St. John, called Climacus from his book “The Ladder (Climax)
of Paradise,” was born about the year 525. At the age of sixteen he
renounced all worldly goods to dedicate himself to God in the
religious state. For forty years he lived as a solitary in his
hermitage at the foot of Mount Sinai. In the year 600 he was
chosen Abbot of Mount Sinai and superior-general of all the
monks and hermits in that country. So wide was his reputation that
St. Gregory the Great, who was then Pope, wrote to him
recommending himself to his prayers and sent him gifts for his
hospital near Mount Sinai.
St. John never sought for glory or for fame; on the contrary, he
endeavored to hide the natural and supernatural gifts with which
he was endowed, in order the better to practice humility.
His famous work, the “Climax” was written only in deference to
the will of another. It is a spiritual treatise consisting of concise
sentences and affording several examples that illustrate the
monastic life of that period. Four years he governed the monastery
of Mount Sinai, sighing constantly under the weight of his dignity,
which he resigned shortly before his death. Heavenly
contemplation and the continual exercise of divine love and praise
were his delight and comfort in his earthly pilgrimage. On March
30, 605, the blessed life of this great saint came to an end in the
hermitage that had witnessed his uninterrupted communing with
God. From the time he entered the monastic state, St. John had
earnestly applied himself to root out of his heart self-complacency
in his actions; he practiced silence as a means of acquiring
humility, and he made it a rule never to contradict, never to
dispute with anyone. He appeared to have no will of his own, so
great was his submission.
PRAYER: May the intercession of Blessed Abbot John commend
us to Thee, we beseech Thee, O Lord, so that what we do not
deserve by any merits of our own, we may obtain by his
patronage. Amen. Lives of the Saints, pages 130-131