Reverend John of the Ladder
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Saint John of the Ladder.
Ladder.
Published according to the publication of the Kozelskaya Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 1908
Preface of this book, which is called the spiritual tablets
To all who hasten to write their names in the book of life in heaven, this book shows the most excellent way. Walking this path, we will see that she infallibly guides her subsequent instructions, keeps them unharmed from any stumbling, and presents us with an approved ladder, raising from the earthly to the holy of holies, on the top of which the God of love is affirmed. This ladder, I think, was also seen by Jacob, the stirrer of passions, when he rested on the ascetic bed. But let us ascend, I beseech you, with diligence and faith, to this mental and heavenly sunrise, the beginning of which is the renunciation of the earthly, and the end is the God of love.
The reverend father judged wisely, having arranged for us an ascent equal to the age of the Lord according to the flesh; for at the age of thirty years of the Lord's coming of age, he divinely depicted a ladder consisting of thirty degrees of spiritual perfection, along which, having reached the fullness of the age of the Lord, we will appear truly righteous and unbending to fall. And whoever has not reached this measure of age, he is still a baby and, according to the exact testimony of the heart, will turn out to be imperfect. We recognized it as necessary first of all to place in this book the life of the (reverend) wise father, so that readers, looking at his exploits, would more conveniently believe his teaching.
A Brief Description of the Life of Abba John, Abbot of the Holy Mount Sinai, Nicknamed a Scholastic 1
Scholastics in ancient times were called rhetoricians, jurists, or generally scientists., truly holy father, compiled by the monk Daniel of Raifa, an honest and virtuous husband
I can’t say with reliable accuracy in what memorable city this great man was born and raised before his feat of battle, and what city now rests and feeds this marvelous with imperishable food - I know that. He now dwells in that city of which the eloquent Paul speaks, crying out: our life is in heaven(Phil. 3, 20); with an immaterial feeling he is saturated with goodness, which cannot be satiated, and enjoys invisible goodness, spiritually consoles himself with spiritual 2
In Slavic: “with one mind, rejoicing in the Mind mentally contemplated.”
Having received rewards worthy of feats, and honored for labors not hard-won - the legacy there, and forever united with those whom leg ... a hundred on the right(Ps. 25:12). But how this material one reached the Immaterial Forces and united with them, I will try to explain this as far as possible.
Being sixteen years of bodily age, and the perfection of the mind is a thousand years, this blessed one offered himself, as a kind of pure and spontaneous sacrifice, to the Great Bishop and ascended the Mount of Sinai in body, and in soul to the heavenly mountain - with the intention, I think, that from this visible place to have benefit and the best instruction to achieve the invisible. So, having cut off dishonorable insolence by hermitage, sow the owner of our mental maidens 3
That is passion. See word 10, chapter 3.
Having taken on the magnificent humility of wisdom, at the very beginning of the feat, he very prudently drove away seductive self-indulgence and self-confidence from himself, for he bowed his neck and entrusted himself to the most skilful teacher, so that, with his trustworthy guidance, he could infallibly swim across the stormy sea of passions. Mortifying himself in this way, he had in himself a soul, as it were, without reason and without will, completely free from natural properties; and still more amazing, that, having external wisdom, he was trained in heavenly simplicity. Glorious thing! For the arrogance of philosophy is not compatible with humility. Then, after nineteen years, having sent his teacher to the Heavenly King as a prayer book and intercessor, he himself proceeds to the field of silence, wearing strong weapons to destroy strongholds - great prayers (of his father); and, having chosen a place convenient for feats of solitude, five stages from the temple of the Lord (this place is called Fola), he spent forty years there in unremitting ascetics, always burning with burning zeal and Divine fire. But who can express in words and praise with a legend his labors carried out there? And how can one clearly represent all his work, which was a secret sowing? However, although through some of the main virtues we will be made aware of the spiritual wealth of this blessed man.
He used all kinds of food, without prejudice allowed to the monastic rank, but he ate very little, wisely crushing and through this, as I think, the horn of arrogance. So, with a lack of food, he oppressed her mistress, that is, the flesh, lustfully desiring much, crying out to her with hunger: “Silence, stop”; by the same thing that he ate a little of everything, he enslaved the torment of love of glory, and by living in the wilderness and moving away from people he quenched the flame of this (that is, bodily) furnace, so that it was completely incinerated and completely extinguished. By almsgiving and poverty in everything necessary, this courageous ascetic courageously avoided idolatry, that is, the love of money (see Col. 3, 5); from the hourly death of the soul, that is, from despondency and relaxation, he resurrected the soul, arousing it with the memory of bodily death, as if it were the core, and he resolved the interweaving of addictions and all kinds of sensual thoughts with the immaterial bonds of holy sorrow. Even earlier, the torment of anger had been mortified in him by the sword of obedience, but by inexhaustible solitude and eternal silence he slew the leech of cobweb vanity. What can I say about the victory that this good mystery man won over the eighth maiden 4
That is, pride, which is the eighth among the main eight passions.
