|ohn-rClimacus

THELADDER
ASCENT
OFDIVINE
TIi"ANSLATIOT\"
llY
COLNILLIIIIHEIDand
NORN,IANRL]SSELL
N.OTES
ON TRANSIATION
BY
NOITMANRUSSELL
INTRODUCTION
BY
KALLISTOSIIIAITE
PREFACE
BY
COLM LI.JIBHEII)

sP(;K. t.oNDON

Cover Art
A graduateofThe PennsylvaniaAcademyof rhe Fine Arts in Philadelphia,cover artisr
ANDRIJ MADAY has won numerous awards for his graphic designsand prints. He
hasexhibited his paintings and woodcutsin approximatelyeighty shows in the United
Statesand has permanent collctionsat universities in ltaly, Canrda, and the United
States.Mr- Maday's art, basedon simple rectangular and circular designs,is inspired
by encient Ukrainian icons and conveysMr. Medry's own deep mysticel expertencc
and rich UkrainianEasternOrthodoxheritage.

Contents

FOREWORD

tx

ABBREVIATIONS
PREFACE

xl

INTRODUCTION
THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT
First published in tbe United Stars
in 1982by Paulist Press
Copyright@ 1982by the
Missionary Societyof St. Paul
the Apostle in the State of New York
Publishedin Great Britain in 1982
by SPCK
Holy Trinity Church
.Marylebone Road
London NWI 4DU
ISB N : 0 2111017 J82
Printed and bound in the
United Statesof Americs

INDEXES

7r
293

FOREWORD
Translatorsof This Volume
COLM LUIBHEID was born in Dublin in l9i6 and receivedhis
B.A. and M.A. from University College,Dublin. He was awardeda
Ph.D. in Classicsfrom PrincetonUniversity.Sincel96l he hasbeena
member of the teaching staff at University College,Galway. His
scholarly interestsfocus on the early Church in the easternhalf of the
Mediterranean between the third and fifth centuries. In addition to
publishingtwo bookson Eusebius,he is preparinga volumeon John
Cassianfor this series.Dr. Luibheid liveswith his wife and four children in the villageof Abbeyknockmoy,near Galway.
REV. NORMAN VICTOR RUSSELL was born in Belfastin 1945
and was educatedat King's College,University of London. Subsequently he took his theology degreesat Oxford. In l97l he was ordained Deacon in the Church of England. After being received into
the Catholic Church a year later he was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory. Father Russell is an editor of Sobonrost
and
has contributed to the English editions of the PDilokaliaand TbeLives
of tbeDesertFatbers.
Author of the Introduction
BISHOP KALLISTOS WARE was born in Bath in l9i4 and was
educatedat the Westminster School,London, and Magdalen Cotlege,
Oxford where he studied Classics,Philosophy and Theology. Received into the Orthodox Church in 1958,he was ordained a priest in
1966,the same year he took monastic vows at the Monastery of St
John the Theologianin Patmos.In 1982he was consecratedtitular
Bishop of Diokleia and appointedassistantbishop in the Orthodox
Archdioceseof Thyateira and Great Britain. Since 1966he has been
been Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies at Oxford, and
in 1970he becamea Fellow at Pembroke College. He is the co-editor
of Sobornost
and the author of many books, including Tbe Ortbodor
Cburcb.

If there are numerous and well-founded doubts concerning the

few sparedetails of the biography of John Climacus,or John Scholasthe influenceof the treatise
ticus,thereis little risk of over-estimeting
pen
this
notably
elusivefigure whose life
from
the
of
which emerged
the
beginning
of the seventhcentuof
the
sixth
and
touchedthe end
is
a
classic
of early Chrisof
Dipire
Ascert
undeniably
The
Ladder
ries.
guidance
and
to those
It
offers
advice,
counsql
spirituality.
tian
road
whose
summit
is
encounon
that
difficult
of
embarking
capable
ter with God, and it embodiesthe fruit both of long personalexperience and of the intensely dynarnic insights of earlier generationsof
men caughtup in the first greatsurgeof monasticism.
The present translation is basedon the text Printed by MignePatrologiaGraeca88. Apart from the details to be gatheredin the standard handbooksof patology, a most useful and wide-ranging bibliography has been supplied by Guerric Couilleau at the end of his
JeattClimaquein DictiornairedeSpiritualiti, Fasc. lii-liii (Paris)
^rticle,
1972.This is to be strongly recommendedto anyonewishing to explore the various issuesraised by the impact of TbeLadderof Diuirc
Ascent-

lx

ABBREVIATIONS

DHGE:
D.S;
DTC:
ET:
HTM:

PG:
PL:
Pbit.:

Rader:

(Ptis)
Dictiornaire d'bixoire et degiograpbieecclisiastiques
(Paris)
de
spiitualiti
Dictiouaire
(Paris)
catbolique
Dictionaairede tb4ologie
translation
English
St. John Climacus, TbeLadderof Diairc Ascent,ranslated by
Archimandrite Lazarus (Moore) (revised edition by the
Holy Transfiguration Monastery: Boston, Massachusetts
1978).
J.-P. Migne, PetrologiaGraeca(Paris\
J.-P. Migne, PatrologiaLatina (Parisl
St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of
Corinth, Zle Pbilohalia,translated by G.E.H. Palmer, P.
Sherrardand K. Ware,vol. I (London & Boston1979)'
Matthew Rader, editor of the text printed in Migne'

are given as follows: first

Referencesto St. John Climacus, TbeLadd.er,
from PG 88; finally
number
then
the
column
the number of the step;
Thus
translation.
"4 (677C)' p. 45"
the
of
the page number
Present
p.
45
below.
677C,
4,
PG
88,
col.
signifies:Step
(Ad Paxorem)is cited as Parr., followed by the
To the Sbepberd
the column number in PG 88, and then the Pege
and
chapter number
number of the HTM translation.
Old Testament referencesare to the Septuagint.

PREFACE

'Io Western eyes,the monk increasingly is a figure of yesterday'

easy the
and ttre commonert i-age" of him are of the kind to make
sPecial
that
or
gesture'
o"itonitrnn smile,the cJnfidently dismissive
Friar
Around
eccentric
the
Extendedto the dotty and
i;[r";.;
one
no
harming
Francis'
'fuck, with his cheerfulobesity,and Brotber
cluster'
to
manage
ghosts
ss he talks to birds and animals,vaguer
gaunt, cowled, faintly sinister,eyesaverted'orelse looklng.heaven"*"J,'" tluff clutched in a waited hand, with gloom arising and
bells and
itt*i * a*a. Somewhere in the background there are
if.to.confirm
as
and'
midnight;
i-ui"., rna psalmschantedlong after
gone'
that thesearL only the leftoversof a pastsurely and mercttully
visited
monasteries
European
ii't... i. ,ft. drr-b pr"""rr"" of all thoie
out on
ior ten scheduledminutes during a guided tour, or elsesought
eveningsby courting couples'
warmer
there
But fo. thJChristian,that is, ior someonewho believesthat
surroundings
historical
in
Himself
is a Cod, that God has manifested
thereby
i" ,ft. *tton of Christ, and that insightsand obligationsare
Ceroff
be
shrugged
easily
the monk cannot
it.fa
in
"*tybody.
e6crrrred
h-a-vg
"ii.
that
changes
of the immense
i"i"fy i" ,ft"
of
future
"ft".-"in
the
II'
War
World
of
end
ihe o'utlookof Christians since the
well
be,problematic'
may
such
as
the religiousorder or community
*"y altersthe deeplr challengepresentedby the monk
;;i;;;t;;.
po, tt".. is somelne who, so it would appear,hasdeliberatelywithdrawn from the usual patterns of living
slncc
In this matter,of course'one has to tread with greatcarc'
conditioned
is
but
not
absolute'
is
of ,rl"h withdrawal
ttt"
"
-.""i"g
xl

l,l{l,IrA(il,l

PREFACE

try and rn u sl bc r r ndc r s t r rrtli l tc r,l rr o l th t. rro t.rrtru n d customs of the

c r a in wh i ch il r r c r r r s . A r rrl c v n r i l l ti rto t i c u l c v i d c n c ecan hel o to i sol a t e wh a t sc! ' nrt ( , lt c t hc c h i tttt{ tc t.t\ttrl r trtrc \ r,f :r w i d e l v shai ed outl o ok a t a g i v c n t inr c , r hir s rrl l l rrrv c r rrto rtl v rrn to rrc h c dthe preci seset
of reasonsimpelling a p{rt icult r lx.t.sol I rr ch(x)rica type of iiving that
involves some form of rcnunciittir)n, sr,trc dccision to oDt out of the
w ay o f th e w or ld.
B u t a g a in, t he dif f ic ul ti e s b c g i n ro n rrrl ri p l y . A l i n gui sti c usage,
so long employed by Christians rhar il hNsrhc Lxrk of being quite simply "natural," surrounds the individual rnonk with a wall of venerable words, a wall more solid and enduring thrn any that may set the
boundaries of the area where he actually lives. For the talk is of
"withdrawal" from "the world," of ,,renunciation," of a ,,monastic
life" in_contrast with the way orher people happen to live, of being
"apart from," "away from" the rest of mankind, of pursuing a ,,dedicated" and "consecrated" path. And this language, with its emphasis
on the differences between the monk and all others, very quickly beglns to generate something more than a mere set of descriptions. It
begins to imply a value system, a yardstick of achievement and worth
until at last, and not surprisingly, there grows rhe irresistible urge ro
speak of a "higher," "fuller," and "more perfect" way of lif.
Words of this sort, words lined ani laced with imolications of
particular values,are the co-relations of belief, of commitment, and of
action. Language of this kind, endlessly repeated by ecclesiastical
writers and preachers, has long been characteristic of Christian practice and has been received largely without demur. But the power of
words is not a constant; and the impact of a terminology that claims,
among other things, that the clerical, and specifically the monastic,
way is a "higher" calling grows greater or lesser in proportion to the
number and availability of competing terminologies. And when, as in
the last quarter of the twentieth century, there is in fact a proliferation of serious and compelling value systems, then the force of an exclusively Christian rhetoric is inevitably weakened. even for
Christians. The mere assertion of a value is no longer matched, as rt
used to be in other days, by a willingly affirmative response,and the
timely quotation from Leo XIII or from Thomas Aouinas cannor
now be relied on to still doubts or to answer ouestions.
There is in all of this a situation unique in Christian experience,
for it has long been a popular notion that Christianity is a rjligion of
the book; and it has certainly been the case that the Bible, thi com-

mentary, and the exegeticaltract have supplied the material and the
languagein which the sermon,the homily, and the theologicalanalysis have been firmly grounded. The pastoral letter, the authorized
hymn, and the training manual for future clericshaveextendedthe
range and the reach of a discourse whose themes and elaborations
haye reverberatedceaselesslyin the consciousnessof believers.Year
after year, scripted prayers have been read aloud to a congregation
that is either silent or elseinvited to repeat them, and stock themesof
petition or praise,with all that this impliesby way of what is acceptable or not, havedirectedthe minds of worshipersto a landscapeof
concern,a domainof reality that for long hadthe appearance
of being
unique.Until, that is, the comingof other rhetoricsand other certainties. So that now there are, in a sense,too many books,too many
claims to attention in a world gearedfor the instant transmission of
every idea, event, and apocalypse.And the Christian, bombarded
from every quarter by the exigenciesof the day, is lessand lessable to
operate exclusively within the frontiers establishedfor his forebears
by a languagerootedin biblical detail.
Given those circumstances,it is reasonableto wonder how a
Christianmay now copewith the vastliteratureto which he is heir. It
is also reasonableto anticipatethat he will approachit with something less than automaticdeference.And amid all the competing
voices,his capacityto deploy a commitmentand a sustainedinterest
moy well diminish as he striyesto assemblefor himself and for his
friendscriteria of evaluationthat make somekind of acceptedsense.
Ilow, for instance,is he to approach a work like TbeLaddrr of Divine
,ltcat by John Climacus?By what meanscan he integrateit within
his own heritageand his irnmediateenvironment?How can this txt,
ovcr fourteenhundredyearsold, haveany bearingon the problemsof
r (,'hristianin the last quarter of the twentieth centuryl Such questit)n$arise in relation to any classicbook. But for the moment they
muit bc directedto this treatise,which had a very considerable
influGnceduring a lengthy era in the history of the Church. And, in any
cfrc, if $omcthing useful can be said of TheLadderof Divirc Ascent,it
mty contribute a little to the resolutionof the problem presentedtodry by thc figure of the monk.
'I'he l.adderis e
'f 'hc sctting at leastcan be readily established.
pr(xluct of rhrt grc0t surgeof monasticismwhich appcercdfirit irl
figypt during thc third century,sprcadrspidly through nll of lrrrtcrn
(lhrlrtcndonr,rn(l cvcntuullyrc6chcdrhc Westby wly ol the rttodht-

xii

\ iii

PRUtACt:,

PREFACE

ing zeal of figuressuch as John Cassian.'l he generalhistory of this

most influential developmentin the lifc of the early Church is well
known, evenif detailsand certain inrcrprerationscontinue to preoccupy scholars,and there is no needto artcmpt here a sketchof what
has beenso well describedby others.But in justiceto the euthor of
the Ladderit would be important to make a few preliminary commentsin order to lessenthe possibilityof seriousmisunderstanding.
First, it should be observedthat no discussionof early monasticism is completewithout its due quota of lugubrioustales.The appalled scholarand the generousopponenr of ;al-olfi?;;Thoose from
and gradea seerninglyendlesssupply of horror stories,and someone
familiar with the relevantliteraturefinds himselfon the lookout for
the better-knownfigures: the monk who consrructedfor himself a
cell too tiny to permit him everto standup or to lie down, the stylites
who perched for decadeson top of their sunscorched pillars, the
Egyptian whose boast was that he was closer to being a corpse than
anyoneelse.Theseare not the figmentsof someGothic imagination,
and frequently one may construct from various sources solid biographical details.Take, for instance,the caseof Barsauma,a fifth-century monk from Syria, a region notable for the numbers who
displayeda positivegeniusin the extravagantpenances
they managed
to devisefor themselves.Barsaumafirst had himself chained to a
rock-face,and only when it was pointedout to him that he would be
unlikely to survive long enough to practicethe penancehe had in
view did he changehis plans.Insteadhe took to wearing an iron tunic, vowed neverto sit or to recline,hung himself in an upright position wheneverhe had to sleep,and attractedin this way fascinated
and uncriticaldiscipleswho, at his bidding,wreckedand lootedsynagoguesin the name of the God they all worshiped.
Barsaumawas not unique, znd,the Laddertoo has its own conrn-

from their mouths in the menner of dogs. Some punished

tortured themselvesin
theqgqlgslnlhe!!4a|!C_qC!4rrs
the cold, while others,again,drank only as much weter as
would keep them from dying of thirst. . . . With kneeslike
wood, as a result of all the prosrations, with eyesdimmed
and sunken, with hair gone and cheekswasted and scalded
by many hot tears, with facespale and worn, they were no
dif&:eg1-&on-co&!es. Their breaTETE?dliTiiFTi6fr?lltlre-"beatings,which had even made them spit blood. There was
no rest for them in beds, no clean and laundepll-clothing
..Th"y
b"dt"ggl"d,di
-"..
Such tales earn a disproportionate measureof attention among
meny of thosedealing with the phenomenonof early monasticism.
'l'he stories are too vivid, too imperious for the imagination to be able
to remain unengaged,and the decentwitness.or the gentlehistorian,
of hygiene,recoilsin
rccustomedto worthy idealsand the advantages
of guilt-ridden
distastefrom what he takesto be the repulsiveexcesses
lnd maddenedwretches.Indeed,so inienseis the inclinationto dwell
repulsive aspects of the first Christian
on the speiti-iiGi-i-ihe
monksthat the attemptto describetheir hopesand practicesregularly degeneratesinto caricature or well-bred irony. And this is surely
t?grettablesince even the availableevidencepoints unambiguously to
thc frct that verv manv of the first monks were whollv admirable
oT@hnq!94_q1il-hbveifby
men, gentle, wise, andloving,
an abidiid-!!
Jlgures
-apilile remarkable by any standard
'r-s!-inl;;d.
atncrged from their monastic surroundings to leave an enduring
mtrk on the characterand quality of their times; and in the fourth
and fifth centuries some of the most effective men, some of the men
mort ablc to provide leadershipand inspiration to countlessthounnd.i, were actually dedicatedascetics.In other words, the emphasis
on thc scnsetionalfeatures of early monastic life is apt to provide a
lopridcdand seriouslymisleadinghistoricalpicture.
But whether the focusof attentionbe on the saint,on the fanatic,
or indccd on the common and ordinary human, no one would deny
thrt hrrdship and suict regimentationmarkedthe lives of the early
monLr. And this too calls for brief comment, since a complex networL (tf incentives-religious,psychological,social,and anthropokrglcrl-is in pley whenever the issue of discipline is seriously

bution to make to this image of exrremrsm:... there were men in hardship and bowed down to the end
of their lives. qoing about each dav in sadness.their bodies'
n es< ..d-+et unnoticed by them.
wounds stinkiQg of rottFn--r
They forqot to eat their breadl their drink was mixed wirh
tears. They ate dust and ashes instead of bread: their bunes
stuck to tfr-eii-Festrand r hey-"=-Crea*<d:---u
p like grarr....
You could seethe tongues on some of them dry and hanging

xlv

PRI'll;A(il'l
invoked.There seemsto be an attrircti('tr in t ll'' iltc(l rt'lGrtf tlhciplinc'
irrespectiveof the valuesthal may hrll)l)clllo tttttlcrllc tt llt rt,givcn
cont;xt. A strangelyrecurrent terlllinrtlt'[v rlt wr tllt rttttongOhris'
rlght'wlng
tians,Marxists,Manichees,army officcrs,rcvrrlttlirrttrl'tcr'
of rcwttrth
inhcrclll
lhc
.*i..-i.tr, ani r"cistr, and it consccrltcs
thc
onc'l
contrldcr'
willl
solidarity
rnanliness,
straint, seif-sacrifice,
rgrinst
Iilhl
lo
rcquirclllcnt
the
"cause,"the need to struggle,and
Translatcdinto lrrlctiec, thil voclbuand weak-n-ess.
,in,
"oaatp,lott,
b. brought to exemplify what is nrlnifcstly riglrt--or righ'
i".,
""n
i.o'ur. Su.tt pro"iai-"d valuesdraw continucdnrlttlirution'rcglrdlcss
preol th. broth"tnood that may happento havelrctraycdthcml rnd
rt ls
!tr)
ln
ny'
for
an
appcrrl
great
so
they havelong held
ciselybecause
gcncrnlizablc
a
conrfi)rt
within
iooli'shto try (assomedo) to confine
tion the reasonswhy men in their thousandsioin e pnrticttlnrmovcment. A studentof motivesis not much helpedby thc strtcmcnt that'
io. irrr,"n"., the national humiliation stemmingfrom the Vcrseilles
treaty rvasthe causeof the growing membe-rshipof thc N nz-ipnrty' or
the etonomicand socialdislocationof the third century wasrcsponsrble for the rise of monasticism'
However,there is one featureof the unrelaxedseverityand disciand
pline of early monasticlife that certeinlyought to be advertedto
a
relito
resolve
men
some
why
ioin
reasons
ihat offers a clue to the
namely' the undiniable correlation between hardgi"u"
"ornrn""iay;
intensemarslaling of inner, and frequentlyunsuspected'
lhip
"n
"nd
,."i.rra.a, Words cannot really encompasswhat happens here But
the Gulag Archi'
the fact seemswell established.In the evidenceof 'fertz'
Panin' and
Solzhenitsyn,
like
men
of
o.i"so, in the testimony
German
by
loose
let
misery
of
wave
tidal
the
of
bnifiitt, ;n the records
of
the
capacity
of
proof
humbling
and
persistent
Nazism, there is a
to
unof
deprivation'
conditions
worst
the
amid
individuals,trapped
itttt.t dyttamism, which often is manifestedas a commanding
io"t
"tt
tuhi.h must never be confused with the understanfaith in God
"ttd
It has happenedtoo often in twentieth-cenof
escapism.
dable motive
or explainedaway;and somewhere
trivialized
to
be
turv exDerience
the ordeals,voluntarily undertakwith
bond
*ittrin it lies a common
monks of the Church' Sharp difthe
first
of
the
achievements
er,, and
not alter the sharedcharacterof
do
circumstance
time
and
of
ferences
the eerly saint and thet prisoner of our day who has climbed beyond
gros" ruffering and oppiession to arrive at a level of richnessbeyond

xvl

PREFACE

all common imagining.And becausethis is so, the decisionof a n

to takeon himselfthe disciplineof a hard religiouslife may not, a{
all, be so odd and unintelligible.
That many of the first monks had glimpsed a connection
tween the experienceof hardshipand an enhancedspirituality is t
dent in the writings ofthe early Church. And in the neighborhoo
that nerceivedconnection were other sourcesof the resolve to en
on a monastic life. There was, for instance,the belief that, given '
right conditions and preparation, a men may even in this life wr
his passageupward into the actual presenceof God; and there, if G
he can receivea direct and intimate knowledgeof the
so chooses,
vine Being. Such knowledgeis not the automaticor the guarant
conclusionof a process.It is not like the logical outcomeof a faultk
ly constructed argument. There is no assurancethat a man will co
to it at the end of a long journey. But to many it was a prize an
prospect so glittering that all else looked puny by comparison; a
besides,there were tales told of some who, so it seemed,had actu:
been granted that supreme gift of a rendezvous.
is found in 'asection of the Cox
S'omethingof wh"t
-"r-rn."ttt
siozsof Augustine:
Imaginea man in whom the tumult of the flesh goessilent,
in whom the imagesof earth,of water,of air and of the skies
ceaseto resound.His soul turns quiet and, self-reflectingno
longer, it transcendsitself. Dreams and visions end. So too
does all speechand every gesture,everything in fact which
comesto be only to passaway. All thesethings cry out: "We
did not makeourselves.It is the Eternal One who madeus."
And after they have said this, think of them falling silent,
turning to listen to the One Who createdthem.And imagine
Him speaking.Himself, and not through the medium of all
thosethings. SpeakingHimself. So that we could hear His
word, not in the languageof the flesh, not through the
speechof an angel,not by way of a rattling cloud or a mysterious parable.But Himself. The One Whom we love in everything. Imagine we could hear Him without them.
Reachingout with spcedingthought we cometo Him, to the
llternalWisdomwhich outlastseverything.And imagineif
while all lessersightswcrc
sightof I lim wcrc kcpt availablc,

t {v

PREI"AOI'l

PREFACE

taken away Think of this encountcr'scirirrg'llrrorltittg'

tire witness into the dcpths "l 1'y l rcrrrul,.lilr
drawing
-be

body in command;and, seemingly,no hour or placecan offer the soul

Nninstant of unthreatenedpeaceand recreation.
And so it is that John Climacus, facing the spectacleof unending
war between soul and body, finds himself compelled to write as follows:

w o uld

of a kin d

with

t his m om c t lt

r ' l r r ll( lc lr lr l l l ( l l t l g

(Confessions
ix, 10, 25)
(irxl 'l hat
Augustine is talking of a one-to-oneencotrntcrwith
lxrld
dreamof suchan encounterin this lilc tlrrrysccrn
anvone"should
surr'unded
ccnturv'
twentieth
to a belienerfrom the
;;,d ;;;;;i;;
tlritt tlrcrc is a
fr. itiy .ointles men of goodwill unableto acccpt
wirs tnuch to
therc
"t
and
there,
God at ail. But the dream was clearly
the
ccnturics'
sixth
and
fifth,
;it"". To writers of the fourth,
k;;;
coand
the'nr
suPported
age
the
of
."ii"trL *a intellectual resources
of
the
conviction's
formulated
ooer"tedwith them asthey confidently
dynamicsense
kind laid out by Augustinl. They had' too, a thriving'
ttq:Irre
the
to
turned
they
this
of the reality of God. And from
""T'
exrsthe
ol
prool
unambiguous
an
ciallv. the resurrectionof Christ as
the
presence
liv-ing
the
actual
'rf
,.1.i'oi tut. road' a high road' into
aftrthe
"
until
reached
be.
perhaps
riight not
e;";;;.1";t""y',
"nd
to lov' therr hunger
life, but io thesi men, with their greatca,pacity
ot sln' the way was
fact
the
of
for salvation,and their bitter awareness
to
be overcome'
had
obstacles
alreadymarkedout, and only the
might operate for
that
motives
of
But whaternerthe combination
monasticisg;lhl9-ly+gs:bctor
tndiuiJo"i".nt".ing on the Path of
felt'
that set the tone of all else; namely' the-djg!rc-ti'ontggEgndly

il.,*.=C;ni;-aSamanttinctionregirliilv--ii?lE-rstoodintermsof
without respiti' betweentwo irreconcilable
, .rH"ci"Aat-;*l
was the foe;.;;;A;t;t
voked together for a liietime' The body
sotisfactions
crass.
its
own
for
out
reaching
and gr"eedy,
;;;:.;;;.t;,,
the soul
which
against
needs
3. ."f"* g.".i"il.g r"ub,l.'.u.n civil-ized,
at the
antagonism
a
deadly
of
to st?uggle.This notion
;l;;y;
il
thanChristianolder
theme
a
was
of miJs own being
;;;";..;;t
"
a focal point
i*.'u"i ii ,tt. literatureof early monasticismit became.
world' enthe
in
to
be
is
all
at
alive
ig.tr".a ..fl..tion' For to bL
gazrng
others'
with
"i
relationships
,uri"n* on.', survival,entering into
the
every,.turn
at
tnto"nttring
rising'beforetf,t tyt'
;;;;"";;;;,y
and
de.light'
of
stirrings
the
ieeling
intellect,
"rt"and
and ol the urge to
""ii"""-"t,J.f
discoveringthe outwerd reachof desire,of passion'
most at home'
feels
body
the
where
oo"""rr. Aid all this in the arena
but
aspectsof the
are
night
the
of
sleep
and the
i;";;;;;;;;t
"*ake

By what rule or manner can I bind this body of mine?By

what precedentcan I judge him? Before I can bind him he is
let loose,before I can condemn him I am reconciled to him.
before I can punish him I bow down to him and feel sorry
for him. How can I hatehim when my naturedisposesme to
love him?How can I breakaway from him when I am bound
to him forever?How can I escapefrom him when he is going
to rise with me?How can I makehim incorrupt when he has
receiveda corruptible nature?How can I argue with him
when all the argumentsof nature are oh his side?. .. If I
strike him down I havenothing left by which to acquirevirtues.I embracehim. And I turn away from hirn. What is this
mystery in mel What is the principle this mixture of body
and soul?(Stepl5)

