John Climacus
| John Climacus Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος | |
|---|---|
 Orthodox icon showing monks ascending to (and falling from) full spiritual attainment, as described in the Ladder of Divine Ascent. | |
| John of the Ladder, John Scholasticus, John Sinaites, John of Sinai | |
| Born | ca. 525 in Syria |
| Died | March 30, 606 |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Orthodox Oriental Orthodox |
| Feast | March 30 |
John Climacus (Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος ca. 525 – 30 March, 606), also known as John of the Ladder, John Scholasticus and John Sinaites, was a 6th century Christian monk at the monastery on Mount Sinai. <expand here>
He is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox , Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches.
Biography
As with many other Syrian monastic saints, little is known of the life of John Climacus prior to his high profile involvement with the monastery at Mount Sinai. In particular, different accounts provide varied (and mutually exclusive) renditions of his early life, with some claiming that he sought the monastic novitiate as early as sixteen and others that he joined the order after the premature death of his young wife.[1] Regardless of the specific circumstances of his entrance into monastic life, John thrived in this new environment and, after completing his novitiate under Martyrius, he withdrew to a hermitage at the foot of the mountain to practice further austerities.
- In the year 560, and the thirty-fifth of his age, he lost Martyrius by death; having then spent nineteen years in that place in penance and holy contemplation. By the advice of a prudent director, he then embraced an eremitical life in a plain called Thole, near the foot of Mount Sinai. His cell was five miles from the church, probably the same which had been built a little before, by order of the Emperor Justinian, for the use of the monks at the bottom of this mountain, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, as Procopius mentions. Thither he went every Saturday and Sunday to assist, with all the other anchorets and monks of that desert, at the holy office and at the celebration of the divine mysteries, when they all communicated. His diet was very sparing, though, to shun ostentation and the danger of vainglory, he ate of everything that was allowed among the monks of Egypt, who universally abstained from flesh, fish, &c. Prayer was his principal employment; and he practiced what he earnestly recommends to all Christians, that in all their actions, thoughts, and words they should keep themselves with great fervour in the presence of God, and direct all they do to his holy will. By habitual contemplation he acquired an extraordinary purity of heart, and such a facility of lovingly beholding God in all his works that this practice seemed in him a second nature. Thus he accompanied his studies with perpetual prayer. He assiduously read the holy scriptures and fathers, and was one of the most learned doctors of the church.[2]
In the year 600, when John was about seventy-five years of age, the monks of Sinai persuaded him to accept the leadership of their abbey. He acquitted himself of his functions as abbot with the greatest wisdom, and his reputation spread so far that pope Gregory the Great wrote to recommend himself to his prayers, and sent him a sum of money for the hospital of Sinai, in which the pilgrims were wont to lodge. Four years later he resigned his charge and returned to his hermitage to prepare for death.
<more here>
The translations of the Scala by Arnauld d'Andilly (Paris, 1688) is preceded by a life of the saint by Le Maistre de Sacy. There is also in existence an ancient life of the saint by a monk named Daniel.
Theological Output
He wrote a number of instructive books, the Scala (Climax) or Ladder of Divine Ascent, composed at the request of John, Abbot of Raithu, a monastery situated on the shores of the Red Sea; and the "Liber ad Pastorem". The style of John Climacus' Ladder is based on theologoumena (plural; singular theologoumenon, errant theological opinion), not on akriveia, or necessary, explicit theological expositions of the Faith. Without Scriptural citations, his tollhouses and stages are his unique expression of tangential phenomena, a pietistic yet spurious view of human ascension without regard to the direct and immediate access provided by Christ.
The Scala describes how to raise one's soul to God, as if on a ladder. This book is one of the most widely read among Eastern Orthodox Christians, especially during the season of Great Lent which immediately precedes Easter, and on the 4th Sunday of Great Lent he is especially commemorated. The book discusses monastic virtues and vices and holds dispassionateness (apatheia) as the ultimate contemplative and mystical good in a Christian. There are thirty steps of the ladder, which correspond with the age of Jesus at His baptism and the beginning of ministry. An icon known by the same title depicts several people climbing a ladder; at the top is Jesus, prepared to receive the climbers into Heaven. Also shown are angels helping the climbers, and demons attempting to shoot with arrows or drag down the climbers, no matter how high up the ladder they may be. Most versions of the icon show at least one person falling.
Hesychasm
Veneration
His feast day is March 30 in East and West. The Orthodox Church also commemorates him on the fourth Sunday of the Great Lent. Many churches are dedicated to him in Russia, including a church and belltower in the Moscow Kremlin. John Climacus was also known as "Scholasticus," but he is not to be confused with St. John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Notes
- ↑ For an account of this discrepancy, compare Farmer ("He was married in early life and became a monk on the death of his wife" (267)) and Butler ("At sixteen years of age he renounced all the advantages which the world promised him to dedicate himself to God in a religious state, in 547" (703)). Given the highly truncated life expectancies that characterized this period, it is even theoretically possible that both accounts are historically accurate.
- ↑ Butler, 703. This passage seems to echo many standard hagiographical tropes, though its claim concerning John's advanced scholarship is echoed by the clear and penetrating quality of the Ladder of Divine Ascent (described below).
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
- Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. Edited, revised, and supplemented by Herbert Thurston and Donald Attwater. Palm Publishers, 1956.
- Duffy, John. "Embellishing the Steps: Elements of Presentation and Style in "The Heavenly Ladder" of John Climacus." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 53 (1999). 1-17.
- Farmer, David Hugh. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0192800582.
- John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent (Scala paradisi). Translation by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell; notes on translation by Norman Russell; introduction by Kallistos Ware; preface by Colm Luibheld. New York; Toronto: Paulist Press, 1982. ISBN 0809123304
External links
All links retrieved December 19, 2007
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
