The Sunday of St. John of the Ladder, the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent #
The custom of commemorating St. John, the author of The Ladder, on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent entered our Church together with the Jerusalem Typikon in the 14th century. This Typikon, preserving the form and order of worship from the Palestinian monasteries, thus highlights the memory of one of the pillars of Palestinian monasticism, who is most renowned for his composition of the famous Ladder, a book on the path of monastic perfection. The title of the book, which in Russian translation means “Ladder,” is explained by the fact that this path is divided into 30 steps—chapters—each dedicated to specific virtues to be acquired or vices to be overcome, offering a sequential guide to spiritual progress.
St. John lived at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh centuries; tradition identifies his birthplace as Constantinople, though it says nothing about his parents. In childhood and adolescence, he received a good education, and at the age of sixteen he was tonsured a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Sinai. His brother George was also tonsured there. After living for forty years in seclusion, St. John was persuaded to accept the office of abbot in the most well-known of the Sinai monasteries—the Monastery of the Burning Bush, built in the mountainous desert on the very spot where God appeared to the Prophet Moses in the flame of the bush that burned but was not consumed. It was here that the saint wrote his soul-profiting work, which became one of the most well-known spiritual guides for Orthodox ascetics even to this day. A few years before his death, St. John resigned the abbacy and withdrew again into the desert for prayer and silence. The date of his righteous repose is March 30, though the exact year is unknown.
The work of St. John contains deeply beneficial instructions not only for monastics: many of them are of great importance for any person who sincerely loves God and seeks salvation.
“Let us, who are called by God and the King, diligently set out upon the path, lest we, whose life on earth is but brief, be found fruitless on the day of our death […]” he exhorts the faithful. “Let us please the Lord as soldiers strive to please their king; for having entered this service, we must give strict account of our labor. Let us fear the Lord at least as much as we fear wild beasts; for I have seen men who went to steal and feared not God, yet upon hearing the barking of dogs, they turned back at once—what the fear of God could not accomplish, the fear of beasts did. Let us love the Lord at least as we love and honor our friends; for I have seen many who offended God and cared little for it, but when they upset a friend in some small way, they did everything in their power to make amends: they devised many ways, expressed their sorrow and repentance both personally and through others—friends and relatives—sending apologies and gifts to regain the friend’s love” (Homily 1: On the Renunciation of the World).
St. John greatly extols the monastic path as the most suitable, direct, and easy way to attain the Kingdom of Heaven. He compares laypeople, bound by the ties of family, to those who journey with chains on their hands and feet. Yet by this very comparison, he does not belittle Christians living in the world; on the contrary, he speaks of them with great sympathy.
“Some people, living negligently in the world, asked me: ‘How can we, living with wives and entangled in worldly cares, imitate the life of monks?’ I answered them: ‘Whatever good you are able to do—do it. Do not reproach anyone, do not steal from anyone, do not lie, do not exalt yourselves above others, do not harbor hatred against anyone. Do not neglect the assemblies of the Church. Be merciful to those in need. Do not cause anyone to stumble. Do not approach another man’s bed. Be content with the help given to you by your wives. If you live in this way, you are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven’” (ibid.).
Many of the counsels addressed by St. John to monks are no less important or obligatory for laypeople. Consider, for example, what the saint writes about slander and calumny—a disease that, as we all know, is often found among those who “have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5).
“Hearing that some were speaking evil of their neighbors, I forbade them. To this, the doers of this evil excused themselves, saying they did it out of love and care for the one they were slandering. But I told them: cease from such love, lest the saying be found false: ‘Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off’ (Ps. 101:5). If you truly love your neighbor, as you claim, do not mock him, but pray for him in secret; for this is a kind of love pleasing to God. You will refrain from judging those who sin if you always remember that Judas was among the disciples of Christ, and the thief among murderers; yet in a single moment a marvelous change came over them.
I have seen one who sinned openly but repented in secret; and the one whom I judged to be a fornicator was already chaste before God, having reconciled with Him through heartfelt repentance.
Just as fire is opposed to water, so is judgment alien to one who repents. Even if you see someone sinning at the very moment of death, do not judge him; for the judgment of God is hidden from men. Some fell openly into great sins, but performed great virtues in secret; and those who loved to mock them were deceived—chasing after smoke and not perceiving the sun.
Hear me, hear me, O harsh judges of others’ deeds: if it is true—as indeed it is—that ‘with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged’ (Matt. 7:2), then surely, the very sins for which we condemn our neighbor, whether of the body or the soul, we shall ourselves fall into. And it can be no other way” (Homily 10: On Slander and Calumny).
And here is how the holy father warns the faithful against pride—that sin which transformed the light-bearing angel Lucifer into an enemy of God and destroyer of human souls. We all remember this—yet how often we fall into the very same sin!
“Wherever a fall into sin has occurred, pride had already taken root there beforehand; for the latter is the forerunner of the former. […] Let us suppose there are twelve shameful passions; if you voluntarily embrace even one of them—that is, pride—it alone is sufficient to take the place of the other eleven. […]
It is shameful to be vain over borrowed ornaments, and it is utter madness to be proud of gifts from God. Boast only in those virtues which you accomplished before your birth; as for those you have fulfilled after birth, they were granted to you by God—just like your very birth. Which virtues did you accomplish without the help of the mind? Only those may be considered yours, for even your mind was a gift from God. What ascetic feats did you perform without your body? Only those may be attributed to your own effort, for your body too is not yours, but the creation of God.
Do not trust in yourself until you hear the final judgment spoken over you, remembering that the man already reclining at the wedding feast was bound hand and foot and ‘cast into outer darkness’ (Matt. 22:13); […] and many [angels], though holy and incorporeal, were cast down from heaven” (Homily 23: On Mad Pride).
Thus, The Ladder of St. John guides believers of every age and station in life along the saving path. Having himself ascended the steps of virtue through many years of daily labor and self-denial, the holy father even now has the power to serve as our example, to strengthen us with his counsel, and to support us with his prayers—which he, now dwelling among those who have pleased God, offers before the heavenly Throne on behalf of all who faithfully honor his memory. Let us receive these counsels and prayers with gratitude and joy, even though we live in the world and are burdened with the cares of home and family, which leave us less time and strength for prayer and fasting than the monastics have. For the Lord Himself said: “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2), and thus, He has many kinds and paths of saving providence, by which all who love God may partake—each according to his own measure—of His goodness in the unending day of His Kingdom.
Tropar to St. John of the Ladder, Tone 4
As one who found thy writings to be a divine ladder,
O venerable John,
whereby we are led up to heaven,
and as thou becamest a model of virtue:
pray to Christ God, that He may save our souls.
Kondak of the Week, Tone 4
Purified by the grace of Thy Cross, O Lord,
let us draw near in spirit as we pray with faith,
crying aloud to Thee:
grant us to attain the resurrection of us all.