ABC of faith ladder. A brief description of the life of Abba John, abbot of the holy Mount Sinai, nicknamed the scholastic.
“Oh, if only I could / Although in part, / I would write eight lines / About the properties of passion. / About lawlessness, about sins, / Runs, pursuits, / Accidents in a hurry, / Elbows, palms,” Pasternak wrote, realizing that an accurate, apt word about passions is difficult and there cannot be many such words. The exact word about passions slips out of your hands like a wet live fish, and the passions themselves intertwine, merging with each other, forming a disgusting unity. Of course, the word "passion" in in this case used as a synonym for the expression "sickness of the soul", and not as a romantic longing or a noble fire in the blood.What Pasternak admitted he was powerless to do was done long ago by Abbot John, nicknamed Climacus. This servant of God wrote not eight lines, but a whole book about passions and the fight against them. This book was born as a result of the experience of struggle and victory, since in the usual state a person is in hard labor under sin and - oh, woe! - He doesn’t notice his troubles. Only when a person is freed or begins to free himself is he given an outside view of himself, and therefore the opportunity to describe the process of internal healing.
This book is really “about lawlessness, about sins, running, chasing,” and it begins with a chapter about flight from the world. This is the first of 30 steps leading to King Christ, and therefore “The Ladder” should be read first by monks. People who remain in the world and are not capable of a full-fledged and irrevocable escape also need this book, but not as a reference book. It is needed as an example of heavenly thinking living in a fragile bodily shell. Perhaps, during Lent, when marital beds cool down and are sanctified by abstinence, when the food on the table of monks and laity is not significantly different, a person who does not wear black robes can read something from monastic books. Engaging in such reading constantly and at all times can be dangerous for a layman. The danger is that one's lifestyle must conform to one's chosen reading. And if books and life are different, the soul bifurcates, suffering itself and causing suffering to those around.
So, without leaving the world anywhere with our body, we must be to some extent free from the worldly spirit. Simeon New Theologian tells us that “the world is neither silver nor gold, nor horses, nor mules, nor food, nor wine, nor bread. It is neither houses, nor fields, nor vineyards, nor country dwellings. So what? Sin, addiction to things and passions.” If this is “a world that lies in evil,” then you can run from it while remaining in place.
And the words of the wise, better than anything else, expose the sin that lives in man. The words of the wise put a lot of things into place and give an exact price to those brilliant fakes that we ourselves are inclined to call virtues.
Climacus, for example, writes that zealous asceticism in the world is most often fueled by vanity, as if by some dirty and secret drains. Nothing can be learned about a person’s spirit as long as a person lives in front of many. A worldly analogue of such words can be considered a song advising: “Take the guy to the mountains with you.” Any situation that carries danger or unusual severity, requires sacrifice and brotherly bonding and does not promise flowers and medals as a reward, shows who is who. “There you will understand who he is,” the song says. And here are the words of the monk: “I saw many and various plants of virtues, planted by worldly people and, as if from an underground drain of impurity, soldered with vanity, entrenched with self-praise and fattened with the dung of praise. But they soon withered when they were transplanted to empty land, inaccessible to worldly people and without the stinking moisture of vanity.”
These are thorny words, just as words of true wisdom should be. “The words of the wise are like needles and like driven nails, and their compilers are from one shepherd” (Eccl. 12:11). The horror of the last and fair Judgment may be not so much in the fact that we sinned, and sinned a lot, but in the fact that even our best impulses and efforts were deeply poisoned by sin and unworthy of a blissful eternity. This is where the real trouble is, and I don’t know where healing can come from, if not from the words of spiritual experience salted with wisdom. Someone who had love in himself said that the books of saints are worthy of the same veneration as the relics of saints, and perhaps even more.
Or another example.
It is difficult to find a person who does not suffer, at least from time to time, from fornication. The Apostle Peter called “corruption through lust” the “ruling thing in the world,” and we don’t need to read much to confirm the truth of these words. But how to fight? There is fasting and prayer, but either we do not know the power of both, or sin is so strong that we do not feel free. You can run away from the world by plugging your ears and closing your eyes. But temptation will follow you everywhere, because it has crept into your memory and settled in your heart with poisonous sweetness. And now Climacus gives unexpected advice: “Drink reproach diligently, like the water of life, from every person who wants to give you this medicine that cleanses you from fornication, for then deep purity will shine in your soul and the light of God will not become scarce in your heart.”
That's how it is. You suffered in the secret of your heart from an adulterous thorn for a day, or two, or more. And then your boss unexpectedly called you in and treated you like dirt, accusing you of all real and imagined shortcomings. Now fornication will leave the soul for a long time, giving way to bitter resentment, and thus God will lead you away from the abyss on the edge of which you were already standing. And the grievances will pass, the grievances are not so dangerous.
For salvation, the so-called “mind of salvation” is necessary, without which all work risks ending up as sowing on asphalt and plowing in a swamp. The proverbial praying fool bows to the ground really breaks the forehead and, apart from this unnecessary injury, no longer achieves any fruit. Therefore, the crystallized experience of the Church must be in demand by us, and we must find both time and perseverance for a careful acquaintance with it. This is so as not to run in the wrong direction and not beat the air (see: 1 Cor. 9:26).
“The Ladder” is not a Typikon, and its value is different. Not described there prayer rules, the number of bows or the measure of eating food is not defined. Much more important things are revealed there, the effects of which are not revealed to a superficial glance. In fact, reading such books is a cure for blindness. And we ourselves, no matter how many years of life the Lord gave us, would never understand our inner life with the degree of depth and clarity with which Abbot John of Mount Sinai did this.
Books like “The Ladder” are read throughout one’s life and are learned little by little, with practical effort. Breathing in them is that wisdom that is “first pure, then peaceable, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unfeigned” (James 3:17).
The life and works of St. John ClimacusReverend John Climacus born in Constantinople. Exact date his birth is unknown, but presumably it was in the year 570. In his youth John received a good education. At the age of 16, he came to Egypt to Mount Sinai and chose a mentor for himself, Elder Martyrius. After some time, he was tonsured a monk. One of those present at the tonsure, Elder Stratigios, predicted that John would become a great lamp of the Church of Christ. For 19 years the monk John labored in obedience to his spiritual father. After the death of Martyrius, John chose a hermit's life, retiring to the deserted place of Fola, where he spent 40 years in complete silence, fasting, prayer and tears of repentance.
The Monk John had a disciple, the monk Moses. One day, John ordered Moses to bring soil to the garden for garden beds. Carrying out this obedience, the monk Moses, due to the intense summer heat, lay down to rest under the shade of a large cliff. John was at this time in his cell and rested after long prayer. Suddenly a certain handsome man appeared to him and, waking up the ascetic, said: “Why are you, John, calmly resting here, while Moses is in danger?” John immediately woke up and began to pray for Moses. When he returned, John asked if anything bad had happened to him. The monk replied that he was almost crushed by a large piece of stone that came off the cliff under which he had fallen asleep. But in a dream he imagined that John was calling him, and he jumped up and began to run, and at that time a stone fell on the place where he was sleeping.
