body, n death'sshadow,and still we have he temerityto hold forth on the subiect of heavenon earthl

Stars adorn the skies and dispassionhas the virtues to make it

beautiful. By dispassion mean a heavenof the mind within theheart, which regards he artifice of demonsas a contemptible oke. Aman is truly dispassionate-and is known to be such-when he hascleansed is fleshof all corruption; when he has ifted his mind aboveeyerything created,and has made t masterof all the senses; hen hekeepshis soul continually in the presence f the Lord and reaches utbeyond the borderline of st rength to Him. And there are some whowould claim that dispassions resurrectionof the soul prior to that ofthe body,while otherswould insist hat it is a perfectknowledge fGod, a knowledge secondonly to that of the angels.

. Dispassion s an uncompleted perfection of the perfect. I havebeen told this by someonewho has tasted t. Its effect is to sanctifythe mind and to detach t from material things, and it doesso n sucha way that, after entering this heavenlyharbor,a man, for most of hisearthly ife, is enraptured, ike someone lready n heaven, nd he islifted up to the contemplation of God. Someonewith an experiencc

of this says, inely, somewhereha t "God's mighty onesof the earthhavebecome reatlyexalted" Ps .46: 0); an d sucha man,as we hap-

I may r ecover my s trength" (Ps. 18:14);bu t the athlete of Godr43

cries: "Spare me from the waves of Your grace."

A dispassionate oul is immersed in virtues as a passionate reing

is in pleasure.

If the height of gluttony is that you force yourself to eat even

when you are not hungry, then the height of temperance n a hungry

man is that he restreins even th e justifiable urges of nature. If the

height of lechery is that one raves even over animals and over inanr-

mate things, then the height of purity is to look on everyone in thesame way that one would regard inanimate objects. If the ultimate

stage of cupidity is to gather without ever being satisfied, the ultimate

stage of poverty is the willingness to dispense with one's own body. If

the final point of despondency is to have no patience even when liv-

ing in total peace, the final point of patience is to consider oneself to

be at rest even in the midst of affliction. If to be furious even in soli-

tude is talked of as a sea of wrath, then calmness, whether your slan-

derer be present or not, will be a sea of long-suffering. If the high

ll8. Abba Tithoes: TbeSayings f tbeDesert atrir, Tithoes L139.The mln who is dispessionate,ay sscholion (l l5 lB), is unettachcdr

th ingsi he manwho s more handispassionates unetteched ven o the rcnrcnrlrr{n

of th ings.

140.Sr.Antonythe(;tcar ' l 'heSulingtofrbeDetert l 'a therqnlonythc(;rcnl l, l

l4l. St. John Kol')u)s (thc Dwatl: 'fheSayingsf rheDetert urturs, .|l.tntu ll* $l

tJ.

l{2. St. , lphrx irr hc Syri{ t l

l+ ' | . St. iphrr i | l r h( SYrirr l

IOHN CLIMACUS

point of veinglory is for a person o put on airs even u/hen no one ispresent to praise him, the sure proof of its absences that you keepyour thoughtsunder control when someones praisingyou to your

face. f it is a sign of perdition, that is pride, to be arroganteven whenpoorly dressed,hen surely amid high doings andgreatsuccessowly

thoughts betokensaving humility. If completeenslavement o passion

is indicated by the fact that one quickly submits to whatever the de-mons have sown in us, I take t then that a mark of holy dispassion s

to be able to sayunambiguously:"I did not recognize he evil one ashe slipped away from me" (Ps. 100:4), or did I know the time of his

coming, the reasons or it, nor how he went. I am completely un-aware of such matters because am and will ever tre wholly unitedwith God.


other, as f in the personof God Himself, says: Is it not your sinsthat separate ou and Me?"(Isa.59:2).

