A Book Written in Sorrow, or the Ascent to Heaven

“A Book Written in Sorrow, or Ascent to Heaven” is the work of the Athonite monk, the elder Simeon. What is “sorrow”? Sorrow is suffering that the soul of every person must, without doubt, undergo at the sacred birth in God— the birth of a new person. Often a person is born dead, because their faith is stillborn—that is, born according to the laws of the world, and not according to the laws of the Spirit; born according to attachment, and not according to the laws of Love. Sacred birth of the new person is impossible without Love, for “everything is born from Love,” and without Love nothing can be born—nothing that could be born. The monk Simeon’s book is a treasure trove of teachings about life itself and the transformation life must go through to become true life in Christ.