John had a high, insightful mind, was wise with deep spiritual experience, he lovingly taught everyone who came to him, leading them to salvation. But envious people appeared in his circle, reproaching him for his verbosity, which they explained by vanity. John took upon himself the feat of silence, so as not to give rise to condemnation, and remained silent for a year. The envious people realized their error and themselves turned to the ascetic with a request not to deprive them of the spiritual benefits of the interview. Hiding his exploits from people, John sometimes secluded himself in a cave, but the fame of his pious life spread far beyond the place of his exploits, and visitors of all ranks and statuses constantly came to him, eager to hear the word of edification and salvation.
After forty years of asceticism in solitude, John was elected abbot of the Sinai monastery. For about four years he ruled the monastery of Sinai. The Lord endowed John by the end of his life with the grace-filled gifts of clairvoyance and miracles. John reposed in 649 at the age of 80. The location of John's relics is unknown. The Life of John was compiled several years after his death monk of the Raifa monastery Daniel, his friend and contemporary. Fragmentary information about the life of John was left by his anonymous disciple; his story complements the story of Daniel, in which John is called the “new Moses.”
"Ladder"
While managing the monastery, John wrote the famous “ Ladder» - a guide for ascent to spiritual perfection. The work was written at the request of John, abbot of the Raifa monastery. Knowing about the wisdom and spiritual gifts of John Climacus, the abbot of Raifa, on behalf of all the monks of his monastery, asked to write for them “ true guidance for those who follow is unwavering, and as if a ladder has been established, which leads those who wish to the gates of Heaven...“John called his creation “The Ladder,” explaining the name this way:
I built a ladder of ascent... from the earthly to the holy... in the image of the thirty years of the Lord's coming of age, significantly I built a ladder of 30 degrees, along which, having reached the Lord's age, we will find ourselves righteous and safe from falling.
Handwritten book "Ladder"Vanity is expressed with every virtue. When, for example, I keep a fast, I become vain, and when, hiding the fast from others, I allow food, I again become vain through prudence. Having dressed in light clothes, I am overcome by curiosity and, having changed into thin clothes, I am vain. Whether I begin to speak, I fall into the power of vanity. Whether I want to remain silent, I surrender to him again. Wherever you turn this thorn, it will all become spokes upward. A vain person... in appearance he honors God, but in reality he tries more to please people than God... People of high spirit endure insults complacently and willingly, but only saints and immaculate people can listen to praise and not feel any pleasure... When you hear that your neighbor or friend is in eyes or behind your eyes, he curses you, praise and love him... He who shows humility is not the one who scolds himself: how can one be intolerable to oneself? But whoever, dishonored by another, does not reduce his love for him... Whoever exalts himself with natural gifts - a happy mind, high education, reading, pleasant pronunciation and other similar qualities that are easily acquired, never acquires supernatural gifts. For he who is unfaithful in little things will be unfaithful and vain in many things. It often happens that God Himself humbles the vain, sending unexpected dishonor... If prayer does not destroy vainglorious thoughts, let us bring to mind the exodus of the soul from this life. If this does not help, we will frighten him with the shame of the Last Judgment. “Be exalted, be humble” even here, before the next century. When praisers, or better yet, flatterers, begin to praise us, we will immediately bring to mind all our iniquities and find that we are not at all worth what is attributed to us.
The first Slavic translation of the “Ladder” was probably made in Bulgaria in the 10th century; extracts from this translation, together with extracts from the Skitsky and Egyptian patericons, were included in the collection to which the Izbornik of 1076 dates back. From the Slavic translations of “The Ladder” that were in circulation in Rus', the best known is the list made in 1387 by Metropolitan Cyprian of Kyiv and All Rus' in the Studite Monastery and brought to Rus' in 1390. The manuscript collection of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra contains 10 copies of the “Ladder” of the 15th-17th centuries. In general, they are built according to the same plan: after the Life of John Climacus, written by Daniel of Raifa, and the preliminary messages, a preface is offered, sometimes a drawing of a colorful ladder is given, the main text, after which was placed “news about the holy fathers called John,” and a number of additional materials. Since according to the charter it was supposed to read “The Ladder” during Lent, some manuscripts contain a breakdown into conceptions. In 1647, by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and with the blessing of Patriarch Joseph, the first edition was published in Moscow within a few months Slavic translation sensible "Ladder", which had all-Russian significance. This edition was made according to the manuscript of the Solovetsky monk Sergius (Shelonin), who took part in the work of the Printing House.
Book “The Ladder”, manuscript with miniatures. XVIII century Works of St. John Climacus
- « Ladder of Divine Ascension" The work is also known as “The Ladder of Paradise.” Written at the end of the 6th century at the request of John, abbot of the Raifa monastery: “Teach us the ignorant what you saw in the vision of God, like ancient Moses, and on the same mountain; and set it down in a book, as on the tablets written by God, for the edification of the new Israelites.” Provides a guide to improvement. The image of the “Ladder” is borrowed from the Bible, which describes the vision of Jacob’s Ladder, along which angels ascend (Gen. 28:12). The work belongs to the category of ascetic literature.
- « Shepherd, or a special word to the shepherd" The text is addressed to Abbot John of Raifa. The word is dedicated to the role of the spiritual father in the life of a monk.
- « Response letter to St. John of Raifa" The abbot of the Raifa monastery asks John Climacus to send a “precious issue” for the edification of his students; in response, John Climacus promises to send his work, fearing “death due to disobedience.”
Troparion and Kontakion to St. John Climacus
Troparion, tone 8
With your tears you have watered the barren desert with your tears, and you have brought fruit from the depths of the air with a hundred labors. And he became a lamp of the universe, shining the miracles of John Our Father. Pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 4
As having found the Divine ladder, Venerable John, your Divine Scriptures, with them we are raised to Heaven: and for you were a virtue of imagination. Pray to Christ God to save our soul.
Kontakion, tone 4
Lord of abstinence, truly set you on high, like an unflattering star illuminating the ends, mentor John our Father.
Venerable John Climacus. Icons
Iconographic images associated with St. John the Climacus are divided into two groups: individual images of the saint and images on the theme of “The Ladder.” The Monk John is depicted as thin, with an ascetic face, a high forehead, sometimes marked by deep wrinkles and small bald patches.
Venerable John, Great Martyr George and Saint Blaise. Novgorod, second floor. XIII century. SPb, State Russian Museum 
Icon of St. John Climacus. Greece 
Reverend John. Fresco. Cyprus, Neophytos Monastery. 1197
The Monk John Climacus is depicted in monastic attire, which consists of a tunic, a mantle, and a schema. In his hands, John Climacus usually holds a cross, a scroll or a book, like the author of “The Ladder.”
Venerable John Climacus. Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, late XIV - early XV centuries. Russian summary iconographic originals (18th century) report the appearance of the saint in connection with the description of the composition “The Ladder”:
...similar to the sed, brada dole of Vlasiev, in the schema, the venerable robe (Filimonov. Iconographic original. P. 306; See also: Bolshakov. Iconographic original. P. 84).
The iconography of St. John developed quite early, but according to the surviving monuments it can be traced no earlier than the 10th century. In the mosaic and fresco decorations of churches, the image of John Climacus was often placed among famous saints and ascetics.
