Sunday of St. John Climacus

Reading

The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.

Apolytikion of Sun. of St. John Climacus

Plagal of the Fourth Tone

With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O John, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Kontakion of Sun. of St. John Climacus

Fourth Tone

Truly the Lord has set you in the sky of abstinence, as a fixed star giving light to the ends of the world, O John, our teacher and Father.

Blessed Feast Day

Share the feast of Sunday of St. John Climacus with an icon greeting ecard.

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