More typical, perhaps,was the following reflection by Basil of

himself the single most influential figure in the monastiCeesarea,
cismof the easternhalf of the RomanEmpire:
'l here is only one way out of this, namely,total separation
from all the world. But withdrawal from the world doesnot
mcan physicalremovalfrom it. Rather,it is the withdrawal
by thc soul of any sympathy for the body. One becomes
friends,
statelessand homeless.One gives up possessions,
ownershipof property, livelihood,businessconnections,social life and scholarship.Tbe heart is rnadereadyto receive
thc imprint of sacredteaching,and this rnaking ready involvesthe unlearningof knowledgederiving from evil habits. 'li) writc on wax, one has first to erase the letters
prcviouslywritten there,and to bring sacredteachingto the
rootedin
soul (,nc must bcgin by wiping out preoccupations
ordinrry hntrits.(llasil,/,ctrer2)

ttx

P llliIA (;1"
wcfc proIohn Climacus,Basil,and nlrlnv trtllcr lclrlttlg ligttrcr
ltcrtvcltwrtrd'thot the
.r"itii.g i" lfr..t ihat the only s'tl'cHrrT('\rrt\
geslurewas thc sigrr:rl"t prlvcr trr r.tlcttmpunconlv uriblemished
iecureinvolucm"nt'^ 'tlr "ihcr'.'wrtrthc unstinted
;;;, ;;;';;;';.|; -Temperament
and av:rilrlrlcirrrislllN.wotlld deteroflei of charity.
all this
th" dtgttt to which' l'rr irrrlivitlrrrrln'
ift".*terrt
"ndinto hatied of rhc lx'rll ittrtlhcttcc thc world'
-i""
t."nrt"t.a
"t
*"rla--U"
lictzc(llly il love or
But whateverthe disparatemotivesat work' t tttitll
lr{d {t least
a man t"ce."ti,tg hirnselfin a frcnzy ol ltcnrlncc
a;
soul facing
of
thc
the abidingsit seof a war within thcttt'
;;;;". ";;
factor
rtthcr
No
,i" U"J" i. an unendiig and possiblymortal c'rnrlritt'
pracdiscrPlrnlry
decisivein shapingthe morality and thc
*"r
for
work'
sccn
0l
oi,ntii^, monks,and its influenceian still trc
ii"., -o."
ttf
marriage
on thc sutricct
inrrrn"a, in many of the Pronouncements
cclibatcsto copc with
ecclesiastical
some
of
effo,t,
,teruou,
;;;;
thc humln raceare
ih" f""t thrt half, if not more, of the membersof
women.
""1;i
in thc c('ntextof
vastly more troublesomeproblem-arises
" felt'antagonismbetweensoul and body' and it is a prob'
tni, J."pfy
of DittifleAsceflt'
i.-,rr"i"1irf today sirike someonereading TheLadder
briefest fashthe
i*". rnat can be touched on here in only
ii'i"
and
""
terminokrgy
of the Westa
There is now in the conscrousness
ion. "iro
of
the
the,era
From
a set of valuejudgmentscenteredon the person
a
been
has
ther
n"nrirrrrr"" and ieformation up to the presenttime'
inherent
the
and
steadvDrogressin the insistenceon the reality
would argue
*"r,i ,ir,fr. individual.Some philosophers'of course'
once
demonstrated
has in this merely
ih"
;;;';;;
in
hidsucceeded
-o.d-rpi,,n"'
to sublimatereality and hasonly
asain h;s capacity
comvery
a
iin f.o- himself that he is no more-and no less-than
is
But this is not a widelv sharedview lnstead'there
;i:;;;;"ni,;.
of
another'
goodas
rights,of one man'sbeing as
;;;";"n
;;;;ik
poor
tJ sharein the goodsof the world' of one-manthe
iit. tintt, of
of ma)or
wh;;;li this hasdone to belief in God is a theme
;;;-;;;.
anyone
for
difficulty
imoort. However,on a more restrictedplane'a
rhat in
is
texts
;.;;i;* TbeLadderof DiaineAscentor similar
;;i;
rnodern
lf
work
is-al
ii.ti , ."-fi'rt", differeniview of the person
of the inh* investedheavilyin the notion ofthe value
iit",f-f,v
incompatibility
dividual person,it has been at ;he cost of a seeming
believedin the early Church'
*irft
" ""Siirr. that was felt and
of the
-"ift ltn.,rt.t incompatibleor not with the modern sense

PREFACE

self and of identity, TheLadderof Divine Ascen temains what it has

long been,a text that had a profound influence,lastingmany centuries,in the monasticcentersof the Greek-speaking
world. As such it
deservesat least a hearing, if only to ensure that the awarenessof the
Christianpastis not impoverished.And in any caseit has in its own
feshion a contribution to make to the problem of what the monk
could possibly signify in the life of today. For the Ladder was, of
course,addressedspecifically to monks.
Hardly anything is known of the author, and the most reliable
information about him can be summarizedin the statementthat he
lived in the secondhalf of the sixth century, survivedinto the sevcnth, passedforty yearsof solitudeat a placecalledTholas; that he
bccameabbotof the greatmonasteryof Mount Sinaiand that he composedthere the present text. The Lodderwas written for a particular
gtoup, the abbot and community of a monasticsettlementat Raithu
on the Gulf of Suez.It was put togetherfor a restrictedaudienceand
to satisfyan urgnt requestfor a detailedanalysisof the specialproblcms, needs,and requirementsof monasticlife. John Climacuswas
not immediatelyconcernedto reachout to the generalmlss of believcrs; and if, eventually, the Ladderbecamea classic,spreading its effccts through all of EasternChristendom,the principal reasonlay in
Its continuing impact on thosewho had committed themselvesto a
disciplinedobservanceof an asceticway as far removedas possible
from daily concerns.
Not much is actuallysaidof the reasonsfor loining a monastery.
Mcn becornemonks "either for the sakeof the coming kingdom, or
bccruseof the number of their sins, or on accountof their love of
God" (Stepl). But onceinsidethe walls,the monk, accordingto John,
hlr to live under the scrutiny of a God Who is undoubtedlyloving,
mcrciful, and omnipotent,but Who is alsojust, stern, and conscious
of protocol.Like the emperor,in fact:
'l'hoseof us wishing to stand beforeour King and God and
to speak to Him should not rush into this without some
prcparation,lest it shouldhappenthat-seeing us from afar
without arms and without the dress appropriateto those
who appcarbefirrethe King-He shouldcommandI lis scr.
vlnts and llis slavesto lay hold of us,and to drive us out of
llis sight,to tesr up our pctitionsand to throw thcrrrin orrr
frccr. (Stcp2lt)

f (! { l

PREFACE
I')ltl'l!-ACE
with the perils of his situation. There is knowledge to be handed on
to him, and practical stepsthat, if taken, must show him how to transform his life, how to ranscend his condition, provided he has within
himself the necessaryfaith and zeal. The form of John's text-with its
thirty sectionsor steps-is suggestedby the biblical image of the ladder of Jacob,and such an image, rooted in the certainties of scripture,
must be taken to imply that despite the myriad difficulties rising up
before him, the way of the monk is not in fact impassable.But it has
its own special character and its own particular objectives,and these
must be understood from the beginning and accepted for what they
are. The monk, after all,

t socrety
'lhe emperor, in the worltl known to John' presidcd.ovcr

n:n
iiil. ;ilremr)tc'
i,qlel;i,'''i'"
;il,i.:'Jil;
: :':T
dlstl l l,lT,*:'-":'il:,:l;
was
whoseaPex
would do so with nervousappreheniame into the imperial prcscnce
tt
tti'ittt displeasuret:l:t^tT"
sion,with a senseof risking 'nrnt
emperor lived far away
iir"'h"i..lit tr his subiectsthe
noting and
on the-watch''l^1,:"t'"'
capital,whereasGod is ever p""i""utt
His knowing stare'
;".. directing toward the individual
;i;;;it;;
ptoptrly understood'John offers
And in casethe analogy n"tt '" "oi
someothers:
to appeartretlt
lf you ever found yourself having
"^l:T1"
of how 10 conduct
iudee' you may use tnat as an example

;;""';ir';;';y.l:,':'l-l,XJi#il:;;1il:lT,'.::T-:
a cro
iudge nor witnessed
surgeonsPrror to
from the way patients appeal to
;"J;;;
(SteP28)
an operation or a cautery'

the modernscholiastmight *9;^.,-"With no anaesthetic,"

monk puti on a lifetime perforBeforethe faceof this fi"g' th"
tutn is imperiledb-YvirtuallY un'
mance,one,moreover,that at "itty
t:"t:ll;
twentieth
Tbut'-'cl:
ffit.*i ;;;;'dt iaa J"n" u'"J ii.'thethrough
astt
minefield;
a
mo-nkasiourneying
irr""
ever
that a momentmight
"p"i.* "i*t
is, the imageof the strart*'y 'uffittt]'na
mighr.brieflyrelax' is
man
a
when
comewhen it would be ottt"'-i*'
often melancholy'analyoi ttte long'
"monk
nowherehinted at i" tr'" "olr"t
caught,upin an endthe
sis ofthe spiritual life. ror noioniyi.
in
'"g"i."t a host or ol't'""t"t' but he has also to live
i"rr*rigi.
whether
an intimario-nof
perpetualinsecurtty'*"n pt'h"p' never
hasproducedcompensait
whether
or
ilrt l*tggrl hasbeena success
gravity of his sins:
,i"n lur?i.i.n, for the weight and
the
expect reassuraace-at
Let no one who grievesfor his sins
untne
t"tt be no reassuranceabout
tt"ta .f a*tft fht"
known. (SteP5)
Andhehastobewareeventhisinsecurity,since..todespairis'..to
deathon oneself'(ibid)'
inflict
ts that a great
"""V"
Dittine'4.scent
,f," *ftAe point of TheLadderof
to enablethe monk to cope
amount of wisdom and insrght is availabje

finds himself in an earthly and defiled body, but pushes himself into the rank and status of the incorporeal. . .. Withdrawal from the world is a willing hatred of all that rs
materially prized, a denial of nature for the sake of what rs
above nature. (Step 1)

In other words, the monk, unlike the majority of 6elievers,is so overwhelmed by his sense of the reality of God and of the afterlife that he
turns away, by a deliberate choice, from the concerns of the here and
now, renounces as far as possible the alliance of soul and body, and
lives to the extent that he can the life of the spirit. Of all tasks this is
surely the most formidable; and yet, John is saying, at the top of the
ladder, on the thirtieth step of striving, there awaits a prornise for the
man whose heart longs to be there: love clarified, God made present.
To get there, however, the monk has first to enter the arena of
rcnunciation. It is easily said, and the inexperienced onlooker will
. hgve his own way of consnucting the image of the bolt on the cloister
grte, of the cell entered for a lifetime. Or the talk can be of what a
mon has decided to forego-a varied diet, physical comfort, sexual expcrience, possessions,the security and self-respect provided by the
love and esteem of one's time, of neighbors, of society. And these are
indeed among all that the monk has decided to renounce. But wherevCr 0 man is, however far he has retreated from what the world may
hlvc to offer, he remains a man, endowed, among other ettributes,
with a capacity to remember and to imagine, and in the drabbest bywry of the rockicst dcsert he would be less tban human if he did not
thi nk somcti mcs of the road not t aken- which would m cnn t hlr nc
hrd not yct l chi cvcd rcnunc ir t ion.

xx||l
x x ll

l'l(l' | '\( I
nl s
ll l r ' r lt| t r ' l| | n ll l l l l l l l l l l ttl
t l l N l l l c l t l llr ' r Hr ' \ ' lt lt r ' !l
the
ol
l' r r lllr lllr l llllt | lr trtl ottr
t l l t,r r tr r ' r l
re m e n r [ ) c r c ( | ,
t a s te-real,
()n
tr lt' lll I t l l l rtcd
tttr
r
'
l
t
r
r
ln
ll!lr
i l !ir r r r r llt' l
wo rl d . He has s t i l l t o r u t l
And

;; '; "; i;.

;; i; ; ; '; ;

s upp o s e

l ' tr r tl r' rt tt ' t.tx' t.i 11t,-11

hum anit l, ill (l (rr\ rrrfl l ' rrtr.tl tr
rtt t.ttrl r.tt rI r., rrrrprnge
tr
and s ' t t l' Itc l ri rr ' rrr rtrl rt
il;

l,:i:#;il1'Jl::,1:llllll.t:,
lilliii;l'lililJl
ll;:1,1".,,'1,'i:,'.
1,,:
form judgments about u nltevc
rrrl t l ttttt' n tl ttt l l tc rl sserc at l s tr()l )l l r l ' rtttr
1 ""n " m aint ains '
o'
"t ion
" ""t 1o f h i s o w n opinion' ot h rs o i r rr l l .;rrr' rl t' rr,h " s ' l l i :U l :]]' ,' l " U
l , nrr rl l cgrtrof e v a l trrrti " " ' i " " r t* ' l l ' rrrr.rrr tt
i ."a ti 'i rt . ; ; : r it er ia
tl
t'
r'
r1
'
r' tt" c of that
s
r'
l
t
rl
rc
rtl
'lt
mat e a n d u nwar r ant ed pr o mo l i o tr

;;i;;;'i'c.":1.."i::-,1:;:':;,:;1,;l]';::l:,;ll:'ll;,,,
i.'" ru,r,,,.,"
As if this were not more tn
l trrn 'rI n l ' .nrrrcl y' rne
ttttts r
*t ' it t t t t' t m .n k
' 1 1 1 1 1 1rrr;i ,r rr,ll rrt' krtrgcv, h. t ; ;;;;;i th
dem o n s , o f e v i l s p i ri rs l r,rrr' .r
of
,". ""a r"g '"rrrr r ,
l | P l xrrl ttnl ty
e v e r o u rl tc n ' tte l t l rl t r l l
e ryw h e re , re s t les sand v lc l o u s '
tl
x'
p;l
tl t of ri ght
l
r'
"
rrr
m tl n k ' .rtu i tv
t o t urn a b e liev er ,but t ' pt t' " t' y "
pfc(l (ccssors
l ri \ rrrrrrrc r.' r!\
is at one
i ;;;t ; ; at t e' ; ohn
: ; ; il; ,:
-i th
l
\r.l
r
ol
l l sr ' tgti nsl
u
l
r.tl
th
c
to
and. l i ke th e m . he r ef er s t o n ' t" n tl y
i
l
s
tl
*
t;; agains tt he ho s ts o f m a ra u d i n g
; ; ; t ; i;

cncrlrics'lt:trslt'dcWe havecountlesshidden enemies-evil

u ishtttgrtr
;""mies with fire in their h'ntls'
;.ilj:;;;
th'tt is irr it'

i!i.t"n; ffii;

i"-fi.

,rightwith the rlanc

i!1c()l'lt{'rcNlxlrd
These enernies are powerrul' rrnsleeping'
unseen (SteP l)

r*.,'h:::".:.:i:l:l;:.':li Ll" ii :::'; ;i',T

coope
Andthey
"X;
their
lift
PersuasrvewoI
mons, to
likely
tht world where he is nost
enticing him to whatever tottt'oi
ro
"
'" weaken
decide if his vocatron-rs
conditions he must therefore
i;-;;;t.

i. .","ii"i1
'ilI;;:l;
11'
:'i:l$,:::?iX
T"i'ilXff
(
a
than
rather
-.'j'i'i.'r,'
as an anchorite
him.andhehasnumeroust"t"i[i;;tohelphimmakcuphisrnind'
or with fellow ancho.tesnearoy'
Itul"g tot"lly
l;.";;;;i;;'
"tot't
that aPPearsmost surti;. hiriself the asceticalresime
;;;;.;;;;;
guidancefrom many qu-arters
tro-"".at. While he may seek
tne
ihe adviceof sirm;11i
"ir.'ir
1t;e'
and mav feel bound to fottow "t'dtitil
own
hts
withrn
remains
;;i;"h.- he shouldconducthimself
:#;t1
xxiv

PREFACE
person and under his own control. The cenobite, on the other hand,
while renouncing the world as the anchorite does, also abdicates his
capacity to decide his future for himself. To him, rhe "I," with its
power of decision, is the enemy, always insidious, ever exploited by,
demons, endlessly a prev to deceit from within and from outside; and
lrecauseof this, the solitary life appearstoo hazardous,too filled with
risk. So he joins a community, a resolve in which he will tre encouraged by John, who is convinced of the fact that pnly a special felv are
able to live in solitude and that in community tiEffinFflI
flna
al least one ma,or instrument for his own progress,namely, the stratcgy of obedience.
It is no accident that one of the longest and most impressive sections in T'beLadder of Divine ,4scett is given over to obedience, which is
variously described,but which involves above all the decision "to put
lside the capacity to make one's own judgment." With care and foresight the monk, knowing his own special failings and proclivities,
chrpses a director or superior and then submits completely to him in
cverything great or small, reserving to himself nrjt even the tiniest dontain of personal initiative.
I have seen men there who lived in total obedience for all of
fifty years, and when I begged them to tell me what consolation the)'had won from so great a labor, some answered that
having arrived thereby at the lowest depths of abasement
thcy could repel every onslaught, while others declared thar
thcv had attained complete freedom from the sensesand had
olrtained serenity amid every calumny and insult. (Step 4)
'Iir cmphasizc this aspectof the matter,
John puts forward severIl Ir)ccdotesof which the following is typical:
' l hc strpcri or . .. sai d to ( lsidor e) : "Br ot her , t his is what I
wNtll !(,u t0 clo. \'0u are to stand at the gate ofthe mOnastcry, an(l lrctirre everyone passing in or out, you are to bend
thc krrcc irntl s:r\':'Prly for me, Father, becauseI am an epil cpti c." ' A nd l si < l rrc obcyed ( and) spent seven year s at t hc
gutc. . . . I rrskcdthi s grcu t lsi<ior chou, he had occLr lr icdhis
rrri rrrlql ri l c hc u' l s i tt thc gNlc. . . . "At f ir st I jt r d6lcr rl lt r r t I
l rurl l rct.rrsol tl i rrl o sl rrvcr t lilr r r r y sir r s, " lr c sr r ir l."So I r lir l
gf cr n clli) r t ur r <llr lr r , r r l '\ lt r . r ', t t r . , t r
;x' ni tttccui tl r Iri ttt.rrrcss,

PREFACE
PRIr,l'A()l'l
I l rc g ' rttl (t l hi tl k ' )f
m v h e a rr was no longer fu l l o l g ri c l ' rl rtd
(i
'
rd
l
i
l
rrs
c l l A tl l l tcr vci l r
I
fro
m
a re w a rd f or m y obedie n c e
t. scc ll,u ttnlrcgrttr
I
hearr
ml
of
r"a i" t'he depths
c tl c 0 l l l l l cr Inc Ii r"tt*J
*orth v I was t o liv e in a m o n a s te ry ' t(t
l lost the
rhers, to share in the Divine Mysteries
:':ut"gt. :ll
crl ng
.
m
y c v c \:l rr(1lr)w
l
o
w
e
ri
n
g
b
u
t
loo k a n vo ne in t he f ac e ,
rnc
l
(tr
s
rtrc
c
rr
tv
tru
c
w
i
th
I
a
s
k
e
d
mv th o ;g hr s ev en f ur t h e r'
4)
orru .r, J f ahot . going i n a n d o u r" ' (S te p
an{ c3m,1ents,:t
ar.- ,nO, and from the many other incidents
rmot ()l)!'cllrence
requirement
the
that
ao*n Uy lottn' it becomesclear
lt
is
today
mor than what the term would suggest
t"iv
has
one
that
""ii
-t.ft of agreeing to accept the rules of a club
"il.r q"i'tii""
-lllor
phenomthe
here
"
invoked
obedience
ii the
ioined.
danger""i"n,l.itu
with a soldier, who' in following highlv
;;';;;.:;;i;;s

of
stupidorders,canstill preservean independence
#;Jil;;
farthem The submissionof the monk soesmuch
;;;;;";;;id
private
ih" .u,t""d"t of eventhe capacitvto hold a
;hJ
"J'i;;i;A ;,itude of critical reserveor iudgmentregardingthe
il ;;;p"k;
6s genfu5gj with
meted out to him And this is not 16
;;;;;;'dt
the
is indeedpurposeful,because
eor the obedience
ii_i'.il.iri""..
or
actual
htr ;;;;n"ss within himselfof particularfailings'.
;;;k;;

He who strivesfor dispassion

and for God considerslost any
day on which he wasnot criticized.Like treesswayedby the
wind and driving their roots deeperinto the ground, those
who live in obediencebecomestrong and unshakablesouls.

(rbid.)

All this becausethe self, reducedthrough obediencenot only ro a

humble recognition of its own insignificance,but also to an actualization of that insignificance,will then lie open to receivethe graceof
becomingsomeonepleasingin the sight of God, pleasingas a showplaceof the virtues.
Thesevirtues,and the vicesthat shadowthem, form the subiect
matter of the greater part of TbeLadderof DivineAscent.They are submitted to penetratinganalysis,classification,
and subdivision.They
are treated in a sequencemore or less logical and in a manner occasionally reminiscentof a soul owner's manual, Yet this too can be
misleading,as indeedthe imageof the ladderitself is somewhatmrsleading. For it would be wrong to think in terms of a solid progression up from one firm level to that above it. A more appioprrare
metaphorwould be the text of a play or the notationsof a musical
composition whose internal patterns and consistenciesmay well be
describedand established,
but which really come to true being only
in a living enactment. ln Tbe Ladd.erof Dioine Ascentthe monk can
study the virtues asan actor studieshis lines,but the exerciseis only
of secondaryinterest if it is not followed by the actual performance,a
performancethat, in the caseof the monk, will be in an ambienceof
Preyer,in a continuous"dialog and union of man and God" (Step28).
Here, perhaps,is the crucial point. For John Climacusis conccrned not so much with the outward trappingsof monasticismas
with its vital content.To him the monk is a believerwho hasunderhken to enter prayerfully into unceasingcommunionwith God, and
this in the form of a commitmentnot only to turn from the self and
world but to bring into being in the context of his own personas
mlny of thc virtues as possible.He doesnot act in conformity with
virtuesof one kind or anotber.Somehow,from within the boundaries
of his own prcsence,he emergesto Dehumility, to be gentleness,
to be
tln rbhorrcd, to be faith and hopeand, aboveall else,to be love.Such
I voc0tionturns him into a markcdman,not iust in the sortof rnilieu
known to John Olirnacus,
llut rt any time, even whcre thc ntnrc ol
(irxl is sorncthingro tr shruggccloff or rejcctcd.I Ic ofltrr an drlllt-

p","',i,r,h."'-"I::i^1,'^:p:.:1?"ilx":i#:'"'"",::
jiTlill"ni:,'.'"::
submrssronwrrr rlrcrr
unquestioning
"', :1:_'^'^:i'-:,.;i;;;;;.;
important sptrtscend weaknessand to aovance toward increasingly
tual goals:
'fhe surest sign of our faith is when we obey our supertors
opposite happenwithout hesitation, even when we see the
ing to what we had hoPed (SteP 4)
of.perfect obediLet what we call quicksilver be a paradigm
wish and rt lvlll
ence. Roll it with any substanceyou
'ne!erwith nothing defiled'
thelessrun to the lowest place and mix

0bid.)
what his weak
Whena monkliving in solitudehasrealized
to obesellshimself
ooint is. and when he changesplaceand
recoverssight and
he
once'
he-was
that
5i""".,'ri"., uri.d
can seeChrist without difficulty (Ibid )

\ \ \'al
xxvl

PREFACE
their
to be followctl lli otltcrs in
ple of love and coursge, somethinq
betlictlttc'
and circuntsrNltccs
ou'n wav and as their o*n "t'igf,t'
cause
all men Hencc rnonks s'trluld
the monastic life is a light for
lllT.f:'
a shining example' in "ll
sDare no effort to become
th
t)
r t " . t La g; ut n o s c a n d a li n a n y th i n g
; :;;;;
,l :lt)c
:tl ' rne
$ll rrr

INTRODUCTION

all thedeePer
i:ti ii'ii. iigrttblcomesdark'then (SteP26)
Iivingin the world
ii.r."tt.i?it*"

i n u h i c h l h e I' adder I)i ai ne

S u ch , i n out line. is t he p e rs p e c ti v e
iz:.d-of

wasquickly
.1.r""r1"".'-iii,.n, and the-woik
'recocn
-11'.mporseason j:.:ll
a life and
have
"*"
of
'l
;# I;{i;.;;;i;*ts,
'o""''

.* .11:l:;,*'"$ ll""jl"ill1*il:1T::'lr:l:
ri,.,.,ppry
the honorablYmenllol
statusof
:;;;;;;;;".d"amei-of

torever'
perceptions'and then slip' perhaps

I.'THE AUTHOR AND HIS BACKGROUND

:iffi ;;""";;;;lT:l'::T,IliJ'"','.,::fi:$r:,':1"'lli?";,'ff
:
to P
astoday,eventhe caPacttY
verv
view' brt the
;iit'"n inaiuiau"t work sinkfrom
::.t"t,l.,';;;;;;
t:lJi?iiilXl''"1fl
0,,|: I:':,:li"",]:';*lLll'"'.
.l"i-', "p.'.h'
a
to constructfor themselves
v ls l
me n w ith an imPo ve rlsh ed

f'o,,'
;il: t;;;;;
l9t"-,t!"^1:?lt"*t of
-nitn
""i"tat"r'
meanlng
ot
w,,rthwhilesense
'J'ot**"'T9
single'-all-per.o u" r"'r"J*ithout respiteinto a
X.':':'ti.ll.;;;;",
't
clear
is
least
"-ld- -tl: "llli
vrsivcbias,is a disaster' nis iruch at
grrm
century' with. its coun-tless
ishcrl historv of the twentteth

Sinti and Tabor

With the exception of the Bible and the service books, there is no
work in Eastern Christendom that has been studied. cooied and rransfutcd more often than The Ladder of Di,,^ine,lscent6y Si. 1ohn Climacus. Every Lent in Orthodox monasteries it is appointed to be read
nloud in church or in the refectory, so that some monks will have listcned to it as much as fifty or sixty times in the course of their life.
( )utside the monasteriesit has also been the favorite readins of counrl css l ay peopl e i n Greece, B ulgar ia, Ser bia. Russia. and t hr oughout
thc ()rthodox u'orld. The popularity of TbeLadder in the East equals
thrrt of 7'brInitation of Christ in the West, although the two books are
ul togcthcr di ffcrent i n characr er .
'l'he author of 7beLadderlived in the desert of Sinai, at the foot of
Jcbcl Musa, Moses' Mount, that rises rocky and precipitous to a
hcight of nearly 7,500feet.'fhe surroundings would often have called
trt hi s mi nd thc scene i n E xo dus: t he light ning and t hunder , t he
nrottntai n shroudcd i n thi ck cl oud, and M osesclim bing up alone int o
thc dnrkncss to spcak w i th (]od f ace t o f ace ( Exod. 20: lli- 21) . But St .
()l i rrrrrcusw l s al so rcmi nded c( , nst ant lt ' of anot her m ounllinJohn
l tt1t, l rcLrttgi ng to thc N cw (i r vcnr nt - 'l abor , "t hc high r r r or r r r r r r i
tl )ut' 1"(Mrrl t. I7:t), u' hcl c our Lor cl u, r r st r lnsligur cd I r elir r t . t hc. t lr lt . t
dhci pl cs, l ;or, u' l tcrt hc prrnctl in t hc clr ur ch lr r r ilt lir l t lt c r r r , lr l, r ol
r n s56 7, cuch r ir r r clr c l, r , 'I r 'r lr r I l, 'lr r r
S i trui l ry thc l ' .trt1r' tor' .l rrsti rri;in

