History of writing, translations, manuscript tradition and printed editions of “The Ladder”

Contents About the author About the handwritten tradition, translations and printed editions of the Ladder About the Russian translation of the Ladder, prepared in Optina Hermitage “The Ladder of Paradise” (“Κλῖμαξ τοῦ παραδείσου”, “Scala paradisi”) is one of the most read ascetic works in all Christian countries throughout all the centuries since its writing. Interest in it especially grew during periods of spiritual upsurge and revival of the ascetic tradition, which left us with many copies of the Ladder, translations into modern languages, and a number of commentaries and interpretations. The increased demand for the Ladder in Russia at the end of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries caused the appearance of a number of new translations, first into Slavic (by St. Paisius (Velichkovsky)), and then into modern Russian. In our time, the Ladder is known to Russian readers mainly from its translation, prepared in Optina Pustyn in the 1850s and published for the first time in 1862, which was reprinted many times until 1917 and in recent decades. This translation is reproduced in this book. The main source of information about the life of the author of the Ladder, St. John of Sinai, is the “Short Life” compiled by his contemporary Daniel, a monk of the Raifa Monastery (thirty kilometers southwest of Sinai). This life is supplemented by information from the commentaries and appendices with which the Ladder has been supplied over the centuries. Placed in a number of sources after the Brief Life, the story of “a certain monk of Sinai,” a contemporary of John, is composed mainly of “Various stories about the Sinai fathers” (a monument from the first half of the 7th century). Let us briefly outline the life of St. John here. He was born around 570 (579) 1, was raised in Greek culture and became famous for his learning. For this reason, John received the traditional name Scholastic in such cases. As a sixteen-year-old youth, he entered the Sinai monastery, built by Emperor Justinian and at that time already famous for its holy ascetics, one of whom was his spiritual mentor Abba Martyrius. At the age of twenty, John was tonsured a monk, and other great abbots, witnesses of the beginning of his monastic life, saw in him a great spiritual light and the future abbot of Sinai. After the death of Abba Martyrius, with whom he lived for 19 years, John retired from the monastery to a secluded cell, and then to a cave at the foot of Sinai, where he lived as a hermit for forty years. The seventy-five-year-old elder was summoned from his solitude by the Sinai monks, who elected him as their abbot. For four years the monk ruled the Sinai monastery, and then again withdrew into solitude, in which he remained until the end of his life, installing his brother George as abbot in his place. It is believed that St. John died at the age of 80–85 years. His memory is celebrated by the Church on March 30 (Old Art.) and in the 4th Sunday of Great Lent. The story of the sons of the Constantinople senator Xenophon and his wife Mary - John and Arkady (in the monasticism of George) (all four are commemorated on January 26 (old style)) is traditionally associated with John Climacus and his brother George. The brothers studied philosophy in Virit (Beirut), upon returning there from home they were shipwrecked, but were saved separately and accepted monasticism in Palestine. However, there are no reliable grounds for such an identification. The Ladder, as well as the addition to it, the Word to the Shepherd, were written at the request of the friend of St. John, the abbot of the Raifa monastery, also John, who compiled the first commentaries on the Ladder. Subsequently, comments appeared by Elijah, Archbishop of Crete (11th century), and other fathers. About the manuscript tradition, translations and printed editions of the Ladder There are several dozen manuscripts of the Ladder in ancient Greek, stored in the libraries of the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai and many Athonite monasteries. The Greek manuscript of the Ladder from 1285 is in the State Historical Museum in Moscow 2. The ancient Greek (original) text of the Ladder was first published by the German Jesuit Matthew Rader, and first, in 1606 in Augsburg, the Word to the Shepherd was published, and then in 1633 in Paris - the entire text of the Ladder along with commentaries (scholia). Despite the fact that Rader's text had many shortcomings, for 250 years it remained the only printed ancient Greek text, in 1860 it was included in the 88th volume of the Greek Patrology of Min (hereinafter - PG), (col. 596-1209), and in 1941, in Turin, it was reprinted almost unchanged by Peter Trevisan 3. In 1883, a new ancient Greek edition of the Ladder was undertaken in Constantinople by the hermit Sophronius, “who lived on Holy Mount Athos near the Great Lavra.” He took as a basis the manuscripts of the Dionysiates monastery 4. Admittedly, the text of Sophronius is much more perfect than the text of Rader 5. There is no critical edition of the Ladder. Some modern Greek translations of the Ladder remain, or until recently remained, in manuscript. Among these, we note the free translation with interpretations 6 of St. Nikephoros Callistus Xanthopoulos (XIV-XV centuries), published in 2002 in Preveza by Metropolitan Meletius of Nikopol 7 . The most famous printed modern Greek translation of the Ladder is the edition of Bishop Maximus (Margunius) of Cythera (Venice, 1590). The second chronologically printed translation with interpretations, belonging to Athanasius Baruch of Crete, hieromonk and didaskal, was first published in Venice in 1690. Its second edition (Venice, 1693) was used in the compilation of commentaries on the Ladder in Optina Hermitage in the 19th century. Another modern Greek translation, by Archimandrite Jeremiah the Cretan Sinai, was also published in Venice in 1774 and was reprinted many times. Currently, the best text is considered to be the text of the Ladder (modern Greek with parallel ancient Greek interlinear), published by the Paraklit monastery. It is based mainly on a 14th-century manuscript from the Stavronikita monastery, as well as on previous editions 8 . Let us note another interesting translation, belonging to the famous Byzantine canonist of the 14th century Matthew Blastarus. Wanting to improve the language of the Ladder, he translated it into classical ancient Greek. Currently, this work is being published in parts by Professor Panteleimon Paschos 9. The Ladder has been translated into many ancient and modern European languages. Among the latter, we note the French translation of the Catholic Jansenist monk Arnold d’Andilly, published in 1652, which was used in preparing the Optina edition of the Ladder. Slavic translations of the Ladder have been known since the 10th century. The most widespread, starting from the end of the 14th century, was the text rewritten in the Studian monastery of Constantinople by Metropolitan Cyprian of Kyiv and All Rus' in 1387 and three years later brought to Rus', probably by the metropolitan himself. It has been preserved in many lists 11 . The Slavic Ladder was first published in Moscow in 1647 from the manuscript of the Solovetsky monk-scribe Sergius (Shelonin) 12. In this edition, the text of the Ladder is accompanied by interpretations, which use excerpts from the writings of Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Saints Nikita Stiphatus, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, Peter of Damascus, Gregory of Sinaite, as well as Russian fathers - Saints Nilus of Sora, Maximus the Greek and others. At the end, stories from the Patericon of Sinai, Alphabet, Skete, Pechersk, hagiographic stories and other edifying stories for monks are added 13. At the beginning of the book, the order of reading the Ladder during the services of Great Lent is reported: “On Monday of the first week of Holy and Great Lent, at Matins, the book of St. Ephraim begins to honor the right country, and the holy Ladder begins at the third hour of the right country. And on Saturdays and weeks they honor the Sixth Day of Chrysostom with thirty words and perform it until the fifth week of fasting. They honor the holy Ladder: on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, on Thursday, at the third, sixth and ninth hours throughout the entire Pentecost, but on the heels only on the third and ninth, and on the sixth they do not honor anything, throughout the entire Pentecost, on the heels.” Using this publication, Metropolitan Philotheus (Leshchinsky) of Tobolsk 14 made a selection from the Ladder and provided it with his own additions and interpretations, thus creating the “Siberian Ladder,” the handwritten copy of which he presented to St. Dmitry of Rostov 15 . The translation of the Ladder of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) 16 dates back to the end of the 18th century. This translation, or at least its final edition, was made in the Moldavian Neametsky monastery, where book publishing was very widespread and at a high level for that time. Among the manuscripts of the Nyametsky monastery there is a Ladder, written by him with his own hand. Two copies of the “translation of Elder Paisius of Moldova” are kept in the Optina collection in the manuscripts department of the Russian State Library 17. The first of them was copied in the Bryansk Svensky Monastery by the Venerable Moses of Optina (then the ryassophore monk Timofey (Putilov)) in 1810. The second belonged to one of the main inspirers of translation and publishing works in the Optina Hermitage, the Monk Macarius (Ivanov), and was used in the preparation of the Optina edition of the Ladder. Let's look at it in a little more detail. On the first pages of the manuscript it is stated that “this book belongs to the Ploshchansky Hermitage Hieromonk Macarius, received with the blessing of the elder Schemamonk Athanasius in 1825” 18. The manuscript includes a Brief Life with an addition and letters, a Foreshadowing (which is included in the Slavic edition of 1647 and is missing in the Russian editions), a Preface and a Forewarning (combined in the Russian editions into a single Preface), separated by a table of contents, the Ladder itself and the Word to the Shepherd. The manuscript, executed in small semi-format, is divided into Words written in continuous text, without division into verses 19 - as in the Patrology of Min, and in the Slavic printed Ladder. However, the numbers of the verses are later written in the margins in accordance with their subsequent numbering in the Optina printed editions. The Word to the Shepherd is divided into chapters without titles 20. The manuscript retains traces of painstaking work on the text. From them it is obvious that the elder used both Slavic manuscripts and Greek printed and handwritten texts (in the margins there are numerous notes in the hand of the scribe: “from the manuscript”, “in the old manuscript”, “in the Greek manuscript” “in printed Greek”; or “not found in the manuscript of this speech” and the like, as well as explanations of individual words and phrases, including Greek variants, links on Holy Scripture and short commentaries). The following characteristic of the translation of St. Paisius, given by the Russian scholar-historian and Slavist N.A. Popov 21, is interesting and valuable: “The elder translated from printed Greek, but he also has additions compared to the printed text, taken, judging by the notes in the margin, from a handwritten book. Other postscripts give reason to think that the translator had at hand not just one Greek or Slavic list, but a whole series of different lists. There are many notes in the margins of the Ladder, testifying to the great work that went into comparing the Slavic text with Greek manuscripts and the printed edition. At the same time, the translator reveals strict legibility. For example, in one place he makes a note: “In the printed book there are also such words (extracts follow), but these words were taken from another book: that’s why I didn’t put these words in