What can I say about the extreme cleansing, which this Bezalel of obedience began, and the Lord of the heavenly Jerusalem, having come, performed with His presence, for without this the devil cannot be defeated with an army corresponding to him? Where will I place in our present weaving of the crown the source of his tears (a talent not found in many), whose secret worker remains to this day - this is a small cave located at the foot of a certain mountain; she was as far away from his cell and from any human dwelling as was necessary in order to block the ear from vanity; but she was close to heaven with sobs and cries, similar to those that are usually emitted by those who are pierced by swords and pierced by kindled iron, or deprived of their eyes?
He took as much sleep as was necessary so that the mind would not be damaged by vigil; and before sleep he prayed much and composed books; this exercise was his only remedy for despondency. However, throughout his life there was unceasing prayer and fiery love for God, for, day and night, imagining Him in the lordship of purity, as in a mirror, he did not want or, more precisely, could not get enough.
One of the monastics, named Moses, jealous of the life of John, convincingly asked him to accept him as his disciple and instruct him in true wisdom; having moved the elders to intercession, Moses, through their requests, convinced the great man to accept himself. Once the abba commanded this Moses to transfer from one place to another the land, which required fertilizer ridges for potions; having reached the indicated place, Moses fulfilled the command without laziness; but as an extreme heat came at noon (and then it was the last summer month), he ducked under a large stone, lay down and fell asleep. The Lord, who does not want to grieve His servants in any way, according to His custom, warns the calamity that threatens him. For the great old man, sitting in his cell and meditating on himself and on God, bowed down in the most subtle sleep and sees a holy man who aroused him and, laughing at his sleep, said: “John, how do you sleep carelessly when Moses is in danger?” Jumping up immediately, John armed himself with a prayer for his disciple, and when he returned in the evening, he asked him if any misfortune or accident had happened to him? The student replied: “A huge stone almost crushed me when I slept under it at noon; but it seemed to me as if you were calling me, and I suddenly jumped out of that place. The father, truly humble-wise, did not reveal anything from the vision to the disciple, but with secret cries and sighs of love he praised the good God.
This reverend was both a model of virtues and a doctor who healed hidden ulcers. Someone named Isaac, being very much oppressed by the demon of carnal lust and already exhausted in spirit, hastened to resort to this great one and declared his abuse to him with words dissolved by sobbing. The wondrous husband, marveling at his faith, said: “Come, friend, let us both stand in prayer.” And meanwhile, as their prayer ended, and the afflicted one was still lying, bowed down on his face, God fulfilled the will of His servant (see Ps. 144, 19), in order to justify the word of David; and the serpent, tormented by the beating of true prayer, fled. And the sick, seeing that he had got rid of the disease, with great surprise sent thanks to the glorified and glorified.
Others, on the contrary, instigated by envy, called him (St. John) an excessively talkative and idle talker. But he enlightened them by the very deed and showed everyone that all maybe about strengthening all Christ(see Phil. 4, 13), for he was silent for a whole year, so that his critics turned into petitioners and said: “We have blocked the source of ever-flowing benefit to the detriment of the common salvation of all.” John, a stranger to contradiction, obeyed and again began to adhere to the first way of life.
Then everyone, marveling at his success in all the virtues, as if the newly-appeared Moses, involuntarily elevated him to the abbotship of the brethren and, raising this lamp to the priest of the authorities, the good electors did not sin, for John approached the mysterious mountain, having entered into darkness, where the uninitiated do not enter. ; and, having been raised in spiritual degrees, he accepted the divinely ordained statute and vision. He opened his mouth to the word of God, attracted the Spirit, vomited up the word, and from the good treasure of his heart spoke good words. He reached the end of his visible living in teaching the new Israelites, i.e. monks, differing from Moses in that he entered the heavenly Jerusalem, and Moses, I don’t know how, did not reach the earthly.
The Holy Spirit spoke through his mouth; many of those who were saved and are still being saved through him are witnesses to this. The new David was an excellent witness to the wisdom of this wise and the salvation he provided 5
It is believed that the aforementioned Isaac is called the new David here.
Good John, our reverend pastor (Raifa abbot) was a witness of the same. It was he who persuaded this new God-seer by his strong requests for the benefit of the brethren to descend with the thought from Mount Sinai and show us his divinely written tablets, which outwardly contain active guidance, and inwardly contemplative. 6
Those. in The Ladder, the outer words instruct activities, while the inner spiritual mind instructs in vision.
With such a description I attempted to conclude a lot in a few words, for the brevity of the word has beauty in the art of ornate (a) 7
See the notes indicated by the letters in brackets at the end of the book, after the Word to the Shepherd (from p. 484).
About the same Abba John, the hegumen of Mount Sinai, that is, the Ladder (A Sinai monk narrates, who, like Daniel of Raifa, was a contemporary of the Monk John.)
Once, Abba Martyrius came with Abba John to Anastasius the Great; and this one, looking at them, says to Abba Martyrius: “Tell me, Abba Martyrius, where does this lad come from and who tonsured him?” He answered: "He is your servant, father, and I tonsured him." Anastassy says to him: “Oh, Abba Martyrius, who would have thought that you had tonsured the hegumen of Sinai?” And the holy man did not sin: after forty years, John was made our igumen.