Reverend John. Tzortzi (Zorzis) Fuka. Fresco. Athos (Dionysiatus). 1547 
Saints John Climacus, John of Damascus, Arseny. Icon (tablet). Novgorod. End of the 15th century
On the icon “Saints John Climacus and Saints Sava Stratilates, coming to the Savior” from the Solvychegda Annunciation Cathedral, John Climacus is depicted with short hair, an elongated, slightly forked beard; with an open scroll in his hand (text on the scroll: “ Arise, ascend, hear, brethren...” is a fragment from Word 30 of “The Ladders.”
John Climacus and Savva Stratelates, coming to the Savior. From Solvychegodsk Annunciation Cathedral. Solvychegodsk, SIHM. Beginning of the 17th century To this day, many illustrated copies of the work of John Climacus have survived, which usually included 1-2 miniatures depicting the ladder and/or the monk on the frontispiece or in compositions illustrating the text. The most common type of illustration was a composition with a ladder leading to heaven and monks ascending along it, many of whom were overthrown, tempted by demons; Traditionally, this miniature depicted John Climacus - at the bottom of the stairs or on one of the upper steps.
Icon of the Vision of St. John Climacus. Mid XVI - beginning of XVII centuries 
Icon of the Vision of St. John Climacus. XVIII century
The Byzantine icon “Heavenly Ladder of St. John the Climacus” (late 12th century) from the monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine in Sinai has been preserved for the subject of “The Ladder.” The icon shows a staircase of 30 steps leading to heaven, along which monks rush upward, but many of them, caught by demons, fall down without reaching their goal. At the very top of the stairs is John the Climacus, who is blessed by Christ, depicted in the heavenly segment, John is followed by Archbishop Anthony of Sinai, on whose initiative the icon was made. At the bottom there is a group of monks, at the top - angels.
Heavenly Ladder of St. John Climacus. Comes from the monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine in Sinai. End of the 12th century 
Ladder of heaven. Icon, St. Catherine's Monastery
Illuminated manuscripts of the Ladder, clearly representing the ideals of monastic asceticism, appear in the second half of the 11th century. Some contain an extensive series of illustrations of the various stages of repentance and asceticism, but initially the Greek manuscripts contained only an ink depiction of a staircase with thirty steps, topped with a cross.
Vision of St. John Climacus. Old Russian miniature of the early 16th century In the 17th century there appeared printed books with engravings on the theme “Ladders”: “Lenten Triodion” and “Ladder” ( Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, 1627), “Ladder” (with an engraving by F. I. Popov based on a drawing by T. Averkiev, M., 1647), “The Lenten Triodion” (with an engraving by V. L. Ushakevich, Lvov, printing house of the Stavropegian Brotherhood, 1664) .
The composition “Ladder” was often reproduced on the walls of Russian churches. Thus, on the southern wall of the gallery of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (1547-1551) there are light figures of hermits in penitential poses, personifying the 5th step of the ladder (repentance), in the form of cells.
The plot of “The Ladder” received particular significance in Old Believer tradition. Thus, on the icon “The Vision of St. John Climacus” (late 18th - early 19th centuries, Russian Museum), each of the 30 steps is numbered and accompanied by an inscription in accordance with the title of the chapters of the book. John Climacus is depicted on the left with an unrolled scroll. At the top of the icon is Jesus Christ with angels, meeting the monks who have reached heaven; to the right of them is a wide panorama of a white-stone city with a garden - Heavenly Jerusalem, behind the walls of which are saints who have been awarded heavenly bliss.
Vision of St. John Climacus. Con. XVIII - beginning XIX century, State Russian Museum 
Icon of the Vision of St. John Climacus. Guslitsa, 19th century
Temples in the name of John Climacus in Rus'
In the name of St. John Climacus, the temple on Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin was consecrated and is known to us as Ivan the Great belltower. At the base of the bell tower is the Church of St. John Climacus. After the addition to a height of 81 m in 1600 (under Boris Godunov), the bell tower was the most tall building Russia until the beginning of the 18th century. In 1329, a church of the “bell-bell” type was built on this site in the name of St. John Climacus. In 1505, the old church was dismantled, and to the east of it, the Italian master Bon Fryazin built a new church in memory of Ivan III (1440-1505), who died that year. Construction was completed in 1508. In 1532-1543, the architect Petrok Maly added a rectangular belfry with the Church of the Ascension of the Lord to the north side of the church, which was completely rebuilt and acquired a look close to the modern one in the third quarter of the 17th century. In 1600, under Tsar Boris Godunov (1552-1605), presumably by the “sovereign master” Fyodor Savelyevich Kone (around 1540 - after 1606), another one was added to the two tiers of the Ivan the Great bell tower, after which the bell tower acquired its modern appearance .
Bell tower of Ivan the Great (Church of St. John Climacus). Moscow The gate church of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was consecrated in the name of St. John Climacus. The church was built in 1572 with the contribution of the sons of Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), princes Ivan (1554-1581) and Fyodor (1557-1598). Therefore, its main altar and chapel were consecrated in the name of the namesake princes of Saints John Climacus and Theodore Stratilates (d. 319).
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Holy Gate with the Gate Church of St. John Climacus The temple in St. John the Theologian Savvo-Krypetsky was consecrated in the name of John Climacus monastery in the Pskov region. The temple was built in 1540-1550. Consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John Climacus.
St. John the Theologian Savvo-Krypetsky Monastery In the name of St. John Climacus, a church of the same faith was consecrated in the town of Kurovskoye, Orekhovo-Zuevsky district, Moscow region.
Single Faith Church in the name of John Climacus in Kurovskoye Soulful teaching on the week of John Climacus
Each week of Lent sequentially, as if by steps, takes us from the time when Adam’s crime and expulsion from Paradise were remembered, to the Bright Week of Christ, which again opened for us the entrance to the previously lost Heavenly Kingdom. Fourth week of Lent dedicated to the memory of the venerable John Climacus, compiler of the book " Ladder" It shows the true and wise path for those who want to achieve inner impartiality and perfection. For many centuries, “The Ladder” was one of the most widely read patristic works. Even today, everyone who is interested in the highest and immutable science reads it with attention: how to save your priceless and immortal soul, how “ putting off the old man with passions and lusts" and become " new Adam", immaculate and virtuous, so that, following the risen Christ, they may enter into the eternal heavenly Easter joy prepared for those who have lived worthily and righteously on earth.
To all who hasten to write their names in the book of life in heaven, this book shows the most excellent way. Walking this way, we will see that she infallibly guides her subsequent instructions, keeps them unscathed from any stumbling and presents us with an established ladder, leading from the earthly to the Holy of Holies, at the top of which the God of Love is established (From the preface to the “Ladder”).
When we internally relax, lose vigilance and self-control, then little by little we leave the path of virtues and go in the opposite direction. It’s hard and burdensome to go up a mountain, but going down is always quick and easy. However, subsequently, whoever wants to return to the former and better condition It will take a lot of work.
Our mind constantly needs to be trained and guided by holy books, because it cannot remain idle. For if he does not do good, he tends to evil (“Flower Garden” by Hieromonk Dorotheus).
