In the Orthodox Sacred Tradition the three phases of sanctification are purification, illumination, and deification (theosis). Simply put, it’s the process to purify the soul while a person is still alive. To enable each person to restore the likeness of God and become a living icon of God.

The ethos, having been set by Jesus Christ and his Holy Apostles who ultimately lived glorified lives by experience, is perpetuated in an unbroken chain by the succession of saints and monastics who followed. One of those great men is Saint John Climacus, abbot of Mount Sinai Monastery in Egypt. Saint John wrote this work especially for monastics, but it has been used by laypeople alike.

To quote Metropolitan Philaret “We see how one virtue leads to another, as a man rises higher and higher and finally attains to that height where their abides the crown of the virtues, which is called ‘Christian love”… Now, if the Christian, who is ascending upon this ladder of spiritual perfection by his struggles and ascetic labours, ceases from this work and ascetic toil, his soul will not remain in its former condition; but like a stone, it will fall to the earth. More and more quickly will it drop until, finally, if the man does not come to his senses, it will cast him down into the very abyss of Hell.”

Step 1
On renunciation of the world

3. God belongs to all free beings. He is the life of all, the salvation of all – faithful and unfaithful, just and unjust, pious and impious, passionate and dispassionate, monks and laymen, wise and simple, healthy and sick, young and old – just as the effusion of light, the sight of the sun, and the changes of the seasons are for all alike; ‘for there is no respect of persons with God.’ (Romans 2:11)
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5. All who have willingly left the things of the world, have certainly done so for the sake of the future Kingdom, or because of the multitude of their sins, or for love of God. If they were not moved by any of these reasons, their withdrawal from the world was unreasonable. But God who sets our contests waits to see what the end of our course will be.
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10. Those who enter the contest must renounce all things, despise all things, deride all things, and shake off all things, that they may lay a firm foundation. A good foundation of three layers and three pillars is innocence, fasting, and temperance. Let all babes in Christ begin with these virtues, taking as their model the natural babes. For you never find anything in them sly or deceitful. They have no insatiate appetite, no insatiable stomach, no body on fire, or raging like a beast; but perhaps as they grow, in proportion as they take more food, their natural passions also increase.
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13. The man who renounces the world from fear is like burning incense, that begins with fragrance but ends in smoke. He who leaves the world through hope of reward is like a millstone, that always moves in the same way.* But he who withdraws from the world out of love for God has obtained fire at the very outset; and, like fire set to fuel, it soon kindles a larger fire.

* That is, revolves round itself, is self-centered.
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20. If an earthly king were to call us and request us to serve in his presence, we should not delay for other orders, we should not make excuses, but we should leave everything and eagerly go to him. Let us then be on the alert, lest when the King of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods calls us to his heavenly office, we beg off out of sloth and cowardice and find ourselves without excuse at the Last Judgment. It is possible to walk, even when tied with the fetters of worldly affairs and iron cares, but only with difficulty. For even those who have iron chains on their feet can often walk; but they are continually stumbling and getting hurt. An unmarried man, who is only tied to the world by business affairs, is like one who has fetters on his hands; and therefore, when he wishes to hasten to the monastic life, he has nothing to hinder him. But the married man is like one who is bound hand and foot.
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21. Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: ‘We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?’ I replied to them: ‘Do all the good you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from anyone; do not lie to anyone; do not be arrogant towards anyone; do not hate anyone; do not be absent from the divine services; be compassionate to the needy; do not offend anyone; do not wreck another man’s domestic happiness, and be content with what your own wives can give you. If you behave in this way, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven.’

Source Credit: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (ISBN 978-0-943405-03-2) Holy Transfiguration Monastery – Brookline, Massachusetts

Step 2
On detachment

The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real effort to find the future Kingdom, who is really pained by his sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment, who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love, care, or worry about money, or possessions, or parents, or worldly glory, or friends, or brothers, or anything at all on earth. But having shaken off all ties with earthly things and having stripped himself of all his cares, and having come to hate even his own flesh, and having stripped himself of everything, he will follow Christ without anxiety or hesitation, always looking Heavenward and expecting help from there, according to the word of the saint: My soul hath cleaved after Thee (Psalm 62:8); and according to that other ever-memorable man who said: I have not wearied of following Thee, nor have I desired the day or rest of man, O Lord. (Jeremiah 17:16)
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3. After our renunciation of the world, the demons suggest to us that we should envy those living in the world who give alms and console [the needy], and be sorry for ourselves as deprived of those virtues. The aim of our foes is, by false humility, either to make us return to the world, or, if we remain monks, to plunge us into despair. It is possible to belittle those living in the world out of conceit; and it is also possible to disparage them behind their backs in order to avoid despair and to obtain hope.
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5. Having resolved to run our race with ardour and fervour, let us consider carefully how the Lord gave judgment concerning all living things in the world, speaking of those who are alive as dead, when he said to someone: Leave those in the world who are dead to bury the dead in body (Matthew 8:22). His wealth did not in the least prevent the young man from being baptized. And so it is in vain that some say that the Lord commanded him to sell what he had for the sake of baptism. This* is more than sufficient to give us the most firm assurance of the surpassing glory of our vow.

