My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
GREAT AND HOLY LENT: THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT
By Saint John Climacus
Step 1
On Renunciation of Life
"... God is the life of all free beings. He is the salvation of all, of believers or unbelievers, of the just or the unjust, of the pious or the impious, of those freed from the passions or caught up in them, of monks or those living in the world, of the educated or the illiterate, of the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. He is like the outpouring of light, the glimpse of the sun, or the changes of the weather, which are the same for everyone without exception. "For God is no respecter of persons" (Romans 2:11). An impious man is a rational being, one that must die, who willingly runs away from life, and refuses to believe in the existence of his own everlasting Creator. A transgressor is someone who observes the Divine law only in his own depraved fashion and holds on to heretical belief in opposition to God. A Christian is an imitator of Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as this is humanly possible, and he believes rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity. A friend of God is the one who lives in communion with all that is natural and free from sin and who strives with all his might amidst the trials, the snares, and the noise of the world, to be like someone who rises above them."
Step 2
On Detachment
If you truly love God and long to reach the Kingdom that is to come, if you are truly pained by your failings and are mindful of punishment and of the eternal judgment, if you are truly afraid to die, then it will not be possible to have an attachment, or anxiety, or concern for money, for possessions, for family relationships, for worldly glory, for love and brotherhood, indeed for anything of earth. All worry about one's condition, even for one's body, will be pushed aside as hateful. Stripped of all thought of these caring nothing about them, one will turn freely to Christ. One will look to heaven and to the help coming from there, as in the scriptural sayings: "I will cling close to you" (Psalm 62:9) and "I have not grown tired of following you nor have I longed for the day or the rest that man gives" (Jer. 17"16).
Step 3
On Exile
There is such a thing as exile, an irrevocable renunciation of everything in one's familiar surroundings that hinders one from attaining the ideal of holiness. Exile is a disciplined heart, unheralded wisdom, an unpublicized understanding, a hidden life, masked ideals. It is unseen meditation, the striving to be humble, a wish for poverty, the longing for what is Divine. It is an outpouring of love, a denial of vainglory, a depth of silence.
For followers of the Lord, this manner of thinking operates abundantly at the beginning and they are greatly disturbed by it, as though by some holy fire. I mean separation from their relations for the sake of hardship and simplicity which drives on the lovers of this good. Yet for all that it is praiseworthy, it requires discretion, since not every kind of exile is good if taken to extremes.
The Lord says that every Prophet is without honor in his own country (cf., St. John 4:44). If He is right, then we had better be careful that our act of renunciation is not for empty honor. Exile is a separation from everything, in order that one may hold on totally to God. It is a chosen route of great grief. An exile is a fugitive, running from all relationships with his own relatives and with strangers. Do not wait for souls enamored of the world when you are pressing on towards solitude and exile. In any case, death comes when least expected.
Step 4
On Obedience
It is right that our treatise should now deal with the warriors and athletes in Christ.
As flower comes before every fruit, so exile of body or will precedes all obedience. On these two virtues, as on two golden wings, the holy soul rises serenely to heaven. Perhaps it was of this the Prophet sang when, filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, "Who will give me the wings of a dove?" and, "The active life will give me flight and I will be at rest in contemplation and lowliness" (Psalm 54:7)...
Obedience is a total renunciation of our own life, and it shows up clearly in the way we act. Or, again, obedience is the mortification of the members while the mind remains alive. Obedience is unquestioned movement, death freely accepted, a simple life, danger faced without worry, an unprepared defense before God, fearlessness before death, a safe voyage, a sleeper's journey. Obedience is the burial place of the will and the resurrection of lowliness. A corpse does not contradict or debate the good or whatever seems bad, and the spiritual father who has devoutly put the disciple's soul to death will answer for everything. Indeed, to obey is, with all deliberateness, to put aside the capacity to make one's own judgment.
Step 5
On Penitence
Repentance is the renewal of baptism and is a contract with God for a fresh start in life. Repentance goes shopping for humility and is ever distrustful of bodily comfort. Repentance is critical awareness and a sure watch over oneself. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the refusal to despair. The penitent stands guilty--but undisgraced. Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord by the performance of good deeds which are the opposites of the sins. It is the purification of conscience and the voluntary endurance of affliction. The penitent deals out his own punishment, for repentance is the fierce persecution of the stomach and the flogging of the soul into intense awareness.
A sign of true repentance is the admission that all our troubles, and more besides, whether visible or not, were richly deserved...Through repentance you have reached the Fifth Step. You have in this way, purified the five senses, and by choosing to accept punishment have thereby avoided the punishment that is involuntary. (Source: John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent)
(To be continued)
Please note: The Ladder is a product of that great surge of Monasticism which appeared first in Egypt during the 3rd century, spread rapidly through all of the Eastern Christendom, and eventually reached the West by way of the mediating zeal of figures such as Saint John Cassian.
Those of you Orthodox Christian believers, who truly are seeking to find genuine Christian spirituality, and inspiration, I advise you to turn to the writings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church such as Saint John Climacus, Saint John Cassian, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint Isaac the Syrian, Saint Gregory the New Theologian, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, etc. etc.
Don't be impressed with the pseudo-spirituality of other Eastern religions, cults and heretics. True Christian spirituality is not emotionalism, sentimentalism, and various kinds of theatrics. The Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church lived the faith and were guided by the Holy Spirit. They were, and still are, the great teachers of Christendom.
That many of the first monks had glimpsed a connection between the experience of hardship and an enhanced spirituality is evident in the writings of the early Church. "There was, for instance, the belief that, given the right conditions and preparation, a man may even in this life work his passage upward into the actual presence of God; and there, if God so chooses, he can receive a direct and intimate knowledge of the Divine Being."
"To see, so Saint John insists, it is not sufficient to listen to directions from other people; you need to use your own natural power of sight. 'In the same way, you cannot discover from the teaching of other the beauty of prayer.' He takes as an example the taste of honey:
"Do you imagine that plain words can...describe the love of God...and assurance of the heart? Do you imagine that talk of such matters will mean anything to someone who has never experienced them? If you think so, then you will be like a man who with words and examples tries to convey the sweetness of honey to people who have never tasted it. He talks uselessly."
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George