On the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent. #
By Bishop Mikhail Semyonov
Today we commemorate Saint John of the Ladder. He was a holy ascetic, enlightened with a deeply Christian spirit and great wisdom. He was a man who placed the Lord at the very center of his life in all its aspects—for him, “God is the object and goal of all endeavors, for in all actions and movements the true Christian is filled with the awareness that he stands before God, filled with an inner, life-giving reality in Him…” (from The Ladder).
The Church owes to the prayerful spirit of John a great book—The Ladder—filled with Christian understanding. The Ladder is a book essential for every Christian.
It consists of thirty chapters—steps, degrees of a ladder leading to the Kingdom of Heaven—and is truly a ladder of salvation.
Its descriptions of sins, their weight, their difficult conquerability, and their constant serpent-like cunning—how they deceitfully, slowly attach themselves to the soul through a passing thought (at first), which then grows into sinful desire—are full of wisdom and instruction.
Its descriptions of virtues are a call to ascend with great effort, like a man climbing a mountain, clinging with his hands and his whole body to the rocky ledges so that he does not fall. This call is powerful and convincing: “Go forward, do not look back; if you fall, rise up and continue the path…”
The content of The Ladder is profound; the language is vivid, full of imagery and comparisons, and charged with strength. Some of its brief sayings are worthy of long reflection.
Here is a sketch of a few—brief, incomplete, and imperfect.
Abstinence (Fasting) is the mother of health. It is founded upon the thought of death and the end of earthly life.
Just as a hungry man cannot forget bread, so it is impossible to be saved for him who does not remember his departure from this life. But do not place your hope in the idea that “because you fast, you will not fall;” for one who tasted nothing was still cast down from heaven.
Wretched is the one who falls—but more wretched still is the one who causes another to fall.
The fox pretends to sleep—and the demon pretends to be chaste: the one to deceive a bird, the other to destroy a soul.
As birds grown fat cannot fly toward heaven, neither can the man who serves his flesh.
Just as someone suffering from a long illness cannot be healed in an instant, so it is impossible to crush the passions—or even one of them—all at once.
In every passion, learn to know its measure; have a guide who knows the measure, and you will come to know your progress.
He who has conquered the passion of avarice has put an end to his anxieties, but he who is bound by it will never pray with a pure heart.
Do not say that you are storing up for the poor—by two mites the Kingdom of Heaven was purchased.
A proud soul is a slave to fear—it is self-assured, yet trembles at every rustle, even at shadows. He who has become a servant of the Lord fears only his one true Master. But he who does not fear God is often frightened even by his own shadow.
Among those who are learning letters, it is well known which subjects are appropriate for beginners, which for intermediates, and which for teachers. Let us be wise in our understanding, lest after long years of study we find ourselves still lingering over the first lessons. To see an old man attending a primary school—this everyone would regard as shameful.
Just as one who carries perfumes is revealed by their fragrance, even against his will, so too the one who possesses the Spirit of the Lord is known by his words and by his humility.
These teachings of John were not merely words, but the fruit of his own way of life. He was truly steadfast in his journey toward heaven and in the practice of virtue.
“Move slowly,” he would say—and in his own life, he walked with an unwavering, steady, and resolute step.
He who rushes to hasten his progress often stumbles and grows faint—sometimes just steps from the goal. And he sees his companion, who set out alongside him, pass him by, full of hope and strength. The same is true in the life of the soul.
He who trains his spirit in the realm of virtue, rising step by step and strengthening himself with faith, hope, and love for God—he will attain the uppermost step of moral perfection. But he who attempts to leap at once to the highest rung of perfection will soon feel his own powerlessness.
In the keeping of the fast, one must practice reasonable moderation and gradual growth, since the earthly life of a Christian is filled with labor, and the fruitfulness of that labor depends upon the condition of the body.
Victory over faults and sins comes when there is a gradual ascent—from lesser to greater, from what seems insignificant to what is significant. In the fulfillment of duties, there must be maintained composure, steadiness, and a consistent effort from beginning to end.
He who considers the reward before beginning the work, who weighs the final result without starting the task—he shall not enter into the joy known to those who labor.
And does not he stumble who, while walking, keeps his gaze fixed only on the far distance and never looks at the ground beneath his feet?
These teachings, of course, do not advise us to linger, to delay our movement intentionally—no, for he who tarries too long will arrive late and find the door shut by the Bridegroom.
Magnificent are the words of the Ladder’s author when he speaks of prayer—of its persistence and boldness, which lead the soul into ecstasy, and allow it to perceive the light of the divine.
He speaks beautifully of humility of spirit before prayer, and of the mystery of tears of repentance—tears he himself had known through personal experience:
Those who possess within themselves the fountain of these holy tears, within the sanctuary of their heart, come to hate even their own life as the source of their spiritual afflictions. Their body becomes repulsive to them, as an enemy. They rule over the body as over a slave. And just as outward fire consumes and devours straw, so too the spiritual fire of these pure tears burns up and destroys in them all visible and invisible impurity.
He also speaks of another effect of these holy tears:
Those who have received this gift spend every day of their life in spiritual festivity, and their sorrow contains within it an incomprehensible consolation and joy, just as wax holds within itself the honey.
Still more vivid are John’s words about the final stages of self-perfection.
After the long path—of forgiving humility, of chastity, of the labor of restraining the unruly tongue, of fasting and prayer—a person ascends the heights of love.
And love, gentle and peaceful, meets the ascetic; love which is greater than faith and hope.
It is a wondrous, poetic vision. Again we say: The Ladder should be our constant companion, our bedside book.
Brethren! We now stand before the ladder that leads to heaven. And the fast is itself a ladder. All of life is a ladder. And see how various are the attitudes of Christians toward this “ladder.”
Here are some who look up at the ladder and say, “It is too high—we shall never reach it,” and they quietly remain in the dust of the earth. They do not begin the fast, nor do they begin the struggle of Christian life…
Then there are others: they begin to ascend the ladder, but are so burdened with the heavy load of worldly cares, of love for the world, of the pursuit of wealth, of honor, and so forth, that they are unable to go on. The heavy burden pulls them down to the earth, and they fall off one of the lower steps.
Then there is a third group: these have reached halfway and stopped… “Enough… We are not saints; we cannot go to the top. What we have done is sufficient.”
These are the spiritually dead. Whoever stops on the path and no longer moves forward is a son of perdition: he is neither cold nor hot, and the Lord shall spew him out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).
There are also those who climb high but fall from the steps nearest the top.
These are they who walk with great zeal for God, but without the gentle spirit of humility. At such heights, their heads grow dizzy. They are not bound to the Lord Christ with the humble cord of love, as mountain travelers bind themselves to their guide with a rope in the snow-covered peaks. They climb the ladder on the legs of pride and self-exaltation—
—and fall into the dark abyss.
Oh, if only we would make the Ladder of Saint John our path! Then we would reach the end. And we would enter the bridal chamber of the Lord, into the glory of the Resurrection through Him.
1916