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30. St John of the Ladder (d. 649) abbot on Mt Sinai and ascetical writer |
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John's nick-name "Climacus" comes from his famous classic in ascetical literature, "The Ladder of Paradise", which is read in Orthodox monasteries during Lent. Patrick Duffy researches what is known of his life and work. In prep
Early life
Little is known for definite about John's early life. He was born in Palestine. Some say that he became a monk on Mt Sinai at the age of sixteen and afterwards lived as a solitary in different places in the Arabian Desert. Others say he was married in early life and became a monk on the death of his wife and that after some years in community, he then became a hermit coming together with other hermits to church on Saturday and Sunday.
Abbot of Mt Sinai
John was already seventy when he was made abbot of Sinai, and four years later he resigned to prepare in solitude for his death.
The Ladder to Paradise
His fame lies mainly a work much-read in East and West entitled The Ladder to Paradise. This work treats of the way to union with God and moral perfection to be reached by a ladder of the following thirty "rungs" into which the book is divided:
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- Renunciation of the world
- Detachment
- Exile
- Obedience
- Penitence
- Remembrance of death
- Mourning
- Placidity and meekness: dealing with anger
- Malice
- Slander
- Talkativeness and silence
- Falsehood
- Despondency
- Gluttony
- Chastity
- Avarice
- Poverty
- Insensitivity
- Sleep, prayer and the singing of psalms in church
- Alertness
- Unmanly fears
- Vainglory
- Pride
- Meekness, simplicity, guilelessness, and wickedness
- Humility
- Discernment
- Stillness
- Prayer
- Dispassion (Apatheia, or "passive disinterestedness")
- Faith, hope, and love
The ladder as inspiration and emblem
His idea of the spiritual life as a ladder has inspired artists to develop interesting illustrations to motivate those on the spiritual journey and as an emblem of the saint himself. His feast is on 30th March.
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