the translation, since these words are not found in other Greek and Slavic texts.” There are notes explaining this or that place based on other places. Before Paisiy (Velichkovsky), we do not notice such a critical treatment of the text in any of our writers” 22. Almost simultaneously with Elder Paisius, the translator at the Holy Synod, D. Ulyaninsky, was engaged in a new translation of the Ladder 23 . His edition, from which Russian people—not only monks, but also laypeople—read the Ladder for more than half a century, was published in 1785 at the Moscow Synodal Printing House and was reprinted many times until 1877 24 . D. Ulyaninsky's translation is usually called the new Slavic, or Slavic-Russian, or semi-Slavic, but in essence it is a translation into the Russian book language of the 18th century 25. The first edition was prepared by the translator himself. All publications are printed in Church Slavonic Cyrillic. In the middle of the 19th century, a new translation of the Ladder into modern Russian was carried out at the Moscow Theological Academy by Archimandrite Agapit (Vvedensky) 26 . A strict ascetic, a friend of St. Philaret (Drozdov), a former rector of the Bethany Seminary, who refused school positions out of love for monastic life, he is best known as the abbot of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery (1852–1877), who significantly raised the spirit of monasticism in him. His translation was published in civil type in 1851 in Moscow and was reprinted several times until 1917 27 . It is usually called “academic” (made at the Academy). In addition to these printed translations, there are two more translations into Russian, made in the first half of the 19th century and never published. The first belongs to Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharev), a famous missionary in Altai, translator of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Russian. They, along with printed Russian translations, were used by Optina book publishers when preparing their edition of the Ladder. Another little-known translation into Russian was made by the future Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) when he was Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage. One of his copies is kept in the Optina collection in the manuscripts department of the Russian State Library. The manuscript has been corrected to the middle of the 4th Degree 28, the text inside the degrees is continuous, without division into verses. On the title is the inscription: “The Book of St. John Climacus. Translated to the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage by Archimandrite Ignatius in 1845” 29. About the Russian translation of the Ladder, prepared in Optina Pustyn The latest translation of the Ladder into Russian, already mentioned several times above, was prepared in Optina Pustyn at a time when active work on the translation and publication of patristic works began here under the leadership of the Venerable Elder Macarius. This work became, on the one hand, a continuation of the work of St. Paisius 30, and on the other, an ascetic work that contributed to the spiritual growth of those who worked. The initiative of Hieroschemamonk Macarius was patronized by the abbot of the monastery, the Monk Moses (Putilov). Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret (Drozdov) took a keen interest in him and contributed in every possible way. The spiritual children of Elder Macarius, spouses Ivan Vasilyevich and Natalia Petrovna Kireevsky, took care of the material side. The Monk Macarius saw in the opportunity that had opened up to publish the works of Elder Paisius the blessing of God and the benefit of divine providence, he highly valued the assistance in this matter of pious laymen, and most of all the bishop's blessing, but he considered himself only an unworthy worker in the field of Christ. He wrote in a letter to one archimandrite: “You approve of our publications of fatherly books, and especially in Russian translation. But there is nothing of ours here, and everything was done with God’s blessing for the benefit of those who wish and seek spiritual benefit. How could we begin such an important and unusual task for us? But God raised up well-minded people to assist in this matter, and most of all, the archpastor’s favor and blessing served to publish the translations that lay hidden in the manuscripts of the blessed elder Paisius of Moldova” 31. And in another letter, the elder notes: “Although the Lord has deigned, through our monastery, to publish the works of the blessed elder Paisius and the helpful books he translated, we do not dare to attribute this to ourselves; and you know who and how will contribute in this matter, and we only serve as a small instrument for this. And the very inscription “Edition of the Optina Hermitage” brings shame and fear, and especially when you look at your spiritual poverty” 32. Archpriest Sergiy Chetverikov talks about the beginning of Optina book publishing in his book about the Optina Hermitage. “Under Father Macarius, the rapprochement of representatives of Russian science and literature with the Optina Hermitage began for the first time. This happened mainly due to the publishing of the manuscripts of Elder Paisius (Velichkovsky) by the Optina Hermitage, which were kept in the skete library and brought there at different times by different persons. The influence of Elder Paisius was concentrated in various ways in Optina Hermitage. The disciples of the great elder and his successors passed on to each other the behests and traditions of their teacher, and at the same time distributed in manuscript his translations of the patristic ascetic books. All these writings of the elder Paisius, very highly valued in the monastic world, were distributed in manuscripts throughout Russian monasteries, and some, for example, “The Philokalia,” were printed in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 19th century. Most of the writings were preserved in manuscripts in the libraries of monasteries and in the cells of monks. There were