While we live in this body, none of us can be sure that we have really achieved any heights and righteousness in life, because there have been many cases when the strictest ascetic devotees suddenly suffered a crushing fall. Some found the strength to rebel and rise again, but there were also those who fell to death, i.e. were damaged in mind and deviated into heresy or wallowed in nasty carnal vices. Therefore, the holy fathers always remind us of attention and frequent book learning in order to recognize the machinations of the mental adversary and move towards saving self-improvement without stumbling. Truly, “The Ladder” can be the most experienced and wise guide, guiding and protecting us on this difficult and long-term path. Summary it, revealing the essence and meaning of spiritual ascent, is also described in “ Flower garden» holy monk Dorothea, which can rightfully be called the “pearl” of patristic literature in ancient Rus'.
Spiritual ladder leading to heaven
Reality
I saw a spiritual ladder of virtues leading to heaven, calculated according to the years of Christ incarnate. The beginning of this spiritual ladder leading to heaven is based on the renunciation of the world and everything earthly in all thoughts, deeds and desires. And its end is confirmed in the Holy of Holies. The steps of this spiritual ladder leading to heaven are constructed differently, according to their origin. And, constantly walking along this spiritual ladder, let each of us reliably watch our foot, which step we stand on, and not slip while ascending it. And he climbs this ladder both in deed and in thought. And having reached its summit, everyone who loves God will stand on it.
Interpretation
Living by the commandments and doing good deeds is like climbing stairs. That is why they are called the spiritual ladder, leading to heaven, the commandments of the Lord and the virtues of the fathers. And we, as if climbing a ladder, go up step by step. And if someone starts to step over two or three, he will slip, fall to the ground and break. The same applies to the commandments and virtues. To the one who begins to bypass the first commandments and virtues, the latter will not submit, but will begin to resist. Therefore, one should assimilate one after another, as if climbing the steps of a ladder.
Reality
I will also call this ladder the saving, true and reliable path along which many walk. And everyone follows this path because they are invited to Big city. But few achieve it, only the chosen ones. The rest are delayed, no matter where. Those - having barely begun this path, these - having reached halfway and straying onto other paths. Some, who have already reached the great city this way, are overtaken by night at the gates, and they do not have time to go inside. Others, diligently following this path, having set their hearts on fire, immediately, like a swift deer, reach the great city before dark and joyfully enter inside. And some, no more nor less, do not want to walk this ladder and this difficult path.
Interpretation
And how many are called and how many are chosen, walking this saving path? For the Lord God says in the Holy Gospel: “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Luke 14:24). Indeed, the Lord God calls the whole world to salvation in the Holy Gospel and in other holy books. But there are few chosen ones who have heard His call. That is why the Lord Himself calls them a small flock. As if comforting His chosen flock both with His hand and with His word, delivering them from all need and protecting them. And he says: “Do not be afraid, little flock! For it has been your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).” (“Flower Garden” by Hieromonk Dorotheus).
The beginning of the path of salvation is firm determination and courage to live according to faith and the commandments of God in unflagging patience of all the sorrows found here. So, in order to decide to fearlessly follow Christ and not turn back to your former passions and sinful habits and not be like Lot’s wife, who escaped from the burning city, but died on the road itself, becoming a pillar of salt. For “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Every day we live, in which we have overcome our will and lust in some way in order to preserve and fulfill the holy commandment, is like a new step to climb upward.
Just as heaven is far from the earth, so the human soul at the beginning of its achievement is still far from perfection. But gradually the hardworking ascetic, with much care and diligence, with constant self-denial, rises to the imperishable world, overcoming such sorrows and obstacles that only those who have themselves walked this path can know about. " Spiritual warfare“- a narrow and thorny road up the mountain, from earth to heaven, where we must “crucify ourselves” together with Christ in order to become worthy of the heavenly abodes and eternal life.
In the “Ladder” of St. John of Sinai there is an amazing story about the feat of one hermit, Abba Isidore, from whose example one can clearly see how the inner world of a person is gradually transformed, wanting to lag behind the sinful habit and live according to the Lord’s Gospel word.
About Isidore
A certain man named Isidore, from the princes of the city of Alexandria, retired to this monastery. This all-venerable shepherd, having received him, noticed that he was very cunning, stern, angry and proud. Therefore, this wisest father attempts to overcome the demonic cunning with human invention and says to Isidore:
If you have truly decided to take on the yoke of Christ, then I want you to first of all learn obedience.
Isidore answered him:
Like iron to a blacksmith, I hand myself over to you, holy father, in obedience.
Then the great father immediately assigns a training feat to this iron Isidore and says:
I want you, a true brother, to stand at the gates of the monastery and to everyone who enters and outgoing person bowed to the ground, saying: “Pray for me, father, for I am possessed by an evil spirit.”
Isidore obeyed his father like an Angel of the Lord. When he spent seven years in this feat and came to the deepest humility and tenderness, then the ever-memorable father, after seven years of legal trial and Isidore’s unparalleled patience, wished him, as the most worthy, to be numbered among the brethren and worthy of ordination. But he begged the shepherd a lot to be allowed to finish his feat there and in the same way, vaguely hinting with these words that his death was approaching and that the Lord was calling him to himself, which came true...
I asked this great Isidore, when he was still alive: what was his mind doing while he was at the gate? This venerable one, wanting to benefit me, did not hide this from me.
At first,” he said, “I thought that I had sold myself into slavery for my sins, and therefore with all grief, self-violence and bloody compulsion I bowed. After the year had passed, my heart no longer felt sorrow, expecting a reward for patience from the Lord Himself. When another year had passed, in the feeling of my heart I began to consider myself unworthy of staying in the monastery, and seeing the fathers, and looking at their faces, and communion of the Holy Mysteries, and, with my eyes lowered, and my thoughts even lower, I sincerely asked those entering and those who come out to pray for me (“The Ladder”, word 4, 23–24).
Humility and uncomplaining patience with the coming sorrows are like two handrails that firmly support us on the path of ascent to virtues. Just as a chrysalis, unnoticed by prying eyes, transforms from an unsightly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly, so the soul of an ascetic is decorated and illuminated in the secret work of ascetic self-improvement. From everyday examples we see how little by little, year after year, a former first-grader consistently approaches the lessons of higher mathematics, which he could not have mastered at the beginning of his studies, even if he had extraordinary abilities for this.
Theological school is rightly called “ science of sciences", because it opens to a person an unknown, better world, and through prayer makes him an interlocutor with God and the saints God's saints. But even more so, this science requires special attention and long-term training, gradually leading a person to its wonderful and intimate knowledge. When a high school student graduates from school, where he, gradually growing in body and mind, from a child becomes a fully grown person, he anxiously awaits the final exam, as a result and assessment of the past years before starting a new, unfamiliar life.
But how terrible and trembling will be that last, final exam for all our deeds, when we see ourselves in a true, impartial light, and when the Lord evaluates us and speaks His Word, according to which an unknown and endless eternity will be revealed to everyone according to their merits.
This is a wise thing, truly wise, and there is no wiser thing in the world than if someone saves his soul. Since all earthly tricks will remain on earth, this wisdom alone will go with the soul and lead it into the Kingdom of Heaven. The sky is high from the earth, and there is no material ladder to it, no visible ascent. And only those who endure suffering and sorrow, and those who are humble in wisdom, ascend to it. Those who walk along this ladder are on the virtuous and saving path, and keep the commandments of the Lord and the virtues of their fathers.