,,i;".,n*th'd-b-',ry:'vt'h:",:'lruXi:';.t"'..,i::l.i,fi:i:]il;;
..,,",,ui".
or
one
Arent
:ll:'li ill:Jl'':]:'ff#,"';';'.o'*:iu'i"il" 'rnn;ne
,t'.',',,','n',,1i',rnrtnitiesr'.c:lj','j;[:*:"::t::lt#;iru,]:i
canconri;;; ;aiu"''" enrichment
:l :[ JliL:i,':"i.i"" been augmented'
,'t.''ii; tt" hcltl t'r havc
"iii'Tli;

xxvllr

INTRODUC-I'ION

INTRODUCTION

end the grcat mosaic that still

would have seen in the apse at the east

80-sWhile certainty is not possible,it seemsreasonableto regard

John as an author of the seventhrather than the sixth century. as a
contemporary, that is to say, of St. Maximus the Confessor(i. 5g0662).It is not known where he was born. His delieht in metanhors
drawn from the seahasled someto concludethat hiJearlv vearswere
spentnear the coast.6but this is no more than a speculation.
John was sixteenwhen he came to Sinai.THere he would have
found a monasticcenteralreadywell established,
containingin close
proximity all the three forms of the monasticljfe that he deicribesin
Step I of TbeLadder.sFirst, inside the fortress walls built at the orders
of Justinian,and occupyingthe buildingsaround the church with its
mosaicof the Transfiguration, there was a fully organizedcetobium,a
monasticbrotherhoodpursuing the commonlife under the directron
of an abbot (bigoumetos).
Second,scatteredthrough the surrounding
. desert there were hermits dedicated to the solitary life. And in the
third placethere were monksfollowing the niiddle way, intermediate
between the cenobitic and the anachoreticforms, wherebv small
groups lived as close-knitfamilies,each under the immediaieeuidance of a spiritual father. For this third way, ,.the life of stilLess
sharedwith one or two others,"ashe terms it, John himselfexpresses
t preference:it avoidsthe dangersof excessive
isolation,whili beine
rt the sametime less"structured" and more personalthan life in i
large-scale
monastery,and providing more opportunitiesfor sirence.
In the courseof his life St. John Climacushad experienceof all
thesethree forms. Initially, so it seems,he adoptedthe middlc wav.
teking as his spiritual father a certain Abba Martyrius. After thrie
ycars,when John was nineteenor twenty, Martyrius took him to the

a"pi"ti"g christ'sTransfigutlti""' .,..-,.

i"tr.witsd,minated
imaginat
Jpititl'"rry'ittt"'
John's

;;t;J,;;;rf,
'"' ' vtJry'""i

and both alikcrtrcreflected

bv thesetwo mountarns,:'na'"nd tabor'
"tti;;;il;;;;;.
*rot. ln its severitv'its refusal'r[ compromise'
to mind the arid
for total dedicatiot' Thi Ladder^calls.
to
p-repared
th'se
But
sinai
of
""i'iit"a.-*a
;;k; il darkness
ffi;, ffi;;
speaksnot gnlf
look deeperwill discovertnat the book
1l P-"littn"'
entrv into divine glorv'
man's
of
but
oi
;;if
;"rJj;;:;;;
'"lr-d",'i"t
uf si"ai there is alsothe fire of the Burning
gioom
i"#'l;i';';;-t;J
BuJh and the light of Tabor'

Monsstic Patbs
The
'-' Tbree
about the- life of St'
;i;.il ;; known, beyond the bare outlines'
led IoannistisKlimaloq "John of the
lotrrr-Cti-""o..' In Greei he is cal
cameto.beren-

Liiiil?i".

.rt.-uoorttn"t hewrote ln Latinthis

tnr'so rn Englishhis title has$sserng"Clima'

Climacus,
dered,
Joannes
(schotaxikos);
i; is'alsonamed"iohn the Scholastic"
;rr;i;e;;J
broadmore
often
it
islawyer'
tould
i"r,ir" ii. *.-'tt.dh"'"
"
-t"n or widelv read'andthis seemsto
well educated
;;;;il';;;;;;""e
be the sensein John's case'
debated' According-to
lohn's dates have been much

the vrew

and
r'" *"" uot" in or shortlvbefore'57e'
early as 525

put h-isbinh, as
-",J;;;;i;;i'J,
he died around 649;rbut somescholars
his death as late as 670place
600,awhile others
;;"ffi

;;;;und

years after the building of the

mosaic dates probably from 565-6' nine
la 'I'ransfiguretion au Mont
la
mosaique'de
ie
.f,r..fr.'i"" i;.- ff""Cevii, "'Su r le dete
Stnzli'.UvzuarnnI t le2'l)'pP l4r-72
PG 88' 5efi08;
""''; '
ln' r'p tv Daniel or Raithu: Greek txt in
iil::;;;;;-;.'il
but he
contemporary
if ht were John's
*tlttt
lil.ll'lM,
lp xxxiv-xxxtiii o"n"r
"tabout
Narratiaet.^ttrlb'
the
see
life'
John's
is not verv wcll informed' For lurther details

--ll-n"

oie scbit'i,nu'i'tteo2l'pp
iL;il;;'";;;;"';;;iaina;' $$t-i, 12,r4,re:ed F Nau'
is somedoubt how much of this
(xix-xl There
5li-89icf. PG 88, 60li-!', and H I M, PP
ro
Climacus'
refers
rn
fact
materialin Anaslasius
ZeitClimaque"'BJzantinitclv
L F. Nau. "Note sur la datede ta mort de S Jean
rc'riy' xi {1902)"PPtt^-t]
p l80 An earlydateis
196+),
- Jtna
'
'i- i/or (Thessaton;ce
4. S. N Sakkos'Penlnatta!rcn
in his view Llrmacus
l68-9:
i t1924)'
PP
S.tedevi'' art ci BJzantion
,f..
{9o
"r.f..r.i-tt
beforet]2 and died before
Lorn
-es

5. H.-G. Beck, Kirclx uxd Tlxologbcbe

Liklatur in Byzantinischmieicl (Munich
l9r9),p. 451
6. S. Rabois-Bousquer,
"S.int Jean Climrque: sa vie et son oeuvre,,,Ecbotd,Orient
.
r r i i 0 e 2 3 ) ,p p . 4 4 2 - 1 .
7. l)anicl of Rairhu, 1-'y'(597A).But L. petit, D?.C viii 0924), cols. 690_1,doubts
.
lfhcthcr Climicusrntt'redthe monasticlife so young,and prefersto idenrifyhim with
a c.rtlan John thc Rhctorician,a married man in Alexandria,who is mentionedby
lophronius,tl'nal.t of .\t (.tyrus
and* .lobn,gg 6t,70 (pG S7,1640A,167iA)iin petit,s
Vf.w, (;linrcff\ i\ afs(,rhc Jrrhnmentlrnedin Moscbus,'fheSpiituul L!.adou),
\ t}l \t\;
lt, 29601)).
llut rhis thoorv that (jlimacusonly becamea monk ar I merurcrgc, 0frcr
ttttlrisgc0nd l s('culilrcrrccr,rcrnoinshypr)thcical{nd hasn,rrIrtn u.l.ltly utir,prtrr
x . I ( 6 {l l ) ) . l | 7 , r .

INTRODUCTION
and there' following the custom of
chapel at the top of Moses' Mount
down from the sumi. ,onr,rr"a John as a monk Coming
;;it-"
monasterv' who
c-entral
the
of
tht
e""ti*i*,
iiiit.';;;$
"bbot
from"' asked
come
bov
s.i"* 'wt'"'" doesthis
;;'il"-"i
ilt;::
that,he had
rePlied
"and who p'ore'seohi*i" Marryrius
Anastasius,
have
would
"who
;'H"- stra"gel" Anastasiusexclaimed
l;;:;.

ilr;si:,'i
;,;i- l*::1.;:'.l:?:'Jj#ffi:il"
l';Hll1il:

(
and lohn Climacuscontrnueo
who washed John c-limacus'
sabbaite'
tt't
;l:d;;;;ilf
1on"
of Martyrius' John the
feet and kissedhis hand, but took no'notice
two vtsrtors
*"' sc"ndali""d by this' but after the
;;;;'il;Pi.
wJto that
know
I
don't
assuredhim' "Believe me'
;il #;,;;il;"n
Fortv
feet'"e
his
washed
the abbotof Sinai and
il;;;;;;i;;.;ived
l,.im i",.. theseprophecieswere fulfilled'
it'seems,died soonafter John'sprofessionroJohn
'""'"lt;;;,;il,-;
as a hermit at Thoias' some five
""*'.T,i1J-i,i,"
-ti*a",'"tttlng
housing tf,e main monastery l-tl-n::,1lt^'
r."- the fortress
rmmewere certainlyother monksin the
there
for
it.fr,"d,
-"ii.,
durRaithu'
or
Danier
"fi"n"ii"t
to John'sbiographer
:l;;: ;';;;;;;.;;;ording
the
and
tears
gift.of
the
rt'ot" he re'ceived
.i;.t""
;#;;;;;;i
disbut
''t n' reduced
minimrm
a
to
sleep
;;;;;;i'pttvt'
t"
liil'"i
for it.was
fasting'
his
in
prudent
moderarron
ll:i::t- small
olaved a
extrernelv

:;i'.":;tiil;;ir"*J

uv tht',,'o""'tit rie' b"t in

q"""ii"i,.i'"he.i-"
i':tili:1
.TPii:JJ"r:;i*
1',',t'"'T1,ff
to rec
began
suide, and
him for being a gosrt"q*.'"t, indeed'that someiriticized
".i",i.tuox
v*'
Thereupon
Jgh.n.
p'"^i,
:?t"l::l:l:'^l::"'
\eRt.
to
.
entreated
when
visitors
*ith his
"r
onlv a(reeing to speat(once

".rri.t:t.

had been his critics'rr

monks who-ot"
;,;'1 , ;t;;'".tv
made-a.iournev to
""
awi"g t'i' time in Tholas John
1;t';;:;;i"i
of Alexandria'
outskirts
the
on
.Egypt, staying at a- large
-onl"t'"
W ha th e w i tnes s ed' n' n' " o ,n ti t" i ty o fs e v e ra l h u n d re d m onksthe lengthy
on him' as can be gauged from
impressron
made a lasting
4 and 5 of The Ladder' Since his own
description that he grves tn lteps
--ll

$$,*
rr,r"iu", Narrcrioer,
"l$f',r
10.Drnielof Rrithu'slengu'ge

r-0,*,ous: it may meanthat Martyrius

d i e d. not wh e nJoh nwlsnin et eeny ear s of age' but whenJ ohnh a d b e e n n i n e t e e n y e a r s

fitt fi-e when he was about thirty-five)'
i" i.-r*n"".i.
(600A-{01A' 604D-605A)'
It Drniel,
'tl'

INTRODUCTION

early yearsasa monk had beenspentin the third way, in a small hermitage and not in a lzrge cerobium,it is easyto understand the impact
which life at the Alexandrianhousemust havehad uoon him. He was
struck in particularby the abbot'spower of insight,and by the combinationof sternnessand affectionwhich he showedin his treatmenr
of the monks.John was also impressedby the "Prison," a mile from
the main monastery,in which erring monks were confined;here he
stayedfor a month.r2His vivid accountof the physicalausteritiesand
the mentalanguishundergoneby the monksin this "Prison" is likely
to prove, for most Western readers,by far the least attractive section
of TheLaddcr;at times, so one modern critic hascomplained,it sounds
like "a badly run psychiatricinstitution." But John was impressedby
other things as well during his visit to the Alexandrianmonasteryby the unity prevailingamongthe brethren,by the warmth and sensitivity of their mutual love,and by their unceasinginward prayer.13
After forty yearsof hermit life at Tholas, againsthis will John
weselectedabbotof the centralmonastervat Sinai.On the dav of his
installationas abbot,a party of six hundredpilgrims chancei to arfive at the monastery.While they were all being given a meal,John
taw "a man with short hair, dressedlike a Jew in a white tunic, going
round with an air of authority and giving orders to the cooks,celhrers, stewardsand other servants."C)ncethe mealhad finished,the
men was nowhere to be found. "It was our lord Moses,"said John.
"Fle hasdone nothing strangein servinghere in the placethat is his
own."la To the monksthe sign was significant;for they were soonto
fecl that, in the person of their new abbot John, they had indeed
found anotherMoses.ls
How long John continued in office is unknown. It was dunng
this lastperiodof his life, while abbot,that he composedTbeLadderof
Divine Asccnt,at the requestof another John, the superior of a nearby
monasteryat Raithu.16"Tell us in our ignorance,"askedJohn of
Rtithu, "what like Mosesof old you haveseenin divine vision upon
lhc mountain;write it down in a book and sendit to us as if it were
l 2 t ( 7 7 6 R )p, . l l t i
l l . { ( 6 }i r A B ( l },p p . e r e 6
f{ Anrst sius.itrarrahzu,g'1
ll. lhnicl, /,i/i (6{)5ll)
16. l'rolrl|blyto lr irlcnrificrlu,irh 'lor, on rhe (jrrlf of Srrcrnc{r th. r.[rth. t tllt
ttf thr Sinli ;rrninrrrll

INTRODUCTION
God'" In his reply John Climacus
the tablesof the Law, written by
am still among the
.t t""tt i' beyond his strensth:"I
;;;;;i
has
of
"
the-virtue obedience',he
iearners" But, he says,constratnedby
what
way"
"in my stammering
compliedwith the request'comPosing
"rT
sketch
than "an outline
i. ii
th'
enioy,
-ot.
before his death lohn, longing to
Shortly
?i:t-il:'
resigned-hisPosttronas
*i[rr".ri'i.'*-ii.ft he had lived as a solitary'
r?'
h's brother Georseto replacehim
ilil,,;;;;i;;i;;
was.everorClimacu-s
There is nothing to rndtcateth"atSt John
itself
in
Proofthat he
abbot'isnot
daineda priest.His apporntmentas
was in holY orders'
AND STRUCTURE
II. THE LADDER: PURPOSE
lobn\ Aud.iexce
t"-";;;;;;;;,
living for most of
*as written, then' by one who' after

*l:1.:::
i t"ttit, nai in "ta agebeenentrusted
*"tt"g
clf
"t
work
pastoral
-.""".,i"
care of a large communiry;.it is the
"-t:l:i:l
He belir.

r,i,

ttt"t john has in view is monastic

r;.
"iai""""with a ciear affirmation of God's loving care
io*.utt,
all alike:
humankind'Salvationis offeredto
"f
the salvatio: b:ll"*
God is the life of all free beings' He is
"f
uniust ': gl.Ponnt nt
*, oiunb.ti"u"ts, of the iust or the
or the illiterate' of
,i"* r*i"g i" the world, if the educated
verv old He is
the
;; the sick, of the voung or
;itil;i;ff
of
glimpse the sun' or.the
iii..'ii" t,i,p.*rng of light' the
tor- everyone
of ih. *"l"thtt, which are the same
of persons"
respecter
"i""n.t
.'"iiit3"i ."*ptr;n
"For God is no
(Rom.2:l l) 18

i"r
".T.i""t.
;;ili;;;;-k,
il; ,;;;ilt

that memimonyrs not an

To the married ChristianJohn insists
obstacleto salvation:
--li_po.

ij8, 624-81ET'
and John climacus' rePly, seeP6
John of Raithu,s letter

but Probablv
$12,mentioning John the sabbaite'
'erer"t*Iooljil'il;r'
6094)'
"r//aiioer'
(cf
88'
PG
ring to John Climacus
1u. I (6llA)' P. 74.

INTRODUCTION
Do whateyer good you may. Speak evil of no one. Rob no
one.Tell no lie. Despiseno one.. . . Show compassionto the
needy... . Be satisfiedwith what your own wives can provide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the kingre
dom of heaven.

Later in the work, he points out that purity is by no meansthe rnonopoly of those who have never married, and he cites as proof the example of the apostle Peter, "who had a mother-inJaw and who
nevertheless
receivedthe keysof the kingdom."zo
But, having insisted in this manner upon the universality of
God's savinglove,John makesit clearthat he himself is writing specifically for monks. This needs to be remembered by the modern
reader.Yet doesit therefore follow that TbeLadderis of no interesr ro
those in the "world"? Surely not. It has in fact been read with the utmost profit by many thousandsof married Qhristians; and, whatever
the author's original intention, there is nothing surprising in that.
Monasticism,asSt. Basilthe Great observe;,is nothing elsethan,,life
accordingto the Gospel."ztWhether monasticor married, all the
baptized are responding to the sameGospel call; the outward conditions of their responsemay vary, but the path is essentiallyone.
Tbe Needfor PersonalExpeience
St. John Climacus,like St. Symeonthe New Theologianand St.
Gregory Palamasat a later date,22lays heavy emphasisupon the need
for personalexperience.Christianity, as he seesit, is much more than
the exterior acceptanceof doctrines and rules. No one can be a true
Christian at secondhand; there must be a personalencounter,in
which eachknows, sees,tastesand touchesfor himself.
This appliesfirst of all to anyonewho teachesothers:
The true teacheris one who hasreceiveddirectly from heav.
en the tablet of spiritual knowledge,inscribedby God's own
finger, that is, by the activeworking of illumination.Such a
t9. I (1,4{JI)),
p. 78.
2 0 . l 5 ( 8 e 6 4 ) t, ' l 8 l .
2t Itt!0 20J,2\PG 12,16lll\.
: 2 . ( : i . K . Wa r c , " l r a d i r i o n n n d Pe r so n a!}p
l cr i e n cc i n l ,i r cr l tyr {n r i n c l h cr 'l
ttgt'",linhltt (.:hu/$$/rl.l,ic!'iii (lt)7{)),
llp. lll {t.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
lt is not right for-teachersto
man has no need ofother books
sav 23

;t;; ffiil;;;t

copving oot what other people

who
the man of personal experience'
And
iust as the true teacher is
rnstrucgivrng
'n"""tl""
in
aim
r- il-self, so likewise the teacher's
and confrontation'
ftis disciples to the point of crisis
.b""i-i"-utr"g
shallsee'attaches
we
as
,.. ro, th.-"li" John'
;"tl:;; il';;;;ilr
affirming that
father'
profound importancero t ne rote of the spiritual
a guide The
without
none should embark upon the rnward lourney
but an
figure
substitute
a
his view
spiritual father,however,rs not in
our-behalf'
on
initiator. His function i" not to experience .thing:,
personally'
us from the n"ed to e*ptri"nte them
il..L;G;"tt";
to us:oPen
sav-s

ut i'ih' ut'v onewho

;"T;i;tfi;;;Po'l"'
To see'soJohninsists'it
for vourselves
l.'oi
;;ilH;;;t,
"t
people;vou need to
""d
other
listen to direciions from
i';;;;i#;;;;;
;;;;;;;;

cannot
power of sisht "In the samewav' vou
takes
He
prayer."2a
of
""tural
IiJ.i"", ,r._ ii;,li"di.g or oth.;, thebeauty
as an examPlethe taste of honeY:
describethe love of
can
Do you imaginethat plain.words
imaginethat talk
you
Do
ot tne heart?
God . . and assurance
*l'?:1,L:"someone
to
*ill meananything
of ,u.h
*f
you
then
so'
If you think
"
i.."o..i""*a
lt-:.t^.']1:
tJ"-",,",' them?
the
convey
to
tries
words and examples
tastedit He
-l,rt
-""
honey to p"oftt who have never
of
sweetness
talks uselesslY'2s
Thisfirmbeliefinthenecessityforpersonalexprcriencehasdeashe
*tti"h lohn giuet to his book Convinced
ii.'.i".,tttt
.".-i""i
and
for direct
lasllns
is of the need for encounter ""'J-f""'titip"tio"'

Faithful to this existential stance,in TbeLadderlohn usually refrains from giving detailed directions about what foods to eat, how
much and when, about hours of sleepand the daily program of manual labor. We searchin vain through the pagesof Tlx Ladderfor that
kind of guidance.When discussingprayer, he likewisegivesno description of the liturgical offices, no advice about preparation for
Holy Communion and its frequency,no specificinsructions about
methodsof private prayer, about formulae, bodily posture, breathing
exercisesand the like. These omissionsare surely deliberate. His interest is in the inward rather than the outward. What matters for him
is not physicalasceticismbut humility and purity of heart:
In Scriptureare the words,"I humbledmyself,and the Lord
hastenedto rescueme" (Ps.l14:6);and thesewords are there
insteadof "I havefasted,""I havekept vigil," "I lay down on
t he bareearth."26

What he offers is not techniquesand formulae but a way of life, not

regulationsbut a path of initiation.
Because
his aim is to impart a living, personalexperience,
John is
parables,
Like
Lord
with
His
like
often intentionallyenigmatic.
our
the Zen masters with their koansor the Sufis with their "scatter"
technique,John avoidsspellingout his conclusionstoo plainly, for he
wants the reader to work out the answer for himself. When the point
of his examplesis left unclear,or he seemsto jump in arbitrary fashion from one ideato another,normally this is due, not to carelessnes
or incompetence,but to deliberatepurpose.He takes a conscious
pleasurein cryptic phrases:
If all are not savedwho havebeenbaptized,I will passin silenceover what follows.

"'l;
il.liill's,rl,.;;;:;ii::"*:';i::.'llJiJi:::ti':.'"':lT-X:f
ing or to impose.a
l, ir,. late Fr. Georges
'oti'l.:::',r"1;r"-r*".^
readersan exPeriencesrmrlar
Jrb' Lodd" is an invitation to pilgrimage'" It is an
;;;;;6p;;'i'
will apprectonly thosewho readit existentially
i""tr<',
"nd
"-ir,."rJir
ate its true value,
23. P art I (tI65 C)'P 2 ll
24. 28 (ll40C),P 2llt
25. 25 (988 AB),
P 21 8.

In the entire universethere is a unique placethat saw the

sun iust once.
Let us summon the Holy Trinity to help us as we marshal
three againstthree.

26, 2t (rr2l)), p. 221.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

amongthe holy
Whv is it that there were not as many lights
that.question ir
with
cope
as at Scetis?
;; il;;;si
;;il;;
wlsn to ''
not
I
do
you can. I cannotsay why Or rather'

of a laddersuetchingfrom earth to heavenlike that which Jacobsaw

(Gen. 28:12).Earlier writers, such as St. Gregory of Nazianzus2e
and
St. John Chrysostom3oin the fourth century, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus3rin the fifth, had alreadyspokenof the spiritual life as a ladder
up which by God's gracewe mount stepby step.But in St. John Climacusthe analogyis far more developed.His ladderhasthirty rungs
or steps,one for eachyear in the hiddenlife of Christ beforeHis baptism.3zJohn's ingenioususe of the ladder-imageat once catchesthe
reader's attention, giving to his book as a whole a distinctive flavor
and unity. Indeed,his symbolicladdersoonbecamepart of the spiritual imagination of the Christian East, and is frequently represented
in panel ikons, refectory frescoes and illuminated manuscripts.33
John is usuallyshown standingto one side,near rhe foot, holding a
scrolland pointing to the ladder.The monksare strugglinglaborious
ly upward, while at the top Christ reachesout His arms to welcome
thosewho havecompletedthe ascent.On the right of the ladderangelsencouragethe monksasthey climb, on the left demonstry to trip
them up and pull them off, and at the bottom the dragon of the abyss
waits with open iaws.
As a supplement to the thirty stepsof Tlx Ladder,John also wrote
a short treatise entitled Zo tlx Sbepberd,
describing the task of the abbot or spiritual father. Sometimes reckoned as the thirty-first step,
this is likewiseaddressed
to John of Raithu.3a
While TbeLad.derof Dioine Ascerrtis not in the strict sensea systematic treatise-John modestly calls himself a "second-rate architect"3s-it is evident that he has arranged his rungs with care,
according to a precisescheme.John embracesin his scopethe whole
extent of the spiritual life, starting with the initial "turning" or con-

to.elicit a response'to
In oosinqsuch riddles,John'saim is pastoral:
him to the moment of
bring
,.it'" rt"p of faith' to
?#.."i"t
.'iJJ.
personalencounter.
Styleand Structure:TbeThinl. Steos
hasadoPteda dis
With this objectrve'" u't-' St' John Climacus
Greek may seem
the
sight
first
tinctive literary ityle h TbeLadder'At
subtletyand
with
composed
*J..,igtt, but the book is in fact
poetry'
from
removed
far
not
"'irro,
ifi a rhythmic proseoften
.""liir"l
sentences,
sharp
short,
"t,,
loves
iniended. The author
i#
" p"t"it-i*r aphorisms'
for his purposeis to wake
"'i-","ir,
;ilfi;ilJ;;'
bv a monastlc
H; ixcels in quaint illustations' marked
i;;i"i-.;;
centuries:
the
over
senseof humor that hasamusedhis audience
to swim and to clap
, . . like sorneonetrylng at the sametime
his hands.' .
. . . like someonewho pelts[a] dog with bread'' '
the dead first lament
Do not imitate those who in burying
them-and then go off and get drunk'
to death will not
A man who has heard himself sentenced
run'
worry about the way theatersare
hold of his spiritual
The thought of the hesychastkeeps
mouse.28
Weareleftwiththeimpressionthet'behindtheunusualstyleand

29. Oration4t,7l (PG 36, 529Dt.

t0. HoniliesonJoht 83, 5 IPG 59,454).
J |. Hitory of tlteMon*sil S]Jria27 IPG 82, 1484C).The image of a .,soul tadder" is
widcspreadin the ancient worldr seeA. B. Cook,Zcus.A Studl in Ancbnt Religion,vol. ii
(Cembridge 1925),pp. ll+40i E- Bertaud and A. Rayez, 'Echetle spiiituelle', D.i iv
(1958).
cols.62-86.
12. RriefSunnory\'l t6lA), p.291.
I l. SceJ. R. M^rrin, Tlrelllurttu,ion of theHecvng LaddetofJoh Ctinacu!(Ptinceton 1954)iM. Heppell, inrroduction ro St. John Climacus, Tl* lndder of Di"^inc..tsutr,
ll l ArchimandriteLazrrus(London 1959),
pp. 29-31.
14. (;rcek text, /,G 88, Il65-1208iE-f, H'l'M, pp.2lt-50i not includedin rhc 1,rcr.

r,.,".""".';"e.1:"n.:"-i'^::,";yH.l;:lT?H:tT:'lilt'ilT
ality: exacting, wrth a snarP

realisticcompassion'
futt or ho,noi and unexpected
ilil;;i:;
prayer:
living
.
[u, *litr the realismthat springsfrom
the eniiie bookis structured'is
around"which
image,
basic
John's

iii-'iji'll'!)d'
i'1"
';: l*::ll l:,:;l3iiT;#l;iiJlllll|,1'
l0

J l . l 7 ( l l 0 5 l l ) . D . 2 1 't .

tl

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

(ii) TbeStruggleAgairst thePassiotts

(a) PassionsThat Are Predominantly Non-physical
8. Anger
o Malice
10. Slander
. Talkativeness
t2. Falsehood
13. Despondency

of the-rirtues and vices'

version, continuing with a detailed analysis
three main
*i,n tf,e mystical union' The work falls into
,"J.Ji.*
the
describes
steps
John
ln the first three
t..il-.t.'.tt..
t..,r."t,
inward
and
iworld"'
outward
the renunciation both
;il "? the
;;;;
of any spiritual ascent Then'.in.a-far
presupposition
the
;;;; i;t
the "active life" or "practtce
i""".. r"",i." tSr.pt'4-zo),be discusses
corresponding pas'
iT .tm rl.t""t'i tpt t it, praktihi),along with -the
are devotedto
;;", ;'. tpt",ir.a. Finally, t-helast four steps
;;:;h*
union with
and
praver
t u*al, to stillness,
il':;;;;;;r"iirr;'
God.
""-A,
terms the disahi, summaryimplies,John acceptsin general
th acnve
between
(c
145-99)
tinction drawn by dvagrius of Pontus
obrightlv
Yannaras
if.' But, as Dr' Christos
;;;*-oi"tiu.
;;;;
exgreat
any
with
scheme
.irr.i,i" Irftn airesnot follow the Evagrianthe
end.of
supr-eme
to Evagrius, he ho-ldsthat the
ii
the ear"o",."st
".in"rr.
conteriplation orszosrrbut love Much.in
t;t
;;;;;;;i;;;
to the
as
well
as
ii* ltlos oi Tb, Loddr relaies to the contemplative
acthe
both
with
,i. fi,t"l ,ttp on love is concerned
I'ift, ;ii;
;;
love
divine
of
life at onc"; in the context
;;'""d;;
";;re-plati"e
between the two'
differentiation
no sharp
,i-,.t"
",-" ""n be
can be presentfi.-U"ti" p"ttern of the thirty stepsof TbeLaddel
ed thus:37

(iii\ Higber Vinues of tbe "Actioe Life"

24. Simplicity
25. Humility
26. Discernment
lll.

l. TbeBreak with tlx llorld

Unionwitb God(Transitioflto tbe "Contentplative

Life")
27. Stillness
28. Prayer
29. Dispassion
10. Love

l. Renunciation
2. Detachment
3. Exile
II. The Practice of the Virtues ("ActiaeLife")
'

(b) Physical and Material Passions

14. Gluttony
15. Lust
l6-17. Avarice
(c) Non-Physical Passions(cont.)
l8-20. Insensitivity
21. Fear
22. Vainglory
21. Pride (alsoBlasphemy)

6\ Futdamertal Virtues
4. Obedience
5. Penitence
6. Remembranceof Death
7. Sorrow

tos tom4tor(Athens l97l)' pp 58-{2

rc-I.r.!4r;ti
from G Couilleru' DS viii
17. This scheme is t,ken, with 'ornt rnodification''
(1972),col. l7l. I xm in generalmuch indebted to this article'

12

While the book as a whole has in this way a clearly defined structure, many of the individual stepshevealso an internal structureof
thcir own. Thus most of the chapterson the vicesare arranged on the
following pattern:
Brief introductory statement, indicating the source of the vrce
rnd its place in the sequenceof TbeLadd.er;
Short definitions;
More detailedanalysis:causes,symptoms,effects,remedies(with
lllustretiveenecdotes):
Finrl summary.