At another time, Abba Martyrios, also taking John with him, went to the great John Savvait, who was then in the desert of Guddia. Seeing them, the elder got up, poured water, washed the feet of Abba John and kissed his hand; Abba Martyria did not wash his feet, and later, when his disciple Stefan asked why he did this, he answered him: “Believe me, child, I don’t know who this lad is, but I received the hegumen of Sinai and washed the feet of the hegumen.”
On the day of the tonsure of Abba John (and he took the tonsure in the twentieth year of his life), Abba Stratigius predicted about him that he would once be a great star.
On the very day that John was installed as our abbot, and when about six hundred visitors came to us and they were all sitting eating food, John saw a man with short hair, dressed in a Jewish shroud, who, like a kind of steward, went around and distributed orders to cooks, housekeepers, cellars and other servants. When those people dispersed and the ministers sat down to eat, they looked for this one, who went everywhere and gave out orders, but they were not found anywhere. Then the servant of God, our reverend father John, says to us: "Leave him, Mr. Moses did nothing strange, serving in his place."
There was once a lack of rain in the Palestinian countries; Abba John, at the request of the local inhabitants, prayed, and heavy rain came down.
And there is nothing incredible here; for He will do the will of those who fear Him Lord and hear their prayer(Ps. 144:19).
It is necessary to know that John of the Ladder had a brother, the wonderful abbot George, whom he appointed hegumen in Sinai during his lifetime, himself loving the silence, which this wise man at first dismayed himself. When this Moses, our reverend hegumen John, departed to the Lord, then Abba George, his brother, stood before him and said with tears: “So, you leave me and go away; I prayed that you would accompany me, for I would not be able to lead this squad without you, my lord; but now I have to see you off.” Abba John told him to this: “Do not grieve and do not worry: if I have boldness in the Lord, then I will not leave you to spend here even one year after me.” Which happened, because in the tenth month, then this one also departed to the Lord (b).
Epistle of St. John, Abbot of Raifa, to the Venerable John, Abbot of Mount Sinai
The sinful abbot of Raifa wishes to rejoice in the Lord to the superior and angelic father of fathers and the most excellent teacher.
Knowing first of all your unquestioning obedience in the Lord, adorned, however, with all the virtues, and especially where it is necessary to multiply the talent given to you from God, we, the poor, use a truly miserable and insufficient word, recalling what is said in Scripture: ask your father, and your elders will tell you, and they will tell you(Deut. 32:7). And therefore, falling to you, as to the common father of all and the eldest in asceticism, the strongest in quickness of mind and the most excellent teacher, with this scripture we implore you, O head of the virtues, teach us, the ignorant, what you saw in the vision of God, as an ancient Moses, and on the same mountain, and state it in a book, as on divinely written tablets, for the edification of the new Israelites, i.e. people newly emerged from the mental Egypt and from the sea of life. And as you, in this sea, instead of a rod, with your divine-speaking tongue, with the assistance of God, worked miracles, then now, not despising our petition, deign in the Lord for our salvation, judiciously and without laziness, inscribe the laws that are characteristic and decent for monastic life, being truly a great mentor to all who began such a thing. angelic residence. Do not think that our words come from flattery or flattery: you, O sacred head, know that we are alien to such actions, but what everyone is sure of, that beyond any doubt, is visible to everyone and to which everyone testifies, then we repeat. So, we hope in the Lord to soon receive and kiss the precious inscriptions on the tablets that we expect, which can serve as an infallible instruction for the true followers of Christ, and, as ladder, approved even to the heavenly gates (see Gen. 28, 12), elevates those who choose, so that they harmlessly, safely and unhindered pass through the hordes of evil spirits, the rulers of the world of darkness and the princes of the air. For if Jacob, the shepherd of the dumb sheep, saw such a terrible vision on the ladder, how much more so the leader of the verbal lambs, not only in vision, but also in deed and truth 8
That is, not only the representation of the figurative ladder thereof in a vision, but also the virtues themselves, depicted by their degrees, by an experienced and true description.
It can show everyone an infallible ascent to God. Hail in the Lord, most honest father!
Answer
John wants to rejoice
I have truly received what is worthy of your lofty and passionless life and your pure and humble heart, sent by you to us, the poor and miserable in virtues, your honest writing, or, rather, commandment and commandment, surpassing our strength. So, it is true for you and your sacred soul to ask for an instructive word and guidance from us, untrained and ignorant in deed and word, for it is used to always showing us in itself an example of humility. However, I will also say now that if we were not afraid to fall into great trouble by rejecting the holy yoke of obedience, the mother of all virtues, then we would not recklessly venture into an enterprise that surpasses our strength.
You, wondrous father, should, in asking about such subjects, learn from men who know this well, for we are still in the category of students. But as our God-bearing fathers and secret teachers of true knowledge determine that obedience is undoubted obedience to those who command and in those deeds that exceed our strength, then we, piously despising our weakness, humbly encroached on labor that exceeds our measure; although we do not think to bring you any benefit or to explain something that you, the sacred head, know no less than we do. For not only I am sure, but everyone, I think, of those who are sane knows that the eye of your mind is pure from all earthly and gloomy indignation of gloomy passions and unhinderedly looks at the Divine light and is illuminated by it.
