This saint wrote “the ladder of spiritual perfection”

              March 30 -- St. John Climacus

Palestine was the birthplace of St. John Climacus in 525.  He was well known among his peers for his studious nature and virtuous inclinations. 

Upon turning sixteen, he decided to shun worldly things and to dedicate his life to asceticism by seeking the instruction of the holy hermit, Martyrius. 

His progress was so extraordinary that he earned the title of Scholastic.  When Martyrius died, St. John had spent nineteen years under his tutelage.  Now was the time to embrace the eremitical life at the foot of Mount Sinai where he was regarded as another Moses.

In the fashion of this great Prophet, St. John, through his prayers and mortifications, was able to obtain a relief from the great famine and drought of the time.

His famous work, "The Ladder of Spiritual Perfection", is an excellent work describing all the Christian virtues-a true primer which instructs the religious about how to ascend the Heavenly "ladder".

The following prayer composed by St. John Climacus gives a great insight into the magnitude of his soul:

“My God, I pretend to  nothing upon this earth, except to be so firmly united to You by prayer that to be separated from You may be impossible;  let others desire riches and glory; for my part, I desire but one thing, and that is, to be inseparably united to You, and to place in You alone all my hopes of happiness and repose."

May St. John Climacus grant us the grace of the same sentiments.