many such manuscripts in the Optina Hermitage, from where they were brought to the light of God through the cares and labors of Elder Macarius, with the assistance of his enlightened spiritual children and admirers. In the 40s of the 19th century, not far from the Optina Hermitage, on their estate Dolbina, Belsky district, the spouses Ivan Vasilyevich and Natalya Petrovna Kireevsky lived. They often visited the Optina Hermitage, met its elders - Father Moses and Father Macarius, and became especially close to the latter, who became their spiritual father. Little by little, they had the idea to show these handwritten treasures to the world and start printing them. Having conceived this great undertaking, they decided to ask for the blessing of Moscow Metropolitan Philaret, whose wisdom and holiness they all revered and who was personally known to the Kireyevskys. The Metropolitan was very sympathetic to the planned enterprise, gave his blessing and promised support. It was decided to start publishing with the biography of Elder Paisius, compiled by his students shortly after his death, adding to it some of the elder’s writings and letters, as well as from the writings of his friend and like-minded Elder Vasily Polyanomerulsky <...> Moscow University professor S.P. took a close part in the publishing business. Shevyrev and professor of the Moscow Theological Academy F.A. Golubinsky, who was also the censor of the publication. In all difficult cases when editing the text, they turned to Metropolitan Philaret for advice and guidance, who closely monitored the publication and even summoned Elder Macarius for a personal acquaintance with him and a conversation. However, this was already in the subsequent publishing period, in the fifties. The Kireyevskys themselves, living at times in Moscow, directly supervised the publication <...> The biography of Elder Paisius was followed by the publication of his translations of patristic books. Over the course of a number of years, the following were published: St. Isaac the Syrian Words of Asceticism, the writings of St. Barsanuphius and John, Mark the Ascetic, Simeon the New Theologian, Maximus the Confessor, Theodore the Studite, Abba Thalassius, the Life of Gregory the Sinaite and others. The publishing activity of Elder Macarius together with the Kireyevskys continued until the death of Ivan Vasilyevich, which followed in 1856, but did not stop after his death, supported by other persons <...> In the fifties, Terty Ivanovich Filippov took a close part in the publishing activity of Father Macarius, about whom the following favorable review of the elder was preserved: “We really liked Terty Ivanovich for his Christian pleasant simplicity and unsophisticated, delicately free communication.” During these same years, N.V. Gogol visited Optina Pustyn and Elder Macarius. The complex work of publishing, revising and checking manuscripts, proofreading, and so on could not be completed by the works of Father Macarius alone, and around him a group of assistants with theological and higher education was formed, which included: Father Ambrose (Grenkov), later the famous elder and successor of Father Macarius, Father Leonid (Kavelin), later the vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Father Clement (Zederholm), master of classical philology at Moscow University, father Juvenaly (Polovtsev), later Archbishop of Lithuania, and other persons In 1852, Elder Macarius, at the call of Metropolitan Philaret, visited Moscow and saw the metropolitan. On the same trip, he visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and saw Professor F.A. Golubinsky. Thus, the connection between Optina Hermitage and the scientific, literary and theological world of Moscow was strengthened...” 33 One of the many precious fruits of the book publishing of Optina Hermitage under the leadership of Elder Macarius was the correction of the old translation and a new translation from the Slavic language into Russian of the Ladder of St. John of Sinai. Initially there was no talk about publication. It was decided to correct the printed Ladder (translation of the 18th century), which “has a literary style, very pleasant and semi-Slavic, to which our ears are accustomed and become akin, but there is no correctness in the translation either with Paisieva, or with Makarieva, or with Ignatieva, or with the ancient one.” And therefore, wrote Elder Macarius, “considering the correct translations, correct the meaning in the same syllable as it was printed. Not for us for publication, but for ourselves; You can have it in manuscripts, even copy it halfway. Two theologians took up this matter: Fr. L. and O. V., only one complains of weakness of the head, and the other also suffers from despondency; however, they are going little by little and have already passed the fourth stage...” 34. Nevertheless, as a result of the diligence of these workers, and many others, both a corrected “semi-Slavic” text and a new Russian translation of the Ladder were published a few years later. The famous church writer, historian and archaeographer Leonid (Kavelin) - later an archimandrite, and in those years an Optina novice, then a hieromonk - took part in these works. He describes them in detail in the biography of Father Macarius, which he compiled shortly after the death of the elder († September 7, 1860). “The elder [hieroschemamonk Macarius] also worked a lot on the creation of the great teacher of monastic life, St. John Climacus, who labored in Mount Sinai, the Elder, placing high the creation of St. John of the Climacus among the writings of the holy ascetic fathers, he studied and compared with each other all the hitherto known printed editions and handwritten translations of this immortal creation, and then, taking as a basis the translation of Elder Paisius, as a man filled with spiritual intelligence, who had experienced the spiritual advice of the holy father, incomprehensible by book learning alone, and being, moreover, himself a worthy successor to the monastic virtues of the great Elder, made special efforts to explain