SPIRITUAL STEPS THAT LEAD TO SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

SPIRITUAL STEPS THAT LEAD TO SPIRITUAL
ATTAINMENT.

THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT

By Saint John Climacus

A strong faith is the mother of renunciation. The opposite of this
is quite evident.
Unswerving hope is the gateway to detachment. The opposite of
this is perfectly obvious.
Love of God is the foundation of exile. The opposite of this is
quite evident.
Self-criticism begets obedience and the longing for health.
Self-control is the mother of health. The mother of self-control is the
thought of death and the memory of the gall and vinegar of God
our Lord.
The solitary life is the helper and the foundation of chastity.
Fasting quenches the fires of the flesh. And contrition of heart is the
foe of dirty thoughts.
Faith and withdrawal from the world are the death of avarice.
Compassion and love are betrayers of the body.
Unremitting prayer is the death of despondency.
Remembrance of the judgment is an encouragement to zeal.
Love of being dishonored is a cure for anger. And the singing of
hymns, the display of compassion, and poverty are quenchers of
sorrow.
Detachment from the things perceived by the senses means the
the vision of things spiritual.
Silence and solitude are the foes of vainglory. If you are in a
crowd, seek out dishonor.
A gloomy environment will cure open pride, but only He Who is
invisible from all Eternity can cure the pride hidden within us.
The deer destroys all visible serpents and humility and humility
destroys those of the spirit.
We can learn to perceive intelligible things clearly by means of
everything that exists in the natural world.
Clouds hide the sun. Evil thoughts bring shadows to the mind
and ruin it.
One spark has often set fire to a great forest, and it has been
found that one good deed can wipe away a multitude of sins
(cf. James 3:5; 5:20).
Just as by nature we cannot exist without food, we cannot
afford to slip into carelessness even for an instant at any time
up to the moment of death.
A dead man cannot walk. A man in despair cannot be saved.
A man who asserts that he has the true faith and yet continues to
sin is like a man without eyes. And the man who has no faith but
who does good is like someone who draws water and then pours it
into a barrel with holes.
Keep track of the exact condition of each passion and of each virtue,
and you will know exactly how you are maiking progress.
The beginning of repentance is the beginning of salvation.
To have dispassion is to have the fullness of love, by which I mean the
complete indwelling of God in those who, through dispassion, are pure
of heart for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). To Him be glory
forever and ever. Amen.

_______
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George