Primate of UOC speaks on the steps of spiritual ladder leading to salvation

Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: UOC's Press Service

On March 30, 2025, the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, Metropolitan Onuphry delivered a sermon to the faithful dedicated to St. John Climacus and his teaching on spiritual perfection.

In his homily during the Divine Liturgy at the Lavra’s Church of St. Agapitus of the Caves, His Beatitude noted that most of Great Lent had already passed, and each believer, to the extent of their strength, had endeavored to observe abstinence, resist sinful thoughts, and offer prayers. “Through fasting and prayer, we aim to ascend to the highest step of spiritual perfection,” he emphasized.

The Primate reminded that on this day, the Orthodox Church commemorates St. John Climacus, who lived in the 6th century and wrote The Ladder – a spiritual work describing the Christian path to holiness.

Drawing on the Beatitudes, the UOC Primate outlined the steps of spiritual ascent:

1. Spiritual poverty – the awareness of one’s dependence on God and the understanding that everything we possess is a gift from Him.
2. Mourning – born of recognizing our spiritual poverty and the desire to receive God’s grace.
3. Meekness – a state in which anger and hostility vanish, and a person becomes kind to all, even to enemies.
4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness – the pursuit not of human justice, but of God’s will, which leads to salvation.
5. Mercy – the ability to forgive others’ mistakes and sins, and the desire that God may forgive and bless all people.
6. Purity of heart – liberation from passions and vices, making the heart a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
7. Peacemaking – reconciliation with God and the ability to bring others into peace with God and with one another.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God – this is the highest honor a person can attain,” Metropolitan Onuphry noted.

In conclusion, the Metropolitan reminded the faithful that fasting and prayer are the means by which Christians grow spiritually: “They are the two wings that lift us higher and higher, or the two staffs on which we lean as we ascend the high mountain of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

His Beatitude urged believers not to neglect their spiritual growth and wished everyone a fruitful remainder of Great Lent so that they may joyfully celebrate the Feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Metropolitan Onuphry, for those who see God, paradise already begins here on earth.

Read also