In this presentation of John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent I have now reached his 25th Step: HUMILILTY. John tells that: Humility is constant forgetfulness of one’s achievements … the admission that in all the world one is the least … Continue reading
Category Archives: Eastern Christian Spirituality and Prayer
Step 24 on John’s Ladder begins a new section, namely emphasis on the Higher Virtues. Thus the first step in this section is Meekness/Simplicity. St. John introduces this Step by defining what, in his estimation, meekness is: He writes: Meekness … Continue reading
The 23rd Step on St. John’s Ladder, is entitled PRIDE. Pride begins where vainglory leaves off. Its midpoint comes with the humiliation of our neighbor, the shameless parading of our achievements, complacency, and unwillingness to be found out. It ends … Continue reading
St. John’s 21st Step, FEAR, is very confusing to many Christians since on one hand we are called to trust in God and then on the other hand we are called to “Fear God.” I have often been questioned about … Continue reading
The 21st Step on John’s Ladder, is simply called FEAR. John defines fear as danger tasted in advance, a quiver as the heart takes fright before unnamed calamity. Fear is loss of assurance. Fear is, of course, natural, but it … Continue reading
The 20th Step on John’s Ladder (don’t despair we only have 10 more steps to go) is ALERTNESS. From the passion of sleep (Step 19) we move on to its positive counterpart: the virtue of ALERTNESS. It is a virtue … Continue reading
As I shared with you, my readers, the 19th Step on John’s Ladder is difficult to truly understand in many ways. No one, not even the saints, can live without sleep. But if we truly love prayer (especially when we … Continue reading
Step 19 of the Spiritual Ladder is, I believe, more difficult to understand. St. John places this step under the category of spiritual passions. This may seem curious to many. We do not tend to think of sleep as a … Continue reading
In the last issue I began sharing some information about St. John’s 16th Step, AVARICE. John shares that the first principle of Christian charity is that we should give in accordance with our ability. In our modern world, however, people … Continue reading
I have been considering the 14th step on John’s Ladder, Gluttony. When we think about this step, we realize that gluttony considers high-quality food, or eating meat five days a week, to be something to which it is entitled. This … Continue reading