Section 03: Renunciation and the Active Life
This section walks the first seven steps of The Ladder of Divine Ascent — the break with the world and the affective foundations of the active life. The two files cover, first, Steps 1–4 (renunciation, detachment, exile, and the long and famous step on obedience), and, second, Steps 5–7 (repentance and “the Prison,” the remembrance of death, and joy-making mourning — the gift of tears that is the heart of Lenten and monastic spirituality).
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Contents
| File | Topic |
|---|---|
| Steps of Renunciation | Steps 1–4: renunciation of the world, detachment, exile/pilgrimage, and the long step on obedience — the great Alexandrian coenobium, Isidore at the gate, the cook, and St. Acacius of Sinai who answered from the tomb |
| Repentance and Mourning | Steps 5–7: repentance as “a second baptism” and the eyewitness account of the Prison; the remembrance of death as “a daily death”; penthos and charmolypē — joy-making mourning and the gift of tears |
How to Use
- Read Steps of Renunciation for the foot of the ladder and for obedience, the foundational virtue of the cenobium and the field of John’s own nineteen years under Martyrios.
- Read Repentance and Mourning for the affective core of the Ladder — the steps that explain why it is the great book of Great Lent.
- The war on the passions proper begins in Section 04.
Cross-References
- For obedience’s counterpart, the abbot who receives it, see To the Shepherd
- For the despondency and gluttony that the remembrance of death drives out, see The Bodily and Mental Passions
- For obedience to the spiritual father in the wider tradition, see Spiritual Direction
- For the governing standard, see the repository Methodology