Vatican City, Feb 11, 2009 / 09:44 am
After 20 catecheses devoted to St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI returned to his teachings on the great Christian writers of both East and West, reflecting on St. John Climacus. The Holy Father held up St. John Climacus, whose name means "ladder," and whose greatest work is titled “Ladder of Paradise,” as a reminder of the need for “continual conversion and purification with the help of the Holy Spirit.”
Speaking to 8,000 people in Paul VI Hall today, the Pope explained that in the first part of “Ladder of Paradise,” St. John Climacus describes a “break with the world in order to go back to a true evangelical infancy, the time of childhood, in accordance with Jesus’ words.” John Climacus teaches that innocence, fasting and chastity are the “pillars” of this journey, the Pope said.
Every “newborn in Christ,” Pope Benedict continued, “learns from these things, which allow the soul to enter in communion with God.” “Blessed be those who mortify their will till the end,” John Climacus said, for they “shall be placed on the right of Christ.”
The rung of St. John’s ladder is the “spiritual struggle against passions.” John Climacus saw passions not as “bad in and of themselves,” but taught that they “become so when they are put to bad use by man’s freedom.” In fact, the Pope said summarizing the saint’s teaching, “If the passions are purified they open onto the path that leads to God.”