THE STEPS LISTED IN THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

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

THE STEPS LISTED IN 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 hte 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 DOES NOT NEGLECT TO DO WHAT GOOD HE CAN. The self-controlled man strives with all his might amidst the trials, the snares, and the noise of the world, to be like someone who rises above them.

The monk finds himself in an earthly and defiled body, but pushes himself into the rank and status of the incorporeal Angels. The monk clings only to the Commandments and words of God in every season and place and matter. The monk is ever embattled with what he is, and he is teh unfailing warder of his senses. The monk has a body made holy, a tongue purified, a mind enlightened. Asleep or awake, the monk is a soul pained by THE CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH. WITHDRAWL FROM THE WORLD IS A WILLING HATRED OF ALL THAT IS MATERIALLY PRIZED, A DENIAL OF NATURE FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT IS ABOVE NATURE.

All this is done by those who WILLINGLY TURN FROM THE THINGS OF THIS LIFE, EITHER FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMING KINGDOM, OR BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF THEIR SINS OR ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR LOVE OF GOD. Without such objectives the denial of the world would make no sense. God who judges the contest stands waiting to see how it ends for the one who has taken on this race."

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 concerns 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 who look to heaven and to the help coming from there, as in the scriptural sayings: "I WILL CLING CLOSE TO YOU" [Psalm 62:9]…

CONCEIT may lead to disparage the secular life or secretly to despise those on the outside. We may act in this way in order to escape despair or to obtain hope. We should therefore heed the Lord when speaking to the young man who kept almost all the Commandments" "You need one thing, to sell what you have and to give it to the poor" [Mark 10:21], for by making himself a pauper the young man would learn to accept the charity of others.
If we really wish to enter the contest of religious life, we should pay careful heed to the sense in which the Lord described those remaining in the world as living corpses [Matthew 8:22]. What He said was, in effect, "Let the living dead who are in the world bury those dead in the body."

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…"

Step 4

ON OBEDIENCE

"It is right that our treatise should now deal with the warriors and athletes of 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 RENUNCIATION OF LOWLINESS…INDEED, TO OBEY IS, WITH ALL DELIBERATENESS, TO PUT ASIDE THE CAPACITY TO MAKE ONE’S OWN JUDGMENT.

The beginning of the mortification of both the soul’s will and also of the body’s members is hard. The halfway stage is sometimes difficult, sometimes not. but the end is LIBERATION FROM THE SENSES AND FREEDOM FROM PAIN…"

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 A CRITICAL AWARENESS AND S SURE WATCH OVER ONESELF. REPENTANCE IS THE DAUGHTER OF HOPE AND THE REFUSAL TO DESPAIR. (The penitent stands guilty–but undigraced). 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…"

Step 6

ON REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH

"As thought comes before speech, so the remembrance of death and of sin comes before weeping and mourning. If is therefore appropriate to deal now with this theme.
TO BE REMINDED OF DEATH EACH DAY IS TO DIE EACH DAY; TO REMEMBER ONE’S DEPARTURE FROM LIFE IS TO PROVIDE TEARS BY THE HOUR. Fear of death is a property of nature DUE TO DISOBEDIENCE, but terror of death IS A SIGN OF UNREPENTED SINS. Christ is frightened of dying but NOT terrified, thereby clearly revealing the properties of His two natures.
Just as bread is the most necessary of all foods, so THE THOUGHT OF DEATH IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL OF ALL WORKS…"

Step 7

ON MOURNING

MOURNING which is according to God is a melancholy of the soul, a disposition of an anguished heart that passionately seeks what it thirsts for, and when it fails to attain it, pursues it diligently and follows behind it lamenting bitterly…If you are endowed with mourning, hold fast to it with all your strength, for it can easily be lost if it is not well secured. Like wax melting near fire, it can easily be dissolved by noise, worldly cares, and luxury, but, in particular, bey garrulity and frivolity."

(To be continued)

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

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George