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St.
John Climacus Ladder
of Divine Ascent
Step
1: Renunciation
"But
to secure a rocklike foundation, those with a
mind for the religious life will turn away from
everything, will despise everything, will
ridicule everything, will shake off everything.
Innocence, abstinence, temperance - these make a
fine thrice-firm foundation."
Step
2: Detachment
"No
one can enter crowned into the heavenly
bridechamber without first making the three
renunciations. He has to turn away from worldly
concerns, from men, from family; he must cut
selfishness away; and thirdly, he must rebuff
the vanity that follows obedience."
Step
3: Exile
"Exile
is a separation from everything, in order that
one may hold on totally to God. . . Exile is a
disciplined heart, unheralded wisdom, a hidden
life . . . unseen meditation, the striving to be
humble, a wish for poverty, the longing for what
is divine."
Step
4: On
Blessed and Ever-Memorable Obedience
"Obedience
is unquestioning movement, voluntary death, a
life free of curiosity, carefree danger,
unprepared defense before God, fearlessness of
death, a safe voyage, a sleeper’s progress."
Step
5: Repentance
"Repentance
is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions. A
penitent is the inflictor of his own
punishments."
Step 6: On Remembrance of Death
"It is impossible, someone says, impossible to spend the present day devoutly unless we regard it as the last of our whole life."
Step
7: On Mourning
"Mourning which is
according to God is a melancholy of the soul, a
disposition of an anguished heart that
passionately seeks what it thirsts for, and when
it fails to attain it, pursues it diligently and
follows behind it lamenting bitterly."
Step
8: On Freedom From Anger and On Meekness
"The
first step toward freedom from anger is to keep
the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the
next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is
upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean
winds are blowing."
Step
9: On Remembrance of Wrongs
"Some,
for the sake of forgiveness, give themselves up
to labor and struggles, but a man who is
forgetful of wrongs excels them. If you forgive
quickly, then you will be generously forgiven."
Step
10: On Slander or Calumny
"He
who wants to overcome the spirit of slander
should not ascribe the blame to the person who
falls, but to the demon who suggests it. For no
one really wants to sin against God, even though
we all sin without being forced to do so."
Step
11: On Silence and talkativeness
"He
who has become aware of his sins has controlled
his tongue, but a talkative person has not yet
come to know himself as he should."
Step
12: On Lying
"A
lie is the destruction of love, and a false oath
is a denial of God."
Step
13: On Despondency
"Despondency
is being languid in
singing psalms, weak in prayer, like iron in
service, resolute in manual labor, reliable in
obedience."
Step
14: On That Clamorous Mistress, the Stomach
"Stint
your stomach and you will certainly lock your
mouth, because the tongue is strengthened by an
abundance of food. Struggle with all your might
against the stomach and restrain it with all
sobriety. If you labor a little, the Lord will
also soon work with you."
Step
15: On Incorruptible Purity and Chastity
"The
good Lord shows His great care for us in that
the shamelessness of the feminine sex is checked
by shyness as with a sort of bit. For if the
woman were to run after the man, no flesh would
be saved."
Step
16: On Love
of Money, or Avarice
"The
collector (of money) is stirred by charity, but,
when the money is in, the grip tightens."
Step
17: On Permissiveness
“The
man who has tasted the things of heaven easily
thinks nothing of what is below, but he who has
had no taste of heaven finds pleasure in
possessions.”
Step
18: On Insensibility
"He
who has lost sensibility is a witless
philosopher, a self-condemned commentator, a
self-contradictory windbag, a blind man who
teaches others to see."
Step
19: On
Sleep, Prayer, and Psalmody
With the Brotherhood
"Just
as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too
from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we
must struggle with the question of sleep,
especially in the early days of obedience,
because a long-standing habit is difficult to
cure."
Step
20: On Bodily Vigil, and How to
Use It to Attain Spiritual Vigil, and How to
Practice It
"Some
stand before earthly kings without weapons and
without armor; but others hold staffs of office,
or have shields, or swords. The former are
vastly superior to the latter, for they are
usually personal relations of the king and
members of the royal household. So it is with
earthly kings."
Step
21: On Unmanly and Puerile Cowardice
"It
is not darkness and desolateness of place that
give the demons power against us, but barrenness
of soul. And through God’s providence, this
sometimes happens in order that we may learn by
it."
Step
22: On the Many Forms of Vainglory
"When
you hear that your neighbor or friend has abused
you behind your back or even to your face, then
show love and praise him."
Step
23: On Mad Pride
"When
the demon of pride gets a
foothold in his servants, he
appears to them either in sleep or in a waking
vision, as though in the form of a holy angel or
some martyr, and gives them a revelation, of
mysteries, or a free bestowal of spiritual
gifts. . ."
Step
24: On
Meekness, Simplicity, and Guilessness
"Meekness
is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains
the same in honor and dishonor."
Step
25: On
Humility
"Many
have received salvation without prophesies and
revelations, without signs and wonders; but
without humility no one will enter the marriage
chamber, because humility is the guardian of
these gifts, and without her they bring
frivolous people to ruin."
Step
26: On
discernment of thoughts, passions and virtues
"Let
us try to learn Divine truth more by toil and
sweat than by mere word, for at the time of our
departure it is not words but deeds that will
have to be shown"
Step
27: On
holy
stillness of body and soul
"He
who is sick in soul from some passion and
attempts stillness is like a man who has jumped
from a ship into the sea and thinks that he will
reach the shore safely on a plank."
Step
28:
On
Holy and Blessed Prayer
"When
you are going to stand before the Lord, let the
garment of your soul be woven throughout with
the thread of obliviousness to wrongs.
Otherwise, prayer will bring you no benefit."
Step
29:
Concerning
Heaven on Earth, or Godlike Dispassion
"The
dispassionate man no longer lives himself, but
Christ lives in him, as he says who fought the
good fight, finished his course and kept the
faith."
Step
30:
The
Supreme Trinity among the Virtues
"He
who says that he loves the Lord and is angry
with his brother is like a man who dreams that
he is running.
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