the aforementioned translation of Elder Paisius, by comparing it with other handwritten later translations (such as, for example, the translation of the former Altai missionary Archimandrite Macarius), printed editions and Greek text, with the aim of making it accessible not only for reading, but especially for general practical guidance of the spiritual instructions contained in this book - from which the translation of the Ladder was compiled into semi-Slavic dialect, which the elder himself diligently studied with the help of his close disciple, hieromonk A[mvrosi]ya. For this translation, upon completion, the elder himself compiled an alphabetical index of the objects contained in the work of St. John of the Climacus, and rewrote it with his own hand, forgetting the weakness of the body and lack of leisure, sacrificing for this time a short rest. Subsequently, from this translation, with the blessing of the elder, the Ladder was translated into the Russian dialect, in which another student of his, Father John Polovtsev (now Hieromonk Juvenaly), practiced under the direct supervision of the elder. Copies of both translations are quite common in the lists between the brethren, both skete and monastery, and the reading of the semi-Slavic translation is offered to both brotherhoods at church services during Lent” 35. So, in Optina Hermitage two translations of the Ladder were prepared, based on the Slavic text of St. Paisius. The first translation is “semi-Slavic”, made with the direct participation of Hieromonk Ambrose. His work was continued by the monk Juvenaly (Polovtsev), who translated the Ladder into Russian 36. Both translations were completed under the direct supervision of Elder Macarius. Their lists are currently stored in the Optina collection of the OR RSL. One of the handwritten books containing the first, semi-Slavic translation of the Ladder, beautifully designed, bound with gold embossing and a gold edge, was inscribed for the monastery library of Optina Hermitage with the blessing of the elder Hieroschemamonk Macarius in 1860 37 . The title states that this translation was corrected in 1852 according to the meaning of the Slavic translation of the Moldavian elder Paisius under the leadership of the elder of Optina Monastery, Hieroschemamonk Macarius, by Hieromonk Ambrose 38. In another manuscript containing the same text, there is a “Chronicle” that includes an indication of the sources. Let's quote it in full: This book is 39 St. John of the Climacus was written semi-statutorily in the Optina Hermitage by the monk Antiochus in 1853, corrected from various translations of this book available in the Optina Hermitage: the first and main translation, which was more adhered to as reliably accurate, was the Moldavian elder Paisius, handwritten Slavic; the second is an old printed Slavic sheet, in which there are real words and interpretation (printed in Moscow in 7154 (1646) 40 in Warsaw in 7293 (1784) 41); the third is printed, translated in 1794, semi-Slavic, the syllable of which is left in this book; the fourth - Macarius, Archimandrite Bolkhovsky, written Russian (Archim. Macarius was a missionary in the Altai mission, then abbot of the Bolkhov monastery, died in 1847. He translated the book from Greek, but had in mind the publications indicated above, except for the academic one); and the fifth, in the Russian translation of the civil press, published by the Moscow Theological Academy in 1851. All of them were carefully examined and compared by the monastery brethren and, in our opinion, corrected 42. Through the works of the Optina monastery of Hieromonk Ambrose, it was completed in 1852 for the glory of the Lord God in the Trinity, glorified and worshiped, and for the spiritual benefit of those who read and listen to this God-inspired book. If there is any error, we humbly pray that we, who have worked in this matter, forgive our feeble-mindedness and unintentional error 43 . It is further noted that an alphabetical index of the Optina monastery was compiled for the book by hieromonks Macarius and Amrosius in 1854 44 . This translation of the Ladder, as Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) reports, was read in the Optina Hermitage and in the monastery during services during Great Lent. It was published for the only time in Church Slavonic script at the Moscow Synodal Printing House in 1862 45 . The chronicle of another translation, “into the Russian dialect,” in its first part coincides almost word for word with the one given above (only the remark is omitted that the syllable of the semi-Slavic translation of the 18th century was left), but it is further indicated that the present translation was corrected by the works of the Optina monastery of the monk Juvenal (formerly John Polovtsev) with the brethren helping him in Christ, completed in 1852. At the end of the book, comments and interpretations on some matters are taken directly from the book by Fr. Archimandrite Macarius. An alphabetical index of Optina Hermitage was compiled for this book by hieromonks Macarius and Ambrose in 1854 46 . So, according to the chronicles, both translations were completed in 1852. In the work on them, not only the Slavic translation of Elder Paisius was used, as the main and most authoritative, but also the Slavic printed text of 1647 and earlier printed Russian translations - the 18th century and academic, as well as the unpublished Russian translation of Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharev). In 1854, an alphabetical index was made (common to both Optina translations), and comments were compiled on the second, taken “actually from the translation of Archimandrite Macarius.” In the comments, as well as notes in the text, there are references to other sources not mentioned in the Chronicle: the ancient Greek text of the Ladder in the Patrology of Min, some “Greek manuscript”, the modern Greek translation of Athanasius of Crete, as well as the French translation of Arnold d’Andilla 47, a reference to which is in the manuscript and in the first edition, but is absent in later