St John Climacus a Physician for the Soul during Lent

St John Climacus Source

The blessed time of Lent is very near. In Orthodox monasteries
around the world, The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St John 

Climacus is read out loud during the common meals. Orthodox laymen also read it for their edification.

The writings of our holy Father among the saints, John,  are
the expression of his life in Christ and the fruit of many years
of observations as a spiritual father in the Monastery of
St. Catherine, in the desert of Sinai, Egypt.

St John truly, profoundly, knows human nature both in virtue
 and in spiritual illness. He is able to diagnose both the illness
and the cure for all the maladies that affect man. His wisdom
is universal and timeless.

His words are like sharp and precise surgical knives effectivelyremoving the cancers from our souls. Reading his words hurts but if this pain is accepted and endured with patience, if one follows the treatment prescribed by this physician of the soul,the end result will be wholeness and eternal life.

I can't help being in awe when I read;

“Simplicity is a constant habit of soul that has become

immune to crafty thinking. 

Guilelessness is a joyous state of soul far removed from all

ulterior motive. 

Guile is a perversion of honesty, a deluded way of thinking,

a lying disposition, false oaths, ambiguous words, a dark

secrecy of heart, an abyss of cunning, deceit that has become

habit, conceit turned into nature, a foe to humility, a pretense

of repentance, an estrangement from mourning, hostility to 

confession, a teacher of willfulness, a cause of falls, a hindrance

to resurrection, a smiling at offences, affected frowning, sham

reverence, diabolical life.” 

St John Climacus in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, p.146-147,

Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline MA 1979

Spanish translation by David Robles:
“La sencillez es un hábito constante del alma que se ha vuelto

inmune al pensamiento astuto. 

La inocencia es un estado feliz del alma libre de todas segundas

intenciones.

La astucia es una perversión de la honestidad, una manera ilusa 

de pensar, una disposición mentirosa, falsos juramentos, palabras

ambiguas, un secreto oscuro del corazón, un abismo de sagacidad, 

el engaño que se ha convertido en hábito, la presunción convertida

en carácter, un enemigo de la humildad, una pretensión de 

arrepentimiento, el distanciamiento del lamento (espiritual), la 

hostilidad a la confesión, una maestra de testarudez, una causa de

caídas, un obstáculo para la resurrección, sonreirse cuando 

ofendido, un ceñudo afectado, reverencia fingida, una vida diabólica."
San Juan Clímaco