The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Description

The Ladder of Divine Ascent is an ascetic work written for monastics by John Climacus around 600 AD for John, the Abbot of Raithu, a monastery located on the shores of the Red Sea. The work proved to be popular even outside monasteries. At present, it is widely read in the Eastern Orthodox church, especially during the period of Lent before Easter. The book presents the means of ascending to the highest degree of religious perfection by a series of thirty steps, which recall the thirty years of the life of Christ, the most holy example of religious perfection.