From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   March 30th - St. John Climacus, Abbot (RM)   
    (Also known as John Scholasticus)   
      
   Born in Syria or Palestine; died on Mount Sinai on March 30, c. 650 (many   
   older scholars place his death as early as 600).   
      
   "God does not insist or desire that we should mourn in agony of heart;   
   rather, it is His wish that out of love for Him we should rejoice with   
   laughter in our soul. Take away sin and tears become superfluous; where   
   there is no bruise, no ointment is required. Before the fall Adam shed no   
   tears, and in the same way there will be no more tears after the   
   resurrection from the dead when sin has been destroyed. For pain, sorrow,   
   and lamentation will then have fled away." A learned Syrian abbot and   
   spiritual director, Saint John authored "The Ladder to Paradise" or "Ladder   
   of Perfection", from which he acquires the appellation, "Climacus," which is   
   Greek for "ladder." John's early life is hidden in obscurity. Farmer says   
   that he was married and became a monk at the death of his wife. He joined   
   the monastery of Mount Sinai when he was only 16. His novitiate was spent in   
   a hermitage near the monastery under the discipline of Martyrius. By   
   silence, he learned to curb the insolent need to discuss everything, an   
   ordinary vice in learned men, but usually a mark of pride and   
   self-sufficiency. Instead he adopted humility and obedience, and never   
   contradicted or disputed with anyone. After four years of training with the   
   ancient anchorite, he was professed.   
      
   From the age of 35, after the death of Martyrius, John spent many years as a   
   hermit at Thole at the foot of Mount Sinai, where he studied the Scriptures   
   and the lives of the Fathers of the Church. He practiced the normal   
   austerities of the desert monks: frequent fasting, nights of prayer, and   
   abstinence from meat and fish. He is another of the saints who exhibited the   
   gift of tears. Because he became a popular spiritual advisor, who was   
   especially known for his ability to comfort the distraught, he often sought   
   solitude in a nearby cave. When some who were jealous of his gifts accused   
   him of spending too much time in vain discourse, he kept complete silence   
   for a year until the accusers begged him to resume giving counsel. He went   
   to the monastery only to celebrate the Eucharist with his brother monks on   
   Saturdays and Sundays.   
      
   When he was about 70, he was elected abbot of the monks of Mount Sinai over   
   his objections. Soon after his election, there was a severe draught in   
   Palestine. The people beseeched him to storm the gates of heaven in   
   intercession for rain. He earnestly begged God on their behalf and it   
   immediately began to rain. John's contemporary, Pope Saint Gregory the Great   
   wrote to the holy abbot asking his prayers, and sent him beds, other   
   furniture, and money for his hospital near Mount Sinai for pilgrims. He   
   governed the monastery until four years before his death in his hermitage on   
   Mount Sinai.   
      
   At the request of the abbot of Raithu, John wrote his masterpiece, which   
   uses the vehicle of a spiritual ladder with thirty rungs-one for each year   
   of Christ's earthly life until His baptism-to discuss monastic spirituality   
   and the pursuit of apartheia (passive disinterestedness), which was regarded   
   as a perfect state. This work was enormously popular during the Middle Ages   
   and was published in English in 1959 under the title "The ladder of Divine   
   Ascent". The book was the source of the Byzantine iconographic theme of the   
   ladder to heaven, which is seen at Mount Athos and elsewhere.   
      
   In describing a monastery of 330 monks, which he had visited near   
   Alexandria, Egypt, John mentions one of the principal citizens of that city,   
   named Isidore, who, petitioning to be admitted into the house, said to the   
   abbot: "As iron is in the hands of the smith, so am I in your hands." The   
   abbot ordered him to remain outside the gate and to prostrate himself at the   
   feet of every passerby, by begging their prayers for his soul struck with a   
   leprosy. Thus, he passed seven years in profound humility and patience. He   
   told Saint John that during the first year he always considered himself as a   
   slave condemned for his sins, and sustained violent conflicts. The second   
   year he passed in tranquillity and confidence; and the third with relish and   
   pleasure in his humiliations. So great was his virtue, that the abbot   
   determined to present him to the bishop in order to be promoted to the   
   priesthood, but the humility of the holy penitent prevented it-he begged   
   respite and died within 10 days.   
      
   John also admired the cook of this community, who seemed always recollected,   
   and generally bathed in tears amidst his continual occupation. When asked   
   how he nourished so perfect a spirit of compunction in the midst of his busy   
   work, the cook replied that, in serving the monks, he considered that he was   
   serving not men but God in his servants. Additionally, the fire that always   
   burned before his eyes reminded him of that fire which will burn souls for   
   all eternity. (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer,   
   Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).  Inevitably, Saint John is portrayed in art as an   
   abbot carrying a ladder or having a vision of monks climbing one (Roeder).   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Here are some of the spiritual maxims from Saint John's book:   
      
   "Rule your own heart as a king rules over his kingdom, but be subject above   
   all to the supreme ruler, God Himself."  "A person is at the beginning of a   
   prayer when he succeeds in removing distractions which at the beginning   
   beset him. He is at the middle of the prayer when the mind concentrates only   
   on what he is meditating and contemplating. He reaches the end when, with   
   the Lord, the prayer enraptures him."   
      
   "Without weapons there is no way of killing wild animals. Without humility   
   there is no way of conquering anger."  "It is not without risk that one   
   climbs up a defective ladder. And so with honor, praise, and precedence   
   which are all dangerous for humility."   
      
   "In an instant many are pardoned for their mistakes, but no one, in a   
   moment's time, acquires calmness of the soul which requires much time, much   
   trouble and a great deal of help from God."  "The one who is dead can no   
   longer walk. The one who despairs can no longer be saved."   
      
   "A small fire is enough to burn down an entire forest; a little hole may   
   destroy an entire building."  "Just as clouds hide the sun so bad thoughts   
   cast shadows over the soul."   
      
   "Birds which are too heavy cannot fly very high. The same is true of those   
   who mistreat their bodies."  "A dried-up puddle is of no use for the pigs   
   and a dried up body is of no use to the devils."   
      
   "A tool which is in good condition may sharpen one which is not in good   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)