* I.e. the story of the rich young man
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9. No one will enter the heavenly bridechamber wearing a crown unless he makes the first, second, and third renunciation. I mean the renunciation of all concerns, and people, and parents; the cutting out of one’s will; and the third renunciation, of conceit that dogs obedience. ‘Come out from among them, and be ye separate,’ saith the Lord, ‘and touch not the impurity of the world’ (2 Corinthians 6:17). For who amongst them has ever worked any miracles? Who has raised the dead? Who has driven out devils? No one. All these are the victorious rewards of monks, rewards which the world can’t receive; and if it could, then what is the need of ascetism and solitude?
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11. If anyone thinks he is without attachment to some object, but is grieved at its loss, then he is completely deceiving himself.
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12. If young people who are prone to the desires of physical love and to luxurious ways wish to enter the monastic life, let them exercise themselves in all sobriety and prayer, and persuade themselves to abstain from all luxury and guile, lest their last state be worse than their first (Matthew 12:45). This harbour provides safety, but also exposes one to danger. Those who sail the spiritual seas know this. For it is a pitiful sight to behold those who have survived perils at sea suffering shipwreck in the harbour.
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This is the second step. Let those who run the race imitate not Lot’s wife, but Lot himself, and flee.

Source Credit: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (ISBN 978-0-943405-03-2) Holy Transfiguration Monastery – Brookline, Massachusetts

Step 3
On exile

Exile means that we leave forever everything in our own country that prevents us from reaching the goal of piety. Exile means modest manners, wisdom which remains unknown, prudence not recognized as such by most, a hidden life, an invisible intention, unseen meditation, desire for humiliation, longing for hardship, constant determination to love God, abundance of love, renunciation of vainglory, depth of silence.
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4. In hastening to solitude and exile, do not wait for world-loving souls, because the thief comes unexpectedly. In trying to save the careless and indolent along with themselves, many perish with them, because in course of time the soul’s fire goes out. As soon as the flame is burning within you, run; for you do not know when it will go out and leave you in darkness. Not all of us are required to save others. The divine Apostle says: ‘Everyone of us shall give an account of himself to God.’ (Romans 14:12) And again he says: ‘Though therefore that teaches another, dost thou not teach thyself?’ (Romans 2:21) This is like saying: I do not know whether we must all teach others; but we must certainly teach ourselves.
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5. In going into exile, beware of the demon of drifting and of sensual desire; because exile gives him opportunity.
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7. Have you become an exile from the world? Do not touch the world anymore; because the passions desire nothing better than to return.
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8. Eve was exiled from Paradise against her will, but the monk is a willing exile from his home. She would have liked the tree of disobedience again; and he would certainly expose himself daily to frequent danger from relatives according to the flesh.
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9. Run from places of sin as from the plague. For when fruit is not present, we have no frequent desire to eat it.
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11. When we have lived a year or two away from our family, and have acquired some piety or contrition or continence, then vain thoughts begin to rise up in us and urge us to go again to our homeland, ‘for the edification of many,’ they say, ‘and as an example, and for the profit of those who saw our former lax life.’ And if we possess the gift of eloquence and some shreds of knowledge, the thought occurs to us that we could be saviours of souls and teachers in the world, that we may waste in the sea what we have gathered so well in the harbour. Let us try to imitate not Lot’s wife, but Lot himself. For when a soul turns back to what it has left, like salt, it loses its savour and becomes henceforth useless. (Genesis 19:26) (Matthew 5:23) Run from Egypt without looking back; because the hearts which look back upon it with affection shall not see Jerusalem, the land of dispassion*. Those who left their own people in childlike simplicity at the beginning, and have since been completely purified, may profitably return to their former land, perhaps even with the intention, after saving themselves, of saving others too. Yet Moses, who was allowed to see God Himself and was sent by God for the salvation of his own people, met many dangers in Egypt, that is to say, dark periods in the world.

