The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: Saint John Climacus and the Ladder of Divine Ascent.

Fr. Andria

Fr. Andria

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today, on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, we remember Saint John of the Ladder. He is

one of the great teachers of the Orthodox Church. His famous book, "The Ladder of Divine

Ascent" shows us the path to spiritual growth and union with God.

Saint John lived in the Sinai desert. This is a holy place where many prophets met God.

Moses saw God there. Elijah heard God there. And in this same place, Saint John lived, prayed,

and wrote about his experience of God. He came to the monastery when he was only sixteen years old. He was well educated, but he chose a life of silence, prayer, and humility. He lived many years in the desert, learning how to be close to God.

One of his important teachings is this: “Exile is to leave everything in order to be fully with God.”

This does not mean only leaving a place. It means letting go of anything that keeps us

away from God, our pride, our anger, our selfish desires. Saint John teaches us that monastic life is not about escaping the world. It is about changing the heart. A monastery is not a place for rest or comfort. It is a place of struggle, prayer, and love.

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Monks give up many things, but they do this out of love. They give themselves fully to

God. And in doing this, they also give themselves to others. True love means giving without

expecting anything in return. Saint John also reminds us of an important truth: “Know yourself.”

The Ladder is an extraordinary Christian response to the precept adopted by

Socrates from the oracle of Delphi: “Know yourself!” When we truly know ourselves, we see both our weaknesses and our need for God. This helps us grow in humility and repentance.

His book speaks mainly to monks, but it is also for all of us. We may not live in a

monastery, but we are all called to grow spiritually. We are all climbing our own ladder toward

God.

The “ladder” has thirty steps. These steps show us the journey of spiritual growth. The

number thirty is important—it reminds us of Christ, who began His public ministry at the age of

thirty. It is a symbol of spiritual maturity.

Dear friends, the life of Saint John teaches us that spiritual growth requires effort and love. Whether

we live in a monastery or in the world, we are all called to the same goal, to love God and to

love one another.

Let us consider what John Climacus has to tell us about prayer. First, he sees

prayer as the tax tone by maybe huge who we are and where we are. Prayer is a monk's mirror and

lay person's mirror. Pryer shows who I am and where I am. As Theophan the Recluse says, prayer is

the test of everything. If prayer is right, everything is right. We can ask ourselves during the leant

where do I stand? What do I see when I look in the mirror? What happens when I am alone with God?

These are questions to ask during Great Lent. The effect of prayer holds the world together. How

much does prayer connect my world and yours? My life and yours. The relationship between God and us. How can we insert our word and deed into this triangle so that God does not fall out of

our hearts? We should not abandon prayer or talking to God, because in dialogue we need God and

understanding of life through him.

My sermon will deal with John Climacus's understanding of prayer as divine-human

dialogue, with the eschatological implication of prayer. He teaches us: your prayer will show you

what condition you are in. Theologians say that prayer is the mirror of the monk. John knew that

praying is not a monastic privilege, even if it is preeminently what monks are designed to do.

Again, repeat this amazing word: John Climacus in step 28 ‘On Prayer he states: “Prayer is by

nature a dialogue and a union of men with God” (Pg. 274, 1982)

When people learn that I'm a monk, their first questions often revolve around my prayer

habits and dietary choices. Some are even surprised to hear that we eat at all, imagining us

subsisting on grass like the desert fathers of old. Yet, if I were to eat grass, I'd first have to begin

with meat. Prayer, Climacus is convinced, must be personally lived. One must “touch” it or be

‘touched” by it. Prayer does not even exist on its own. It exists only as the activity of a praying

person, or as the human person in prayer. We're not just about talk and prayer; we're about action.

Yet, we must also be open to hearing and heeding God's voice.

John asks: How can you truly converse with the one whom you have not seen? One who has not yet known God is unfit for hesychia. He keeps saying: The world of prayer exposes lovers of God.

What can we say about God? It is God who takes the initiative; it is God who “anticipates” us (prokatalakvanei) and, paradoxically, responds first so that ‘prayer itself’ to use Rudolph Karl Bultmann’s words, ‘is already its own answer”. When praying, one prays not only for oneself but for all and with all (1Tim. 2.1). One’s ‘I’ is identified with the “we” of people.

Pray for your enemy... This is the most difficult part of our life. How can someone manage

and do that? As the Gospel has it, to say that we love God when we do not love our neighbor is

to prove ourselves liars (1 Jn. 4. 20). John Climacus says, the converse also holds true: If you say

that you love, then pray secretly. Barsanuphius says that a monk prays for the entire world - even

for those who are his enemies. Imagine today: how can we pray for our enemies? Almost

impossible, right, because somebody will say we are not good Christians or good citizens because

we pray for our enemies...Prayer mirrors the prayer of a spiritual elder viewed as ‘a protection for all people and for all nations. Prayer is a converse and union of humans with God.

John insists that prayer should be ‘continual’ even when he has reached the very top of the ladder of

perfection.

True prayer for him is the simplicity, in contrast to loquacity or verbosity, which John

depreciates: “ Do not try to be verbose(polylogein), when you pray, lest your mind be distracted

in searching for words. One word of the publican propitiated God, and one cry of faith saved the

thief. Loquacity (polylogia) in prayer often distracts the intellect (nous) and leads to fantasy,

whereas brevity (monologia) makes for concentration.

“Until we have acquired true prayer, we are like those who introduce children to walking”(Pg.

276). “Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven” (pg. 277). “After a

long spell of prayer, do not say that nothing has been gained, for you have already achieved

something. For, after all, what higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and to persevere in

unceasing union with God?” (Pg, 278). “ ...according to Gregory the Theologian, “God heals in no more certain way than through suffering.”

Gregory Palama said that the Church fathers have declared that fasting is the essence of prayer.

(Pg. 49). When prayer becomes difficult, some people ask: Why should I pray from a church prayer book? If I can speak directly to God, why do I need these written prayers? But here another question appears.

Maybe we do not want to take the book because we are lazy. Maybe it is easier for us to

say, “I will just speak to God directly.” So we ask again: why do we need so many prayer books if we can talk to God ourselves?

Let me give a simple example. When a child comes to the first grade, imagine if the child says to the teacher, “Why do I need to learn the alphabet? I can already speak.” Yes, the child can speak. But the child still needs to learn the alphabet to connect letters correctly, speak clearly, and express thoughts in an organized way. The child also receives the knowledge and experience that many people had before.

In the same way, prayer books help us learn how to pray.

Sometimes we avoid reading because of laziness, and we comfort ourselves by saying,

“Why do I need books? I will just talk to God.” But the prayer book helps us enter into a spiritual tradition. It gives depth and structure to our prayer. It also gives us the words that Christians have prayed for centuries. These prayers guide us and help us speak more deeply with God.

When you already have a beautiful and trusted alphabet, you do not need to invent a new

one. In the same way, before trying to create our own words, it is often better to learn from the

prayers that the Church has already written and preserved. Through them, we receive spiritual wisdom and sweetness, and our conversation with God becomes richer and deeper.