The Fourth Sunday of Lent: forming virtue

On the 4th Sunday of Lent on the Byzantine liturgical calendar, we remember a great monastic father, St. John Climacus (579-649). He wrote a book called, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent,” encouraging his monks to grow in virtue. Various virtues and asdcetical practices are compared to rungs on a ladder. These are good disciplines for us also during the Lenten season.