But, fearing death, which is born from disobedience, and as if driven by this fear of obedience, I set about fulfilling your all-honorable command with fear and love, as a sincere novice and indecent slave of the most excellent painter, and with my meager knowledge and insufficient expression, only Having monotonously outlined the living words in ink, I leave it to you, the chief of teachers and the clerk, to decorate all this, to clarify, and how to fulfill the lack of fulfillment for the executor of the tablets and the spiritual law. And I am not sending this work to you - no, that would be a sign of extreme foolishness, for you are strong in the Lord not only to establish others, but also ourselves in divine morals and teachings, but to the God-called squad of brethren who, together with us, learn from you Oh, chosen teacher! To them, through you, I begin this word of theirs and with your prayers, as if being lifted by some waters of hope, with all the weight of ignorance, I stretch out the sail of the reed and with all prayer I commit the feeding of our words into the hands of our good companion. Moreover, I ask all readers: if anyone here sees something useful, then the fruit of everything as prudent, let it ascribe to our great mentor, and let us ask God for retribution for this weak work, not on the poverty of the composition (truly any inexperience performed), considering, but accepting the offerer's intention as a widow's offering 9
Paisiy Velichkovsky: "a widow's proposal."
For God gives reward not to a multitude of gifts and labors, but to a multitude of diligence.
Ascetic words of Abba John, hegumen of the monks of Mount Sinai, sent by him to Abba John, hegumen of Raifa, who prompted him to this composition
Word 1
On the renunciation of worldly life
1. Of all, created by the good and most good and all-good our God and the King (for the word to the servants of God is fitting and to begin from God) reasonable and worthy of autonomy of respectable beings, some are His friends, others are true slaves, others are indecent slaves, others are completely alien Him, and finally, though they are weak, they resist Him. And His friends, O Holy Father, as we foolish ones believe, are properly intelligent and incorporeal beings surrounding Him; His true servants are all those who do His will unsluggishly and unremittingly, and the indecent ones are those who, although they were worthy of baptism, did not keep the vows given at it as they should. Under the name of God's aliens and His enemies, one should understand the infidels or evil-believers (heretics); but the opponents of God are those who not only did not accept and reject the commandments of the Lord, but also strongly arm themselves against those who fulfill it.
2.
Each of the said states requires a special and decent word; but for us ignoramuses it is not useful in the present case to expound it at length. So, let us hasten now to fulfill the commandment of the true servants of God, who piously compelled us and convinced us by their faith; in the undeniable 10
In unquestioning.
In obedience, let us stretch out our unworthy hand, and, having received the reed of the word from their own mind, let us dip into the dark-looking, but luminous humility of wisdom; and on their smooth and pure hearts, as on some kind of paper, or, rather, on spiritual tablets, let us begin to paint the divine words, or, rather, the divine seeds, and we will begin like this:
3. Of all those gifted with free will, God is both the life and the salvation of all, faithful and unfaithful, righteous and unrighteous, pious and wicked, passionless and passionate, monks and worldly, wise and simple, healthy and infirm, young and old; for all, without exception, enjoy the outpouring of light, the radiance of the sun, and the changes of the air; carry more favoritism God(Rom. 2:11).
4. The wicked is a rational and mortal creature, arbitrarily moving away from this life (God) and thinking about its Creator, who is everlasting, as if it were non-existent. A transgressor is one who upholds the law of God in his own wickedness and thinks to combine faith in God with an opposing heresy. A Christian is one who, as far as a man can, imitates Christ in words, deeds, and thoughts, rightly and without blemish believing in the Holy Trinity. A God-lover is one who makes use of everything natural and sinless and, according to his strength, tries to do good. The abstinent is the one who, in the midst of temptations, networks and rumors, is jealous with all his might to imitate the mores of the free from all such. A monk is one who, being clothed in a material and mortal body, imitates the life and state of the incorporeal. A monk is one who keeps only God's words and commandments in every time and place and deed. The monk is the constant compulsion of nature and the unrelenting guardianship of the senses. A monk is one who has a purified body, pure lips and an enlightened mind. A monk is one who, grieving and sick in soul, always remembers and reflects on death, both in sleep and in vigil. The renunciation of the world is an arbitrary hatred of the substance praised by the worldly, and the rejection of nature, in order to obtain those blessings that are higher than nature.
5. All those who diligently left the things of life, no doubt, did this either for the sake of the future kingdom, or because of the multitude of their sins, or out of love for God. If they did not have any of these intentions, then removing them from the world was reckless. However, our good Ascetic expects what will be the end of their course.
6. He who came out of the world in order to get rid of the burden of his sins, let him imitate those who sit over the tombs outside the city, and let him not stop pouring out warm and hot tears, and let him not interrupt the silent sobs of his heart until he also sees Jesus, who came and rolled away the stone of hardness from the heart, and our mind, like Lazarus, loosed the bonds of sin, and commanded His servants, the angels: allow it from passions and leave his iti(John 11:44) to blessed dispassion. If not, then (from the removal from the world) will not be of any use to him.
7.
When we want to leave Egypt and flee from Pharaoh, then we also have a necessary need for a certain Moses, i.e. an intercessor to God and according to God, who, standing in the midst of action and vision, would raise his hands to God for us, so that those who he instructs would cross the sea of sins and defeat Amalek of passions. Therefore, those who, having put their trust in themselves, were deceived 11
In Paisiy Velichkovsky: "the ones who betray themselves."