It

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
a reader may^.gainthe
Glancing through the outline given above'
negetive For'
ii"t Jott-n',approach i! for the most Part
i-p;;;
be oversixteen are concernedwith the vicesto
o,riof tniny
several
and
"n"pters,
to be acquired;
come,and only fourteenwrth tne virtues
ofthesefourteenchaptersseemalsotobemainlynegative,concerned
,,penitence,",.sorrow,""disprssion."
*r,r, such th"m"s as
i'i.y
First, the chapterson the
"*
".
But this initial impresslonrs miJleading.
the. fourteen
s'horter than those on the virtuesi so
i."t
"t. "t"rffy

;;;;'il;;;il*1tu:f

::'.'ffi:iil"T;;;,'j.:'','il;:
'l."';";f
virtues:9t:p.9' tot instance'

as long as the sixteen stePs on I

oi-in"

;il'il;il

;;;il;;;ils
talkativeness.Step

-tt"tpo"ding
aswen
]l y1l:','-':"":;jr;ttl;
"' "ng"is'"p
as well as lust' JtePs ro-z\
purity
with
l5

as
andmostfundamentallv'

;ili",,'"-.il;ii'".-i,'"""'itiuitu'Third

dispassionare far from bewe shall seeshortly, penrtence'Jorrow and

t"*

thereare
$:1;iltlf,L"l"1i?ii'li;"-. thatwehaveindicated'

contrasts:
skillfullv balancedcorrespondencesand
(27-10)
I (l-l) balancesIII
ll i ('+-7)balancesI I iii (2'F26)'
by two
type' is-fl-anked.
ii ii u tiq-rll, on passionsof a material
(
18-21)ii
c
II
ii 8 (8-1i) and
U"t"n.ine r."tionr' e"ch of si* steps-Il

onpassio-ns'l:l::: :,ll t:'-1.t-:1,""1""tff structures

of "tvpe"
a.."il.a
Closer examrnatron revea
part of the
A theme is. adumbrated in the earlier
part:
second
higher level in the
""d
work, and then taken uP agarn at a
;;;;;;y;;."

Step 2 (detachment)
S.ep 4 (obedience)

ii.p s rp."i,.n..)

:
:

Step 29 (dispassion) .,"

Step 26 (dtscernmenrr"

: Step
1:1l"ltlt^Y],...,
: Step l8 (insensttrvtty)

Step tl idesPondency)

oppositionsthere is' in
Underlying these varrousparallelsand
from human effort to divine
TbeLadderx a whole,a basicfrigression
t'ot"

---iAh"

At the beginning of our religious life, we cultivate the virtues, and we do so with toil and difficulty. Progressinga little, we then lose our senseof grief or retain very little of it
But when our mortal intelligenceturns to zeal and is mastered by it, then we work with full joy, determination,desire,and a holy flame.3e

Two further things are apparent in the structure of TbeLadder.

First, by far the larger part of the work is concernedwith the practice
of the virtues end the struggle against the Vices;by comparison, the
section on the contemplative life (Steps27-30) is relatively brief-to
many, no doubt, disappointingly so. But John has good reasonsfor
concentrating in this way on the active life. He does not want his
readerswillfully and prematurely to seek after visions and ecstasies
insteadof learning penitenceand humility. TbeLadderdisplaysin this
regard a marked sobriety. John is highly cautiousabout dreams;aoand
it is significant that much the longest chapters in the book are those
on obedience(Step4) and on discernment or discretion (diakisis; Step
26).
John is constantly warning us not to attempt too much too sooni
cannot
"climb the entire ladderin a singlestride."arWhen, in the
we
monasteryat Alexandria,John tried to start a discussionabout stillncss or inner silence(herycbia),
he was kindly but firmly rebuked by
hosts:
his
FatherJohn [they said],we are corporealbeingsand we lead
a corporeallife. Knowing this, we chooseto wagt war accordins to the measureof our weakness.az

grace
ci't'lntv' God's

i: 1-o':1.":'lt
virtuei howeuer humble Yet'
pensablefor the attarnme"t-oi ""y

;ff:;#;;;'",;-''ili'-"'

while both the divine and the human elementsare presentthroughout the ascentof the ladder, on the earlier rungs we are chiefly consciousof our own toil and scuggle,while on the higher rungs we are
more and more aware of the freely granted graceof God. What begins
as painful warfare ends as spontaneousjoy:

of obedienceas "wiih all del;

.onn.",ion is made cleer in the deiinition

"'
p'i,'ia:
u..",*",,1.
l:li,i11'.1lJ.;*3il:li',fffi:;:l'j*""''
"".*i::'..,:
tn
"an abandonrnent of discernment

14

le. I (6'|7(i),p. 77.

.10 t (66!tlt-6728),pp. 8e-e0.
{t t4 rtt'(ll). p. t66,cf. 2( r9ir7l)t,|l 22r
{2 4 (7{)()lt),
t) 101.

t5

INTRODUCTION
that hesycbit-meaning
fohn took the point. ln The Ladder he insists
of inner Prayerforms
advanced
more
loin J. touoty life and the
been prepared
have
who
those
for
only
i.fo, "tJ.u f"*,"ot
""i"
iraining in the practiceof the v-irtues'l'Joone

y.irsof
.i-"irt'r""g
life'
on "theology,; in the iense of the contemplative
,-i"riI
in
swim
the passions:"tt is risky to
ag-ainst
fi*, srruggling
;j;;;; "-u*r.
-of
"aa
pas"ionshluld not dabble in theologv
e' iiue
;;;;;;i;"t.
warfare.against sin' but
iil"i J *iy l"n" sp"ak, at length about the
than a few veilei hints aboutthe final transfiguration
;ff.;r';;;r;.
His
in soul and bodv' bv the uncreatedlight
;;;;;;;;;p"rson,
iced
the
reach out for
.iai""""" It deiib"rat". He does not wtnt us to
butter'
and
bread
the
cakesbefore we have eaten
**"S"-iafy,
image of- the-.ladder'which
John did not mean the
While placed in
dominates the Look, to be interpreted too literally
strictlv
the different siepsere not to be regardedas
;;;;;;;;q*.".,
the next commences'
aon"""utit stages,the one terminating before
"tr,oufh sy God's grace we gradually progress,tothe,^higher
;;;;;
on the lowsi-multaneouslv
to liie.and dev-elop
;;;;;tll;;tiiue
fifrh step,penrtence,
.ii"vels a" w.ll. This is true in particularof the
(penlbosl l nese
and of the seventh steP, sorrow or mourning
^re
unin this presint life we never outgrow; they contrnue
,ilnnr ,t
",
.."ri"r,g up to the g;tes of death As John insists:
failed to
When we die, we will not be criticized for having
We will not be accusedof having failed to be
*oit
-i.r.t"t. or contemplatives But we will certainly have
,n""i.glr""
to oifer to God for not having mourned
,.-"-!r,pf""rrio"
unceasinglY.as
supremeaim of the
In our beginning is our end ln one sense'the
or vision of
,oi.iio"t i"ttt is"indeed"theology," the contemplation
our end-Porntrs
i.,d. But'in another and perhapsmore vital sense'
our starting-Point:Penitence'

41. 4 (725C),P. I le.

44. 21 \1w7C),P.262.
45. 7 (816D),p. 145.

l6

INTRODUCTION

III. THE SPIRITUAL TEACHING OF ST. JOHN CLIMACUS

Imitation of Cbrist, Spiitualitl and Dogma,Graceand Free Will
Without attempting a full analysis,let us consider a few master
themes in the spiritual teaching of TheLadder.
In the first step,at the very beginningof the work, St. John Cli
of the spiritual life:
macusbriefly indicatesthe essence
A Christian is xt imitator of Chrix in thought, word and
deed,asfar asthis is humanly possible,and he believesrighrly and blamelesslyin the Holy Trinity.a6
In the final step he returns to the sameidea:
to God.,insofr as this is
Love, by its nature, is a resemblance
humanlypossible.aT

Such is the aim throughoutth ascentof thc ladder:to follow Christ,

to become"like God," to imitate and resembleHim in His divine
love.
The Christian,however,doesnot only imitate;he also"believes
rightly." For St. John Climacusspirituality and dogmaare essentially
connected;there can be no true life of prayer without a right faith in
God. "lt is characteristic of TbeLadder," writes the Serbian D. Bogdanovi6,"that in it dogmaticthemesare constantlyoverflowing into
the ethical realm. Dogma forms here . . . the theoreticalbasisof ethics."a8As Archimandrite Sophronyobserves,throughout TbeLadde
John raisesthe discussion"from the purely asceticto the mysticaland
theologicallevel."ae
in common with any authenFrom this it follows that TbeLad.der,
tically Christian work of spirituality, is theocentricrather than an-

46. I (6l.lB),p.7.{.G,mprr the lastletterof the spiritualalphabet,26 {l0l7C), p.

tJ2: "With (;od's hclp :rn imitatorof the l,ord."
47. l0 ( I l568),p. 21i6.
+t1..h/n (:linaqu! da s la littirature bJzantineet la litlnture serheancfunae
\Belgra,Jc
19613),
D. 2lll.
{9. "l)c ll nricessit6
dcstrois rcnoncemcnts
chezSt. Cassienle Rorn|inct St Jcrn
()linagtc", SrudiuI'arrirtitueIlNt.tnd
Untertn$ungcttiao Berlin lr)62),I lrrr

l7

INTRODUCTION
thropocentrici its purpose is not to analyze psychological states'
in themielvis, but to seethe human personalwaysin its
"onsid"red
relationshipwith God. To quote Bogdanoviioncemore,."ForClimacus the virtues are not so much qualitiesof man as qualitiesof God;
Man becomesvirtuous by participating
they are divine attributes."50
in the virtuesor energiesof God.
betweensPiritualitvand
John usuallyt"kelsfor grantedthis link
dogma without'alluding to it explicitly, but such occasionalreferas h" makesto dogmatic questionsare sufficient to indicate the
"n!.s
closenessof the connection. He explains, for example,the relation between obedienceand stillness (hulcbia)by comparing the doctrine of
the Trinity with that of Christ,srand goeson to ill-ustratetheinterdependenc" tet*een prayer and the remembranceof death by invoking
ih. d"finitiotr of Chalcedon(451):
Some claim that Prayer is better than the remembranceof
death.But for my part, my praise goesout to the two natures
in one person.s2
In other words, prayer and the remembranceof death are both equally necessary:thi two form a unity similar to that between Christ's
humanity and His divinitY.
The most significant among the Christological referencesin Tle
Ladd.eris the brief allusion to Gethsemanein Step 6:
Christ is frightened of dying but not terrified, thereby clearly revealingthe Propertiesof His two natures's3
Iohn is thinking hereof the Monotheletecontroversywhich was ragind in which his contemporarySt Maximus the Conins in his day,
'deeply
involved. Although John was less directly
i..""o, *"t
that he
.on".rn.d with ihi dispute, from his words here it is evident
our
that
held
Monotheletes
The
took the same view ai Maximus.
50. OP.cit.,p.2t8
i l. 27 (lll7A), P.27 1.
52. 28 (1ll7A), P 2 79
(Oxford
5]. 6 (791C),p. l32 On this passege,see DJ Chitty, fbz Deserta Ctr)
1966),p. 174.

l8

INTRODUCTION

Lord, while possessingtwo natures, was endowed with only a single

will. Against this Maximus arguedthat human nature without a human will is an unrealabstraction.If Christ is truly man, then He has
two wills as well astwo naturesiand it is preciselyat His agony in the
garden that we seethe presenceof thesetwo wills most plainly manrfested-in tension,yet in ultimatereconciliation.John'sstendpointin
Step 6 is similar. The passagequoted is to be understood as a glosson
Hebrews4:15,". . . temptedin everythingiust aswe are,only without
sin." Christ's fear of deathindicatesthat He has a genuinelyhuman
nature,and so a genuinelyhuman will, for He could not experience
such fear in His divine nature or His divine will. At the sametime
John makesa further point by distinguishingy'ar of death from teror
of death. It is, he says,natural for man, living under the conditions of
the fall, to fear death;terror of death,on the other hand, comesfrom a
senseof unrepentedsins.Now Christ is not Himself a sinful man, but
at His Incarnation He acceptsto live out His earthly life under the
conditions of the fall. He therefore acceptsthe fear of death natural to
fallen man; but, being Himself sinless,He doesnot experiencethe
sinful terror of death.
In all this John,like Maximus,is not iust splitting hairs.The doctrinal point, technicalthough it may be, is vital for spirituality.Imitation of Christ, in a full and genuinesense,is only possiblebecause
God hasbecomecompletelyman,taking upon Himself the entirety of
our human nature-including a human will-and so experiencing
from witbin all our moral conflicts, our fears and temptations, "only
without sin." Because
we seein Christ a human will exactlylike ours,
yet freely obedient to the will of God, we know that such free obedienceis also possiblefor us. Here it becomesevident,in a very clear
and direct manner, how a correct spirituality dependsupon correct
doctrinal teaching.
Faith in the two naturesand two wills of the incarnateSaviorimplies that the spiritual way, understoodas an "imitation of Christ,"
of two factors, uninvolves the convergenceor "synergy" (synergeia)
graceand human
in
value
but
both
equally
necessary:
divine
equal
(John
l5:5): what God
"Without
Me
you
can
do
nothing"
freedom.
part
is alsoessen
is
incomparably
the
more
important,
Yet
our
docs
tiel, for God doesnot saveus againstour will. This is exactlythe position of St. John Climacus.At first sight it might appearthat in 7be
the human aspectrputting t(x) grc l rn cntphrt"
l.adderhe overstresses

l9

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

sis on man's effort and saying too little about God's initiative But in
fact he is in no doubt whatsoeverabout the necessityfor divine grace:

stance,about insensitivity becausehe is himself ,,very sorely tried by

this vice."57
The key to a true appreciation of Tbe Ladd.eris to recognrze
throughout its pages a dialectical approach. Those who see in the
work nothing except harsh demandsfor self-denialand asceticsrrusgle have discerned only one side of the dialectic. But, alongside th1
negations,againand againthere is a positivenote of reassurance
and
nope.
Fundarnentalto John's dialectical attitude is his senseof the reality of the fall. Throughout TbeLadderan all-important distinction of
levels has to be made: Is Jobr speakingabout rltefallen or tbe unfollen
state?Concerning the fall and the resulting distortion of human natl're, John is indeedhighly negative,althoughneversweepinglycondemnatory in the manner of Augustine or Calvin; he nowhere
suggeststhat the fall has led to a total corruption. But when he speaks
about the condition prior to the fall-about humankind'strue and
natural state, which in Christ we can now regain-he is not only affirmative but optimistic.John is no Manichaean.Human naturein its
entirety, body as well assoul, is God's creation,and is therefore good:
"God neither causednor createdevil."s8Sin is extrinsic to our rrue
personhood:"No one wants to sin againstGod."seThere are many
naturalvirtues,but no naturalvices:

Anyone trained in chastity should give himself no credit.for

any achievements.. . . When nature is overcomeit should be
admitted that this is due to Him Who is above nature ' '
The man who decides to struggle against his flesh and to
' Admit
overcomeit by his own efforts is fighting in vain
your incapacity. . . . What have you got that you did not rec"iue as a gift either from God or as a result of the help and
prayers of others?.. . It is sheer lunacy to imagine that one
has deservedthe gifts of God sa
John is certainlyno Pelagian!
'Joyful Sorow": TbeLadderas Dialectical Theologl
" ". .. alwaysbearingabout in our body the dying of the I ord Jesus, that the life of Jesusmay also be made manifest in our body" (2
Cor. 4:10):the imitation of Christ signifiessharing at one and the
sametime both in His death and in His resurrection But doesnot St'
burdens of cross-bearing,
John Climacus lay too much stressupon the
and too little upon the joyfulnessof the risen life? Does not TheI'adder
serve to repel rather than to encourage?
It is certainly true that TbeLadderoffers no ncouragementto
those who look for compromise.John asksfrom us, in Christ's name,
a complete,unsparingdedication.Nothing is ever enough'Yet he is
not cruel or inhuman. He criticizesEvagrius'directiveson fasting
precisely for their lack of humanity: Evagrius fails to-allow- for hu'
, rarkrr"tt, John says;we need to grow accustomedgently to the
-"n
rigors of fasting,advancinglittle by little.5sAlthough his strictures
on the failings of his brother monks come closeat times to cerrcature'
is scarc-elyever censorious:"his attitude," asDr' Muriel Heppell
John
-re-arkr,
"is that of the Publicanrather than the Pharisee"s6 He free'
ly admitshis own defects,confessingthat he cannotsaymuch, for in-

54. l5 (tl8lA,8s4BC,e00B),PP l72, 171,184i2l (e68B),PP 208-9

55. l4 (865AB),P. 166.
56. Introduction to TheLadderof DivineAscett,ET Atchimandrite Lazarus,p 17

20

Evil or passionis not something naturally implanted in

things. God is not the creator of passions.On the other
hand, there are many natural virtues that have come to us
from Him
-and theseinclude the highestvirtuesof all, faith, hope and love.60
Such,then, is the basicdualism underlying John'i ascetictheology: not a dualismbetweenGod and matter,for God is the creatorof
matter; not a dualism between soul and body, for TbeLadderviews the
human personas an integral unity; but a dualismbetweenthe unfal-

t7. Ill (()l.lB),p. 192.

tll. :6 (l06ll(), t) 251
s9. l0 (tl45l)).p. lia'.
6l) 26(l(lltlA), p. 2llt.

2l

INTRODUCTION
len and the fallen, between the natural and the contranatural, between immortality and corruption, between life and death.
True to this dialectical approach, throughout Tbe Ladder lohn
balancesnegationswith affirmations. The monk is "a soul pained by
the constant remembranceof death"' yet the motives for his renunciation are positive: not iust sorrow for sins and fear of punishment,
but love of God and longing for the future Kingdom.6r The monastery is "a tomb beforethe tomb," but it is also "heavenon earth."62
Exile involves a painful sacrifice-the loss of parents, friends, familiar surroundings-but its overriding rnotive is creative, to meke us
free for God: "Exile is a separationfrom everything, in order that one
may hold on totally to God."63 Obedienceis "a total renunciation of
our own life ... death freely accepted,"but it is also a "resurrection."6a We are to hold the hour of death in constant remembrance,
regarding each day as our last;65at the same time we should await
death"as though it were life."66
Everywhere John negatesin order to affirm. This is true in Particular of the chapter which to most contemPorary readersappears
the harshestand most distastefulof all: Step 5 on repentance,with its
grim portrayal of the "Prison" at the Alexandrianmonastery.Per'
LapsJoh" meant us to be shockedby it: "One may suppose,"saysFr.
DCrwas Chitty, "that the writer intended those who were not ready
for his work to be put off by this chapter."67Yet, even so, the image
of repentance that emerges is ultimately positive. If repentance rs
It is not
"hell,"68it is alsoand more fundamentally"resurrection."6e
It is
regeneration.To
just death but life-the renewal of our baptismal
not despairbut hope:

INTRODUCTION
Repentanceis the daughter of hope and the refusal to de_
spair. (The penitent standsguilty-but undisgraced.)Repentanceis reconciliationwith the Lord.Tl

To repent is not only to fear God's wrath but to respond to His love:
the grief that accompaniespenitenceis..the grief that comesfrom
loving God."72
John'sdialecticalapproachis similarly evidentin Step 7, on sor_
row and weeping. This chapter on the gift of tears has pioved to be
one of the most influential in the whole of TbeLadder.z3God, so
John
points out forcefully-and here his basicoptimism is plainly in evi_
dence---<reatedus for laughter, not for tears:
God does not demand or desire that someoneshould mourn
out of sorrow of heart, but rather that out of love for Him he
should rejoicewith the laughterof the boul.Take away sin
and then the sorrowful tearsthat flow from bodilv eveswill
be superfluous.Why look for a banda$ewhen ylu'are not
cutl Adam did not weep before the fall, and there will be no
tears after the resurrection when sin will be abolished.when
pain, sorrow and lamentationwill havetaken flight.7a

Tears,then, reflect man'sfallen stateand expresshis mourning

for sin. Yet there is more to them than that. Teari can be,.sweet"as
well as "bitter."75 Tears that begin by being ,,painful" becomein
courseof time "painless";tearsof fear developinto tears of love.76

7t. Ibid.
72. 5 l776Dl, p. t28.
7r. -I'he basicmodern siudy on the gift of tearsis still L Hzusherr, pentbot.La docline deld cornlonct;oda$ I'Odent.br6tiei(Ori. tet;a Cbrir,ia a Anoleda112:Rome 1944)cspeciallypp. l17-71. Seeslso M. Lot-Borodine, '.Le mysrdredu ,don des larmes,dans
f'()rient chr6tien", I.a vie tlirituette(slpplement for September 1916),reprinted in O.
/l doutoureue
joie (Spiritualit|oriea'tate
r4: Bellefontrine 1974),pp.
9]:i-:",-"rd^9ll*t
IJI-95; I". Cillet, "'fhe Cift of Tears", Sobornost
n.s. l2 (1917),pp. 5_10;G.A.
Maloney, I he..M1t.tiof F'ireand Ligbt: St Stmeon,b. Neu Tbeotogian
lD.nuitt., N.;. rlf S),
Pp. 129-l7r K. Wrre, "'l'he Orthodox Experience of Repentance", Sobo.'.onii ltgio),
pp.26-28.
7{. 7 (8{)e(;).
D. l+1.
7 1 . t ( 7 7 {, 4 ) . ! 1 2 7
7/'. 7 (ttllll). D. l{1.

6 1. I (6llC), p.7 4.
pp . lll, l1 l.
6 2. 4\7168,7 11 B),
61. I (664C),p. 85.
64. 4 (6804),pp. el-e2.
65. 6 (797C),p. llt.
66. 4 (7058).p. 106.
67. TbeDeterta Ci4, p. 174.
68. 5 (76e8),p. 124.
6 9. 5 (781 A),p. lll.
70. 5 (7648),p. t2l.