Friends, let us break through this wall of separation (cf. Eph.2: 4), his wall that n our disobedience e built to our own harm.Le tus look there for the forgivenessof our sins, since there is no one inhell who can pardon us. Brothers, et us commit ourselves o this, forour namesare on the lists of the devout.There must be no talk of "alapse," "there is no time," or "a burden." To everyone who has re-ceived the Lord in baptism,r45 He has given the power to becomechildrenof God" (Iohn l:12). 'B e still and know that I am God'(Ps.

45:11) nd am Dispassion,"He says.To Him be glory forever andever.Amen,Blesseddispassion aises he poor mind from earth to heaven,



The man deemedworthy to be of this sort during his lifetime hasGod always within him, to guide him in all he has to say or do or

think. The will of the Lord becomes or him a sort of inner voicethrough illuminati on. All human teaching s beneathhim. " 'Whenshall I come o appear before the faceof God?'" he says Ps.4l:3). "Ican no longer endure the force of love. I long for the undying beautythat You gaveme beforethis clay."

What more has o be said?The dispassionateman no longer lives

hirnself, ut it is Christ Who lives n him (cf.Gal. 2:20). his is whatwe are told by the man who fought the good fight, completed the

course,and stayedwith the faith (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7).

Justasa royal crown is not made up of one stone,so dispassions

incomplete f we neglect even one of the mostordinary virtues.Think of dispassionas a kind of celestialpalace,a palaceof the

King of heaven.Think of the numerous mansions cf. John 14:2) sso

many dwelling placeswithin this city. Think of the forgivenessofsins as being the fortifying wall of this Jerusalem.O my brothers, we

should run to enter the bridal chamtrerof this palace, nd f somebur-

den of pasthabits or the passage f time should impede us, what a di-saster or us! Let us at least ake up residence n one of the mansionsnear the bridal chamber. But if we begin to falter or weaken, we

ought to ensure het at leas t we are inside the walls, since the man

who doesnot get there beforethe end, who doesnot climb that wall,

must camp out in the desert.l44This is the reason or the prayer of

the man who said: Bv mv God I will climb e wall" (Ps. 7:30).An -

l '14.H fM adds: of fiends nd passions

raises he beggar rom the dunghill of passion.And love, all praise oit, makes im si t with princes, hat is with holy angels, nd with theprincesof God'speople ci Ps. 112:7-8).

145.Litora l ly : in lh( b lth ol rcgcncfttion," $tondrrd !tr i i t i ( rynotly f t t f | l lF

U$m,

Step30

ON FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE


Love, dispassion, nd adoptionare distinguished y name,andname only. Light, fire, and flame ioin to fashion one activity. So toowith love,dispassion,nd adoption.

Fear shows up if ever love departs, or the man with no fear is

either illed with loveor is dead n spirit.There is nothing wrong about offering human analogies or

longing, fear, concern, zeal,service,and love of God. Lucky the manwho loves and longs for God as a smitten lover does or his beloved.Lucky the man whose fear of God is in no way less han the fear of

the accusedn front of a udge.Lucky the man who is caught up with

the zeal of loyal slaves oward their owner. Lucky the man who is aspassionatelyoncernedwith the virtuesas a iealous usbandwatch-

ing over his wife. Lucky the man who prays beforeGod like a court-



And now at last, after all that has beensaid, there remains thattriad, faith, hope, and love, binding and securing he union of all."But th e greatest f these s love"(1 Cor. ll:ll), since hat s the verynameof God Himself (cf. I John 4:8).To me they appear,one asa ray,

one as ight, and one as a disk, ra6 nd all as a single adiance nd asingle splendor.The first can make and createall things, the mercy ofGod encircles he secondand keeps t from confusion,while the thirdnever falls, never halts on its way, never gives respite to the manwounded by its blessed apture.

The man who wants to talk about ove s undertaking o speakabout God. But it is risky to talk about God and could even be dan-gerous for the unwary. Angels know how to speak about love, buteven hey do soonly in proportion o the ight within them.

"God is love" (l John 4:16).But someone ager o define his isblindly striving to meesure he sand n the ocean.

