The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

Canonised Father of the Church

John Climacus

Also known as John of the Ladder; John Scholasticus of Sinai

Abbot of the monastery on Sinai and author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, read aloud in Orthodox monasteries every Lent.

  • Received Orthodox teachingTaught consistently and received throughout the Orthodox Church, though not necessarily formulated in a conciliar definition. This is not a claim that no Father ever wrote differently.
  • Liturgical witnessAttested in the Church's worship — in a hymn, a prayer, a rite or a commemoration. Liturgical language is theological rather than casual, but a hymn is not a canon.
  • Historical consensusBroadly agreed among historians working from the surviving evidence. Consensus can shift when the evidence or the method changes.

Awaiting official-source verification Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

What still needs checking (2)
  • No work of John Climacus is archived here. Obtain a public-domain edition of The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
  • Confirm the commemoration against an official Orthodox source.

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Dates
around 579 - around 649 — Dates uncertain; even the century has been argued over.
Region
Mount Sinai
Language of composition
Greek
Commemoration
30 March, and the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent (Orthodox Church in America and other Orthodox jurisdictions) — The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to him. Julian-calendar jurisdictions observe the fixed date thirteen days later on the civil calendar.

Life

John entered the monastery at Sinai as a young man, lived many years as a solitary, and was made abbot late in life. Almost nothing else about him can be established.

The Ladder was written at the request of the abbot of a neighbouring monastery. It sets out the ascetic life as thirty steps, one for each year of Christ s hidden life, from renunciation to faith, hope and love.

Works

Generally accepted as authentic

  • The Ladder of Divine Ascent — Not archived here.
  • To the Shepherd — A short companion work for those with responsibility for others. Not archived here.

Theological and spiritual contribution

The Ladder is the standard Orthodox handbook of the ascetic life, appointed to be read in monasteries through Great Lent and read far more widely than that. Its analysis of the passions is precise and unsentimental, and its step on remembrance of death is among the most quoted passages in Byzantine spirituality.

It was written by a monk for monks, and the tradition has always known that. Its counsels are not a programme for a layperson to adopt privately; that is exactly the kind of application that needs a priest or spiritual father.

  • Isaac the Syrian

    A seventh-century ascetic writer of extraordinary tenderness, read throughout the Orthodox world — and a bishop of the Church of the East, which was not in communion with the Church that later received his writings.

    Father or writer

  • Anthony the Great

    The Egyptian ascetic whose withdrawal into the desert, as Athanasius told it, gave the monastic movement its pattern and its most influential book.

    Father or writer

  • The ascetic life

    Fasting, prayer and the healing of the passions — as therapy, not as achievement.

    Theme

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Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Seven Ecumenical Councils, general introduction annotated edition of conciliar texts No work of John Climacus is archived here. This page states what it rests on and records the gap. Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.