They considered that they did not need any guide, for those who came out of Egypt had Moses as their guide, and those who escaped from Sodom had an angel. And one of them, i.e. those who came out of Egypt are like those who, with the help of doctors, heal spiritual passions, while others are like those who want to cast off the impurities of the accursed body, therefore they require an assistant - an angel, i.e. an equally angelic husband, for, due to the rottenness of wounds, we also need a very skillful doctor.
8. Those who attempt to ascend to heaven with the body truly need extreme compulsion and unceasing sorrows, especially at the very beginning of renunciation, until our voluptuous disposition and insensitive heart are transformed by true weeping into love of God and purity. For work, truly work and great innermost sorrow are inevitable in this feat, especially for the negligent, until our mind, this furious and voluptuous dog, through simplicity, deep lack of anger and diligence becomes chaste and inquisitive. However, let us be complacent, passionate and exhausted; our infirmity and spiritual impotence with undoubted faith, as with the right hand, presenting and confessing to Christ, we will certainly receive His help, even beyond our dignity, if only we always bring ourselves down into the depths of humility.
9. All who embark on this good deed, cruel and narrow, but also easy, should know that they have come to plunge into the fire, if they only want immaterial fire to dwell in them. Therefore, let each one tempt himself, and then from the bread of the monastic life, which is with bitter potion, let him eat, and from this cup, which with tears, let him drink: let him not fight against his own judgment. If not everyone who was baptized will be saved, then ... I will keep silent about what follows.
10. Those who come to this feat must renounce everything, despise everything, laugh at everything, reject everything, in order to lay a solid foundation for them. A good foundation, three-fold or three-pillared, is gentleness, fasting and chastity. Let all babes in Christ begin with these virtues, taking as an example sensual infants, in whom there is never anything malicious, nothing flattering; they have neither insatiable greed, nor an insatiable stomach, nor bodily kindling: it appears later, with age, and may be after the multiplication of food.
11. It is truly deserving of hatred and disastrous when the fighter weakens at the very entry into the struggle, thus showing a sure sign of his near victory. From a firm beginning, no doubt, it will be useful to us, if we subsequently weakened, for the soul, which was previously courageous and weakened, is excited by the memory of former jealousy, as with a sharp tool, therefore, many times some raised themselves in this way (from relaxation).
12. When the soul, betraying itself, destroys the blessed and longed-for warmth, then let it diligently investigate why it lost it, and let all its labor and all diligence turn to this reason, for the former warmth cannot be returned otherwise than by the same doors, which she came out.
13. He who renounces the world out of fear is like incense, which at first is fragrant, and then ends in smoke. The one who left the world for the sake of retribution is like a millstone, which always moves in the same way. And he who comes out of the world out of love for God at the very beginning acquires the fire, which, being cast into matter, will soon kindle a great fire.
14. Some put bricks on top of the stone in the building, others established the pillars on the ground, and others, having traveled a small part of the path and warmed up the veins and members, then walked faster. He who understands, let him understand what this divinatory word (a) means.
15. As those called by God and the King, let us diligently set out on the path, so that we, short-lived on earth, on the day of death will not be barren and perish from hunger. Let us please the Lord, as soldiers please the King, for, having entered into this rank, we are subject to a strict answer about service. Let us fear the Lord, though, as we fear beasts: for I saw people going to steal, who were not afraid of God, and when they heard the barking of dogs there, they immediately turned back, and what the fear of God did not do, the fear of beasts managed to do. Let us love the Lord, even as we love and honor our friends: for many times I saw people who angered God and did not care at all about it, but the same ones, having upset their friends with some little thing, used all art, invented all sorts of methods, expressed in every possible way to them their grief and their repentance, both personally and through others, friends and relatives, apologized and sent gifts to the offended, in order only to return their former love.
16. At the very beginning of renunciation, without a doubt, with difficulty, compulsion and sorrow, we fulfill virtues; but, having succeeded, we cease to feel sorrow in them, or we feel, but little; and when our carnal wisdom is conquered and captivated by zeal, then we do them already with all joy and zeal, with lust and divine flame.
17. How laudable are those who, from the very beginning, fulfill the commandments with all joy and zeal, how much worthy of pity are those who, having long been in monastic training, still with difficulty accomplish, although they accomplish, the feats of virtues.
18. Let us not despise or condemn such renunciations, which happen according to circumstances; for I saw those who were in flight, who, by chance meeting with the king, against their will, went after him and, having entered the chamber with him, sat down with him at the table. I saw that the seed that accidentally fell on the ground brought forth abundant and beautiful fruit, just as the opposite happens. Again I saw a man who came to the doctor's clinic not to be treated, but for some other need, but, attracted and held by the doctor's affectionate reception, he freed himself from the darkness that lay on his eyes. Thus, even the involuntary in some was firmer and more reliable than the voluntary in others.
19. No one should, exposing the weight and multitude of his sins, call himself unworthy of the monastic vow and, for the sake of his voluptuousness, pretend to humiliate himself, inventing excuses for his sins (see Ps. 140, 4); for where there is a lot of rottenness, strong healing is also needed, which would cleanse the filth, and the healthy do not go to the hospital.
