St. John Climacus

An abbot of Mount Sinai, John organized the spiritual life into thirty steps in his enduring work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

The story

The early life of John Climacus is uncertain. He was probably born around 579, perhaps in Syria, and received a good education. While still young, traditionally at about sixteen, he entered the monastic community at Mount Sinai. He placed himself under the guidance of an elder named Martyrius and learned obedience, prayer, fasting, and manual discipline.

After the death of his spiritual father, John withdrew to a hermitage at Thola, near the foot of Sinai. He spent many years there in prayer and study, while receiving visitors who sought counsel. Accounts of his life emphasize his discretion. He resisted extreme practices pursued for display and taught that asceticism must lead to humility, charity, and freedom from sinful passions.

John was eventually chosen as abbot of the monastery at Mount Sinai, now known as St. Catherine's Monastery. At the request of another abbot, John of Raithu, he wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent. The book presents thirty stages of spiritual growth, beginning with renunciation and obedience and moving through struggles against anger, despondency, pride, and other passions. Its final steps concern stillness, prayer, dispassion, and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. The image comes from Jacob's ladder in Genesis, but John insists that progress depends upon God's grace rather than human achievement alone.

John also wrote a brief work for superiors called To the Shepherd. Near the end of his life, he appears to have returned to greater solitude after entrusting the monastery to his brother George. He died around 649 at Mount Sinai. The name Climacus comes from the Greek word for ladder. His holiness was recognized through ancient Christian veneration rather than a later papal canonization. The Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox Churches read The Ladder especially during Lent and commemorate him prominently on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. The Roman Martyrology observes his memorial on March 30.

What John teaches

St. John Climacus teaches that holiness ordinarily grows through many small acts of repentance, obedience, prayer, and charity. Spiritual discipline is not a contest but a response to grace. The struggle against habitual sin requires both human effort and trust in God's help (CCC 2015).

Patronage

monastics, spiritual growth, Eastern Christians, ascetical writers.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, through the intercession of St. John Climacus, lead us from pride and distraction into humility and prayer. Give us perseverance in daily conversion and teach us to place love above every spiritual achievement. Amen.