Ascend, ascend this ladder unceasingly and along this saving path, O brothers! If we want to ascend to heaven, here is a ladder that leads us to heaven and the path of salvation.
“Flower garden” of the holy monk Dorotheus.
Staircase from earth to sky. People in monastic robes are climbing along it. The Lord stretches out his hands to those who ascend. But the path to Him consists of thirty high steps - Christian virtues, and at each there are trials. Why is the author of the book of the same name, St. John Climacus, depicted without a halo on the “Ladder” icon? Why don’t the demons try their best to drag the monks down, while the angels seem to stay away? Our correspondent Ekaterina STEPANOVA tried to understand what was happening with the help of specialists.
The iconography of the "Ladder", as we know it now, developed in Constantinople by XII century. On the illustration: the icon "Ladder" from the collection of the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai. 12th century
Our life is cabbage soup and porridge
This famous Sinai image of the second half of the 12th century was painted as an illustration for the book of St. John, abbot of Mount Sinai, “The Ladder.” The book consists of thirty words - chapters. Each of them is a step towards Christ, hence the origin unusual name at the book, and then at the icon.
Saint John in his book calls on monks to be meek, not vindictive, stingy with words, truthful, not despondent, not lazy, abstinent in food, chaste and pure both externally and internally. The first twenty-three steps in the “Ladder” are devoted to passions and ways to combat them, the rest are devoted to virtues. The highest level is the union of faith, hope and love. The monk writes some of his instructions in the form of short stories about the life of the Sinai ascetics with whom he was familiar. For example, the story about the proud Isidore, whom his confessor placed at the gates of the monastery to beg everyone who entered to pray for him, and at first he grumbled, but over time he became humble, meek and for his obedience was awarded eternal life. Or about an unrighteous elder who tortured his novice to death, but then repented, settled at his tomb, where until the end of his days he prayed for him and asked everyone for forgiveness. Sometimes Saint John adds to his stories his personal impressions about these people and from conversations with them.
In Byzantium, “The Ladder” was translated into different languages. Manuscripts began to be decorated in rich bindings and decorated with miniatures. The first Slavic list appeared in Rus' in the 12th century, and judging by how rapidly their number grew, the book was popular. More than a hundred lists of the “Ladder” have survived: 1 list of the 12th century, 3 lists of the 13th century, 24 lists of the 14th century and 83 of the 15th century. To this day, “The Ladder” has not lost its relevance and is published in large editions. The Optina elder Anatoly greatly revered Saint John of the Climacus and wrote to his spiritual children that the “Teachings” of Abba Dorotheus and the “Ladder” should be reference books, since they are the essence of “our life is cabbage soup and porridge.”
Prudent Faster
Closest to Christ on the Sinai icon is Saint John himself, who hands the Lord a scroll with his composition. Indeed, it is difficult to describe the path if you have not walked it yourself. Little is known about the saint’s childhood and youth. It is believed that Saint John was from Syria and came to the Sinai monastery at the age of sixteen. This happened around 580. When he turned twenty, he took monastic vows from his mentor, Abba Martyrius. The monk lived in the monastery for another nineteen years. And after the death of the abba, he retired to the desert, where he remained in fasting and prayer for forty years, until the Sinai monks persuaded him to return to the monastery and become their abbot.
From the life of the saint it is known, for example, that he ate everything that was allowed by the monastic rules, without imposing exceptional prohibitions on himself, so as not to give himself a reason for vanity. But at the same time, he was abstinent in the amount of food and strengthened his body only with what was necessary to continue his work. The same applies to vigil: although he did not spend nights without sleep, he slept no more than he should to maintain strength, so as not to destroy his mind by incessant wakefulness. Probably because of these exploits of his, accomplished with wise reasoning, the Church celebrates the memory of St. John Climacus during Great Lent.
The steps mean the sequence of spiritual perfection of a person, which is not achieved suddenly, but only gradually
The abbot, who ruled the Raifa monastery, located next door, during the time of the saint, was also called John. It is partly to him that we should be grateful for the book “The Ladder.” Knowing about high life, the wisdom and spiritual gifts of the monk, the abbot of Raifa, on behalf of all the monks of his monastery, asked him to draw up a guide to spiritual improvement, “like an established ladder that leads those who wish to the gates of Heaven...”. The Monk John, who had a modest opinion of himself, was at first embarrassed, but then out of obedience he fulfilled the request. After four years of ruling the monastery, having finished the book, the Monk John again withdrew into his wilderness and, at the age of 80, peacefully departed to the Lord.
Miniature icon
“Any icon shows a transformed world - a spiritual one,” says art critic and teacher at the Department of Restoration at PSTGU Sofya Sverdlova. - Therefore, categories such as time and space are depicted very conventionally. For example, on our icon St. John the Climacus does not have a halo, although there is an inscription that he is a saint. Why is that? The fact is that in the icon he himself is still just walking up the stairs, there are three steps ahead - there is no halo over his head yet, but the icon painter knew that the monk had risen to the Lord and was holy - that’s probably why he “previously” signed by the saints. Often in hagiographic icons, saints are depicted with a halo already in childhood. Although these children probably themselves do not yet know that they will become martyrs or ascetics, we know that they are saints, and holiness is in eternity, outside of time.”
It even happens that saints from different eras are written side by side on the same icon. Following Saint John, a man in snow-white episcopal robes climbs the stairs - this is Archbishop Anthony, who lived in the 11th century (five centuries after Saint John). It is doubtful that he himself would have blessed such exaltation of his - to be written after the saint, so revered at Sinai and a few steps from Christ! Probably, the miniature from which the image for the “Ladder” icon was subsequently taken was written after the blessed death of the holy archbishop in a manuscript ordered by the Byzantine emperor for the Sinai monastery.
“Many people worked on the creation of manuscripts,” explains Sofya Sverdlova: clerks, miniaturists. The “Ladder” we know was the initial miniature in the book, but not the only one. There were also small “marginal” illustrations, so called because of their location in the margins of the manuscript. Many such handwritten “Ladders” were written. Not all, but some of them were decorated with a whole collection of miniatures: figurines of saints doing handicrafts, carving spoons, weaving baskets, or rushing to church for services. Certain images, like the image of the “Ladder,” migrated over time to the walls of churches, on frescoes and in icons and began to be revered along with the texts and even separately from them. The images of St. Gerasimos of Jordan with a lion or St. Paul of Thebes, to whom a raven brings bread, also primarily existed in the form of separate scenes in miniature.”
Are the angels inactive?
“God is incomprehensible, unknown, unknowable,” says Sofya Sverdlova. - Its essence is inaccessible to humans and exceeds our perception immeasurably. Divine light cannot be seen, therefore, paradoxically, in the icon it is sometimes presented as darkness. This “divine darkness” is depicted in the icon in dark blue, almost black. The Lord Jesus Christ is written in the “Ladder” on a blue background, but this is not the color of the sky, as one might think - this celestial spheres, unknowable, incommunicable by simple earthly means and impossible to perceive with limited human abilities.
