John Climacus

Venerable John Climacus, author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

St. John Climacus came to Mount Sinai as a young man and spent his whole life there, first in obedience to an elder, then in long years of stillness in the desert, and finally as abbot of the great monastery of Sinai. At the request of another abbot he wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent, describing thirty steps of the spiritual life leading from renunciation to love.

The Ladder became one of the most beloved books of Orthodox spirituality, read in monasteries every Great Lent. He is commemorated on March 30 and on the fourth Sunday of the Fast.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, John Climacus is commemorated on March 30. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on April 12 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

John, Ioannis, Yiannis

Also commemorated on March 30

• Zacharias of Corinth

  Hierarch, Ζαχαρίας Κορίνθου

  Hieromartyr Zacharias, Metropolitan of Corinth, beheaded by the Ottomans.

• John of Jerusalem

  Hierarch, Ιωάννης Ιεροσολύμων

  Saint John, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

• Euboule

  Holy Woman, Ευβούλη

  Righteous Euboule, mother of the Great Martyr Panteleimon.

  Name days: Evvouli, Euboule, Evouli

• Viktor the Martyr

  Martyr, Βίκτωρ

  Holy Martyr Viktor.

• Sophronios of Irkutsk

  Hierarch, Σωφρόνιος Ιρκούτσκ

  Saint Sophronios, Bishop of Irkutsk, missionary of Siberia.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.