Ladder of Divine Ascent

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TempleofTheSoul

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I was watching a wonderful video online at Amazon called “Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer” and was in awe of the wisdom contained in the film. This is the first time that I have ever had to take notes whilst I was watching a film! It was a joy to watch and brought so much peace to my soul.

In the film it mentioned the writings of Saint John Climacus…in particular “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”. I was so intrigued by what they were saying about it that I looked it up on Amazon and came across a condensed version of the Ladder that left me spiritually desiring to read the complete text.

From what I read on Amazon in the reviews there are two versions of the Ladder in print… one by Paulist Press that has an introduction by his eminence Kallistos Ware. The other version is by Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

It seems that most of the reviews preferred the HTM version. Unfortunately, this version is no longer in print as I checked HTM’s online store and it isn’t available.

Does anyone know of another copy of the Ladder that is faithful to the Greek and comes highly recommended? Are there any online ebooks of the complete text of the Ladder? or will I have to be content pining away for the HTM copy? 😦

Any leads or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

God bless
 
Go with the edition published by Paulist Press as part of their “Classics of Western Spirituality” series. It is a perfectly good translation, and one can find it for a very affordable price pretty much anywhere (on the internet) that used books are sold. I know Met. Kallistos Ware uses several books from the “Classics of Western Spirituality” series. He is a Greek/Classics scholar (having worked extensively in translating Greek spiritual texts himself), so if such a series has his approval, it can be considered a reliable and faithful translation of the original.
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
Go with the edition published by Paulist Press as part of their “Classics of Western Spirituality” series. It is a perfectly good translation, and one can find it for a very affordable price pretty much anywhere (on the internet) that used books are sold. I know Met. Kallistos Ware uses several books from the “Classics of Western Spirituality” series. He is a Greek/Classics scholar (having worked extensively in translating Greek spiritual texts himself), so if such a series has his approval, it can be considered a reliable and faithful translation of the original.
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Thank you so much for your valuable insight. It is great to know that Met. Kallistos Ware uses several books from the series. I will be purchasing the Paulist Press edition if that is the case.

Thanks again and God bless
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
Thank you so much for your valuable insight. It is great to know that Met. Kallistos Ware uses several books from the series. I will be purchasing the Paulist Press edition if that is the case.

Thanks again and God bless
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My pleasure. 😃 Incidentally, not that it really matters, but it is also the translation that I own. It is very good. Plus, the introduction by the good Metropolitan is quite extensive. It’ll give you a good background to what exactly it is you are reading. 👍

One other thing, among Eastern/Byzantine Catholics we have a custom of reading the Ladder during Great Lent. It’s set up, if memory serves me correctly, so that you can read a chapter (step) per day and be finished with the entire work by Holy Week.

ICXC + NIKA,
Phillip
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
My pleasure. 😃 Incidentally, not that it really matters, but it is also the translation that I own. It is very good. Plus, the introduction by the good Metropolitan is quite extensive. It’ll give you a good background to what exactly it is you are reading. 👍

One other thing, among Eastern/Byzantine Catholics we have a custom of reading the Ladder during Great Lent. It’s set up, if memory serves me correctly, so that you can read a chapter (step) per day and be finished with the entire work by Holy Week.

ICXC + NIKA,
Phillip
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Yes, in searching through google to see if there was an online version of the Ladder I was constantly coming across Orthodox websites that posted a “rung” (I am guessing this is another word for Chapter) from the Ladder specifically for Great Lent. I find this to be a wonderful spiritual practice.

Thanks again for the additional information. I always love learning more about the Eastern churches and its traditions. Oh! and if I should say anything incorrectly about the Eastern Churches please correct me. 😊

God bless
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
Yes, in searching through google to see if there was an online version of the Ladder I was constantly coming across Orthodox websites that posted a “rung” (I am guessing this is another word for Chapter) from the Ladder specifically for Great Lent. I find this to be a wonderful spiritual practice.

Thanks again for the additional information. I always love learning more about the Eastern churches and its traditions. Oh! and if I should say anything incorrectly about the Eastern Churches please correct me. 😊

God bless
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👍
 
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