editions (although the comments themselves remained unchanged). Obviously, the last Chronicle reflects the entire history of this translation, and the monk Juvenaly is listed as the last one to work on it. The text of the second Optina translation with comments and an alphabetical index was first published in the same year, 1862, in civil script (like all subsequent editions) 48 . In the Optina collection of the RSL, “notes” dating back to the first half of the 19th century have been preserved to a certain “new translation” of the Ladder (judging by the extracts, we are talking about an academic translation of 1851), which indicate its shortcomings and propose options for correcting them, and references are given to the translations of Elder Paisius and Archimandrite Macarius, as undoubtedly authoritative, and also the arguments and reasoning of the compiler of the notes are given 49 . One of the lists is attached to the manuscript of the first, semi-Slavic, text of the Ladder - obviously, this is a working version of the translation (written in cursive with significant editing) 50. The document is interesting not only as evidence of the painstaking work of Optina book publishers, but also by the content of the comments contained in it, which reveal the extraordinary spiritual and secular education and insight of their compiler. Let's list some of them. After Word 4: In this Word there are some words that are inconsistent with spiritual work and do not reflect spiritual mind; for example, instead of “obedience” or “obedience” there is “submission”, and this word is more appropriate for secular persons and expresses external humility. Also, instead of the word “correction,” which has a spiritual meaning, it says “merit.” And “doing”, “doer” has been replaced: “toil”, “toiler”. However, there are many words that are left purely glory. and therefore these words could be left in the same adverb for the most convenient concept, according to the habit of those who read fatherly books. Note on Word 25, verse 4: Instead of “modesty” we put “humility”, we briefly explained why we did this, but we heard through you that the original says “peacefulness”. The meaning of this word is very important. Peace is the fruit of the spirit, and St. Neil of Sinai says that the peace of the soul is the indwelling of God, according to the word of the Psalmist: his place shall be in peace [Ps. 75, 3]. Peacefulness comes from humility, and doesn’t it mean that peace of mind that the Lord speaks about in the Gospel (Matthew 11:29)? In any case, this is not modesty, but something much higher, but the meaning of this word is not known to everyone, which is why we proposed a translation of the arch. Makaria - “in the stronghold of humility.” And the Rev. Nil Sorsky twice replaced the word “peace” with “humility.” Before Word 26: The title of Word 26 talks about discerning thoughts, passions and virtues. "Discernment" does not seem to express the spiritual meaning contained in the word "discernment"; Anyone can distinguish things with their natural mind, but here we mean the special understanding of God, sent down only by a humble, pure heart, body and lips. Moreover, the Ladder, by its very original purpose, is a monastic book, and many of the monastics, reading the patristic writings, adopted the word “reasoning” in its spiritual sense. Isn’t it better to keep the same word in the new edition of the Ladder, just as Arch. Macarius in his Russian translation, and the word “discrimination,” if possible, should be placed in the bullets below, as if in an explanation of “reasoning.” At the end, on a separate sheet: In the new translation of the Ladder, in many places “contrition” is replaced by “contrition.” These words make a big difference. John Climacus himself says what contrition is in the 7th word, section. 2 and 24, also in the 25th word, div. 35; A person can force himself to do such a thing, and tenderness is a gift of God sent to comfort the one who struggles (see page 7, section 49). Also, “ascension” or “pride” is replaced by the word “conceit,” which does not express the power that the word “ascension” has. Pride is not fully recognized in conceit, but in exaltation it is directly expressed. Conceit turns and disappears only in the mind, but exaltation occurs in the heart. The word “conceit” is very weak, but “exaltation” is strong, which is the opposite of humility: everyone who exalts himself will humble himself, and he who humbles himself will be exalted [Lk. 14, 11]. Let us present another interesting for us memoirs of Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) about how the translation and preparation for publication of patristic texts was carried out. “All the activities, both in preparing for printing the Slavic translations of Elder Paisius, and in translating some of them into the Russian dialect, were directly supervised by the elder himself, and his disciples from the monastery brethren helped him in this: hieromonk Father A[mvros]y, monks Father Yu[venal]y, Father Leonid and Father Peter]. For these activities, all the above-mentioned persons gathered daily in the cell of the elder, who, without stopping his usual affairs... nevertheless took the most active part in these activities: we can affirmatively say that not a single expression, not a single word was included in the manuscript sent to the censor without his personal approval... How generously we were rewarded for our small labors! Who among those listening would not give several years of his life to hear what our ears heard: the elder’s explanations of such passages of the paternal writings, about which, if not for these studies, none of us would have dared to ask him, and if he had dared, he would undoubtedly have received a humble answer: I don’t know this, this is not my measure, maybe you have reached it, but I only know: Lord grant me to see my sins! Cleanse your heart - then you will understand... If a disagreement arose in understanding, the elder immediately eliminated it: either he offered his own opinion, or, humbling and humbling us, he left such a place