* ‘Dispassion,’ Greek ἀπάθεια, Jerusalem means ‘City of Peace.’ The only true peace is freedom from passion, and the technical word for this is ‘dispassion.’
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13. He is an exile who, having knowledge, sits like one of foreign speech amongst people of another tongue.
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18. For our solitary life let us choose places where there are fewer opportunities from comfort and ambition, but more for humility. Otherwise, we shall be fleeing in company with our passions.
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19. Hide your noble birth and do not glory in your distinction, lest you be found to be one thing in word and another in deed.
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22. When men or demons praise us for our exile, as for some great exploit or achievement, then let us think of Him who for our sake was exiled from Heaven to earth, and we shall find that throughout all eternity it is impossible for us to make return for this.
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23. Attachment either to some particular relative or to strangers is dangerous. Little by little it can entice us back to the world, and completely quench the fire of our compunction. It is impossible to look at the sky with one eye and at the earth with the other, and it is equally impossible for anyone not to expose his soul to danger who has not separated himself completely, both in thought and body, from his own relatives and others.

Concerning dreams that beginners have

25. It is impossible to hide the fact that our mind, which is the organ of knowledge, is extremely imperfect and full of all kinds of ignorance. The palate distinguishes different foods, the hearing discerns thoughts, the sun reveals the weakness of the eyes, and words betray a soul’s ignorance. But the law of love is an incentive to attempt things that are beyond our capacity. And so I think (but I do not dogmatize) that after a chapter on exile, or rather in this very chapter, something should be inserted about dreams, so that we may not be in the dark concerning this trickery of our wily foes.
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27. The reason we have decided to speak about dreams here is obvious. When we leave our homes and relatives for the Lord’s sake, and sell ourselves into exile for the love of God, then the demons try to disturb us with dreams, representing to us that our relatives are either grieving or dying, or are held captive for our sake and are destitute. But he who believes in dreams is like a person running after his own shadow and trying to catch it.
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28. The demons of vainglory prophesy in dreams. Being unscrupulous, they guess the future and foretell it to us. When these visions come true, we are amazed; and we are elated with the thought that we are already near to the gift of foreknowledge. A demon is often a prophet to those who believe him, but he is always a liar to those who despise him. Being a spirit, he sees what is happening in this lower air, and noticing that someone is dying, he foretells it through dreams to the more light-minded. But the demons know nothing about the future from foreknowledge. For if they did, then the fortunetellers would also be able to foretell our death.
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29. Demons often transform themselves into angels of light, and take the form of martyrs, and make it appear to us during sleep that we are communicating with them. Then, when we wake up, they plunge us into unholy joy and deceit. But you can detect their deceit by this very fact. For angels reveal torments, judgements, and separations; and when we wake up we find that we are trembling and sad. As soon as we begin to believe the demons in dreams, then they make sport of us when we are awake too. He who believes in dreams is completely inexperienced. But he who distrusts all dreams is a wise man. Only believe dreams that warn you of torments and judgements. But if despair afflicts you, then such dreams are also from demons.
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This is the third step, which is equal in number to the Trinity. He who has reached it, let him not look to the right hand nor to the left.

Source Credit: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (ISBN 978-0-943405-03-2) Holy Transfiguration Monastery – Brookline, Massachusetts

Coming soon step 4

The Ladder of Divine Ascent

STEP 1 On renunciation of the world
STEP 2 On detachment
STEP 3 On exile
STEP 4 On blessed and ever-memorable obedience
STEP 5 On painstaking and true repentance which constitutes the life of holy convicts; and about the Prison
STEP 6 On remembrance of death
STEP 7 On joy-making mourning
STEP 8 On freedom from anger and meekness
STEP 9 On remembrance of wrongs
STEP 10 On slander and calumny
STEP 11 On talkativeness and silence
STEP 12 On lying
STEP 13 On despondency
STEP 14 On that clamorous mistress, the stomach
STEP 15 On incorruptible purity and chastity, to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat
STEP 16 On love of money, or avarice
STEP 17 On non-possessiveness (that hastens one Heavenward)
STEP 18 On insensibility, that is deadening of the soul and the death of the mind before the death of the body
STEP 19 On sleep, prayer, and psalmody with the brotherhood
STEP 20 On bodily vigil, and how to use it to attain spiritual vigil, and how to practise it
STEP 21 On unmanly and puerile cowardice
STEP 22 On the many forms of vainglory
STEP 23 On mad pride, and, in the same Step, on unclean blasphemous thoughts
STEP 24 On meekness, simplicity, and guileness which come not from nature but from conscious effort, and about guile
STEP 25 On the destroyer of the passions, most sublime humility, which is rooted in spiritual perception
STEP 26 On discernment of thoughts, passions, and virtues
On expert discernment
STEP 27 On holy stillness of body and soul
Different aspects of stillness and how to distinguish them
STEP 28 On holy and blessed prayer, the mother of virtues, and on the attitude of mind and body in prayer
STEP 29 Concerning Heaven on earth, or Godlike dispassion and perfection, and the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection
STEP 30 Concerning the linking together of the supreme trinity among the virtues

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