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.
EXAMINING THE 30 STEPS OR RUNGS OF THE LADDER
OF DIVINE ASCENT.
By Saint John Climacus
Step 2
ON DETACHMENT
"No one can enter crowned into the heavenly chamber without first making the THREE RENUNCIATIONS. He has to turn away from worldly concerns. from men, from family; he must cut selfishness away; and thirdly, he must rebuff the vanity that follows obedience. "Go out from among them," says the Lord: "Go apart from them. Do not touch the uncleanness of the age" [2 Corinthians 6:17].
Who in the outside world has worked wonders, raised the dead, expelled demons? No one. Such deeds are done by monks. It is their reward. People in secular life cannot do these things, for, if they could, what then would be the point of ascetic practice and the solitary life?"
Step 3
ON EXILE
"There is such a thing as exile, and 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
"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 feely 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 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."
Step 6
ON REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH
"To be reminded of death each day is to die each day; to remember one’s departure from life is to provoke 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… The man who lives daily with the thought of death is to be admired, and the man who gives himself to it by the hour is surely a Saint…"
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… The tears that come after baptism are greater than baptism itself, though it may seem rash to say so. Baptism received by us as children we have all defiled, but we cleanse t anew with our tears. If God in His love for the human race had not given us tears, those being saved would be few indeed and hard to find. Groans and sadness cry out to the Lord, trembling tears interceded for us, and the tears shed out of All-Holy love show that our prayer has been accepted. If nothing befits mourning as much AS HUMILITY, certainly nothing opposes it as much as laughter…"
Step 8
ON PLACIDITY AND MEEKNESS
"…Freedom from anger is a triumph over one’s nature. It is the ability to be impervious to insults, and comes by hard work and the sweat of one’s brow. Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honored or praised. The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing… A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive, and a sure proof of a hot temper is that a man, even when he is alone, should with word and gesture continued to rage against some absent person who has given offense…"
Step 9
ON MALICE
"…Let your malice and your spite be turned against devils. Treat your body always an an enemy, for the flesh is ungrateful and treacherous friend. The more you look after it, the more it hurts you. Malice is an exponent of Scripture which twists the words of the Spirit to suit itself. Let the prayer of Jesus put it to shame, that prayer which cannot be uttered in the company of malice. The words "prayer of Jesus" are sometimes understood as referring to the Jesus Prayer, "LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME." But more probably Saint John Climacus means the Lord’s Prayer. The petition, "FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSW WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US…"
Step 10
ON SLANDER
"Slander is the offspring of HATRED, a subtle and yet crass disease, a leech in hiding and escaping notice, wasting and draining away the lifeblood of love. It puts on the appearance of love and is the ambassador of an unholy and unclean heart. And it is the ruin of chastity…If you want to overcome the spirit of slander, blamed not the person who falls but the prompting demons. No one wants to sin against God, even though all of us sin without being compelled to it…You can always recognize people who are malicious and slanderous. They are filled with the spirit of hatred. TO PASS JUDGMENT ON ANOTHER IS TO USURP SHAMELESSLY A PREROGATIVE OF GOD, and to condemn IS TO RUIN ONE’S SOUL…"
(To be continued)
__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 