St. John Climacus Orthodox Saint History and Name Day Information
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It’s true that the saints are important to Orthodox Christians and play an important role in the history of the church. Each saint has his or her own feast day, and Christians who are named after these saints will celebrate their name days on this day. Some Orthodox Christians even prefer celebrate their name days as if it were their own birthday!
Saint John Climacus is one of those saints and his feast day is on March 30th if each year. Besides living an exemplary life, he also wrote a work that is still important to Christians today. Here’s more information about who he was and the role he played in the history of the church:
About Saint John Climacus
Saint John Climacus, also referred to as John Climacus the Righteous or John the Ladder. He was a monk at Saint Catherine’s Monastery, which was located at the bottom of Mount Sinai. He arrived at the monastery when he was sixteen years old and served the church there ever since.
His most notable contribution to the Christian faith is that he wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which has been inspiring Christians from centuries. It is especially common for Eastern Orthodox Christians to read this during Great and Holy Lent. He also wrote a series of thirty homilies related to one of the Christian virtues. Here is a quote from his works:
“Nothing equals or excels God’s mercies. Therefore, he who despairs is committing suicide. A sign of true repentance is the acknowledgment that we deserve all the afflictions, visible and invisible, that come upon us, and ever greater ones. Moses, after seeing God in the bush, returned again to Egypt, that is, to darkness and to the brick-making of Pharaoh, who was symbolical of the spiritual Pharaoh. But he went back again to the bush, and not only to the bush, but also up the mountain. Whoever has known divine vision will never despair of himself. Job became a beggar, but he became twice as rich again.”
Besides writing his works, he led a relatively solitary, monastic life. He spent his days in quiet, praying and finding ways to serve the Lord.
Hymns of Saint John Climacus
Saint John Climacus’s feast day is held on March 30th and during this day, we sing or chant a few special hymns. Here are the hymns after they had been translated into English:
Troparion (Tone 8)
- By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile
- And by your longing for God you brought forth fruits in abundance.
- By the radiance of miracles you illuminated the whole universe.
- O our holy Father John Climacus, pray to Christ our God to save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 1)
- You offered us your teachings as fruits of everlasting freshness,
- To sweeten the hearts of those who receive them with attention.
- O blessed and wise John, they are the rungs of a ladder,
- Leading the souls of those who honor you from earth to Eternal glory in Heaven!
As you can see, Saint John Climacus is important to the Orthodox Christian Church. His feast day is celebrated on March 30th of each year. Check the Name Day page for more information about other Orthodox Christian name days.
Source:
OrthodoxWiki – John Climacus – Also Image Source
Categorized in: Greek Orthodox Religious Information
This post was written by Greek Boston
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