Below, under the hill, there are monks (this is a collective image of the Sinai monks and monks in general) and look at those going up: they listen to the teachings of the monk, study his instructions - learn spiritual science. On the way to the Heavenly One, the monks are beset by temptations - demons with hooks and tongs pull them from the saving ladder into the hellish abyss. They grab you by the legs, sit on the back of your neck, hit you painfully, shoot with bows and, it seems, are successful in your enterprise.
The angels are painted in the form of beautiful young men, ideal proportions, ideal facial features, possessing physical perfection. The angels' hands are covered - covered with cloth: this ancient sign, it means in this case a special reverence - before Christ, to whom they fall and pray for the monks struggling with their passions. Images of angels in such an anthropomorphic form appear in the 5th century, exactly as we see them here - this image came from antiquity. On our icon, the angels, who seem to be resisting the demonic machinations and pushing the monks in the back, appear to be inactive and only look from above with an expression of some sorrow on their faces. Why such injustice? Perhaps the artist wanted to show with this scene that monks going to God are not a bone of contention between the forces of light and darkness. Those seeking salvation are completely independent spiritual units, and the fall of some is precisely their personal fall. And demons, no matter how hard they try, in reality cannot in any way influence the personal choice of each monk, but the invisible prayer of angels is real help on the path!”
Perspective in the icon If you look at the road going into the distance, it will seem narrower. In the icon it’s the other way around: all the lines converge towards the person. In icon painting, this is called reverse perspective: objects also expand as they move away from the viewer. This perspective made it possible to unfold the buildings in such a way that the details and scenes “obstructed” by them were revealed, which expanded the information content of the iconic narrative What does circle mean? |
Ladder or Spiritual Tablets.
Venerable John Climacus
Contents.
Preface to this book called Spiritual Tablets.
A brief description of the life of Abba John, abbot of the holy Mount Sinai.
Epistle of Saint John, Abbot of Raifa, to the Venerable John, Abbot of Mount Sinai.
Answer.
Preface of This Book, Called the Spiritual Tablets
To all who hasten to write their names in the book of life in heaven, this book shows the most excellent way. Walking this way, we will see that she infallibly guides her subsequent instructions, keeps them unscathed from any stumbling, and presents us with an established ladder, leading from the earthly to the Holy of Holies, at the top of which the God of love is established. I think this ladder was also seen by Jacob, the champion of passions, when he rested on his ascetic bed. But let us ascend, I beg you, with zeal and faith, to this mental and heavenly ascent, the beginning of which is the renunciation of earthly things, and the end is the God of love.
The venerable father wisely decided by arranging for us an ascent equal to the age of the Lord in the flesh; for at the age of thirty years of the Lord’s coming of age, he divinely depicted a ladder consisting of thirty degrees of spiritual perfection, along which, having reached the fullness of the Lord’s age, we will appear truly righteous and inflexible to fall. And whoever has not reached this measure of age is still a baby, and according to the exact testimony of the heart, he will turn out to be imperfect. We considered it necessary, first of all, to place in this book the life of the (venerable) wise father, so that readers, looking at his exploits, would more easily believe his teaching.
A brief description of the life of Abba John, abbot of the holy Mount Sinai,
nicknamed scholastic 1) a truly holy father.
Compiled by the monk Daniel of Raifa, an honest and virtuous husband.
I cannot say with certainty in which memorable city this man was born and brought up. great man before his departure for the feat of war; and what city now rests and feeds this wondrous one with imperishable food, I know this. He now dwells in the city about which the loud-voiced Paul speaks, crying: “our life is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20); with an immaterial feeling he is saturated with goods that cannot be satiated, and enjoys invisible kindness, is spiritually consoled by spiritual 2), having received rewards worthy of exploits, and honor for labors not difficultly endured - that is the heritage there; and forever united with those whose “foot is right” (Ps. 25:12). But how this material one reached the immaterial forces and copulated with them, I will try to explain as much as possible.
Being sixteen years old in body and a thousand years old in the perfection of his mind, this blessed one offered himself as some kind of pure and spontaneous sacrifice to the Great Bishop, and with his body he ascended to Sinai, and with his soul to heavenly mountain; with the intention, I think, that from what is visible from this place I will have benefit and better instruction for achieving the invisible. So, having cut off dishonorable insolence by becoming a hermit, this being the owner of our mental youths 3), having adopted a noble humility, he, at the very beginning of the feat, very prudently drove away from himself seductive self-indulgence and self-confidence; for he bowed his neck and entrusted himself to the most skillful teacher, so that, with his trustworthy guidance, he could safely cross the stormy sea of passions. Having killed himself in this way, he had in himself a soul, as if without reason and without will, completely free from natural properties; and what is even more amazing is that, possessing external wisdom, he was taught heavenly simplicity. It's a glorious thing! For the arrogance of philosophy is not compatible with humility. Then, after nineteen years, having sent his teacher to the Heavenly King as a prayer book and intercessor, he himself goes into the field of silence, carrying strong weapons to destroy strongholds - the prayers of the great (his father); and having chosen a place convenient for the exploits of solitude, five furlongs from the temple of the Lord (this place is called Thola), he spent forty years there in unrelenting exploits, always blazing with burning jealousy and divine fire. But who can express in words and praise in legend the labors he endured there? However, although through some main virtues we will become aware of the spiritual wealth of this blessed man.
He consumed all kinds of food that were permitted to the monastic rank without prejudice, but he ate very little, wisely crushing and through this, as I think, the horn of arrogance. So, with malnutrition he oppressed her mistress, that is, the flesh, which lustfully desires much, crying out to her with hunger: be silent, stop; by the same thing that he ate a little of everything, he enslaved the torment of love of glory; and by living in the desert and moving away from people, he quenched the flame of this (that is, bodily) furnace, so that it completely burned to ashes and went out completely. Through alms and poverty in all things necessary, this courageous ascetic courageously avoided idolatry, that is, the love of money (Col. 3:5), from the hourly death of the soul, that is, from despondency and relaxation (and) he restored the soul, exciting it with the memory of bodily death, as the rest ; and resolved the interweaving of addiction and all sorts of sensual thoughts with the immaterial bonds of holy sadness. The torment of anger had previously been killed in him by the sword of obedience, but with inexhaustible solitude and constant silence he killed the leech of cobwebby vanity. What can I say about the victory that this good secret man won over the eighth girl 4). What can I say about the extreme cleansing that this Blessed of obedience began, and the Lord of heavenly Jerusalem, having come, accomplished with His presence; for without this the devil and his horde cannot be defeated. Where I will place, in our present weaving of the crown, the source of his tears (a talent not found in many), the secret work of which remains to this day, is a small cave located at the foot of a certain mountain; she was as far away from his cell and from any human dwelling as was necessary in order to block his ears from vanity; but she was close to heaven with sobs and cries, similar topics, which usually emit when pierced with swords and pierced by hot iron, or deprived of eyes. He took as much sleep as was necessary so that his mind would not be damaged by vigil, and before sleep he prayed a lot and wrote books; this exercise served as his only remedy against despondency. However, throughout his life there was unceasing prayer and fiery love for God; for, day and night, imagining Him in the light of purity, as in a mirror, he did not want, or more precisely, could not get enough.