without explanation at all, saying: this is not our measure; whoever does it will understand, otherwise, how not to put our rotten things in place of his [Elder Paisius’s] high spiritual understanding” 51 . It is remarkable with what caution and reverence the Optina translators and editors, led by the Venerable Elder Macarius, approached the publication of patristic works, not daring to clarify some difficult passages, so as not to introduce their own erroneous understanding. This caution is explained both by monastic humility and by special reverence for the spiritual experience of St. Paisius, which was also noted by Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin). So, regarding Paisius’s translation of the Ladder, Fr. Macarius wrote on March 13, 1851 to the inspector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, Archimandrite Daniil (Musatov) 52: “[Although it is] dark here and there, in general the correct concept of truths is shown by the experience of his most active life, known to all of us.” Pointing out discrepancies with the 18th-century translation, which, in his opinion, prove the inexperience of the translator, Fr. Macarius recommends that “learned people” undertaking a new translation of this book (obviously, the translation of the Moscow Theological Academy is meant) be consistent with the translation of Elder Paisius 53. Archimandrite Daniel is another worker in the field of Optina book publishing. He was close to the Optina Hermitage, corresponded with the Monk Macarius and, as follows from the letters, was engaged in checking the Russian translation of the Ladder with the Greek text. In one of his subsequent letters, Fr. Macarius, thanks to Fr. Daniel and his collaborators for their work, reports the following details, supplementing the history of the Optina edition of the Ladder: “We do not claim that the Ladder corrected by us was correct; we considered the translation of Elder Paisius and Archimandrite Macarius; the latter translated it at great length, which we tried to shorten, adhering to the Slavic elder Paisius’s translation, but not without error; and therefore they asked you to take the trouble to compare it with the Greek original. However, our intention was to have a correct translation for ourselves, but we could not even think about publishing it. And when the translation of the Russian Ladder came out, I wrote to you so that you would not labor anymore; but you yourself wanted to do this work, then be it your will” 54. After the publication of the first edition, work on the book continued: the notes 55 were clarified, and an index of passages of Holy Scripture appeared. After the death of Elder Macarius, the Monk Ambrose began to manage the publishing house. Father Yuvenaly, despite the fact that in the fall of 1856 he left Optina Hermitage (he was appointed by the Holy Synod to the Jerusalem Mission, then was the vicar of various monasteries, including the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, and in the last years of his life - Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilna), continued his literary works in collaboration with Optina Hermitage. Hieromonk Clement (Zederholm) also took part in the work on the Ladder. Coming from a Protestant family, a well-educated man with a good knowledge of ancient and modern languages, he joined Orthodoxy at the monastery of Optina Hermitage in 1853 and has not interrupted communication with it since then. Since 1863, having become a novice, he helped Elder Ambrose in his correspondence and was involved in the preparation of spiritual publications, including translations from Greek into Russian. The result of the conciliar work of the brethren was the translation of the Ladder, highly appreciated by contemporaries and withstood the test of time. Its remarkable characterization is contained in the words of the Russian thinker, diplomat and philosopher, close to the Optina Monastery, Konstantin Nikolaevich Leontyev 56: “I know from experience how great the difference is in the degree of effect of the Old Slavonic translations of this book and the newest Optina translation, in which Father Clement participated. Although I understand the Church Slavonic language fairly well, still, reading John Climacus for the first time in a new translation, I felt that many wonderful subtleties and the most true and deep psychological shades in these teachings had previously eluded me. The most Byzantine rhetoric of the introductions and conclusions of St. Joanna is conveyed so well that in a literary sense she pleases and amazes” 57 . According to another version, much earlier, around 525. An article by the Greek researcher Nonna D. Papadimitriou is devoted to the manuscript tradition of the Ladder: Νόνν ας Δ. Παπαδημητρίου. Περὶ τῶν χειρογράφων τῆς “Κλίμακος”, Ἀνάτυπο ἐκ τοῦ Τόμου Κωνσταντίνος Δωρ. Μουρατίδης πρόμαχος Ὀρθοδοξίας (Τιμητικό ἀφιέρωμα), Ἀθήνα 2004. In the series “Corona patrum Salesiana”. This monastery houses about ten manuscripts containing the Ladder in whole, in part or in translation. In 1970, the Astir publishing house in Athens published a reprint of this edition. Modern Greek translations were generally characterized by a fairly free presentation of the text with interpretations or explanations. In a similar way, in the 19th century, Saint Theophan the Recluse translated patristic texts into Russian. Νόννας Δ. Παπαδημητρίου. Περὶ τῶν χειρογράφων τῆς “Κλίμακος”... p. 661. Ἰωάννου τοῦ Σιναΐτου. Κλῖμαξ, Εἰσαγωγή-Κείμενον-Μετάφρασις-Σχόλια-Πίνακες, Ἀρχιμ. 