22

)l

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

True to his fundamentaldialectic,John insiststhat for the penitent

Christian sorrow is constantly interwoven with ioy. Tears, like the
experienceof repentance,spring from a sensenot only of olr sinfulness but of God-'smercy; there is gladnessin them as well as grief'
John sums up the point in the composite word charmollpi,aPparently
of his own invention, signifying "joyful sorrow."7? The repentant
Ts
personis like a child who cries,yet smilesin the middle of his tears
garis
a
wedding
Spiritual mourning leadsto spiritual laughter;it
ment, not a funeral robe:

nary and natural tears" and tearsthat are "spiritual."83As John observes,this is a distinction not always easyto apply in practice:

The man wearing blessed,God-givenmourning like a wedding garment gets to know the spiritual laughter of the
soul.79

Here John indicates at least three levels; these may be designatedalthough John hirnself doesnot actually userhis terminology-as contranatural, natural, and supranatural.First, tears may come .,from
vainglory, from licentiousness."Tears of this kind, tears of frustration, anger, jealousy or self-pity, are contranatural, an expressionof
our fallen self, and as suchthey are sinful and injurious.Second,our
tears may be natural, the result of spontaneoushuman feelings;in
that casethey may be neutral, neither good rior bad, or they may have
an effect for good, as with the healing and purifying tears that we
shedfor the departed.It is not always easyto distinguish between the
second level and the third, between natural tears that are Dure and
beneficial,and the spiritual or supranaturaltearsthat are, in a direct
and special sense,"from God." Nature presupposesgrace,and grace
builds upon nature;so it is possiblefor naruraltearsto develop,gradually and almostunnoticed,into spiritual tears,without the point of
transition being clearlyevidentto the one who weeps.John believes
nevertheless,
that a distinctionneedsto be made,and that it is only to
the supranaturalor spiritual tears that the title 'gry' of tears" can
properly be applied.
When John speaksof "spiritual" tears,it shouldnot be imagined
that he meanstearsthat are merely inward and metaphorical.Tears,
in his view, evenwhen spiritual,are still manifestedvisibly and physically; by the "gift of tears" he meanssomethingspecificand concrete. Spiritual tears are not merely an event within the soul, but
form part of the spiritualizationof the body and its physicalsenses.

Joy goeswith sorrow like honey in a comb:

As I ponder the true nature of compunction, I find myself
amazid by the way in which inwrrd joy and gladnessmingle
with what we call mourning and grief, like honeyin a comb'
Suchcompunction,he immediatelyadds,is a divine charism,not iust
the fruit of human striving:
There must be a lessonhere, and it surely is that compunction is properly a gift from God8o
-a gift, he notes, not conferred upon all' but only upon such as God
choosesin His own wisdom.sr
There are, however,many different kinds of tears,and it is imDortant to discriminatebetweenthem. The basic distinction is between tears that are simply the consequenceof our own efforts, and
ihose that come as a gift from God82-in other words, between "ordi

7 1. 7 (8048),p. l 17.
p . l4l.
1 8. (813 B),
79. (80eA),p. lao.
t30. (812A),p . l4l.
8 1. (8084),p. l3e.
8 2. (u05D),p. ll9.

This problem of tears, especially where it concerns beginners, is a very obscurematter and hard to analyzesince tears
can come about in various ways. Tears come from nature,
from God, from suffering good and bad, from vainglory,
from licentiousness,from love, from the remembrance of
death.. . .84

81. 7 (1t08(;),
p. l{(}.
8{. 7 (r{Dtll).pt). l|(r-.lr).

24

25

INTRODUCTION
When genuinely spiritual, tears are a renewal of baptism' and
even stand on a level higher than baptism itself:
The tears that come after baptism are greater than baptism
itself, though it may seemtrth to t"y so Baptism washesoff
those evilsihat were previously within us, whereasthe sins
committed after baptism are washedaway by tears' The baptism received by ui as children we have all defiled, but we
cleanseit anew with our tears.If God in His love for the human race had not given us tears,those being savedwould be
few indeed and hard to find.85
ts
Here the positive character of spiritual tears is manifest Baptism
resurrecrebirth,
sense
renunciati,onof sin, but it is also in a positive
into new life. The same is true of the "ioyful sorrow" of
iio.r,
"ntry
,upi"n"t,rr"l tears:negativelyit involvesmourning for our -sins'but
son
oo"itiuely it expressei ioy at our reconciliation The prodigal
for
sorrow
of
tears
shedding
h. sat in exile emongthe swine,
iu.o,
".
Fathe
when
home,
return
his'sins. But no doubt he als6 wept on his
on
ther embracedhim, clothed him in the festal robe, and put a ring
exbitter'
than
rather
sweet
his hand; and this time the tears were
The
oressineiov at the love with which he had beenwelcomedback'
pilgrimage'
inward
our
on
eif, of ;t.i includesboth thesemoments
'
is
S,. Irr". the Syrian.John'syoungercontemporary-but there
this
same
other-develoPs
each
no reasonto believethat they knew
of
ooint in his own characteristicway. Tears,he says,mark the point
come'
to
the
age
and
age
present
the
iransition, the frontier btween
The newborn child weepson first coming into the world; in the same
way the Christian weepsas he is reborn into the ageto come:
.

The fruits of the inner man begin only with the shedding of
tears.When you reach the place of tears,then know. that
vour soirit has come out from the prison of this world and
L", t.iitt foot uPon the path that leadstowards the new age'
Your spirit begins at thii moment to breathe the wonderful
air which is there, and it starts to shed tears The moment
for the birth of the spiritual child is now at hand, and the

INTRODUCTION
travail of childbirth becomesintense.Grace, the common
mother of us all, makeshasteto give birth mysticallyto the
soul,God's image,bringing it forth into the light of the age
to come. And when the time for the birth has arrived, the
intellectbeginsto sensesomethingof the things of that other
world-as a faint perfume, or as the breath of life which a
newborn child receivesinto its bodily frame. But we are not
accustomed
to suchan experienceand, finding it hard to endure, our body is suddenly overcome by a weeping mingled
with joy.86

Here we catch precisely the same note as we have heard already in

TbeLadfur; as John puts it, "ioy and gladnessmingle with what we
call.mourningand grief."
The cardinal importance of tears is manifest, but are they esrez
tral?Did St. John Climacusconsiderthat only thosewho havepassed
through this particular experienceof weeping can be regardedas truly repentant and genuinely reborn into ths "new age"i St. Symeon
the New Theologian (949-1022),who is much influenced by John's
theologyof tears,certainly camecloseto adoptingsuch a view. But
John himself is more cautious.We shouldallow, he urges,for differences in temperament: some shed tears with the utmost difficulty,
"like great drops of blood," while othersdo so "with no trouble at
all"; God looks, not at the outward intensity of weeping, but at the
inward strugglesof our heart. Those who have been granted the gift
of tears should on no account imagine themselvessuperior to those
who lack it. "Some are not granted the gift of mourning," but the desolation that they feel at their lack of tears may take the place of the
gift itself.87
It seemsthat John's attitude is more qualified than Symeon's.
While Symeon thinks in terrns of the zuayof tears,John thinks rather
of the gift of teers.For Symeon tears are the King's highway, the royal road that all are to follow. For John tears are a charism conferred
only upon some, whereason others God bestowssome different qift
that takesits place.

u6. ,llvtit Ireatitetb lsaatoJ,\'inneh,li'l A. J. Wensinck(Amsterdamr,)tj). 1,.Hl

(od6ptcd).
ll7 7 (i105(;,80(,,1)).
pp. lJ8-e. r+1.(lf. :6 00itiil)),p. 2t(r.

85. 7 (8048),p. ll7

26

27

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
"My Helper and M1 Eteml": TbeAmbiaahnceof the Bodl-Eros, tbe
Aratbeia
Passions,
The d'ialecticalstancedisplayedby St John Climacusin his treatto
ment of repentanceand tears is to be seenequally in his attitude
adversary
friend:
and
the human body. The body is both adversary
inasmuch as it iras been maned by the fall, friend inasmuch as it reglory'
mains God's creation and is called to share in the resurection
accusing
unjustly
avoid
To appreciateJohn'sattitude aright' and to
him oi an anti-Christian body-soul dualism, it is imPortant to deterwhether
mine on what levelhe is tp.rkittg in eachparticularPassage:
or
Creator'
the
by
formed
of the body in its true ani natural state,as
condifallen
or
of the body as we know it now, in its contranatural
tion.
It is not difficult to find negative statementsabout the body in
TbeLadder:
Those gifted with the heart's depth of mourning regard
their liies as detestable,painful, and wearying, as a causeof
tears and suffering, and they turn away from their body as
from an enemY.
Treat your body always as an enemy' for the flesh-is an ungrateful and triacherous friend. The more you look after it'
the more it hurts You.
The man who pets a lion may tame it but the man who coddles the bodY makesit ravenous'
Somewisemen havesaidthat renunciationis hostility to the
body.
'

A monster is this grossand savagebody'88

it is the body in
But, asthe context makesclear in thesepassages,
he treats the
Elsewhere
view
in
here
has
its fallen statethat John
virtue of the
By
ambivalent'
but
as
hostile
boiy ,tot as ireclaimably

8 8 . 7(808 8 ),P.l19 ;9(s4lC) , p.l5l; l{ ( 864D) ,p l65r l51t i8lD) 'p l 7 l : 2 6 ( l 0 l 6 D I

p . 2 3 2.

28

fall it is hindranceand enemyibut by virtue of its creationby God it

is partner and friend:
By what rule or manner shall I bind this body of mine?.. .
How can I hate him when my nature disposesme to love
him? How can I break away from him when I am bound to
him foreverl How can I escapefrom hirn when he is qoinq to
rise with me?How can I make him incorrupt whei heias
receiveda corruptible nature?... He is my helper and my
enemy, my assistantand my opponent, a protector and a
traitor. . . . I embracehim. And I turn away irom him. Whar
is-thismystery in me?What is the principle of thjs mixture
of body and soul?How can I be my own friend and my own
enemylse

In this passage,
significantlyJohn impliestLat there is a contrnu_
.
ing link betweensoul and body: ,,I am bound to him forever... he is
going to rise with me." For the Christian the body is not a tomb
or
prison, not a piece of clothing to be worn for a time and then casr
eside,but an integral part of the true self. Scripture teachesus to believe not iust in the immortality of the soul bui in the resurrectionof
the body. Even though,as a result of the fall, body and soul are separated at death, this severanceis no more than t.-po.r.y, and we look
beyond it. The body's vocation, therefore, is t; be ;anctified and
trensfiguredalong with the soul: it is to be renderedspiritual, without therebylosingany of its God-givenmateriality.,,your body,,,we
rre-told, 'ls a temple of the Holy Spirit ... gloiify God with your.
body" (l Cor. 6:19-20);Christ ,.will iransfiguie the body of our hu_
miliation,so as to conform it to His own gloriousbody"iphil. 3:21).
St. John Climacussharesthe standpointof St. paul. Alongside
the passages
in TbeLadderwhich treat th; body asan enemy, there are
othersthat speakpositivelyaboutits participaiionin the siiritual life,
Its resurrecrionand its final glory. The gift of tears, already discussed,is part of the processof bodily transfiguration:it represents
thc spiritualization of the senses.Nor is it only in Step 7 ihat rhis
bodily glory is in evidence.At the very outset;f |'hcLadder
!h:.. jlf
Johnaffirmsthat rhe monk'saim is,,abodymadeholy";eowc scck,,ro
T,ttr,,,t,

rrr)lBI.6
'ro{A),

9{l | {6 | l ( j ). r, 74

2t)

INTRODUCTION
point recurslater.inthe
ascendto heaYenwith the body "er The same
his
clay' so to speak'to a
raise
to
"eu".y""" should struggle
anyone should be
think
not
I
do
-oit, .. ,ftJ throne of God'-'if indeedthat is
bodv'
"f""1
his
holv
made
tti;, until he has
:i;;i;t';
else- '
eventualrty'
a
doubtlul
as
And what he here regards
oossible."e2
fact:
where he affirms as a realized
body' as if
A man flooded with the love of God revealsin his
have atwho
Men
soul
his
of
'
the splendor
ii
think
really
"
and-I
to
eat'
forget
ofttn
-i.to.,
i"lnJ,nit
that
""g.fic,tatt
suspect
I
lndeed
food
they do not e-venrniss their
sickimmune-to
are
men
the"bodiesof theseincorruptible
Inness,for their bodieshave been sanctifiedand rendered
corruPtible.e3
hasacIn certaininstances,so John believes'bodily resurrection
Horebite'
the
Hesychius
is
example
tuallv been anticipated:one
ea
rs a
e-xPerrence
whoie tomb was found to be empty Hesychius'
in ThcLadder;
striking caseof the "inaugurated eschatology"assumed
merely a funot
are
view'
in
ih" bt"lrirrg, of the age to come, John's
-but are also in some measurea present reality-.in the lives
ture hope,
the first-fruits of
.iii" tliti,t. er.""dy in this life the righteous enjoy
the general resurthe last things, having "risen to immortality before
bodv also has its
the
End
of
the
ln .hL anticipation
;;;;;;,;;;
""nd
part.
body toIohn believes,then, it a total sanctification of soul and
fall and
the
of
consequence
a
although
n.,f,lt.'g"* in.'passions,
the distortion or
:;;;;;;.;;;,;;;
fart or human ni""', "" merelv
God'
impuls"s implanted in the body (or the soul) bv
iiti
natural'
the
""irtd
reject
not
we
should
While repudiaiing the Passions'
good
.?s thai underlie them, but should restore--to
Cri-gf
In
the
".I-f -p"f has become misdirected as a result of the fall'
use that which
91. I (6168),P. 7J.
p. 248rl5 (889C),p' 178
92. 26 (1064A),
bodv
Cf. the storvof the monk Menasat Alexandria'whose
ii. ioiiistei,p.t8t
(697C)'
p
102'
death:4
flowed with myrrh after his
94. 6 (?97A),P. lla.
274'
95. 1t (89 1A),p l79 icf lt( 904C) , p 186128( ll29B) ' P

l0

INTRODUCTION
warfare againstthe pessions,our watchword should be "transfigure,"
not "suppress";"educate,"not "eradicate":
We have taken natural attributes of our own and turned
them into passions.For instance, the seedthat we have for
the sakeof procreating children is abusedby us for the sake
of fornication. Nature has provided us with anger as something to be turned againstthe serpent,but we have usedit
against our neighbor. . . . We have a natural desire for food,
but not surely for profligacy.e6
Gluttony, so John tells us here,is a vice,but eatingas such is by
no meanssinful; thereis nothing wrong aboutenjoyingour food.The
practice of fasting implies no condemnation upon the action of eating, but servesto makethat action sacramental
and eucharistic.Even
anger can be turned to good use.As for the sexualimpulse, this too is
e divine gift, and has its role to play in the life of the spirit. John is
not afraid to take the term for physical love, arol-which has in Greek
many of the sameassociationsas the English word "erotic"-and to
rpply it to our love for God. The erotic impulse is not to be suppressedbut redirected:
I have watched impure souls mad for physical love (eros)but
turning what they know of such love into a reasonfor penanceand transferring that samecapacity for love (eros)to the
Lord.
A chasteman is someonewho has driven out bodily love
(eros)by means of divine love (eros),who has used heavenly
fire to quenchthe fires of the flesh.e7
Although John saysthat "bodily love"-meaning in this contextflltt, impure eros-is to be "driven out," yet its placeis to be taken,not
by e stateof frigid detachment,but by a "divine erotic impulse."Fire
h quenchedby fire, not by water! Even when speakingof physical

96 ta { 1068(i).
r) 2t l.
0 7 . I ( 7 7 7 4 ) I, l , l r ) il i ( N 8 0 1 )p), l 7 l .

rl

IN'I'RODUCTION
and divine love as "opposites,"John still regardsthe earthly as a true
imageof the heavenly:
Physicallove can be a paradigmof the longing for God. . . .
Lucky the man who lovesand longs for God asa smitten lover doesfor his beloved.. . .
Sorneonetruly in love keepsbefore his mind's eye the faceof
the belovedand embracesit there tenderly. Even during
sleepthe longing continuesunappeased,
and he murmurs to
his beloved.That is how it is for the body.And that is how it
is for the spirit.es
The importance of thesepassages
has been rightly emphasizedby Dr.
Yannaras.99
Physical cror, then, is not to be considered sinful, but can and
should be used as a way of glorifying God. Sin is evil, but not the
body and its natural impulses.The sinfulness of passionresides,nor
in materiality-for asGod's creation the material body is good, and in
any casenot all passionsare physical-but in the misdirectionof the
human will. Sin is not materialbut spiritual in its origin; for the devil
fell before man did so, and the devil has no body.
These conclusionsabout eror,the body and the passionsare confirmed by an analysis of the term "dispassion" (apatbeia),as used by
John in Step 29 and elsewherein TbeLadder.Dispassionis not negative but positive:St. Diadochusof Photice(mid fifth century) even
speaksof "the fire of dispassion."roo
It is a denial of the passions,regarded as the contranatural expressionof fallen sinfulness;but it is a
reaffirmation of the pure and natural impulses of our soul and body.
It connotes not repressionbut reorientation, not inhibition but freedom; having overcomethe passions,we are free to be our true selves,
free'to love others, free to love God. Dispassion,then, is no mere mortification of the passionsbut their replecementby a new and better
energy. Using once more the languegeof "inaugurated eschatology,"
98. 26 (10248),
p. 2l6i l0 (ll56CD), p. 287.
99. I metapblsikiton sonatot,pp. 149-46 "E os divin er 6ros humain selon S. Jean
Climaque", Coatarrsxxi (1969),pp. 190-204.
100. Ce tnry t7: ET Pbil., p.258.

INTRODUCTION

John definesdispassion,
not asa form of death,but as,,resurrectron
of
the soulprior ro rharof the bodv...ror
John underlinesthe dvnamic,affirmativecharacter
of dispassron

-,n
withrou.,,o,u"i
.1,."?,i",
iJ'"i*"ary
iJJ:l:::"nr#osery
Love, dispassion and adoption
are distinguished by narre,
and name only. . . .
To have dispassion is to have the
fullness of love, by which I
mean the complete indwelling
of God.r02
Dispassion,then, is not indiffr

til::.T'ff j:;,:
notemptiness
buttb.ruun.,,'liX:il:',T5l'ffi;

ethicsit tendsto be a stateof individuaiisrii

o**rrment, as used in TbeLaddtr it implies
""i'*n".*.ill
p".ron"l.
,.tJo""iji.
,. U.
"dispassioned"is to rerate to cod, to ;";;-tii,..;;;;;;.'rl'..1!'_*n,"
"
us:."A man is trury dispassionate
. . . when he keepshis soul conrrnurlly in the presenceoi,;.,. 1_o.6.,,r0:
,nat dispassion
certainlydoeszo, meanfor John is
_.._9--:."-,nl.q
im_
temptation, impeccability, .o"aitior,
y1jy,t-rn
ir,-_t,i;;';"
l9nge.rcapableof sinning.
"
"."
:no
John is entirely cleartiat .ro'iu.r, .,",.
is pdssible."this
sideof rhe g-rave,.,,oo
and he quoies*,i'fr roor"*, ,fr.
words of the archdeaconM-acedonrus,
It is.said,
of angelsth_arthey do not, or, as some
would haye

jlil;,Tl;,ili:'lJ,'l#',;".*ili
ll,Jlll,'l3,li'L:,i:
John agreeswith Isaacrhe Sv

ronger_reer
ingrhepassions,, i'; :*";?j:p;il;i"r.Jn:f,,"';not,n no
ns Inw ard resurrecti on.";
as

tou.,ai,p",J,,i,,rr.'iL.',r;;.i.tjl'jlj"::'',,"?
:1;

-iil,,

r,,o*<),
,,.r'

l 0 : . l {r ( l l l 6 l l ) , t ) . t N T i2 a , 0 0 e 2 ( i ) ,
D 2 6 {) .
"ri'Iti'rn'rr"
ot
,,,";il;,i,',::,':::::';"!,",'1',;rt"'
'n"
'<'htractar apathia, scc \';rnr'r,r*, /
l 0 {. t 1 0 i 6 9 A ) .t r i 6 6
) ,t , . t {) j - 2
l {, 1 . 4 ( . 1 1 6 l ) p
llt6. illtrth l\t,ttitfi, l..l lvr si|l(l,
lr t{r (r(trr)tc(l).

tl

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

"bedise,the recoveryof the "undying beauty" which he possessed

fore this clay."roi In paradiseman was not a disembodiedsoul,but a
as
whole; and so dispassion,
unity of soul and body, a psychosomatic
and
the ieturn to paradisi, involves not the repudiation of the body
its impulsesbut their reintegrationwith the soul and their deliver-

visibly as invisibly-not through exterior works but through inward

prayer.and by acting asa presence.
a sign.an example:

ancefrom "corruPtion."los
TheMonk and tbe World.:Brctberhood,Obedietce,tbe Spiritual Father
TheLadderhas been blamed, not only for what its critics see as
undue severityand pessimism,but also for its apparentindividualism. It hasbeen pointed out that in none of the thirty stepsdoesSt
He never speaks
John Climacus say anything at 8ll about the Church
on the whole
are
the
clergy
to
few
allusions
his
and
the
episcopate,
of
orrao-pli-an,ray,loe He writes for the most part as if the monastic
existed entirely on its own, without forming part of any
"omm.,nity
wider ecciesialstructurei the all-embracingunity of Christ's Body
seemsto be ignored Scarcely any referenceis m-adeto the heavenly
Church:the NTotherof God is not oncementioned,and althoughJohn
does speak regularly ebout the angels, there is very- little about the
ol sainis. The liturgy' the sacraments,the Church festi
"om-onion
vals are only touched on once or twice in passing'
Silence, however, does not necessarily imply contempt Pope
Gregory the Great in his huge masterpiecethe Moralia says almost
notliing about the Eucharist, although the work wa-s-written at the
life in Rome; Bernard of Clairvaux,in a
very hiart of ecclesiastical
sermondeliveredat Masson Maundy Thursday,makesno more than
a single brief allusion to Holy Communion-r10Failure to mention
suchihirrg, need not mean that they are being dismissedas peripherthey are everywhere presupposed,like the air we breathe
al; perhap,-s
that enablesus to see.
light
the
and
caseis writing specificallyfor monks,and so it is not
ln
any
John
,urp.i.ing if he haslittle to say about Church life outsidethe monasof fact, he does sometimesspeakof the monk's sert..y. At i
-r,,..
monk helpsothers,so he believes,not so much
The
to
society.
vicl

107.29(l l49D), p. 284.

1 08. 29(ll48 B),p.2 82 .
109.See,for example,4(701C),p. 104;l4 (865A)'P 166
I 10. C. Butler, llla1sof Chixian Life (London l9l2). pp. 5l-52

34

Angelsare a light for monks and the monasticlife is a lishr

for all men. Hencemonksshouldspareno effort to becom-e
a
shining examplein all things,and they shouldgive no scan_
dal in anything they sayor do.l rr

dealingwith his primary theme,life insidethe monasrry

. . Yh."
John is certainly no individualist.On the contrary, he insistsvery
strongly upon the communalcharacterof the monasticlife. No one,
he stresses,
shouldembarkon the solitary life unlesshe has first undergonethe experienceof living with others,either in a fully organized monasteryor in somesmallerspiritual .,family" prr.ruing th.
third way. Throughout Step 4, in partiiular,
John ,rrrderr.o.e, tne n._
cessity for adequate preparation before withdrawing into solitude,
and the dangersof pride to which the hermit is s1p.s;4.rru
The two aspectsof community life to w,trich John attachespartrc_
.
ufar importance are brotberlylove and obedience.
Love forms the top_
most rung on the spiritual ladder-love for God, but also love for
neighbor, since the two are inseparable:,.He who loves the Lord has
first loved his brother,for the latter is proof of the former."r13Love
for.neighbor signifies first of all love for my immediateneighbor, and
ro in the monk's case it means love for his fellow monki dwelling
with him in the samecommunity.The true monk sharesto the full in
the joys and sorrowsof eachbrother-,,he weepsfor the sins of that
brother and is delightedby his progress"r ra-alihough this love does
not needalwaysto be expressedoutwardly in *o.6j.rrs As we have
noted,what most impressedJohn at the monasterythat he visitedin
!-gypt was preciselythe quality of loving compassionshown by the
monkstoward one another:
An unbreakablebond of love joined thesemen together.. .
Above all, they stroveneverto injure a brother'scinscience.
lll.
lll.
I ll
I l {.
ll{

l a '( l 0 I o l ) ) , p l l +.
4 ( 7 0 8 4 ,7 0 . x t .7 t 2 A ) ,l p . 1 0 7.t0 r ) . {) ,ctc.
l(l( | l17(), p. 188.
4 ( 7 {) {A )l,, l 1 1 6 .
6 1 7 '1 7 ( l1) ,' {

tl

INTRODUCTION
And if eversomeoneshowedhatredof another,the shepherd
banishedhim like a convict to the isolationrnonastery.Once
when a brother spoke ill of a neighbor,the holy man, on
hearinghim, had him expelledimmediately."I'm not having
a visibledevil here along with the invisibleone," he said.rr6
Whenever a quarrel arose, those in authority et the Alexandrian
houseworked at once to securea reconciliation. The brethren themselves,obedient to St. Paul's iniunction, "Bear one another'sburdens" (Gal.6:2), in mutual love gladly took responsibilityfor each
other's faults.lrT It was these featuresaboveall that made the monastery at Alexandria a model in John's eyes.
Along with brotherly love, the secondfundamental virtue of the
monk in community is obedience.By this John doesnot mean primarily obedience to a written monastic rule; in fact, he nowhere
makesany referenceto such a rule. He is thinking in more personal
terms-of obedienceto Christ, and of obedienceto the spiritual father
as the earthly ikon of Christ the Good Shepherd. For a monk tn a
fully organizedmonastery,the spiritual father will normally be the
abbot; for a monk following the third way, he will be the geron or
abba,the "old man" who headsthe small monastic "family'''
John is emphatic about the importance of the spiritual father.
The ascentof the ladder is not to be undertaken in isolation, but under the immediatedirection of a guide. Here John takesup a theme
central to monasticismfrom its earliestdays.ll8 In the words of the
father of Egyptian monasticism,St. Antony,
I know of monks who fell after much toil rnd lapsedinto
madness,becausethey trusted in their own work and forgot
the commandmentthat says,"Ask your father and he will
tell you" (Deut. l2:7).So far as possible,for every stepthat a
. monk takes,for everydrop of water that he drinks in his cell,

I16. 4 (685A),p. 95i ci 4 (701A),p. rOa

117.+ (68iD),p. 96.
I 18. On spiritual fatherhood,seeI. Hatsherr, Directiotrspirituelleen oient autlefois
(OrientaliaChistiau Atalecta 144 Rome 1955)!K. Ware, "-[ he Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity", Crott Cuftentt xxiv (1974r.pp. 296-tl).

36

INTRODUCTION
he shouldentrust the decisionro the old men. to avoid making somemistakein what he does.rre
Such also is John's conviction. At the start of TbeLadderhe speaksof
the monk's need for "some Moses" to guide him to the piomised
Land:
Those of us who wish to get away from Egypt, to escape
from Pharaoh,need someMosesto be our interrnediary wiih
God, to standbetweenactionand contemplation,and stretch
out his arms to God, that thoseled by him mav crossthe sea
of sin and pur ro flighl the Amalekoi the passions.r20
He returns to the point in the summaryat the end of Step 26:
A ship u,ith a good navigator comessafely ro port, God willing. A soul with a good shepherdclimbs easilyheavenward,
evenif it hasearlierdone much wrong.
A man, no matter how prudent, may easilygo astrayon a
road if he hasno guide.The man who takesthe road of monasticlife under his own direction may easilybe lost,evenif
he hasall the wisdom of the world.r2r

'l'he disciplereceivesguidancefrom his spiritual

father chieflv in rwo
w1f1: fils_t,by modelinghimself on the personalexample*Lich the
rpirirual father setsin daily life;r22second,through thei,disclosureof
thoughts,"through opening his heart to the spir;itualfather in what
John terms "confession" (eromologis*),a word that can also mean
"thanksgiving."This is not exactlythe sameas the sacramentof confcssion,understoodas part of the official structure of ecclesiastica
pcnance;for while it may sometimesoverlap with sacramentalconfcsskrn,it is broaderin scooe:
lltr.
lllll)r l.jl
l 2 {r
l: l.
lll

ltu5r!ingto/ tl)t lhrfft l.atbr^,Alphabeticalcollection,Anrr)nr .t7-tti(1,66J.