20. If an earthly king called us and wished to put us in service before his face, we would not hesitate, we would not apologize, but leaving everything, we would zealously hasten to him. Let us take heed to ourselves, so that when the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, and the God of gods calls us to this heavenly rank, we will not refuse out of laziness and cowardice, and at His great Judgment we will not appear unanswered. The one who is bound by the ties of worldly affairs and cares can also walk, but it is inconvenient, because often those who have iron fetters on their feet walk, but they stumble a lot and get ulcers from this. A man who is unmarried, but only bound by business in the world, is like one who has shackles on his hands alone, and therefore, whenever he wishes, he can freely resort to a monastic life; a married man is like one who has shackles on both his hands and his feet.
21.
Some people living negligently in the world asked me, saying: “How can we, living with wives and entangled in worldly cares, imitate the life of a monastic?” I answered them: “Do everything good that you can do; don’t reproach anyone, don’t steal, don’t lie to anyone, don’t exalt yourself before anyone, don’t have hatred for anyone, don’t leave church meetings, be merciful to those in need, don’t seduce anyone, don’t touch someone else’s part 12
In the Old Slavonic translation: "Do not touch someone else's bed."
And be content with the dues of your wives. If you do this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven.”
John of the Ladder
ladder
OUR REPRESENT FATHER JOHN
L E S T V I C A
IGUMEN OF MOUNTAIN SINAI,
IN RUSSIAN TRANSLATION
Sergiev Posad.
Printing house St.-Tr. Sergius Lavra.
Foreword
This book, called the Spiritual Tablets.
To all who hasten to write their names in the book of life in heaven, this book shows the most excellent way. Walking this path, we will see that she infallibly guides her subsequent instructions, keeps them unharmed from any stumbling, and presents us with an approved ladder, raising from the earthly to the holy of holies, on the top of which the God of love is affirmed. This ladder, I think, was also seen by Jacob, the stirrer of passions, when he rested on the ascetic bed. But let us ascend, I beseech you, with diligence and faith, to this mental and heavenly sunrise, the beginning of which is the renunciation of the earthly, and the end is the God of love.
The reverend father judged wisely, having arranged for us an ascent equal to the age of the Lord according to the flesh; for at the age of thirty years of the Lord's coming of age, he divinely depicted a ladder consisting of thirty degrees of spiritual perfection, along which, having reached the fullness of the age of the Lord, we will appear truly righteous and unbending to fall. And whoever has not reached this measure of age is still a baby, and, according to the exact testimony of the heart, will be imperfect. We recognized it as necessary first of all to place in this book the life of the (reverend) wise father, so that readers, looking at his exploits, would more conveniently believe his teaching.
Brief Description of the Life of Abba John
hegumen of the holy mountain of Sinai, called a scholastic
truly holy father.
Compiled by the monk Daniel of Raifa, an honest and virtuous husband.
I cannot say with certainty in what memorable city this great man was born and brought up before his departure to the feat of battle; and what city now rests and nourishes this wondrous one with incorruptible food, I know that. He now dwells in that city, of which the eloquent Paul speaks, crying out: our there is life in heaven(Philip. 8, 20); with an immaterial feeling he is saturated with goodness, which cannot be satiated, and enjoys invisible goodness, spiritually consoles himself with spiritual things,
Having received rewards worthy of feats, and honored for labors that were not difficultly incurred - there is a legacy; and forever united with those whom a hundred feet on the right(Ps. 25:12). But how this material thing reached the immaterial forces and united with them, this I will try to explain as far as possible.
Being sixteen years of bodily age, while the perfection of the mind is thousand years old, this blessed one offered himself as some kind of pure and spontaneous sacrifice to the Great Bishop, and ascended in body to Sinai, and in soul to the heavenly mountain; with this, I think, intention, that from the visible of this place to have benefit and the best instruction to achieve the invisible. So, having cut off dishonorable insolence by hermitage, sow the owner of our mental maidens
Having perceived the magnificent humility of wisdom, he. At the very entry into the feat, he very prudently pushed away seductive self-indulgence and self-confidence; for he bowed his neck and entrusted himself to the most skillful teacher, so that, with his trustworthy guidance, he could infallibly swim across the stormy sea of passions. Mortifying himself in this way, he had in himself a soul, as it were, without reason and without will, completely free from natural properties; and it is still more wonderful that, having external wisdom, he was trained in heavenly simplicity. Glorious thing! For the arrogance of philosophy is not compatible with humility. Then, after nineteen years, having sent his teacher to the Heavenly King as a prayer book and intercessor, he himself goes to the field of silence, wearing strong, to destroy strongholds, weapons- prayers of the great (his father); and having chosen a place convenient for feats of solitude, five stages from the temple of the Lord (this place is called Fola), he spent forty years there in unremitting ascetics, always burning with burning zeal and divine fire. But who can express in words and praise with a legend his labors, which were not carried out there? However, although through some of the main virtues we will be made aware of the spiritual wealth of this blessed man.