1999 (8th ed.). The handwritten text is kept in the Vlatadon Monastery in Thessaloniki (manuscript no. 25). See: Νόνν ας Δ. Παπαδημητρίου. Περὶ τῶν χειρογράφων τῆς “Κλίμακος”... p. 662. A. Kruming in the article “Slavic translation of the Ladder” (see: Rumyantsev readings: materials of the international conference. M.: Pashkov House, 2005) notes that these are most likely editions of the same translation, although very different. The ladder, written by Metropolitan Cyprian, is now kept in the collection of the MDA in the manuscripts department of the Russian State Library (f. 172.1, no. 152). See: Prokhorov G.M. Ladder of John of Sinai // Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Rus'. Second half of the XIV - XVI centuries. Part 2. L., 1989. pp. 15–16. Sergius (Shelonin) - from 1619 a Solovetsky monk, in 1647–1648. - Archimandrite of the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, then returned to Solovki, where he died in 1667, shortly before the siege. The book was republished twice: by the Old Believers (Warsaw, 1785) and by Edinoverietsy (M., 1910). State Historical Museum. Synod. collection No. 262 (120). The Monk Paisiy (Velichkovsky) (1722–1794) was a native of Little Russia, the founder of monasteries on Mount Athos and in the Romanian lands, where he organized monastic life on the principles of smart work and the traditions of hesychasm. The monk was spiritually close to the “Kolivad” movement in Greece, the main representatives of which were Saints Macarius Notaras, Athanasius Parios, and Saint Nicodemus the Svyatogorets, and, like them, he was not only a doer, but also an educator in the spirit of the Orthodox tradition, he was engaged in correcting and translating the works of the holy fathers into the Slavic language. OR RSL. F. 214. No. 509, 510. Another list, directly from the manuscript of St. Paisius, is kept in the collection of the Bryansk Svensky Monastery in the Oryol Church and Archaeological Museum (No. 44). The information is provided in the indicated article by A. Kruming. Sometimes they say: paragraphs, chapters, sections; For the sake of consistency, we call the divisions within the Words “verses,” although some of them represent entire stories. In general, the division into verses within the Words of the Ladder, which does not coincide in different cases, appears only in the second half of the 19th century, both in Greek and Russian editions. In the book: Manuscripts of the Moscow Synodal (Patriarchal) Library. Vol. 2nd. Simonov's collection. M., 1910. Quote by: Chetverikov S., prot. Moldavian elder Paisius (Velichkovsky), his life, teaching, influence on Orthodox monasticism. Minsk, 2006. P. 244. Dmitry Ulyaninsky - translator at the Holy Synod in 1784, in 1785–1810. - Comrade director, then director of the Moscow Synodal Printing House. † July 24, 1824 Reprints: M., 1842, 1849; St. Petersburg, 1812, 1817; Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, 1823, 1836, 1862, 1869, 1877. A. Kruming also points to this. Reprints: M., 1854, 1869; Sergiev Posad, 1894. Recently, we know of an abridged edition of this translation by the St. Tikhon’s Theological Institute in 2000: “The Ladder in abbreviation for beginners on the path of spiritual life.” The divisions within the Ladder are referred to in various manuscripts and publications as either Words or Degrees. The Monk Macarius of Optina, who began his monastic journey in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, was a student of the disciple of the Monk Paisius, schemamonk Athanasius (Zakharov), and then a novice and co-secretary of the Optina elder Leonid (Nagolkin, in the schema of Leo), a disciple of the schemamonk Theodore, who also belonged to the school of the Monk Paisius. Collection of letters of the Optina elder Macarius of blessed memory. Letters to monastics. Published by Kozelskaya Optina Hermitage, M., 1862. Part 1. Letter 3. P. 5. Right there. Letter 155. P. 243. Chetverikov S., prot. Optina Pustyn. Paris, 1988, p. 52–58. Collection of letters of the Optina elder Macarius. Part 1. Letter 200. pp. 313–314. Life of the Optina Elder Macarius / Comp. archim. Leonid (Kavelin). Rep. ed. Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 1995. pp. 171–172 (first edition published in 1861). Father Yuvenaly (in the world second lieutenant Ivan Andreevich Polovtsev) entered Optina Pustyn in 1847, after graduating from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Here and below, quotations from manuscripts are in italics. OR GRB. F. 214. No. 513. L. 1–1 vol. There is apparently an error here, since the first edition of the Ladder in the Slavic language was printed on March 1, 7155 [1647] (printed from January 15 to March 1). The same applies to the Warsaw edition, which was published in 7294 (1785). We place the notes in the manuscript in parentheses. The last four words are not written entirely legibly. OR RSL. F. 214. No. 511. L. 317. OR RSL. F. 214. No. 511. L. 317 vol. See the mentioned article by A. Kruming, who believes that both versions of the Optina translation were editions of the translation by D. Ulyaninsky. Entry in a handwritten book written in 1856, which belonged to the nuns of the Sevsky nunnery Athanasius and Magdalene (OR RSL. F. 214. No. 515. L. 1 vol.). Arnauld D'Andilly. L'Echelle Sainte... First edition. – 1652 Ladder and "Word to the Shepherd" with alphabetical index and notes. Publication of Optina Pustyn. M.: Type. A. Gautier, 1862; reprint: M., 1873, 1888, 1892, 1898, 1901, 1908; Jordanville, 1963 (rep. ed.); Over the past two decades, it has been republished many times in Russia. Life of the Optina Elder Macarius... P. 163–165. † 1852, as rector of the Ekaterinoslav Theological Seminary. Collection of letters of the Optina elder Macarius... Part 1. Letter 14. P. 22. Right there. Letter 16. P. 26. For example, in the commentary on Homily 22, v. 1, the author of handwritten notes (they were also placed in the first edition of 1862) says that Gregory the Theologian has no discussion of either eight or seven passions, and further indicates that John Climacus obviously meant Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome. Meanwhile, in subsequent Optina editions a reference is made to the 39th word of Gregory the Theologian, about the Epiphany. K. N. Leontyev spent the last years of his life near the Optina Hermitage and took monastic vows in the skete of St. John the Baptist with the name Clement. † November 12, 1891. He was buried in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Leontyev K. Father Clement Zederholm, hieromonk of Optina Hermitage. M., 1997. (Reprinted from the publisher: M., 1882). pp. 39–40.