One of the monastics, named Moses, being jealous of the life of John, convincingly asked him to accept him as a disciple and instruct him in true wisdom; Moving the elders to intercession, Moses, through their requests, convinced the great man to accept himself. Once Abba commanded this Moses to transfer from one place to another the earth that needed to be fertilized in the beds for potions; Having reached the indicated place, Moses fulfilled the command without laziness; but at noon the extreme heat came (and then it was the last summer month), then he dodged under a large stone, lay down and fell asleep. The Lord, Who does not want to sadden His servants in any way, according to His custom, prevents the disaster that threatens Him. For great old man, sitting in his cell and thinking about himself and about God, he fell into the subtlest sleep and saw a sacred man who excited him and, laughing at his dream, said: “John, how do you sleep carelessly when Moses is in danger?” Jumping up immediately, John armed himself with prayer for his disciple; and when he returned in the evening, he asked him if any misfortune or accident had happened to him? The student replied: a huge stone almost crushed me when I was sleeping under it at noon; but it seemed to me as if you were calling me, and I suddenly jumped out of that place. The father, truly humble in wisdom, did not reveal anything from the vision to the disciple, but praised the good God with secret cries and sighs of love.
This monk was both a model of virtues and a doctor who healed hidden ulcers. Someone named Isaac, being very much oppressed by the demon of carnal lust and already exhausted in spirit, hastened to resort to this great one and declared his abuse to him in words dissolved in sobbing. The wondrous man, amazed at his faith, said: Let’s both stand, friend, to pray. And while their prayer ended, and the sufferer still lay with his face prostrated, God fulfilled the will of His servant (Ps. 144:19), in order to justify the word of David; and the serpent, tormented by the beatings of true prayer, ran away. And the sick man, seeing that he was freed from his illness, with great surprise sent thanks to Him who glorified and glorified.
Others, on the contrary, instigated by envy, called him (Reverend John) excessively talkative and idle talker. But he enlightened them with action and showed everyone that “all things are possible through Christ who strengthens everyone” (Phil. 4:13); for he was silent for a whole year, so that his detractors turned into supplicants and said: we have blocked the source of ever-flowing benefit, to the detriment of the common salvation of all. John, a stranger to contradiction, obeyed and again began to adhere to the first way of life.
Then, everyone, marveling at his success in all the virtues, as if the latter-day Moses, involuntarily elevated him to the abbess of the brethren and, having elevated this lamp to the priesthood of the authorities, the good voters did not sin; for John approached the mysterious mountain, entering darkness where the uninitiated do not enter; and elevated to spiritual degrees, he accepted the God-ordained law and vision. He opened his mouth to the Word of God, attracted the Spirit, vomited out the word, and from the good treasure of his heart brought forth good words. He reached the end of his visible life in instructing the new Israelites, that is, the monks, differing in one way from Moses in that he entered mountainous Jerusalem, and Moses, I don’t know how, did not reach the earthly.
The Holy Spirit spoke through his mouth; Witnesses of this are many of those who were saved and are still being saved through him. An excellent witness of the wisdom of this wise man and the salvation he provided was the new David 5). Good John, our venerable shepherd (Hegumen of Raifa), was a witness to the same thing. He convinced this new seer of God with his strong requests, for the benefit of the brethren, to descend in thought from Mount Sinai and show us his God-written tablets, which outwardly contain active guidance, and inwardly contemplative 6). With such a description I attempted to conclude a lot in a few words; for the brevity of the word has beauty in the art of oration 7).
1) Scholastics in ancient times were called rhetoricians, lawyers, or generally learned people.
2) In Slavic: “rejoicing with one mind about the Mind mentally contemplated.”
3) That is, passions. See word 10th. Chapter 3.
4) That is, pride, which is the eighth among the main eight passions.
5) It is believed that the above-mentioned Isaac is called here the new David.
6) That is, in the Ladder, external words teach activity, and the internal spiritual mind is taught to see.
7) (Biography of St. John Climacus, p. 11). Examiners of church antiquity place the death of St. John at the end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century. As for the continuation of his life, the Raifa biographer says that he began the field of monasticism in the sixteenth year of his life, and remained under the leadership of Abba Martyrius for nineteen years; After the death of his mentor, he spent forty years in silence. So, the Monk John was installed as abbot in the Sinai monastery in the seventy-fifth year of his life. It is not known exactly how many years he ruled the monastery and how many he spent in secondary silence after installing Abba George as abbot in Sinai. Some believe that the Monk John died at the age of eighty or eighty-five; in the Followed Psalter it is said that he lived 95 years. Eastern Church commemorates him on March 30; on the same day and Western.
It is known about the Sinai monastery that back in the fourth century, the Sinai mountains served as a permanent residence for many hermits, who were attracted there by the sacred memories of the Old Testament miracles and of Moses and Elijah, and the silence of the mountains and vale, and the sparse population of the peninsula. In the early days, the ascetics of Sinai did not have a common monastery: they lived in cells scattered throughout the mountains and valleys, and only on Saturday evenings they gathered in the temple, built, according to legend, by Queen Helena on the spot where God appeared to the prophet Moses in a burning and fireproof bush. In this temple, the hermits spent the whole night in common prayer, on Sunday morning they received Holy Communion and again went to their cells. In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Sinai hermits were repeatedly attacked by the Saracens, from whom many suffered martyrdom. Therefore, upon the accession of the blessed king Justinian I to the throne, the Sinai fathers, hearing about his reverence for the holy places, asked him to create a fortified monastery for them. Justinian heeded their request, and by his command, the Sinai Monastery was erected at the foot of Mount Sinai, which still exists in the same place.
The Raifa monastery, of which only ruins now remain, was located two days' journey from Sinai, in a very picturesque bay of the Red Sea, according to legend, near the place called Elim, where the Israelites, during their wanderings, found seventy palm trees and twelve sources (Ex. 15:27). And this monastery, like Sinai, was at one time rich in great ascetics. Due to the spirit of asceticism and the proximity of the distance, these monasteries had the closest connection and continuous communication with each other.
About the same Abba John, abbot of Mount Sinai, that is, Climacus.
(Narrated by one monk of Sinai, who, like Daniel of Raifa, was a contemporary of St. John)
Once Abba Martyrius came with Abba John to Anastasius the Great; and this one, looking at them, said to Abba Martyrius: “Tell me, Abba Martyrius, where is this boy from, and who tonsured him?” He answered: “He is your servant, father, and I tonsured him.” Anastasius tells him: “Oh, Abba Martyrius, who would have thought that you tonsured the abbot of Sinai?” And the holy man did not sin: after forty years, John was made our abbot.
At another time, Abba Martyrius, also taking John with him, went to the great John Savvait, who was then in the Guddian desert. Seeing them, the elder stood up, poured water, washed Abba John’s feet and kissed his hand; Abbe Martyria did not wash his feet, and then, when his disciple Stefan asked why he did this, he answered him: “Believe me, child, I don’t know who this boy is, but I accepted the abbot of Sinai and washed the abbot’s feet.”
On the day of Abba John's tonsure (and he took the tonsure in the twentieth year of his life), Abba Stratigius predicted about him that he would once be a great star.