He used all kinds of food, without prejudice allowed to the monastic rank, but he ate very little, wisely crushing and through this, as I think, the horn of arrogance. So, with a lack of food, he oppressed her mistress, that is, the flesh, lustfully desiring much, crying out to her with hunger: shut up, stop, the same that he ate a little of everything, he enslaved the torment of love of glory; and by living in the wilderness and withdrawing from people, he quenched the flame of this (that is, bodily) furnace, so that it was completely incinerated and completely extinguished. By almsgiving and poverty in all that is necessary, this courageous ascetic courageously escaped idolatry, that is, the love of money (Colossians 3, 5), from the hourly death of the soul, that is, from despondency and relaxation (and) he raised the soul, arousing it with the memory of bodily death, as ; and he resolved the interweaving of passion and all sorts of sensual thoughts with the immaterial bonds of holy sorrow. Even earlier, the torment of anger had been mortified in him by the sword of obedience, but by inexhaustible solitude and eternal silence he slew the leech of cobweb vanity. What can I say about the victory that this good mystery man won over the eighth maiden
What can I say about the extreme cleansing, which this Bezalel of obedience began, and the Lord of heavenly Jerusalem, having come, accomplished with His presence; for without this the devil cannot be defeated with his hordes conformable to him. Where I will place, in our present weaving of the crown, the source of his tears, (a talent not found in many), whose secret worker remains to this day, is a small cave located at the foot of a certain mountain; it was as far away from his cell and from any human dwelling as was necessary in order to block the ear from vanity; but she was close to heaven with sobs and cries, similar to those that are usually emitted by those who are pierced by swords and pierced by burning iron, or deprived of their eyes. He took as much sleep as was necessary so that his mind would not be damaged by vigil, and before sleep he prayed a lot and composed books; this exercise was his only remedy for despondency. However, all the course of his life was unceasing prayer and fiery love for God; for, day and night, imagining Him in the lordship of purity, as in a mirror, he did not want, or rather, could not be satisfied.
Stairway from earth to heaven. People in monastic robes are climbing along it. The Lord stretches out His hands to those who ascend. But the path to Him consists of thirty high steps - Christian virtues, and on each one there are trials. Why is the author of the book of the same name, St. John of the Ladder, depicted without a halo on the icon “Ladder”? Why don't the demons go out of their way to drag the monks down, while the angels seem to keep aloof? Our correspondent Ekaterina STEPANOVA tried to understand what was happening with the help of specialists.
The iconography of the Ladder, as we know it now, took shape in Constantinople by the 12th century. On the illustration: the icon "Ladder" from the collection of the monastery of St. Catherine at Sinai. 12th century
Our life is cabbage soup and porridge
This well-known Sinai image of the second half of the 12th century was written as an illustration to the book of St. John, hegumen of Mount Sinai, "The Ladder". The book consists of thirty words - chapters. Each of them is a step towards Christ, hence the unusual name of the book, and then of the icon.
Saint John in his book calls on monks to be meek, not vindictive, stingy with words, truthful, not discouraged, not lazy, temperate in food, chaste and pure both externally and internally. The first twenty-three steps in the "Ladder" are devoted to passions and ways to deal with them, the rest - to virtues. The highest step is the union of faith, hope and love. The monk writes some of his instructions in the form of short stories about the life of the Sinai ascetics, with whom he was familiar. For example, the story of the proud Isidore, whom his confessor placed at the gates of the monastery to beg all those who came in to pray for him, and he at first grumbled, but over time became humble, meek and for his obedience was awarded eternal life. Or about an unrighteous old man who tortured his novice to death, but then repented, settled at his tomb, where until the end of his days he prayed for him and asked everyone for forgiveness. Sometimes St. John adds to his stories his personal impressions about these people and from conversations with them.
In Byzantium, the "Ladder" was translated into different languages. Manuscripts began to be bound in rich bindings and decorated with miniatures. The first Slavic list appeared in Russia in the 12th century, and judging by how rapidly their number grew, the book was popular. More than a hundred lists of the "Ladder" have survived: 1 list of the XII century, 3 lists of the XIII century, 24 lists of the XIV century and 83 - XV centuries. To this day, "The Ladder" has not lost its relevance and is published in large numbers. Optina elder Anatoly greatly revered St. John of the Ladder and wrote to his spiritual children that the "Teachings" of Abba Dorotheus and "The Ladder" should be reference books, since they are "our life - cabbage soup and porridge."
Reasonable Faster
Closest to Christ on the Sinai icon is St. John himself, who holds out to the Lord a scroll with his composition. Indeed, it is difficult to describe the path if you yourself have not passed it. Little is known of the saint's childhood and youth. It is believed that Saint John was originally from Syria and came to the Sinai monastery at the age of sixteen. This happened around 580. When he was twenty, he took monastic vows from his mentor, Abba Martyria. The monk lived in the monastery for another nineteen years. And after the death of the abba, he retired to the desert, where he remained for forty years in fasting and prayer, until the Sinai monks persuaded him to return to the monastery and become their abbot.
It is known from the life of the saint, for example, that he ate everything that was allowed by the monastic charter, without imposing exceptional prohibitions on himself, so as not to give himself a reason for vanity. But at the same time, he was restrained in the amount of food and strengthened the body only with the most necessary for the continuation of labor. The same applies to vigils: although he did not spend nights without sleep, he slept no more than necessary to maintain strength, so as not to destroy the mind by unceasing wakefulness. Probably because of these exploits of his, accomplished with wise reasoning, the Church celebrates the memory of St. John of the Ladder during Great Lent.
