Saint John Climacus

Also known as

• John of the Ladder
• John Scholasticus
• John the Sinaita

Memorial

• 30 March

Profile

Well educated and came to adulthood in a intellectual environment. Monk on Mount Sinai at age 16. Hermit in various places in the Arabian Desert. Abbot at Mount Sinai at age 75. Just before his death he resigned his position to return to his solitary life. Ascetical writer whose works have for 15 centuries influenced those seeking the holy life.

Born

• between 505 and 579 in Syria

Died

• between 605 and 649 on Mount Sinai of natural causes

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Representation

• abbot carrying a ladder
• man having a vision of a ladder being scaled by monks

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Encyclopedia
• Catholic Herald
• Catholic News Agency
• Katherine Rabenstein
• Introduction to The Ladder of Divine Ascent
• Lenten Synaxarion
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• Lives of the Saints, by Monsignor Paul Guérin
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Orthodox America
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Wikipedia: John Climacus
• Wikipedia: Ladder of Divine Ascent

Works

• The Climax: The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Readings

A chaste man is completely oblivious to the difference between bodies. The rule and limit of absolute chastity is to have the same feelings regarding animate and inanimate beings, rational and irrational. - Saint John Climacus

MLA Citation

• “Saint John Climacus“. Saints.SQPN.com. 8 April 2013. Web. 22 May 2013. <>