Love, by its nature, s a resemblance o God, insofar as his is hu-manly possible.n its activity t is inebriationof the soul. ts distinc-tive character s to be a fountain of faith, an abyssof patience,a seaofhumility.

Love is the banishment of eyerv sort of contrariness. or lovethinks no evil.

146. A common image among the Fathers o express hc rrni tv of thc 'l r inity.

ier before he king. Lucky the man who strives without endthe Lord as others ry to pleasemen.

Not even a mother clings to her nursing child as a son of love

clings to the Lord at all times.Someone uly in love keepsbeforehis mind's eye the face of the

beloved and embracest there tenderly. Even during sleep he long-ing continuesunappeased,nd he murmurs to his beloved.That ishow it is for the body. And that is how it is for the spirit. A man

woundedby love had his to sayabouthimself-and it really amazeme-"I sleep becauseaturecommands his) but my heart s awake(because f the abundance f my love)" (Songof Songs 5:2).Youshould ake note, my brother, hat the stag,raT hich is the soul,de -stroys eptilesand hen, nflamedby love,as f struckby an arrow,t4it longsan dgrows aint for the oveof God (cf.Ps .4l:1).

The impact of hunger is not alwaysobvious,but thirst hasa defi-nite and clear effect. It reveals o all the oresenceof a fever. Hencesomeone ho yearns or God has his to Jay: My soul s thirsty forGod, or the mighty and iving God" (cf.Ps .4l:l).

If the sight of the one we loveclearlymakes s change ompletcly, so that we turn cheerful, glad, and carefree,what will the faceof

the Lord Hi mself not do as He come s o dwell, invisibly, n a purc

soul?When fear arises rom the deeper eaches f the soul, t dcitfoyl

147. Sec nrnc f i6, p. l l l l

l4 l l . Or r "vcnoo1" (i. ( l l r(. rc| | l l l rr)

JOHN CLIMACUS

and devours impurity. "Nail down my flesh with fear of You" (Ps.118:120).o t is said.

Holy love has a way of consuming some.This is what is meant

by the one who said, "You haveravished our hearts, avished hem"

(Songof Songs4:9).And it makesothersbright and overjoyed. n this

regard t hasbeensaid:"My heart was full of trust and I was helped,

and my flesh has evived" Ps .27:7). or when the heart s cheerful,

the face beams cf. Prov. l5:ll), and a man floodedlaewith the love of

God reveals n his body, as f in a mirror, the splendor of his soul , a

glory like that of Moses when he came face to face with God (cf.

Exod. 4:29-15).Men who haveattained his angelicstateoften forget to eat, and I

really think they do not even miss their food. No wonder, since an

THE LADDEROF DIVINE ASCEN'I '

erate slanderersand will run from them as though from a fire. Andthe man who claims o love he Lord but is angry with hisneighbor slike someone ho dreams e s running.

Hope is the power behind love. Hope is what causesus to lookforward to the reward of love. Hope is an abundanceof hidden trea-sure. t is the abundantassurance f the riches n store or us. t is arest from labor, a doorway of love. It lifts despair and is the image ofwhat is not yet present.When hope fails, so does ove. Strugglesarebound by i t, laborsdependon it, and mercy ies all around t. Thehopefulmonkslays espondency,ills t with his sword.Hope comesfrom the experience f t he Lord's gifts,an dsomeone ith no suchex -periencemust be ever in doubt. Hope is destroyedby anger, or hopedoesno t disappoint nd he angryman hasno grace.

Love grantsprophecy,



oppositedesiredrives out the very wish to eat, and indeed I suspect

that the bodiesof these ncorruptible men are mmune to sickness,or

their bodieshave been sanctified and rendered ncorruptible by the

flame of cha stitywhich has put out the flame.lsoMy belief s that

they acceptwithout any pleasure he food set out in front of them, for

just as sutrteranean waters nourish the roots of a plant, the fires of

heavenare there to sustein heir souls.

