St. John Climacus and St. Mary of Egypt

As we approach the last week of Lent I am thinking about this past Sunday, and the one upcoming. Last Sunday was the day of St. John Climacus. His treatise, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent" points us to the need for discipline, ascesis, in our lives. I remember vividly being at Voronet Monastery in Bucovina, Romania and seeing their rendition of his ladder

on the wall of the chapel. I wasn't Orthodox at the time, but I was struck by the message: we can fall at any time, no matter where we are on the spiritual path, no matter how much we know about God, no matter how well we know God, no matter what others think of us. St. John Climacus cautions us to be systematic in our spiritual walk, and not to take anything for granted.

This upcoming week, this last Sunday of Lent is that of St. Mary of Egypt . Her story

is absolutely incredible and I would commend you to look it up and read it for yourself. She was the epitome of a sinner: a prostitute who planned to seduce pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Her conversion and subsequent life is one of the greatest examples of crucifying the flesh, and living for God. As Fr. Lev Gillett has said,

"She is a symbol of conversion, of contrition, and of austerity. On this last Sunday of Lent , she expresses the last and most urgent call that the Church addresses to us before the sacred days of the Passion and the Resurrection."

We might think that Mary of Egypt was so bad that she was not even on the ladder to heaven. We might be quick to compare ourselves to her. But, in the comparing we have already placed ourselves well below her on the ladder. Her message to us is that no matter how sinful we are, no matter how fleshly we are, no matter what we have done, there is always hope. And, there is always the opportunity to do something ourselves about our behavior. As the Forerunner said, "repent". I have much to repent of each day. Lord willing, I will have less to repent of tomorrow than I have today. As Abba Dorotheos has said, don't let our passions become habits. Let us root out our habits before they grow too large. St. John Climacus points the way. St. Mary of Egypt points the way. In these last days of Lent, may all of us redouble our efforts that we might find more of God's grace and mercy in the days to come.