Sistcrllcncdicri Wrrd (l,ond,'nl(,,75),
p 7.
| ( r 'l l l ) ( r 1 6 A )p, . 7 t
,1.,(lo|ti/ll).p. l{e
{ ( n r l r l ) ) ,1 , ') |

INTRODUCTION
First, the spiritual father to whom the monk confessesneed not
necessarilybe a priest. In all the many passagesin TbeLadd'erwhete
John refers to spiritual fatherhood, as also in the specialtreetise that
he wrote on this subiect, To tlteSlxpbenl,it is in fact nowhere specified
that the spiritual father should be in priestly orders; and, as we have
seen,there is no evidencethat John himself was so ordained, although
he certainly exercisedthe ministry of spiritual fatherhood.
Second,what the monk confessesto his spiritual father are not
only his sins but also his doubts and temptations, and still rnore generally his "thoughts" (logisnoi\,which may be neutral or even Godinspired as well as sinful. In this disclosure of thoughts the sPiritual
child lays before his father, so far as he can, all the events that are occurring in his life, whether outward or inward, eventhosethat seem
to him insignificant; for the spiritual father may seein them a deeper
meaningof which the discipleis himself unaware.
St. John Climacus implies that this confessionto the sPiritual father will if possibletake place daily; and he mentions the practice of
certain monks at Alexandria who wrote down their thoughts at once
in a notebookhanging from their belt, which they later showedto the
Normally the disclosureof thoughtsis in private' but the
abbot.123
spiritual father may sometimesinsist on a public confession,for the
good of the discipleor perhapsof the community.l2aWhether the
confessionis private or public, the underlying principle is the same:
"Nothing givesdemonsand evil thoughtssuch power over us as to
" r2sBut, once
nourish them and hide them in our heartsunconfessed.
brought into the open, they becomepowerless As one of the monks
at Alexandria said to John, describingwhat had happenedto him
after "a bad spiritual failure":

'

But sinceit was never my customto conceala snakein the

hiding placeof my heart I grabbed it forthwith by the tailmeaning that I endedthe matter-and I revealedit at once to
the healer.He gaveme a light blow on the chin, smiled,and
saidto me, "All right, child, go back to your iob and do not

l2l. 4 (70lCD),p. 105.

p.9 i.
1 24.4 (681B),
1 25.2l (97 6D),p.2 lt.

38

INTRODUCTION
be in the slightestway afraid." With heart on fire I did as I
was told, and within a few daysI knew I was cured.126

It is, however,sometimesunnecessary,
and evenunwise,to confesssins in detail, for fear of reviving the sinful impulse within us.
This is the casein particular with sins againstchastity:,,Do not in_
sist,"John advises,"on confessingyour cainal actsin detail,sinceyou
m_ightbecomea rraitor to yourself."r27As St. Mark the Ascetic (a/ias
Mark the Hermit or Monk) observes,,,To recallDastsins in detail in_
flicts injury on the man who hopesin God.... They pollute him
againwith the old defilement."r28
In the passage
quotedabove,it is significantthat the Alexandrian
monk refersto his spiritual father as ,,thehealer."This is charactens
tic of TbeLadder.When speakingof confession,
John employs by preferenceimagery that is therapeuticrather than juridical. Coniejsion
doesnot merely bestow absolution from guilt, understood in r formal
and legalistic fashion, but on a deeper, moie organic level it confers
healing and restoration to wholeneis. Sin is disJase;to go to confes_
sion is to enter the hospitaland to expose.ourwounds;-the spiritual
father is the doctor who makesus inwardly whole by prescribing
medicines,by bandaging,cauterizing,amput;ting.r2e ' '
relationship between patient and
. .In this
ihysician_between
spiritual child and father-what is requiredfirst of all from the child
is opennessof heart.If this is lacking,if the disciplein disclosinghis
thoughts deliberately concealsor misrepresents,then obviously the
whole object of the confessionis frustrated; the doctor cannot help if
the patient lies about his ailments.l30Besidesopennessof heart,ihe
spiritual child needsto show trust and faithfulness.Look carefully,
John urges,beforechoosingyour spiritual father; but, having once
chosenhim, remain with him permanently.Those who
-ou.-lieht_
126.{ (1'e7A).
p. t02.
127.28 ( .l(r\), t' 281.
l2u. On tboleuho tbint tbat tber are nude rigbteoutby uorks,g l19 (1,G65, 9j2B)i E.I.
..
/'lil, $ M, p. lltt.
Ilr). l.i,r such nreraphors,
sec for erample+ (7t6A), p. It2r 5 i776O),l). tj{}r nnd
I rt t?,xl)-r t6r( i). pp. 2i2-3. ()n confcssionas I forrn of hcniing,rcc K
:l:,,* ill.lLrl()rthrxlrr
Wrrc, " lhc
l r|crrcrrecot Repcnr:rncc
,.Vrr,rmll ,,, t'lilr, p| t2 l;
I I) /,'rx,.i ( I tr{Al}}. p. 216.

lq

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

mindedly from one confessorto another make no progress,and "deserveeverypunishmentfrom God."r3rEven if your spiritualfather is
guilty of fornication,you shouldnot leavehim.132It is not for you to
iudge him and his actions:

ence.r38
This means,saysJohn,that to sin againstour spiritual father
is in a senseworse than to sin againstGod:

When the thought strikesyou to iudge or condemnyour superior, , , give no trust, place,entry, or startingpoint to that
snake.Saythis to the yiper: "Listen to me, . . . I do not iudge
him; he iudgesme."r33
But of courseon his side the spiritual father is responsiblebefore God
for the examplethat he sets his disciples:he should act with prudence,not revealinghis own faults too readily, for fear of giving
scandal.l3a
needless
What doesthe spiritualfather providein return for this openness
and trust?He is, aswe haveseen,the physicianwho makesus inwardly whole. This he does,not only by his words of advice,but by his
lifei not only by imparting rules or imposing Penances,but by offering a personalrelationshipwithin which the disciplecan grow to maaboveall through
t.,iity. Ar,d this personalrelationshipis established
interceding for
by
his
children
helps
father
prayer. The spiritual
what you
Fatbers:
tlx
Desett
Tbe
Sayittgs
of
in
is
clearly
seen
ihem. This
on
insists
also
for
me."
is
"Pray
your
abba
you
visit
say when
John
the
dead,
if
he
raises
even
monk,
the
obedient
that
this,r3sremarking
believethat it is the prayersof his spiritual father
will nevertheless
him to do this.136
enabled
which have
He is also,in
father is more than an intercessor.
the
spiritual
But
an
and
God,
"intermediary"
us
between
a
"mediator"
words,
John's
(mesitii who reconcilesus to Him.r3? He is the friend of the Great
King, who can plead on our behalf with boldnessin the royal pres-

pP.9 2,110.
l l l . 4(6li0D,7 09 D),
1 32.4 (7248 ),p . I17 .
l l l . 4(681 A),p.9 1.
l l 4. P ar. 8 (ll8 4C),p.2 lt.
. 180.
, 9l; I 5 ( 8918)p.
l l 5. S eefo rexemp le4 (67 7D )p.
p. 107.
l16. 4 (705D-708A),
t l 7. I (616A),p.7 5.

,+0

What I am going to say to you now must not shock you. . .

It is better to sin againstGod than againstour father.If we
make God angry,our director can reconcileHim to us. But
if he is angry, then there is no one to speakup for us before
God.r3e

The paradoxis deliberate,but the point is clear.This mediation,

furthermore,works in both directions.Not only doesthe spiritual father representus to God, but he also representsGod to us. His words
have the value of God's words. As one of the monks at Alexandria
saidto John about the abbot:
I thought of the shepherd as the image of Christ. .. . I
thought of the command [that he gave me] as coming not
from him but from God.rao

Physician, intercessor,mediator-the spiritual father is all this.

But John goes further still. He also describesthe spiritual father as
cnadocbos,rar
the term used for the sponsor or godparent at baprrsm,
end so signifying one who takesresponsibilityfor another.In John's
view, the spiritualfather doesnothing leqsthan assumeresponsibility
for his disciple's sins, for which he will answer before God at the Last
Judgment.Thus the disciplecan facedeathwithout anxiety,"knowing with certainty that when it is time to go, not he but his spiritual
director will be calledto renderan account."r42
"l thought of the shepherdasthe imageof Christ," saidthe Alexlndrian monk to John. As sponsoror aradocbas,
the shepherdof souls
is calledto be a living ikon of the unique Good Shepherd.He is to

llN. /'/./r,.I (ll72l)), p. :.t.l.

l J 9 . . l ( 7 2 5 1 ) )p,. t l {, ) .
l'10.{ (6e2tl),t).(,,ei
cl.4 (7{)94),p. l0e.
l {1 . / 'c r r .l t ) ( l l N l l l ) , p . 2 : 1 7
l {2 {( 7 ( }l l l ) , p 1 0 7

4l

INTRODUCTION
show the samesacrificiallove as the Saviordisplayedwhen dying on
the Crossfor the sinsof the world:
It is love that shows who is the true shepherd;for by reason
of love the Great Shepherdwas crucified.ra3
Among the many qualitiesthat John mentionsin his treatiseon spirithis is the most important. The father
tual fatherhood To tbeShepberd,
gentleness
temperedby
insight,discretion,dispassion,
shouldpossess
love,
for withto
show
self-emptying
severity. But aboveall he needs
He
image
of
Christ.
after
the
out such love no one can be a shepherd
full
sense;
in
its
true
and
using this word
needsto havecompassion,
he is required to lay down his life for his children, offering up on
their behalfall that he hasand all that he is. As John puts it, "spiritual
in the proper sense. . . is a laying down of
responsibility(axadocbi)
one'ssoul on behalfof the soul of one'sneighborin all matters"raa
While every monk is called to bear the burdensof others,the
is the spiritual father: "Let your father be
trurden-bearerpar ercellence
the one who is ableand willing to labor with you in bearingthe burden of your sins."tn5By thus interpretingthe spiritual father'srole in
termsof Galatians6:2,St. John Climacusshowshimselfa true follower of the sixth-centuryschoolof Gaza-of St. Varsanuphius,St. John
the Prophet,and St. Dorotheus-all of whom appealto the samePauApplying their teaching,John givesan examplefrom
line precept.ra6
his own experience:for twenty yearsa monk had sufferedfrom unthoughts,and could gain no relief. Evenspeakableand blasphemous
tually he wrote the temptationon a piece of paper,went to a holy
man and gavehim the paper.After readingit, the old man said:"My
son, put your hand on my neck.... Now let this sin be on my
neck.... From now on, ignore it." At once the brother was freed

l.lJ. ,1'lr,.5 (l l77B),p. 214.

l4+. /'drr.l2 (lltllB), D. 219.
p. u7.Cf.24(9li4C),P.2l7i Patt 2 (l1698),P 2ll; 12(l189BC).pp
l+5 t (1,4'51)),
I t9 {t).
146 \'ersrnuphiusandlohn,Corretpoflde ce,ed S Schoinas(Volos 1960)'$l 168-9'
1972),
$! 72-71,
lli(,,,ltl, 199.201,206,219,48J;Frenchtrans.by L. Regnault(Solesmes
9{, (16, 10.{, I0lJ, Il), 219, 483, et ?a$inl Dorotheus, Inrtructionsiv (ed L. Regnault,
Si,,ln .rfirtttitnn$ t)2 [Paris 196]1,$$ 56-t7, pp. 240-2)i vi ($ 79, p. 288)

1Z

INTRODUCTION

from the thoughts of blasphemy,nor did they trouble him subse

quently.l47
From all this it is abundantlyclear how exacting,in the eyesof
St. John Climacus,are the demandsmade upon the spiritual father.
There can,indeed,be no earthly yocationhigher than this:
We can offer to God no gift so acceptableas to bring Him
through repentancesouls made in His image.The whole
world is not worth so much as a soul.148

Prayercnd Stillness:
TbeIxvocationof tlx Name
"Prayer," saysSt. John Climacus,"is by nature a dialogueand a
union of man with God." As such,it is cosmicin scope,the foundation of the universe:"Its effectis to hold the world tosether."r4eIt is
the primary end for which the human person was c-reated-"What
higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and to perseverein unceasingunion with Him)"1so-and it constitutesthe touchstoneof a
monk's entire existence:"Your prayer shows where you stend....
Prayer is a monk's mirror."lsl In the words of BishopTheophanthe
Recluse:"Prayer is the test of everything. . . . If prayer is right, everything is right."rsz
Thanksgiving, penitence,petition-such is the basic sequenceto
be followed when praying:
Heartfelt thanksgivingshouldhavefirst placein our bookof
prayer. Next should be confessionand genuine conuition of

1 4 7 . 2 l ( / t l 0 A l l ) , p . 2 l l . F o r p a r a l l e l sto th i si n ci d e n ti n o th e r te xts,se e .f.Go u i l frr(1, "(;hristiNnismc trt:zantin et slave", Ecolelratiqae detbauksitudes.t stctio . Scieace
wliqinar. .lnnutirelxxxii (Paris1974),
pp.215-17.
l{tt, /'arr.ll (ll96D), p.2.{1.Johnrefersto spiritualbrotherhoodaswell asspiritur l f r t h r r h r r r x l l: l ( 8 9 2 ( i )p. . l 7 e r 2 6 ( l 0 i 7 B) .p .2 4 {.
l . l e . 2 8( l r 2 e A ) , p . 2 7 {
l!0.28(llt6A).f
I78.
lll. )H(lll6(i), p.27li
f ll lff f[rffncrf(jhrrirorol Vslonn),lh.l
oll,ruyr:.ltt(hrhol^.l tlt'h'tl tl,ntl
d r |)a'lr, l'. I I

IN'I'RODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

soul. After that should come our requestto the universal

King.t s:

recommendingthe useof short, simple prayers,it seems

, lr-,hgr
that John had in v-iew-various
possibleformutae,this is implied by the
advicetust quoted,"if. . . someword evokesdelight or remorsewith_
in you, linger over it." Sometimes,like the Deseit Fathersin fourthcentury Egypt, he suggeststhe employment of a verse from the
Psalms:

We are not to begin by confessingour sins. Before peering downward

at our own ugliness,we are to gazeoutward and upward at the beauty of God. So it is in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (not
that St. John Climacusappealsto this particularexarnple):we do not
commencewith an act of penitencebut with a proclamationof divine
glory, "Blessedis the Kingdom of Father,Son and Holy Spirit...."
Only after receivinga glimpseof this heavenlyKingdom can we begin to repent as we should. Otherwise penitence becomesa form of
grumbling, an expressionof bitternessor self-loathingrather than
hope. Penitence, John adds, should accompany us throughout the
journey of prayer: "Even if you haveclimbed the whole ladder of the
virtues,pray still for the forgivenessof sins."rs4
John is categoricalabout the value of simplicity in our prayer.
We are to avoid garrulousness,pol!logia, multiplicity of words:
Pray in all simplicity. The publican and the prodigal son
were reconciledto God by a single utterance... . In your
prayers there is no need for high-flown words, for it is the
simple and unsophisticated
babblingsof children that have
often won the heart of the Father in heaven.Try not to talk
excessively
in your prayer,in caseyour mind is distractedby
the searchfor words. One word from the oublican sufficed
to placate God. and a single utterance saved the thief
Talkative pruyer (po\logia) frequently distracts the mind
and deludesit, whereasbrevity (monologia'l
makesfor concentration. If it happensthat, asyou pray, someword evokesdelight or remorsewithin you, linger over it.r55
While, then, it is necessary,
at any rate in the earlier stages,to use
words when we pray-"enclose your mind [or thought] within the
wordsof your prayer," John urgesls6-these words should be as direct, conciseand uncomplicated as possible.
| 5 1. 28 (ll12A), p.2 75 .
1 5 4 .28 (l l l2B), p.2 76 .
1 5 5 .28 (ll29D, lll2 AB), pp .275- 6.
1 5 6 .28 (l l32C),p.2 76 .

44

Cry out to God, Who has the strength to saveyou. Do not

bother with elegantand clever woids.
Just spiak humbly,
beginning with, ',Have mercy on me, for I am weak,,(ps.
6:3).t57

ElsewhereJohn proposesa seriesof different scriptural texts for the

monk to-ponder, leaving him free to choosewhich he prefers: for, as
he puts it, "all the loavesof heavenly bread do not have the sameaD_
" I s8
Pearance.
There is, however,one type of simple prayer to which
John
ettechespartrcularimportance:the invocatior!or remembranceof the
Name of Jesu^s,
the JesusPrayer.r5eIt is true that he refers to it only
three timesl6o in the entire Ladder,so that it cannot be regardedas a
dominant themejn his spiritual teachingas a whole. In ,ii. ..rp".,
there is a marked contrastbetweenJohn and his follower St. Hesy_
chiusof Sinai,who mentionsthe Jesusprayer continuallythroughout
his work On Watcbfuln*sand Holiness.Bui the three p".."g., ir, ru,
157..15(900D),p. I84.On the Egyptianpractice,seeDom L. Regnaulr,.,Laprire
continueffe 'monologisros'dans la litt6rature apophregmatique.',Iltnikoi xlvii ltgl4),
pp. 467-9r.
lJ8. 27(l ll6.4).p. 272.Short prayerscan be usedin particularduring the entrpho"
.
n.l recitationof rhe Divine Office,while the oppositesideof the choir is iinging: ct to
(917D;,p. 1t15.
CliTi."s teachrngon rhe Jesusprayer,see,,Un Moine de l,Eglised,Or_
, ,]fl 1"..
lcnt" lArchimendrire Lev citter 892-1980)1,
La priire deJisus (3rd ed., Cievetogne
l9t9), pp :7-28i E l , "A Monk of thc Eastern Church,,,Theiraler o//aras,translated
by
"A Monk of the Wcstern Church" (New york/Tournai tg67): pp.";B_2;tI. Hausherr,
Nont du Ohristct wicsd'oraircn(OrienratiuCbnrtiana.j natedal5i: Rome 1960).DD.248
lltE;l'lhcNanco!Junr,translatcdbyC.(iummingslciterdanStuA,i"*,,-.fi, '(r,"-"xt 1978),pp. 2N{)-6.
l.'r.lleushc.r, whilc rightly prorestingrhat too much shouklrror
bc rcrd into rhc nhorrstorcmcnts
()f (jlim.cus,surelygrrcstoo far in rh( r,lrl!,ritc(lire(.
tktn, ldolnin|t nn unduly r.du.ri.rnrsr'.vicw.
l6ll. l,oiribly rhcrci{ lirurth rcfcrcnccin r,r0t4t(;),l). Is t. $.hcri.( lli||r{(.!rrl|.,.1t
nt llnr i pmtnrhi;l,ur rn'rr I'r'|,|lhlr rhin rnclnr rhr l,,rril'r,l,r,rycr

{f

INTRODUCTION
Ladder,sincethey have greatly influenced subsequentwriters, deserve
to be consideredwith particular care.
to
(1)In Step 15,when discussingthe imPure thoughtssuggested
go
says:
we
to
sleep,
us by the demonsimmediately before
John
Let the remembranceof death and the conciseJesusPrayer
go to sleepwith you and get up with you, for nothing helps
you asthesedo when you are asleep.l6t
Note here, first of all, the words "JesusPrayer" (lisoueocbi):St. lobn
At the
Climacusis, it seems,the earliestauthor to usethis expression.
or,
more
literalas
sametime, he describesthe JesusPrayer "concise"
a term that means "consisting in a
ly, as "monologic" (monologistos),
single phrase": John seemsto be once again the first author to apply
callsto mind the conthis adiectiveto prayer. The epithet morologistos
(po\logia\
talkativeness
trast, in the passagecited earlier,t62between
as
(moxologia)i
is
being
commended
thus the JesusPrayer
and brevity
an exampleof short,simpleprayer.
But what exactlydoesJohn intend by this term "single-phrase
Jesus Prayer"? Nowhere in TbeLadderdoeshe give a specific formula.
The sameis true of John'sfollower Hesychius:while very frequently
using the term "JesusPrayer"-and on one occasionthe phrase"tttol,ologistosprayer" t6s-he refrains from giving a preciseform of words.
It hasbeenargued-in particularby Fr. Hausherr-that John merely
envisages,
in a generalwty, att! brief prayer for help, not necessarily
including the name of Jesus.But in that casewhy should John say,
not iust "single-phrase prayer," but "single-phrase,/eszsPrayer"?
Surely it is more probablethat the prayer containedthe actualword
"Jesus"as part of the "single phrase."The secondof our three passages,to be consideredshortly, confirms this by explicitly mentioning the zcrzeof Jesus.
' Yet, ifour supposition is correct, it doesnot therefore follow that
the "single-phraseJesusPrayer" contains ozljr the name of Jesusand
nothing else.To iudge from other writers prior to TbeLadderor con'

1 61.15(889D),p . 1 78 .
162.28 (l ll2B), p. 275rseeabove,note 155.
and Holitets ii,72 (PG 91, 15168)rET Prtl, $ 174,p. l9l (the
16t. (h Watchfulnctt
translatorshave addedthe word "Jesus"trefore"prayer").

46

INTRODUCTION

temporarywith it, we would expectthe name to be combinedwith

further words aswell; for noneof the early textsspeaksof employing
the invocation"Jesus"on its own. Diadochusof Photice,for example,
advisesthe useof a prayerbeginning"Lord Jesus. . .", apparentlyfollowed by somethingmore, althoughhe doesnot tell us what.r6aVarsanuphiusand John of Gazasuggestvariousformulae,suchas:165
"Lord JesusChrist, havemercy on me"
"Lord JesusChrist, saveme"
"Master Jesus,protect me"
"Jesus,help rne"

-but never"Jesus"alone.What in later Orthodoxspirituality hasbecome the standardform of the Prayer, "Lord JesusChrist, Son of
God, have mercy on me," is first found in TheLife of AbbaPbileuon,l66
en Egyptian text perhapsmore or lesscontemporary with TbeLadder.
It is probable,then, that the "single-phrase
JesusPrayer" contained
morethan the simpleinvocationof the name.John,however,doesnot
lcll us exactlywhat is in his "single phrase,"and so it may be that,
like Varsanuphiusand John of Gaza,he envisages
a variety of possible texts.Writing as he was at a time when the wording of the Jesus
Prayer had not yet become stereotyped, he may have preferred to
lceveeach readerfree to make his own choiceamong the different
forms.
'l'hree mattersstrike us about the contextof the
JesusPrayer rn
$tcp 15.First, it is linked with the remembranceof death.This sugScststhat John saw the JesusPrayeras,amongother things,a prayer
of contrition and penitence.Probably,then, he expectedthe Prayerto
Includethe words "have mercy on me" or the equivalent;as already
notcd,he recommendsthe useof Psalm6:3,"Have mercy on me. , . ."
Sccond,the Prayeris seenasa weaponagainstthe demons.Third, its
utc in speciallycommendedwhen on the thresholdof sleep.On the
1 6 1 ( , : . n tr y 5 e , 6 l i / 'r i l , p t ) . 2 70 - 1 .
161.(,brftq,ony'n(lt:(i.Schoin.rs),
$$ .19.ll6, 155,l6li, *16, 659;l,rcn(h rr{rtr. I'y
nqlnrrrff, ff trr, lTl, lsS,:/'N,{{a',659.SccNl$)l)oft,rhcus,t.ilt ol lhritbtut ltl(c(l ltr.t
ft li n r'rl. p. l18)
na|{ll,!:out\'.t
166.I'lrlohtlu ton rnu nrlrilott((;rcck tLxr).v,)l ii {Arhcni 1,,/{x),
n J4{ (}h the
l m l x r r t r n {r o l t h i r t r x t , r . . l l K r i r o t h ti r r c."l ) o tr .r l r rtcr tc tr r r r l r tr o n r rrrh,l' l n 'Ir l d tr r h
l l\trtntth( turrrt linoltr otnh,nt r;' i{|rrl,,lrl' tl 19
l)n:"',,1fu't1tr 'h l'l'.tttrtht,r

INTRODUCTION
second and the third point, John's approach resemblesthat of Diadochus. l 6 7
(2) The secondof the three passagesoccurs in Step 2 l John is discussing the childish fear that overcomes a monk at night when entering some dark place alone. The solution, he says, is to arm yourself
with prayer:
When you reach the spot, stretch out your hands and flog
your enemies with the name of Jesus, since there is no
stronger weapon in heaven or on earth.168
Here, certainly, John has in view not just any short prayer for help
but specifically the invocation of the name "Jesus." As in Step 15, this
is seen as a weapon against the demons. He further suggestsa particular bodily posture, with the arms outstretched in the form of a cross.
T'his he also recommends elsewhere, but without referring to the
n a m e o f Je su s . l6e
(l) The third and most important passagecomes in Step 27, on
solitude or stillness:
is worshipping God unceasingly and waitStillness (ier1,,cbia)
ing on Him. Let the remembrance of Jesusbe present with
your every breath. Then indeed you will appreciate the value o f sti llnes s . lT o
'l'here is no explicit reference here to "the
JesusPrayr" or to "the
nameof leslls," but only to "the remembrance
of Jesus."It may be, then,
that in this passageJohn is not thinking of a short formula of prayer,
frequently repeated, but of "keeping Jesus in mind" in a more diffused and general sense. But it is also possible that the "remembrance" is in fact the same as the "single-phrase Jesus Prayer"; and
that is how most later readersof TheLadderhave understood the text.
Three points of interest arise in this passage.First, John states
that the remembrance of Jesus should be so far as possible uninterrupted. In the other two passagesthe Jesus Prayer or invocation of
t6t-. CenhtryJlt Phil.,tl\.26t-2.
1 68.2l (9.+5C),
p .20 0.
169. l5 (900C),p. 184.
1 70.27 (lll2(l), pp .26 9 70