The growth of fear is the starting point of love,and total purity

is the foundation or theology.5lWhen a man's senses re perfectly united to God, then what God

has said is somehow mysteriously clarified. But where there is no

union of this kind, then t is extremelydifficult to speak boutGod.

The consubstantialrs2 ord brings purity to completion,an d

His presencedestroysdeath, and when death s done away with, the

discipleof sacred nowledge s illuminated.The Word of the Lord,

being from the Lord, remainseternally pure.

The man who does not know God speaksabout Hirn only in

orobabilities.

' Purity makesof a disciplesomeonewho can speakof God, and hecan move on to a knowledge of the Trinity.

He who loves he Lord has irst loved his brother, for the larter is

oroof of the former. Someone ho loveshis neighborwill never ol-

149.Literally: somewhat ommingled."

150. .e., f the passions.

| 51.The knowledge f God from experienceather han rom sludy

152.Or : "the ndwellingWord" (errrr ioJ).

fountainof fire, bubblingup to inflame he thirsty soul. t is thecon-dition of angels, nd he progress f eternity.

Most beautiful of all the virtues, tell us where you feed yourflock, where you take your noonday rest (of. Song of Songs 1:7).En-lighten us, end our thirst, lead us, show us the way, sincewe long tosoar up to you, You rule everything, and now you have enrapturedmy soul. I am unable to hold in your flarne, and therefore I will go

forward praising you. "You rule the power ofthe sea,you make gen-tl e (anddeaden)he surgeof its waves.You makehumble he proudthought asa woundedman. With your powerful arm you havescattered your enemies"(cf. Ps. 88:9-10),and you have madeyour loversinvincible.

I long to know how Jacobsaw you fixed above the ladder (cf.

Gen. 28:12). hat climb, how was it l Tell me, for I long to know.What is the mode, what is the law ioining together those steps hatthe lover has set as an as cent n his heart? cf . Ps. 83:6). thirst toknow the numberof those teps , nd he ime required o climb them.

He who discovered our struggle nd Your visionha sspoken o usofthe guides.But he would not-perhaps he could not-tell us rnymore.

This empress,ls3 s if coming from h eaven, poke hus in tttvsoul'shearing: My love,you will neverbe able o hnow how ltntttt i-

I5t. Lc., ( 'vc. l l \4 udrlr ", ' r I t l r rr l I rr i{h l 1tr ' |c t lv rrr t hrrr l" t tr . ( I r l l

ful I am unlessyou get away from the grossness f the flesh. So let

this ladder teach you the spiritual union of the virtues. And I am

there on the summit, for as he great man said, a man who knew me

well: 'Rernainingnow are faith, hope, and love, these hree. But loveis the greatest f them all ' (1 Cor. l l: l l)."

A BRIEF SUMMARY ANDEXHORTATION



Ascend, my brothers, ascendeagerly.. et your hearts' resolvebe

to climb. Listen to the voice of the one who says: Come, let us go up

to the mountain of the Lord, to the houseof our God" (Isa.2:l), Who

makesour feet to be like the fee t of the deer,"Who setsus on the high

places,hat we may be riumphanton His road"(Hab.3:19) sa

Run, I beg you, run with him who said, "[,et us hurry until we

all arrive at the unity of faith and of the knowledge of God, at mature

manhood, at the measureof the stature of Christ's fullness" (Eph.4:11). aptizedn the thirt ieth yearof His earthlyage,Christattained

the thirtieth step on the spiritual ladder, or God indeed s love, and

to Him be praise, dominion, power. In Him is the cause,past,Pres-ent, and future, of all that is good forever and ever. Amen.

lJ4. ck ry 'o.l l l \4 rc0dr"wilh l li r rorrg" oy' i) .hcrcrtrr ir .( ! l t l l l r r l la l l l r19h

oy't ut Sinailicltt, cclir) r i l l l { , l$ ro& ,

290 tul

Date post:	11-Jul-2015
Category:	Documents
Upload:	eusebios-christofi
View:	364 times
Download:	0 times

St. John Climacus - The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Documents