Another "Stairway to Heaven"

The Ladder of Divine Ascent

"Some people living carelessly in the world put a question to me: 'How can we who are married and living amid public cares aspire to the monastic life?'

I answered: ' Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of no one. Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do not separate yourself from the church assemblies. Show compassion to the needy. Do not be a cause of scandal to anyone. Stay away from the bed of another, and be satisfied with what your own wives can provide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the kingdom of heaven.'"

-From "The Ladder of Divine Ascent" - Step One

- St. John Climacus (St. John of the Ladder)

_______________________________

Dweller of the desert and angel in the body,

you were shown to be a wonder-worker,

our God-bearing Father John.

You received heavenly gifts through fasting,

vigil, and prayer:healing the sick

and the souls of those drawn to you by faith.

Glory to Him who gave you strength!

Glory to Him who granted you a crown!

Glory to Him who through you grants healing to all!

-Troparion

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is dedicated to St John of the Ladder (Climacus).

St. John , the author of the work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, was the abbot of St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai during the 6th century. The Monastery is still standing today as a symbol and witness to the effort needed for entrance into God's Kingdom (Mt.10: 12). To this day, entering the Monastery involves climbing a steep ladder that is pulled up out of sight, to provide protection from wild animals and robbers.

http://www.touregypt.net/Catherines.htm

The spiritual struggle of the Christian life is a real one, "not against flesh and blood, but against ... the rulers of the present darkness ... the hosts of wickedness in heavenly places ..." (Eph 6:12).

Saint John encourages the faithful in their efforts for, according to the Lord, only "he who endures to the end will be saved" (Mt.24:13).

A CALL TO REPENTANCE - from "The Ladder of Divine Ascent" - Step Five

"Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life. A penitent is a buyer of humility. Repentance is constant distrust of bodily comfort... Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair .... Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord by the practice of good deeds contrary to the sins. Repentance is purification of conscience. Repentance is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions...

"Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously and assuredly the angel who guards you will honor your patience, While a wound is still fresh and warm it is easy to heal, but old, neglected and festering ones are hard to cure, and require for their care much treatment, cutting, plastering and cauterization. Many from long neglect become incurable. But with God all things are possible...

"We must carefully consider whether our conscience has ceased to accuse us, not as a result of purity, but because it is immersed in evil. A sign of deliverance from our falls is the continual acknowledgment of our indebtedness.

"Nothing equals or excels God's mercies. Therefore he who despairs is committing suicide. A sign of true repentance is the acknowledgment that we deserve all the troubles, visible and invisible, that come to us, and even greater ones. Moses, after seeing God in the bush, returned again to Egypt, that is, to darkness and to the brick-making of Pharoah, symbolical of the spiritual Pharoah. But he went back again to the bush, and not only to the bush but also up the mountain. Whoever has known contemplation will never despair of himself. Job became a beggar, but he became twice as rich again.

"The forgetting of wrongs is a sign of true repentance. But he who dwells on them and thinks that he is repenting is like a man who thinks he is running while he is really asleep..."