4ri

INTRODUCTION

the name is recommended for use in particular situations-when falli ng asl eep.w hen al one i n rhe dar k- bur in t his t hir d r exr John envisages something all-embracing and continuous. Once more, his
teaching resemblesrhat of Diadochus, who insists emphatically that
the remembrance or invocation ofJesus shall be unceasing.rTl
Second, John says that the remembrance of Jesus is to "be present with your every breath"; a more literal translation would run, ',be
united with your breathing." 'I'he phrase has been variously interpreted, Some seein it no more than a metaphor: we should remember
God as often as we breathelT2-John is simply underlining his pornt
about "worshipping God unceasingly." Others give the phrase a far
more precise sense:in their view, John has in mind a physical technique whereby the "single-phrase Jesus Prayer" is linked with the
rhythm of the breathing. Such a technique is certainly advocated in a
Ooptic source, not easily dated, but perhaps slightly later than John:
ls it not easy to say with every breath, "Our Lord Jesus
Christ, have mercy on me; I blessThee, my Lord Jesus,help
me")l ?3

In the Greek tradition, however, there are no clear and unambiguous

rcfercncesto a "breathing technique" until the late thirteenth and rhe
ctrly fourteenth century, in the works of St. Nicephorus of Mount
Athos, St. Gregory of Sinai, St. Gregory Palamas,and others.rTa
Now it is true thar St. John Climacus acceptsthe basic principle
rundcrlying the physical method propounded by these later writers;
111 (.)'1trl tJ59. 85, 88, rnd cspec ;x l l v 9i : I,bi /.. pp. 2?0, 2ti 5, :u7. 291,4.
l 7l ( l ,)nrpr rc, for c'rnmpl e. (i r egorl of N az i anz us . Ol ati on 27, + \P C 16. t6B ),
^^d
N i l rrr rrf A nc!rrr. 1,//,1-Jl ,11.)(l 'G1 9, i a)91)),\r' here the meani ng i s apparenrl y no more
rh
rr(ri l )hori Lxl .
''
llf
'fhe \ i rtLrcsrrfS r \l i crrius ", ed E . r\m6l i neau. H i toi re tl c snonas ti ru ac u
/tu|r'l rr',0r, ('\r,rr,rl es<l Lr\l Lrsrl c (j ui nrc t \\y : P ari s l 8e4), p. l 61i c i ted i n J . Goui !tard.
hti t l 'l 'tl ontl & h l ri ':n l tur, (l , rrri s t,,)5t),p 6l j ;2nd ed. (P ari s l 96rj ), p. j j . On rhc
l orrnl 'rrrrcl i rrIhe(l ,)l )ri .\1r.,'fi rnocl c .s c c ,\.(l ui l l aunont,' Ll c i ns c ri l ,ri orrc rprc
.l h.
(.:L !ti n d l \' noha * ti t
\|l t l 'r 'f'r'i .r. rk. Jc\U \", ott,l tl i t
0{ )61]),Irt). r} t!.
{
)"t),
(.l
nnhrt
I'r,rvcr
r,,rrf
th.
\l
,rnk\
ol
l
,)gv
Ir",
/i
rrr,rrr
R
nttt
\i
nn
I
fr.rrrr
I' l '
I'rl l sr'rr(i rrrIIurrrrIorII(l .rr.\rl r.rr\rrl rrorc rl
r,rrhc ;th 8rh(.c nl rrr(\
l 14 S .' f fl ,'U \h.fr, It mrl 'o[ I' trtttw t h:tri h.rtt tOthr tl tt I l ,t\ ,trn t\. trt t^
|{''|r|t |',.'.'I | (;,,r"11,'l l , \ \,,rr,,rr rh, l ,fr\.f,' l
rl l l l rrr"
rr | \l l l ,,l r,' ,rI
I htt\tt,ti l n(d l l r'r."rr,rl l rl 'r,rrr \rs
\,,r1 l ,r' .' 1, t' t, .)t t|l l \ \\,' r'
lln l{lr
\rrrar'. /r,r, rr I l ' rt' l \\ l l l tr|
frf \'f l h\r(,',l t,,r\,,1
[l l ' )' )
|l t tl tn

.||.,

INTRODUCTION
like them, he recognizesthat the mind conforms to the body, that our
outward postureinfluencesour inward state.lTsBut only in this one
sentencein Step 27 doeshe refer specifically to the breathing in connection with the name of Jesus;the point is not developed,and it
would be perilous to basetoo much on a single phrase.In default of
further evidence,it seemswiser to interpret the words metaphorically. Probablythe parallelphrasein HesychiusrT6
shouldalsobe given
a metaphoricalsense;but Hesychius'wording is slightly more precise
than John's, for he alters "remembrance of Jesus"to "JesusPrayer,"
and when speakingelsewhereof the JesusPrayer he makesa number
of other referencesto the breathing.rTT
Third, in the passagequoted John indicates a connection between "the remembranceof Jesus" and the attitude of stillness (besycbia).Constantly to keep Jesusin remembranceis a way of attaining
inner quiet: the JesusPrayer helps to make the monk into a "hesychast," one who possesses
silenceof heart. Heslchiat1sis a key word in
John's doctrine of prayer, and the step which he devotesto it has
proved, with the possibleexception of Step 7 on the gift of tears, the
most influential in the whole of TbeLadder.By "stillness" he means
both an outward mannerof life-that of the hermit or solitary,living
in a cell on his own-and also an inner dispositionof continual
prayert as in the passage
under discussion:"Stillnessis worshipping
rzr
God unceasingly."
It is the secondsensethat chiefly concernsJohn in Step 27-not
---lEl

(ll B),p. 277ibutin these

p. r84:260000Dl00rA),p 227;28
s (e00c),

passages
there is no referenceto the breathing.'fheallusionto "breathingcod" in 4
(688C),p.97, is surely metaphorical.
But in 4 (7248),p. 117end 14(869A),p. 169,the
senseis lsscleerrJohn may me|rnth|t the repetitionof a short phrasefrom Scripture
is to be linked with the rhvthm of the breathing,but oncemorea metaphorical
senseis
possible.
li6. "t,et the JesusPraver clesve to your breath [or breathing]": O Wbtcbfulnett
andHoliness
ii,80 \PC 91, l5l7D): E l' Pril, $ 182,p. le5.
't77.On Watcbfurrcss
andHolinessi,5;ii,68,85,
tl7(l48lD, lsilC, l540CD);PDil, $g
5, 170,187,189(pp. 16l, 192,195,196).But in noneof thesepassages
is a metrphorical
interpretation excluded178. SeeL Hausherr, "L'h6sychasme.Etude de spiritualit6", in Hisychasme
et priire
(One*alia Chnxiana A ah.to 116: Rome 1966),pp. 161-2371,
K. Were, "Silence in
Prayer:the Merning of Hesychia", in B. Pennington (ed.),Or.Jdt Trro (CitercianStudies
Seies 29: Ktlamezno 1976), pp. 22-47.
179.Seenote 170.

INTRODUCTION
physicalisolationbut interior silence.Sometimes,
certainly,he hasin
view both the outward and the inward at the sametime:
Close the door of your cell to your body, the door of your
tongueto talk, and the gatewithin to evil spirits.rs0

But moreoften it is the inward level,"the gatewithin," of which he is

speaking,as in his celebrateddefinition of the hesychast:
Strangeas it may seem,the hesychastis a man who fights to
keephis incorporealselfshut up in the houseof the body.rs

'Ihe meaninghereis, not that the hesychast

dwellsspatiallyseparate
from others in the desert, but that he confines within his body the
powersof his soul,his thoughts,desires,imaginationand the rest;he
is not dispersed,but concentratedupon a single point. The hesychast'strue journey is not outward and physical,into the wilderness
but inward and spiritual,into the sanctuaryof the heart.John is saying the sameas St. Basilthe Great:
When the intellect is no longer dissipatedamong external
things or dispersedacrossthe world through the senses,it
returns to itself; and by meansof itself it ascendsto the
thought of God.r82

'l'he hesychastis the one who has"returned to himself,',who has,rn

$t, lsaacthe Syrian'sphrase,"enteredinto the treasurehousethat rs
within."r8.rHe has constantlywithin him what John calls,,unseen
mcditation,"r8a"mental prayer" or "noetic activity" (noeraergesio).18
Understandingstillnessin this inward sense,we seethat it is posriblc to be a hesychast
eventhough committedto works of direct servicc to others:the hesychastis not just the solitary,but anyonewho
1 8 0 .l 7 ( l l l ) l r A ) ,t ) . : 6 J .
, .2a,2
l l i l . : l ( l l ) e 7 l l )p
It2. L t./ 1\lt(; 12,22tt^1.
fHf ,4ryrr,{li.attt$,l:.l Wcnrinck,p. ii (rdaprcd).
lr{. | (66411).
l). Hr
l N l {{a 'r {( j ) , I 1 1 6 .

rl

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

This, indeed,
preservesinterior silenceamidstoutward confusion.rs6
great
is the highestform of hesycbia.It
is a
thing, saysJohn,to achieve
stillnessin the isolationof a hermit's cell; but "it is incornparably
greaterto haveno fear of turmoil, and to remain steadfastunder its
assaultwith a fearlessheart,living outwardly with men but inwardly
with God."r87
Interpreted in this manner, as the hidden silenceof the heart, besychiasignifies in TheLaddermore particularly what Evagrius terms
"pure prayer"-prayer, that is to say, unaccompaniedby words, imagesor concepts."Stillnessmeansthe expulsionof thoughts,"wrires
John,r88adaptinga well-knownphraseof Evagrius,"Prayer is the expulsion of thoughts."rseBut "expulsion" is perhapstoo violent a
word. John and Evagrius employ the term a?otbetis,which means
"shedding,""putting aside":not a sayageextirpation or brutal suppressionof our thoughts,but a gentleyet persistentact of detachment
or "letting go."
Helscbiaor stillness,then, is the sameas "the wordless prayer of
the spirit,"reoasdistinguishedfrom the singingof psalmsand hymns,
the liturgical prayer of the divine office. Evidently it is this "pure" or
wordlessprayer of stillnessthat John has in view when he describes
prayer as "a turning away from the world, visible and invisible,"rer
or when he says,"Do not form sensoryimagesduring prayer"rq2
Such remarkswould not be applicableto all forms of praying.
We can now graspmore fully what John intendswhen, in Step
27,he connectsthe "remembranceof Jesus"with the stateof stillness.
The remembranceor invocationof Jesusis one of the ways-not necessarilythe only one-whereby the aspirantupon the spiritual way is
enabled to advancefrom oral to wordless prayer. Here, as so often rn
his teachingon the JesusPrayer,John seemsto be following Diadochus of Photice.-I'hehuman intellect.so Diadochusobserves.
cannot
rest inactive;if it is to be preventedfrom dispersingitself among a

multiplicity of sensoryobjects,it must be providedwith someinner

task to satisfy its "need for activity." This need, according to Diadochus,is met by the JesusPrayer:

186.4 (700C),p. l0l.

187.Parr,9 (lt85A), p. 217;cf. 27(10978),p. 262.
1 88.27 (l l1 2A),p . 26 9.
189. On PruJer,$ 70 (PG 79, I lslC): E l- PDil, $ 71, p. 64.
190. l9 (917D),p. 195:literally"non-meteri.lprayer."
l 9l. 28 (llllC), p .27 7.
1 e2. 28(lll6 D).p.2 79 .

52

For the complete fulfilment of its purpose we should give

the intellectnothing but the prayer "Lord Jesus"... . Let the
intellect continually concentrateon thesewords within its
inner shrine with suchintensitythat it is not turned asideto
re3
any mentalimages.

'fhe JesusPrayer is in itself an oral prayer like any other; but, because
the words are so very simple, the discipline of frequent repetition
helps the intellect to gather itself together, to passfrom multiplicity
to unity, and so to reachout beyond all words into the pure prayer of
stillness.Such is Diadochus'teaching.John is lessexplicit, but he
semsto uphold the same standpoint: the jnvocation of the Holy
Name forms the gatewayto buycbia.
Stillness,as we haveseen,is defined by John as the urceasitgworinward prayer is not so much an
rhip of God. For the true hesychast,
occasional
occupationasa continuousstate;it is not merelyone activity amongothers,but rbeactivity of his whole life. He smivesto fulfill
the command,"Pray without ceasing"(l Thess.5:17).His prayercontinuesevenin his sleep;asJohn puts it, "A hesychastis like an angel
on earth . . . he says,'I sleep,but my heart is awake"' (Songof Songs
l:2[rea he is "at work not only when awake but also when he is
tsleep."re5In the words of St. Isaacthe Syrian,"Even when he is rmmersedin sleep,the perfumesof prayer will breathein his soul spontlncously."re6In this way the hesychastis not someonewho say
prryers from time to time, but someonewho ri prayer all the time.
His prayer becomesin the true sense/r4t er of thebeart,meaning by
"hcart" not only the emotionsand affectionsbut, as in Scripture,the
totelity of the human persondwelling in communion with God. In
thc wrrrds <>f'fbe l.adder:"'l cried out with all my beart,' said the

119t.(:.ntun t9: I'hil.,l\.17(1.

l r , l { l 7 ( l l ( l l l ^ ) , p 2 / '1 .
l u t : 7 {l l l / , 1 0 ,l ) . , : 7 l r( 1 . 2 0 ( ( )'tl ( j ) p, l ) . l e 7 - r i
lt)h. ll.\ t Tirarrrq li'l Wcnsincl, p. 17.r.

tl

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
psalmist(Ps.ll8:145).He is referring to body, soul and spirit."te?So
the hesychastprays with his whole heart, with eyery aspectof his being, conscious,subconscious,
supraconscious.
He is identified with
his prayer.
Dioine Light and Diaine Loae
Suchis the hesychast's
aim ashe mountsthe unseenladder:a direct touching,a simplegazingupon God that will be, so far as possible,continuousand free from mentalpicturesand discursivethought.
And what lies beyondthisl John is guarded.He doesnot usethe language of "deification" or "divinization" (rleorir),widespread among
the Greek Fathers.But, while offering no detaileddescriptions,he
provides a few hints. The highest level of prayer, he says,is "rapture
(arpagi\in the Lord,"le8 but he does not deyelop the point. Once he
alludesto a visionaryexperienceof his own;reeevidentlythis was ecstaticin character,for he says,recallingSt. Paul'swords (2 Cor. l2:2),
"and whether,during all this, I was in the body or out of it, I cannot
rightly say." Yet in this vision it was not with Christ Himself that
John spoke,but with an angel.
This is, moreover, an isolated passage;he does not speak elsewhere of receiving such visions. He does,however, refer in a number
of placesto experiencesof light or illumination, although it is not
easy to determine how far the languageis intended to be more than
metaphorical.The main passages
rre these:
(l) Overcomeby chastity, the lust in our souls "receivesthat
non-material (a1'lox)light which shinesbeyond all fire."2oo
(2) Purity of heart leadsto "enlightenment"or "illumination."
This "is something indescribable,an activity lor energy(energeia)l
that
is unknowingly perceivedand invisibly seen."20r
(l) "The truly obedientmonk often becomessuddenly radiant
and exultantduring his prayers."2o2
197.28 (l l40B).p. 2ill. For this senseof "heart," assignifyingthe spiritualcenter
of the humen person,seeA. Guillaumont,"l,es sensdes noms du coeurdans l'antiquit6", in /,c Coeur(Endu camllitainarxxix: Bruges1950),pp.4l-8li "l,e'coeur'chez
lesspirituelsgrecsi l'6poqueancienne",DJ ii (1952).
cols 228t-8.
198.28 (l I l2D), p. 2i6.
199.27(l l09C).p. 26ij.
200. 7 (li04c),p. ll7. Ct7 (uottD),p. 1.10,
referringto the "ineffablelighC'ofGod.
2 0 1 .7 (8llB), p. 14 3.
202. I9 (917C),p. l9i.

(4) On humility: "You will know that you have this holy gift
within you . .. when you experiencean abundanceof unspeakabl
light."2o3
(5) "For the perfect there is increaseand, indeed, a wealth of divine light.... A soul, freed of its old habits and also forgiven, has
!urely seenthe divine light."2oa
(6) "In addition to thesethere is the way of rapture (ekstasis),
the
wey of the mind mysteriouslyand marvellouslycarriedinto the light
of christ."2o5
(7) Someemergefrom prayer "as if they were resplendentwith
light."zoo
(8) "When the heart is cheerful, the face beams, and a man
flooded with the love of God revealsin his body, as if in a mirror, the
tplendor of his soul, a glory like that of Moseswhen he came face to
frce with God" (cf. Exod. 3429-35).207
(9) Finally, there is a long passageat the end of the work To the
in which the shepherdis likened to Mos,es:
$bepberd,
You have ascendedto the heights, you have dispelled all
manner of darknessand gloom and tempest-I mean the
thrice gloomy darknessof ignorance.You havedrawn nigh
to that light which is far more awesome,brilliant and sublime than the flame in the bush.. . . While still in this life,
you perhaps saw future things from behind (cf. Exod,
lJ:23)-l mean that illumination of knowledgewhich will
come to passin the last time.... You were glorified in the
countenanceof both your soul and your body.208

a figurative or metaphoricalinterpreta
ln all of thesepassages
tlon is by no meansimpossible.But, particularlyin the first, the sec
ond ond the eighth,John seemsto intend somethingmore than mere
sugmctiphor. 'l he phrase"non-materiallight" in the first passage
that
has
in
view
a
light
that
is
neither
merely
figurative,
John
lcrts
2 l l l . 2 l ( 'r ( ) 6 4 )r.) .2 2 1 .
l {) { 2 6 ( l 0 l l l l ) , p . l , {1 .
Illr l6 (l(16{A),p. l{r,).
1 1 1 6l l ( l l l 7 ( i ) , I l 8 l r .
lllT l0 {| | lTll). I' INN
l0r /r.r, l1 ,l0.l(:).p. ,l,tr

54
il

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

nor yet physicaland created,but spiritual and uncreated.In the second passage
the words "invisibly seen,"while they could apply to a
metaphoricalenlightenmentof the mind, may also denotea higher,
mysticalillumination,wherebythe initiate gezes-throughhis physical eyes,and yet in a manner that transcendsthem-not upon the
materialobiectsof normal sense-perception,
but upon the "non-material" light of God. So far asthe eighth passage
is concerned,the glory
shining from the faceof Moses,asdescribedin Exodus14,is certainly
not,ust metaphorical,for Moseshas to placea veil over his face to
protect the Israelitesfrom its brightness.John seernsto be thinking
here of the occasionsJ
frequently recordedin the lives of the saints,
when the body of the holy man or woman shinesvisibly with divine
light, as Christ's body shone at the transfigurationon Mount Tabor.2oeIt is significantthat in this passage
the light is given an eschatological interpretetion:it is an anticipation of "future things," a
foretasteof the "illumination" that "will come to passin the last
time." According to the traditional teaching,the light of the age to
come is an existentreality, not a mere metaphor.
With somehesitation,then, we may placeSt. John Climacusin
the tradition of the "light mystics"of the Christian East,along with
the Homiliesattributed to St. Macarius (fourth-fifth centuries), with
St. Symeonthe New Theologian(eleventhcentury),and St. Gregory
Palamas(fourteenthcentury). While John is far less explicit than
they-and certainly we cannot find in TheLadder,in any clearly articulated form, the Cappadocianand Palamitedistinction between
God's essenceand His energies2ro-yetJohn seemsto agree with
them in teachingthat the Divinity is revealedas uncreatedlight, and
that the human personcan participatein this divine light not only
metaphoricallybut literally, not only in the age to come but in this
presentlife, and not only with the soul but with the body also.
il'here are, however, no tracesin TbeLadderof the parallel tradition of "darknessmysticism,"representedby Philo the Jew (first century), St. Clement of Alexandria (third century), St. Gregory of
Nyssa(fourth century),and St. Dionysiusthe Areopagite(fifth century). When, as irr the ninth passage
cited above,John refers to the

darknessof Sinai,he takesthis as signifying sinful ignorance,not divine transcendence

and mystery.Unlike Philo, Clement,Gregory of
Nyssa and Dionysius, John lays no particular emphasisupon the
unknowabilityof God; the languageof apophatictheologyis largery
rbsent from TbeLadder.We are left with the impression that John
doesindeedregardGod asbeyondhuman understanding,but he does
not discussthe matter in detail.
But, eventhough John hasnot followedGregory of Nyssain his
interpretationof the darknessof Sinai, there is anotheridea.prominent in Gregory's Life of Mosu,that appearsalsoin TheLadder:ihe notion of unceasingadvance,of perpetualprogressthrough the infinite
lges of eternity. John does not use Gregory's technical term epektafil,2rr but the conceptitself is plainly presentin his work. Virtue and
love,he says,ar things that haveno limit or end-point,either in this
life or in the ageto come:

209. See K. Wrre, "The Transfiguration of the Body", in A.M. Allchin (ed.). Sdrrl
nett a t d I nage \ ' l ' h e F e l l o * s h i p o f St. Alb e n a n d St. Se r g iu s: l,o n d o n 1967),pp. l 7-t2
210. But in 2 J ( 9 9 i C D ) , p . 2 23 ,Jo h n u se sth e e sse n ce - e n e r g iedsisti ndi on $i th refer en ce t o t he iun .

5(t

There is no boundary to virtue. The psalmistsays,.,I have

seenthe end of all perfection,but Your commandmentis
very broad and is without limit" (Ps.I 18:96).
. . . And if it is
true that "love never fails" (l Cor. ll:8) . . . then love has no
boundary,and both in the presentand in the future agewe
will neverceaseto progressin it, as we add light to light. . . .
Even the angelsmake progress... they add glory to glory
tz
and knowledgeto knowledge.2
ln the laststepof all he returnsto the ideathat love hasno limit: ,,It is
fhc condition of angels,and,theprogress
of eternit!.-2r3
In common,then, with St. Gregory of Nyssa,St. John Climacus
llls s strongly dynamic view of eternity. Movementand progressare
lhc mark of life not only here below but in heaven,and this i-strue of
lngclsas well as humankind.The essence
of perfectionconsistsparaloxically in the fact that we never becomeDerfect.but advanceunia.ringly "from glory to glory." In John, as in Gregory, the reason
l l l . l l ut scc 29 (l l {ul J(). p. 2ti 2, \rhi c h us c s rhe v erb e2c fr.i ,onl t (c t. I)hi t. I t4).
thonl y frfrrrc r tl cseri l ti t'ti ol nN thtu i n rc rns of perpetual pr(,grc s s :... thc r"' f,,"'
D fl fc(f l l crl i crr,rn ,'l rhc pcrl c('r " l rr.l r.Itr' l tr, s c c (i rc gor! of N y s s x , /)tr ///1,/ l f.,' .' ,
Il rl l rr.rl rr.rrn.l l .l i .rgrrv,rrr,/7 ' r{ ,./z x trtol l l i \k nt 5:t' i ri tuurl r N ru \{ ,rtt t,ri ,
fl A .f
r.|t l ,|| l ! l .l
lll
J6(l l )6N A l l ). I't' l r(r I
l l l (l l /'l )l l ), l r,l N ') (:l l ri tl ' rl l ).t' ,t?l
lll
t' r,rrff i r "rr.rr rr rrrrl rl Ir Irrrl

{7

INTRODUCTION
for this view is that both of them envisageeternal life in terms of
personal love.21aEternity is progress,becauseeternity is love: and a
relationshipof love between two personsis never static, never exhaustively explored, but implies always fresh growth, moyement and
discovery.So it is betweenhuman persons;so it is betweenthe divine
personsof the Holy Trinity; and so it is between the human soul and
God.
John is most insistent about the primacy of love, agreeing here
with his contemporary St. Maximus the Confessor.It is love, so John
teaches,that makesthe human personresembleGod,,insofaras this
is humanly possibls."ztsLove standshigher than any vision or ecstasy, higherthan any mysticalrevelation.Evagrius,in his schemeof the
spiritual ascent,regard,ed
gxois or knowledge as superior to love; but
for John the summit of the ladderis love, and there can be nothins
higherthan this.
After all his negativewords againstsin, after all his austeredemandsfor self-denial,St. John Climacusconcludesthe final chaprer
of Tlx Ladderwith words that are entirely positive: ,,Love is the greatest of them all."2r5

IV. SOURCESAND INFLUENCE

PersonalExperience
and Tradition
TbeLadderis both a highly personal work, the fruit of creative
originality, and at the sametime a traditional work, drawing upon
the past.
To St. John Climacus,aswe haveseen,2I?
the Christianlife was a
matter of direct experience.It is not enough,he insists,for the spiritual teachermerely to repeat with accuracythings said by others;
eachmust relive for himselfwhat he has inheritedfrom the D.a.st.
Tbe
Ladderis therefore.as might be expected.strongly personalin character. John'sapproachis empirical.He often mentionsthings that he
2 14. In Gregory of Nyssr, eFlrarir is connectedwith apophaticrheologi as well as
loverprogressis infinite becauseGod can never be known exbausrively.This apophatic
aspect of a1'a*rairsis not brolught out in Tbeladdef.
2 1 5. l0 (ll56 8), p . 2 86 .
216. l0 (ll60D), p. 290.
217.Seeabove,pp. 7-8.

