The fifth step on St. John’s Ladder of Divine ascent, is REPENTANCE. St. John says that Repentance is the renewal of baptism and is a contract with God for a fresh start in life. The Greek word for repentance, as … Continue reading
Category Archives: The Spirituality Of the Christian East
The first fundamental virtue that St. John Climacus identifies, Obedience, is, as I shared in the last issue, first to God. Obedience, however, does not really stop there. In the broader sense of virtue, our obedience is to be extended … Continue reading
Step four on St. John’s Ladder of Divine Ascent, as I began sharing with you in the last issue of the article, is the first of several fundamental virtues: obedience. The virtue of obedience is a state of mind, a … Continue reading
In this article I have embarked on presenting the 30 steps or rungs of St. John’s Ladder of Divine Assent. The first three rungs deal with breaking with the world and are within the first part of his book. The … Continue reading
I have already shared with you the first three rungs of John’s Ladder. They are Renunciation, Detachment and Exile. The third rung, I believe, requires further explication. Spiritual exile often means that we have very different, and even completely opposite … Continue reading
The second rung on Climacus’ Divine Ladder of Ascent, is Detachment. This is closely allied to his first rung which, as I have shared, is Renunciation. While truly detachment involves letting go of our need for self-gratification, it is also … Continue reading
In this article I would continue sharing thoughts about spirituality as found in St. John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent. As I shared in the last issue, John saw the first rung on the ladder of our spiritual journey to … Continue reading
St. John Climacus felt that the very first rung on the Ladder of Ascent is probably one of the more difficult rungs. John sees the first step as renunciation of this world and things of this world. He says that … Continue reading
During this time after Easter, I thought that I would share some ideas about Eastern spirituality that are derived from our Father among the Saints, St. John Climacus. While his Ladder of Divine Ascent was written for monks, I believe … Continue reading
The more I think about the spirituality of the Eastern Church the more I am convinced that it captures something very important. I truly believe it captures the true meaning and purpose of life. Think about what our spiritual says … Continue reading