On the very day when John was appointed our abbot, and when about six hundred visitors came to us and they were all sitting eating food, John saw a man with short hair, dressed in a Jewish shroud, who, like a kind of manager, walked everywhere and gave orders to cooks, housekeepers, cellarers and other servants. When those people dispersed and the servants sat down to eat, they looked for this man who walked everywhere and gave orders, but they did not find him anywhere. Then the servant of God, our reverend father John, tells us: “Leave him alone; Mister Moses did nothing strange while serving in his place.”
There was once a lack of rain in the Palestinian countries; Abba John, at the request of the local residents, prayed, and heavy rain fell. And there is nothing incredible here; for “the Lord will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer” (Ps. 144:19).
You need to know that John Climacus had a brother, the wonderful Abba George, whom he appointed abbot in Sinai during his lifetime, loving the silence that this wise man had first disgraced himself. When did this Moses Reverend Abbot our John departed to the Lord, then Abba George, his brother, stood before him and said with tears: “So, you leave me and go away; I prayed that you would accompany me: for I would not be able to lead this squad without you, my lord; but now I must accompany you.” Abba John said to him: “Do not grieve and do not worry: if I have boldness towards the Lord, I will not leave you to spend here even one year after me.” Which came true; for in the tenth month then this one also departed to the Lord1).
1) (Biography of St. John Climacus, p. 12). In “The Spiritual Meadow” by John Moschus (chapter 125) and in the Prologue on the 17th day of March, a truly wonderful story is offered about this Abba George.
Once upon a time in Holy Saturday he had a desire to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem and partake of the Holy Mysteries in the Church of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. The whole day the elder was occupied with this thought and prayed. On the Bright Day of Easter, by the power of Almighty God, he was caught up, installed in the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection, and by the hand of the blessed Patriarch Peter, together with his elders, received the gifts of Holy Communion. When Sincellus, by order of the Patriarch, invited this Abbot of Sinai to eat food with the Saint, Abba George replied: “The will of the Lord be done!” But, having bowed to the Holy Sepulcher, he became invisible in the Jerusalem temple and saw himself in his cell. The Patriarch, saddened, sent a scripture to the elder, to which he responded with a description of the miracle that happened over him, and a prediction that both of them, after six months, would unite and see each other in the Heavenly Kingdom. Those who returned to the Patriarch said that the elder had not left the Sinai monastery for seventy years; and meanwhile all the bishops and clergy who saw him in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ testified and said: “We all kissed him.” After six months, Abba George’s prediction was fulfilled: both he and the blessed Patriarch Peter departed to the Lord.
Epistle of Saint John, Abbot of Raifa, to the Venerable John,
Abbot of Mount Sinai.
The sinful Raifa abbot wishes to rejoice in the Lord to the supreme and equal-angelic father of fathers and the most excellent teacher.
Knowing first of all your unquestioning obedience to the Lord, adorned, however, with all the virtues and especially where it is necessary to increase the talent given to you by God, we, the poor, use a truly wretched and insufficient word, recalling what is said in Scripture: “Ask your father, and Your elders will tell you, and they will tell you” (Deut. 32:7). And therefore, falling to you, as to the common father of all and the eldest in asceticism, the strongest in quick-wittedness and the most excellent teacher, with this scripture we pray to you, O head of virtues, teach us the ignorant what you saw in the vision of God, like ancient Moses, and on the same mountain; and set it out in a book, as on God-written tablets, for the edification of the new Israelites, that is, people who have newly emerged from mental Egypt and from the sea of life. And just as you, in that sea, instead of a rod with your God-speaking tongue, with the assistance of God, worked miracles: so even now, without despising our petition, deign in the Lord, for our salvation, to judiciously and unlaxly inscribe the laws inherent and proper to monastic life, being truly great a mentor to all those who have begun such angelic residence. Do not think that our words come from flattery or caressing: you, consecrated head, know that we are alien to such actions, but what everyone is sure of, what is beyond any doubt, is visible to everyone and what everyone testifies to, which we repeat. So we hope in the Lord to soon receive and kiss the precious inscriptions we are waiting for on these tablets, which can serve as an infallible instruction for the true followers of Christ and, like a ladder, established even before heaven's gates(Gen.28:12) raises up those who will, so that they can pass through the hordes of spirits of evil, rulers of darkness and princes of the air harmlessly, safely and without restraint. For if Jacob, the shepherd of dumb sheep, saw such a terrible vision on the ladder, then how much more can the leader of the verbal lambs, not only by vision, but also by deed and truth1) show everyone the infallible ascent to God. Hello in the Lord, most honest father!
1) That is, not only by representing the figurative ladder in a vision, but also by the virtues themselves, the degrees of which are depicted, by an experienced and true description.
Answer
John wants John to rejoice.
I have received, truly worthy of your lofty and dispassionate life and your pure and humble heart, sent by you to us, the poor and poor in virtues, your honest writing, or, better to say, a commandment and command that surpasses our strength. So, it is truly natural for you and your sacred soul to ask for an instructive word and instruction from us, untrained and ignorant in deed and word; for she is accustomed to always showing us in herself an example of humility. However, I will say now that if we were not afraid of falling into great trouble by rejecting from ourselves the holy yoke of obedience, the mother of all virtues, then we would not recklessly dare to undertake an enterprise that exceeds our strength.
You, wonderful father, should, when asking about such subjects, learn from men who knew this well; for we are still in the category of students. But just as our God-bearing fathers and secret teachers of true knowledge define that obedience is undoubted submission to those who command and in those matters that exceed our strength: then we, piously despising our weakness, humbly encroached on labor that exceeded our measure; although we do not think of bringing you any benefit, or explaining something that you, the sacred head, know no less than us. For not only I am sure, but, I think, everyone who is sane knows that the eye of your mind is pure from all earthly and gloomy disturbances of gloomy passions, and uncontrollably looks at the Divine light and is illuminated by it. But, fearing death, which is born from disobedience, and, as if driven by this fear of obedience, I began to fulfill your all-honorable command with fear and love, as a sincere obedient and indecent slave of the most excellent painter, and with my meager knowledge and insufficient expression, one Only in ink, having monotonously written living words, I leave it to you, chief of teachers and official, to decorate all this, to understand and, as the executor of the tablets and the spiritual law, to fill in what is insufficient. And I am not sending this work to you; no, this would be a sign of extreme unreason, for you are strong in the Lord not only of others, but also of us ourselves in divine morals and teachings, but to the God-called squad of brothers who, together with us, learn from you, O chosen teacher! To them, through you, I begin this word; them and your prayers, as if being lifted up by some waters of hope, despite all the weight of ignorance, I stretch out the twirl of the cane and with every prayer I hand over our words into the hands of our good co-driver. Moreover, I ask all readers: if anyone sees something useful here, then let him attribute the fruit of everything to our great mentor, as a prudent one, and ask us for reward from God for this weak work, not for the poverty of the composition (truly filled with any inexperience), looking , but accepting the intention of the offerer as a widow’s offering1); for God rewards not the abundance of gifts and labors, but the abundance of diligence.
1) In Paisius Velichk. widow's proposal.