58

INTRODUCTION
has.himself seen and heard, and men whom
he has himself

met, such
as John the Sabbaite2rs
or Geotgenr.itaitalii iril"*iit.
l"n"
speaksaboutthe experience
of othJrs,with the reticencl
tic of the Christian bast he keepssilent,
"'h'".r"a".rr_
except on one occasion,
abour
theeventsin hisown innerlife.l" St.p zeoi p."y".J.
._"irpr.,
*"
may be confidentthat he is speaking
from ai.."'a
ilrp..i.r"., y*,"
v.rvtr!.!!
-----fact he

makesno suchclaim ror nimsletr

an. same time throughout TbeLadderpersonal
expericnce rs
,---,1,
lnterwoven with past tradition.
John appealsfrequentlf.to the au_
,,the
thority of
Faihers."when he ;;'ht.;;];;.,i..t""ir.
n"a
already existed as an establishedinstitution
f".;;;;;;;;;;."
turies The-goJdenageof the pioneerswas
".rto"g ,1""" '"r,i'
isted by. John's_day a mass oi precedents,
"*..iui"ilo^ "u".i;i.r.
*.,...r,
texts.John is closelyfamiliar wlth much
of
thls
.".ii.. _"lr".i"f,
though insistingon -hislackof learning,he is
"f_
in reality far more wide-

fy readthan he would haveus

,
.believel?r5rt;aari' )! *ai'rl'irr"c
work of personalexperience,is
a.work .t;;.;1,;;;J.r,i,"g
,r,
summaryform the monasticteachings"f fir. p"ri,fi...
itlna..a
"f
intesratinsinto a singlewhoteihe
;ir;r;;;;-"tr"nd" or
111;,
prevroustredition.It.is a first, and remarkably
-r"y suc.essful,,i,Lpr ,o
producea "directory',of monastic
spiritualitv.
As a syntbesizer,
lohn Climacusa"r"_bla, his contemporary
MeximustheConfessor.
WhatMaximusachieves
lni'r,"ii.ii"ircr,rlr_
-i".i"rir.a
tology,John accomplishes
in that of
tt.otg;.
i,
thc daysof Mohammedand witnessed
"""",1"
.r,. .raJ.ri,e.ii'.ro"nrion
that foltowedthe prophet'sdeath.Thef uott';;';;;;;i;;:;r.""_
tition, at the endof an era,whenthe newly_established
powerof Is_
llm wasalteringforeverthe faceof the Eastern
U.ai,".liri.ln'"na of
North Africa.Eachin h is own waygatheredtogett
.. tfr. iiuii, oi tfr.
pt$t,andtransmitted
them to a new age.
What areJohn'ssourceslTl

h.,";;;;ir;,";i,*
;.,i.;r'ffi:,T'"13'J,i3"ti'i'f;
,lijl';,l"1i

mously.It is at onceclearthat he is-indebtedfi.rt

of io if," iiuf.,
flgi ylti:l hc quoreswith greatfrequency.IV.*i',r'
"iiS.".;o** f,i,
'l'he
chiefdebtis to
Salingsof rl, Drsertiotbrri_1".*" L"CrTJ.. ,r,.
Gtrontihonand in l.atin"ai the ,4popbtlxgn*oportui_*n-ili'a^rr"
1 t N . { ( 7 1 {) A7 l 4 l l ) ,l 't '. I t r 7
I lrr l7 (l I Llll), l' ,16',

Jr)

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
back substantially to the fourth and fifth centuries.22o Even when he
is not quoting directly from this, it has often influenced his style and
presentation. At the same time, in frs Ladder lohn draws together
and unites the two maior strands in the early spiritual tradition of the
Christian East: the "intellectualist" approach exemplified by Evagrius of Pontus, and the "experiential" aPproach represented by the
Homiliet attrib]uted to St. Macarius.
Although John mentions Evagrius only once, and then with disapproval,22rand although he makes far less use of technical Evagrian
terminology than Maximus does,yet uaces of Evagrius' influence can
be seen in many parts of Tbe Ladder. John makes use of the basic distinction between the "active" and the "contemplative" life (prarisl
tbeoia),222 although this is not followed out consistently in Tbe Lad'
/er; he derives from Evagrius much of his demonology and his analysis of the vices,223the close link between dispassion and love,22aand
the conception of prayer as the laying aside of thoughts.22sBut John
discards altogether Evagrius' speculative cosmology; he is less systematic than Evagrius, and more concerned to emphasize the Personal
and conscious experience of grace.
Whether or not John was directly acquainted with the Macartan
writings-for he never cites them explicitly-he agreeswith them at
many points, as for example in his view of the heart as the unifying
Climacusderives his storiesabout Antony, Arsenrus
220. Frcm the Apopbtbegraara
and othersin 4 (717C),p. I t4r l5 (885C,889C,892D),pp. 175,178,l79r 19(917D),p. 195;
25 (9 r )7C),p. 22 5i2 7(II|2 D),p.2 70r 29( ll48CD)283
, p He is als of am i l i a rw i t h s i m i l e r
F'irstCreekI'ife \27 [ll]7Al' P.
marerialin other early monastictexts:e.g. Pachomius,
271);Palladius,'t'heLausia(Ilittary 114[984C],p. 217r25 [907C],p. 22i);John Moschus,
llcodou 126[t0l6B]. p.2tt)i'l'he Storyof Tbatt{26 [1064C],p 24e) Forde7beSpirituat
tailed references.seethe relevant footnotesbelow.
2 21. 1.1(lt6 5A).
D. 16 6.
10688 )p, P .2 1 5 ,2 i o rc f
2 22.S ee,fo rexemp le,'1 (67 7D, 68J A) , pp. 91, 95; 26( l02lB,
above,p. f2. But John nowhere usesEvagrius'threefoldschemeot ?ruht*t, pbviki
("naturel contemplation"),and rleoriaof God.
223.Seebelow,pp.62-66.Climacusseemsto be familisrwith the work attributed
\PG 79,
to Nilus, but probably written by Evagrius, On the l:iebt Stirns of Wickedaess
| 145-6{)ialsowith anothe.compilationcirculatingunder the nameof Nilus, Or rlr
EigbtEtil'lhoughts \PG 79, 1416-64).which is in fact a translation (in abbrevistedform)
seeS. Varsili, "Rsum6de Cessiensousle nom dc
from the Latin of St. John Cassian:
xv \1914),pp. 2{l-5.
/brc;tiqueet demystique
srint Nil", Recfls
224. Seeabove,p. lJ.
225.Seeabove.D-52.

60

centerof the human person,body, soul and spirit,226and in the primacy which he assignsto love. But he speaksfar lessthan the Homilies
do aboutthe work of the Holy Spirit.
TheLadderis of course by no means the earliest work in which
there is to be found a convergencebetween the Evagrian and the Macarian approaches.A similar ra?procbement
is already evident in two
fifth-century writers, St. Mark the Ascetic and St. Diadochus of Photice. Even though John does not mention either of them by name,
therecan be little doubt that he is familiar with their writings. From
Mark almostcerteinly he deriveshis analysisof temptation in Step
15.227
Points of resemblancebetween Diadochusand John include
their teachingon the invocationor remembranceof Jesus;a cautious
attitudetowardsdreamsi22s
the distinctionbetweenthe two forms of
the withdrawal of God's grace-between the temporary and provrdentialabandonmentpermittedby God for our own good,and the far
graverabandonmentdue to God's turning away from our sin;22e
and
the beliefthat angercan be turned to good use.23o
In his treatmentof the JesusPrayer,John is probablyinfluenced
elsoby the schoolof Gaza(early sixth century)r-by St. Varsanuphius,
St. John the Prophet, and their disciple St. Dorotheus-but once
againhe doesnot mentionthem by name.His understandingof spirituel fatherhood seemslikewise to be indebted to rhe school of Gaza:
rnd his moderateuseof Eyagrianterminology,in a not very systemSticmanner,resembles
that found in Dorotheus.Another Palestinran
writer, not explicitly cited,on whom John seemsto draw is Abba Isaias (fifth century);both havesimilar views on what is "accordingto
ngtUfe."23l

226.See28 (l l40B),p. 281,quotedabove,p. 51.Cf. 4 (700C),p. 103:the gatewayof

lhc hearti7 (805A),p. ll8: "Withdrrw into your heart";l5 (900C),p. t84rpreyerof the
harrt; 28 (l l37B),p. 280:warchingover the heart.'I'he phrese"perceprion(a,rrri'd of
lhr hcert" occursfrcquently.
227.Seebekrw.pp. 182-i (with rhe notes).Mark is alsocited,bur nor by name,in
ll (965D),p. 2{)8.
221t.i (6r,{)ll-672B),pp. 89-9{)icf. Diadochus,Centurl 36 J8 \Phil., pp.261-4).
2 2 e . S c e {( 7 t ) l l B ) , p l.0 l l r j ( 7 7 7 C ) ,p .l 1 9 ;2 1 ( 9 4 8 A) ,p .2 0 0 i 2 6 ( t0 6 9 A) ,p .2 5 2 r r n
fn porti('rffnr7 (llll(:), p. l4lr cf. Diadochus,(:ertun tl6lPhil.,p 2iJ6),usingrhc !'inrc
mflrllhr)r of I rx'thcr with hcr child.
It0 26(lot'rlll)),fr. 251;cf. l)i:rdochus,
G:ntur"y
62ll'hil.,p.1121
,Jf 2(/'{lll6N(:l)),l'. l5li.f. lsiins,I)tsnnru ii: crl. Avgousrinor(Jcnrrrlr r l',lll),
pp 1-6i irc {1"('/')ril, l'. ll.

( tl

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Writers to whom John doesrefer by nameincludeOrigen (mentioned once, with disapproval),232
St. Gregory of Nazianzus,the
and St.
"Theologian" (cited severaltimes),233
St. John Cassian23a
Ephraim the Syrian23s(both cited once).He does not mention St.
Dionysius the Areopagite, and it is not clear how far he is influenced
by the Dionysianwritings.
Tbe Classiftcatioxof the Vices
of the vicesin
A particularproblemarisesover the classification
Steps8-23of TheLadder.Here, regardingblasphemyasa vice distinct
from pride but treating sleepiness
as an aspectof insensitivity,we
have a list of fourteen vices. It is not at first sight clear how to relate
this to the more usual list of eight "evil thoughts" found in Evagrrus:""
gluttony
lust
avarice
dejection (l1pi )
anger
despondency (akidia)
vainglory
Prrqe
The order in which Evagrius lists the vices is deliberate. It reflects,
first, the general development of the spiritual life: beginners contend
ag:inst the grosser and more materialistic sins (gluttony, lust, avarice); those in the middle of the journey are confronted by the more
inward temptations of discouragement and irritability (dejection, an-u

izj (rgoD),p. r i r.
t0
p.201-butthisispossibly
a reference
note64,p. lTli 22(9494.),
2ll. l5 (880C),
p. 24lti28(l1l7C),p. 280.
PopeGregorytheGreat(seebelow,note246);26(1064A),
p. 114.For Climacus'debt
to Cassian,
andalsofor the mannerin
234.4\7118),
which he transformswhet he borrows,seeArchimandriteSophrony,"De la n6cessrtc
des trois renoncementschez St- Cassienle Romain et St. JeanClimague", StudicPetrit
80: Berlin 1962),pp. l9l+00.
tica \ (Te e trrd Unternehurgen
p. 281,cited simply as"rhe Syrian-"
2)5. 29 (1148D),
2t6. On rlE Eigbt Tboughts,I IPG 40, 1272A).Evagrius is probably drawing upon
Origen: see l. Hausherr, "L'origine de la thdorie orientale des huit p6ch6scepitaur",
OriertaliaChistiara xxx, no. 86 (Rome l9rl), pp. 164 75.

ger, despondency);
the more advanced,alreadyinitiatedinto contemplation, still need to guard themselvesagainstthe most subtle and
"spiritual" of the vices,vainglory and pride. Secondly,the list of
eight vicesreflectsthe threefold division of the human person into
the appetitive, the incensive and the intelligent aspect(epitbynitikon,
thymikon,logihon).237
Gluttony, lust and avarice are more especially
linked with the appetitive aspect;dejection, anger and despondency,
with the incensivepower; vainglory and pride, with the intelligent
aspect.238
Evagrius'disciple,St. John Cassian,transmittedthis list of the
eight'thoughts" to the West, but madeone changein the sequence
to make more evident the connection between dejection and despondency, he moved anger up to the fourth place, after avarice.23eFurther changes r,r'eremade by St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome
(590-604),known in the East as "Gregory the Dialogist." He set pride
in a classon its own, as the sourceand mother of all other vices,and
omitted dejection,regardingthis as the sarheas despondency,
while
sdding envy to the list. In this way he producedthe catalogueof the
"sevendeadlysins,"familiar to the \ryesternMiddle Aggs:2ao
iranis gloria (vainglory)
inoidia (envy)
ira (anger)
tristitia (dejection)
axaitia (avarice)
ventris itgluvies (gluttony)
lururia (lust)

217.On this threefolddivision,seethe notein Prl, pp. lJ7-8. First formulatedby

Phto (seeRc2ltllir, Book iv,4-l4D-441C), it is widely used by the Fathersr Evagrius,
ltuctitut uq led. A. Guilleumont. Jbarrar&r,tien/tet171lParis l97l], pp. 680-9),saysthat
h. h6s takcn it from (iregory of Nazianzus(seehis Posmr,ll, i,47: PG 17, l38lAllt4A). l"or (jlimacus'useofthe Platonicscheme,seefor exampleParL lS (12058),p.
1,19.
2!lt. 'l hc vice$erc explicitlylinked with the threeaspects
of the soul in John Crs'
tirn, (.rrli|rfud' xiiv. ltr Oessiangivesalist ofeighteenvicesin all, includingallcighr
(llimacus'listn) rh.t ol'
/)J viii, col. 177,assimilates
frorn thc llvrrgrianlirt. Oorrillcarr,
O ni!n, lrut thc corrcsyrndcnccis l)y no mcrnsexaci.
2l'r. scc lnttitut.t,llurksv-r ii.
211t.llo,dh rrxi. 8? (/'/. 76,/'ll).

6l

62

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

St. John Climacu,!doesnot follow any of theseschemesexactly.

He points out that sin, being by its very naturedisorderedand amorphous,cannot be classifiedwith precision.2ar
He is familiar with the
eightfold schemeof Evagrius,2a2
and like Evagrius he sometimes
makesa distinctionbetweenthe three chief sinsof gluttony, vainglory and avarice,and the remaining five which spring from them.?a3
But, alongsidethis eightfold scheme,John is also familiar with a sevenfold scheme,for which he expressesa preference:this treats valnglory and pride as a single vice.2aa
In practice,however,he usually
distinguishes
betweenthe two, discussingthem separatelyin Steps22
and 23; on the other hand he commonly omits dejectionor gloom
(lypi) from his list,2aspresumably becauselike Pope Gregory he considersthis identical with despondency(akid.ia);
and so, after all, he
endsup with the number seven(for he omits envy, which figureson
Gregory'slist).zro1h,r in Step 29 he givesthe following list:2a?

Apart from the fact that dejectionis omitted and that despondenc
precedesanger,theseare the sameasthe eight ,'evil thoughrs"of Evagrius, and are given in the saii,e order.
''- .In
Steps8-23, however,John expandsEvagrius'list by adding
s.evenfurther vices,dependenibn the primary seven.In his list of the
primary sevenhe follows Evagrius,except that he omits deiecrron
but he movesangerand despondencyup to the beginning,thus placing the vicesof the soul'sincensiveaspectbeforethoseof its appetitive aspect:

gluttony
lechery(lust)
cupidity (avarice)
despondency
anger
vainglory
pride

2 4 1 .26 (l02lD). D. 21 5.
242. ll (ll60c),p. l6l: l7 (929B),p. 190.
2+1. l7 (9298),p. )90; 26 (l0llA, l02lC), pp. 229,215.For a somewhardifferent
distinctionbetweenthe five and the three,see27 (l l09A),p. 267.
2+t. 22(9.f8D-9+9A),
p. 201.
245. /,1piis mentioned,however,in the lisr of rhe passions
thai assailthemonkat
differenttimesof the dayr27 (l I l2C), p. 269.
246.WasClimacusawareof PopeGregory'slist: In 22 (949A),p. 201,when men'
tioning the sevenfoldschemeasdistinguishedfrom the eightfold, he refers to "Gregorr
the Theologian" as one of those who prefer to reckon rhe vices as seven in number.
Normally this would mern Gregory of Nazianzusibut I know of no such teachingin
his works. John may therefore mean Pope Gregory: perhaps"Theologos" is a scribal
error for "Dielogos" (cf. Couilleau,DS viii, col. 376).But John's list is not the samear
Gregory the Great's:for, alrhough both leaveout deiection,John retainspride asone of
the seven,and doesnot include envy.
247. 29 (l l49AB).pp. 28i-4.

64

Eaagrius

Climacus
anger
despondency
gluttony
lust

gluttony
lust
avarice
dejection
anger
despondency
vainglory
pride

Yainglory
pride

lohn is normally careful, in Steps 8-29, to point out how the dependcnt vices are linked with the primary seven:just as the virtues form
I ladder, so the vices form a chain.2asIn detail his scheme takes this
form;
anger (8)
.-

deperdentaicesr

malice (9)

24t1.9 (840D-841A),
p. lJ2. 'fhus:
angerleadsto malicer9 (li+tA),p. li4;
mNIiceleedlito slander:l0 (t1.15ts),
p. l55r
slNnderlcadsro ralkativeness:
I I (852A),p. t 58;
telkeriveness
lcadsn) (l) falsehood:
l2 (tl5lD),p. l60i
(2) dcspondency:
l3 (ll57D),p. t62;
clrsporrdcn$lcrdsto lust:26ill09D), p. 268i
g l u l l {) n vl c i d s r {,( l ) l u s r
(2) in{cnsirivirvrl{ (it69D),p. l70r l7 (i,r29l}),
p. l'){)i
("unlrclicf')anLlv.ringIrrr'lcld ro fi'arr1l (,r,llll),l' l,r,ri
ins'jDsilivit)'
v u i n g l o r vl t & l s t o p r i d c :: 2 {9 {tA) , p .2 0 1 :
pridc l(.lrrhto lrlurphclrr:I | (r)7611),
t) lll

6l

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
slander(10)
(l l)
talkativeness
(12)
falsehood

(13)
despondency
(14)
gluttony
lust ( l5)
avarice(16)
dependentvices: insensitivity(18)
fear(21)
vainglory (22)
pride (23)
dependent
aice:

blasphemy(23)

John'sclassificationof the vices,drawing as it doesupon earlier

authoritiesyet adheringslavishlyto none of them, illustratesthe wal
in which he combinesradition and personaloriginality in TbeLadder.
What he borrows he makeshis own.
TbeInfluenceof TbeLadder
Why should TbeLad.derof Diaine Ascenthave proved so remarkably popular?2ae
Partly, no doubt, becauseof the striking symbol of
the ladder,v'hich binds togetherthe whole book,and hascaughtthc
imaginationof innumerablereaders.More fundamentally,its popularity is surelydue to the author'scombinationof shrewdness
and humor, to his skill in drawing so many themesinto a singlesynthesis,
and aboveall to the depth of his spiritual insight.
The wide diffusion of TheLadderis reflected by the large number
of surviving manuscripts,sometimesillustrated,and often including
scbolisor commentaries.2so
The resoectfelt for its author is evident
from the unusualprominencethat he enjoysin the ecclesiastical
year.
Besideshaving in the normal way an annual commemorationon
March l0 in the calendarof fixed feasts,he is alsocommemoratedon
the fourth Sundayin Lent, and mostof the liturgical textson that day
refer to him.251This Sunday commemorationin the Gre:t Fast
249. On ihe inffuence of TbeLadder,seeM. Hppll, introd:uctionto TheLaddct4
DiaineAscett,ET Archimandrite Lazarus,pp. 25-31;Couilleau,,J viii, cols. 182-u.
2J0. Someof thesercbo,fia
appear in Rader'sedition, and are reprinted io PC 88
251. SeeTbeLentenInoy'ioa, ET Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos ll'rrc
(London1978),
pp. l5i-67.

66

marks John Climacus out as the ascetic author iar excelknce.

whose
writings provide a standardand model for the whole Church. As already mentioned, Tbe Ladder is appointed to be read in Orthodox
monasteries
eachyear during Lent.
St. John Climacus'influenceon later spiritual writers has been
extensive.At Sinai itself his teachingon prayer and inward stillness
was developedby Hesychius(?eighth-ninthcentury) and Philotheus
(?ninth-tenth century). The first of these,in his work Or L{/atchfulne
and Holiness,trkes up the scatteredallusions in TbeLadderto the Jesus
Prayer and the invocationor remembranceof Jesus,and makesthis
his dominant theme. Although surprisingly TbeLadderis nowhere
cited in the vast eleventh-century anthology entitled Evergeti os,it
was certainly read and valued by St. Symeonthe New Theologian.
NicetasStethatos,Symeon'sbiographer,recountshow, on a visit to
his family home shortly before his professionas a rnonk, Symeon
found the book in his father'slibrary: "and, becomingcloselyfamiliar
with it, like good eanh he acceptedthe seedof the word in his
TbeLadder's
heert."2s2
influencecan be seenjn particularin Symeon's
tcachingon the gift of tears,and in his picture of the spiritual father
ln the Discourse
on Confessiol.
St. Peter of Damascus(twelfth century) quotesTbeLoddNr le:;st
^t
thirteen times, and the fourteenth-centuryHesychastsdraw heavily
upon it. There are thirteen citations from TbeLad.derin St. Gregory
of Sinai-far more than from any other author-and, in his list of
writers approved for monastic reading, Gregory puts first the name
of John Climacus.2s3In the Triads in Defense
of tbeHoly Haycbaxsby
St. Gregory Palamas,Tbe Ladder is quoted some twenty-five trmes,
ar.din the Centur! of St. Kallistos and St. Ignrtios Xanthopoulos more
thrn thirty times. The parts of TbeLadderto which thesefourteenthcantury writers chiefly refer are Step 27 on baycbiaand John's statemcnts on the invocationof the nameof Jesus.
'l'heLadderwas soon ftanslated into the other languages
of the
Christian East: into Syriac before the end of the seventhcenrury.
2t2 Lili of S:t.S.tnnn tb. Nc.ul'heologian
6 \ed. L Hausheff, OrientatiaChistiuau xn,
n(f,,lJ lRonfc l92lil, p. l2): Symconwas particularlyhelpedby Step tL lht l.uldt is
lilc(l twi.c in Svmcon's(irrrcrdr$(4, lines540-2iJ0,linc t{t), Nlrhoughnrx {lp0rcntlr
In hir othcr writingsllnlr Syntc{,nhrrdly cvcr rnrkcscxpliciicitNrir,nrlil|| 0rllcr w l
tlr
l1| (ht ,\tll N ttll th lto ththoh ol I'nytl I I (/(, t{0, I t:{|))

67

INTRODUCTION
within a few decadesof John's death; into Arabic and Georgian by
the tenth century,and alsointo Armenian;into Slavonicby the tenth
century, and into Romanian early in the seventeenthcentury. Its influence in fifteenth-century Russiacan be seenboth upon the leader
of the Non-Possessors,St. Nil Sorskii, and upon his chief opponent
among the Possessors,
St. Josephof Volokalamsk. In the correspondence of Tsar Ivan IV, often styled "the Terrible," next to the Holy
The anonyScriptures the book most often quoted is TheLad.der.2sa
mousRussianPilgrim, in the middle of the nineteenthcentury,is also
familiar with the work.2ss
In the West a first translationin Latin, perhapsonly partial,was
made in the eleventh century; a secondversion was made in the thirtenth or early fourteenth century by the Franciscan "spiritual" of
The first English transthe Srict Observance,AngelusClarenus.2s6
lation appearedin 1858,the secondin 1959(revisededition, 1978);2s?
of Westerr
the present English rendering, in the series The Classics
Spirituality, is thus the third.
"Ascend, my brothers, ascendeagerly."258TbeLadderof St. loho
Climacusgrew out of its author's living experience,and it requires
from eachreadera living, personalresponse.Readhastily,in a spirit
of detachedcuriosity, the book is likely to prove a disappointment.
But John never meant it to be read in that manner. He expectedit to
be ponderedslowly, in a spirit of compunction,and with a sincereintention on the reader'spart to changehis way of life; and if the book
hasproveddeeplyinfluential,that is becauseso many haveread it in
preciselysucha way, applying the words personallyto their own situation.This is a ladderthat we must eachascendfor ourselves.
BibliogrcphicalNote
(l) TbeGruk Tert. There exists as yet no fully critical edition of
The Greek is at presthe Greek text of TheLadderand To theSbepberd
.ent ayailablein two independenteditions:
(i) By Matthew Rader(Parisl63l). Twice reprinted:
(a)J.-P. Migne, PG 88 (Paris 1864),cols. 632-1208.
254. SeeHTM. o. xxvii.
255. TbeWaJofa Pilgim, ET R.M. French (London 1954),pp. 80, 82, t43, t9t,221.
256. SeJ. Gribomont,"Le ScalaParadisi,Jeande Raithou et Ange Clareno", Jll
dia Moiattica ii (1960\,pp. 345-58.
257. For details,seebelov, "Bibliographical Note."
258. RriefSunnary ltr6lA), p. 291.

68

INTRODUCTION

(b) P. Trevisan, CoronaPatum Salesiana,

seriesgraeca8-9 (2
vols.,Turin l94l); includessomeminor correctionsof (e).
(ii) By the hermit Sophronios,monL of the Holy Mountain
(Constantinople 1883);often superior to the text of Rader-Migne.
(ll\ Englisb Translstions.
(i) Father Robert, Monk of Mount St. Bernard's Abtrey (Lercestershire, England), TbeHoly Lad.d.er
of Perfeaion,by wbicbwemay ascend
to beaven(London 1858).Often more a paraphrasethan an exact rendering.Omits mostof Step 27 on stillness:"this Degree,"saysFather
Robert, "as chiefly appertaining to solitaries, has been abridged by
the translator"(p. 392).
(ii) Archimandrite Lazarus(Moore), TheLadderof Diaire Ascent,
with an inuoduction by M. Heppell (London 1959).Far more accurate than (i). Reissuedin revised form by the Holy Transfiguration
Monastery(Boston,Massachusetts
1978)ithis reissueincludes,besides
TbeLadder,the work To tbe Sbeplxrd(omitted in the 1858and 1959
translations).As well as using the different printed editions of the
Greek,the revisersconsultedthe ninth-centurySinai manuscriptno.
,l2l; but regrettably the helpful introduction by Dr. Heppell has been
omitted.
(lll) Studies.For a short but balancedsurvey of Climacus' life and
teaching,with bibliography,see G. Couilleau,DJ viii (Paris 1972),
cols. 169-89.
Consultalso:
M.O. Sumner, St.John Climams:thePsycbology
of tlx DesertFatbers
(The Guild of Pastoral Psychology, Guild Lecture no. 6l: London
1950)(an attempt to understandClimacus in terms of Jungian analytical psychology;too brief to be fully convincing, but indicates an important field for further research).
J.R. Martin, Tbelllustration of tlx Heaoen\ Ladderof Jobn Climacvs
(Studiesin Matuscipt llluminatiol 5: Princeton 1954)(on illustrated
manuscripts of TbeLadderl.
I. Hausherr,"La th6ologiedu monachismechezsaintJeanClimaque", in the collective volume Tb6ologie
de h aie moflastique(P^ris
196l),pp. 385-410.
W. Vijfker, ScalaParadisi.EineStudiezx Jobannes
Climacusund.zugdemNercn Tlxologer(Wiesbadenl96li) (thc
hicb eincl/orstudiezu Symeon
fullcst and most systematicexistingstudy).
l). lfogdanovid,,/ear Climaquedats la littiraturc hyzantinctt fu littlraturc strh anciczre(lnstitut d'Etudcs Byzantincs,Monogrrphior,

6t)

INTRODUCTION
Fascicule 1l: Belgrade 1968)(in SerboCroat, with summary in
French on pp. 215-25;important).
C. Yannaras, "Eros divin et 6ros humain selon S. Jean Climaque", Contactsxxi (1969),pp. 190-204.
Spoudistor Ioanni tis KlimaC. Yannaras,I metapbyihitou sornatos.
hoslThe m*apbyics of tfu body.A studyofJobn Climacusl(Athens 1971)
(helpful discussionof the body, erosand dispassion).
I have not been able to consult the unpublished Ph.D. dissertation of T.W. Blair, Climatrs and Cbristi.anitl. A Stud.yof the Effeas of
John Climacus' ConceptualCommitmentsot bis Petceptiol of Cbristianitl
(Duke University 1977).
On monastic life in the Sinai peninsula, seeH. Skrobucha,Jirai
(London 1966),pp, 1947; D.J. Chitty, TbeDeserta Ciry (Oxford 1966),
pp. 168-78(scholarly and perceptive).
BishopKallistos
Llanfilo
Commemoration of the Holy Prophet Moses
4/ 17 Seotember1980

70