Steps mean the sequence of spiritual perfection of a person, which is not achieved suddenly, but only gradually.
The abbot, who at the time of the monk Raifa monastery, which was located in the neighborhood, was also called John. In part, it is to him that we should be grateful for the book "The Ladder". Knowing about the lofty life, wisdom and spiritual gifts of the monk, the Raifa abbot, on behalf of all the monks of his monastery, asked him to compile a manual for spiritual perfection, “like a ladder of affirmation, which raises those who wish to the Heavenly gates ...”. The Monk John, who had a modest opinion of himself, was at first embarrassed, but then, out of obedience, he fulfilled the request. After four years of managing the monastery, having finished the book, the Monk John again withdrew into his wilderness and at the age of 80 peacefully reposed in the Lord.
miniature icon
“Any icon shows a transfigured world – a spiritual one,” says art critic and lecturer at the PSTGU restoration department Sofya Sverdlova. - Therefore, such categories as time and space are depicted very conditionally. For example, on our icon, St. John of the Ladder does not have a halo, although there is an inscription that he is a saint. Why is that? The fact is that on the icon he himself is still only walking up the stairs, there are three steps ahead - there is no halo above his head yet, but the icon painter knew that the monk had ascended to the Lord and was holy, - probably that’s why he “in advance” signed by saints. Often in hagiographic icons, saints are depicted with a halo already in childhood. Although these children probably do not yet know themselves that they will become martyrs or ascetics, we do know that they are holy, and holiness is in eternity, out of time.”
It even happens that saints from different eras are written on the same icon side by side. Following St. John, a man in snow-white episcopal robes rises up the stairs - this is the hegumen of the Sinai monastery, Archbishop Anthony, who lived in the XI century (five centuries after St. John). It is doubtful that he himself would bless such an exaltation of his - to be written after the saint, so revered at Sinai and a few steps from Christ! Probably, the miniature, from which the image for the Ladder icon was subsequently taken, was written after the blessed death of the holy archbishop in a manuscript ordered by the Byzantine emperor for the Sinai monastery.
“A lot of people worked on the creation of manuscripts,” explains Sofya Sverdlova, “clerks, miniaturists. The "Ladder" known to us was the initial miniature in the book, but not the only one. There were also small “marginal” illustrations, so named because of their location in the margins of the manuscript. Many such handwritten "Ladder" were written. Not all, but some of them were decorated with a whole collection of miniatures: figures of saints doing needlework, carving spoons, weaving baskets, or hurrying to the temple to serve. Separate images, like the image of the “Ladder”, migrated over time to the walls of temples, to frescoes and icons and began to be revered along with the texts and even separately from them. Images of St. Gerasimos of Jordan with a lion or St. Paul of Thebes, to whom a raven brings bread, also originally existed in the form of separate scenes in miniature.
Are the angels idle?
“God is incomprehensible, unknown, unknowable,” says Sofya Sverdlova. - Its essence is inaccessible to man and surpasses our perception immeasurably. It is impossible to see the divine light, therefore, paradoxically, in the icon it is sometimes presented as darkness. This "divine darkness" is depicted in the icon in dark blue, almost black. The Lord Jesus Christ is written in the "Ladder" against a blue background, but this is not the color of the sky, as one might think, these are heavenly spheres, unknowable, incommunicable by simple earthly means and impossible to perceive with limited human abilities.
Below, under the hill, monks stand (this is a collective image of the Sinai monks and monks in general) and look at those going up: they heed the teachings of the monk, study his instructions - they study spiritual science. The monks on the way to the Upper Mountain suffer temptations - demons drag them with hooks and tongs from the saving ladder into the hellish abyss. They grab the legs, sit on the scruff of the neck, beat them painfully, shoot from bows, and seem to be successful in their undertaking.
Angels are written in the form of beautiful youths, ideal proportions, ideal facial features, possessing physical perfection. The hands of the angels are covered - covered with cloth: this is an ancient sign, it means in this case a special reverence - before Christ, to whom they fall and pray for the monks struggling with their passions. Images of angels in such an anthropomorphic form appear in the 5th century, exactly as we see them here - this image came from antiquity. On our icon, the angels, who seem to be supposed to resist demonic machinations and push the monks in the back, seem to be inactive and only look from above with an expression of some sorrow on their faces. Why such injustice? Perhaps the artist wanted to show with this scene that the monks going to God are not a bone of contention between the forces of light and darkness. Those who seek salvation are completely independent spiritual units, and the fall of some is precisely their personal fall. And the demons, no matter how hard they try, in reality cannot influence the personal choice of each monk, but the invisible prayer of the angels is a real help on the way!”
Perspective in an icon If you look at the road going into the distance, it will seem narrower. In the icon, it is the other way around: all the lines converge towards the person. In iconography, this is called reverse perspective: objects also expand as they move away from the viewer. Such a perspective made it possible to unfold the buildings in such a way that the details and scenes “obscured” by them were opened, which expanded the information content of the icon narrative. What does circle mean |
