O RADOSTOTVORNOJ ŽALOSTI. PROBLEM PREVOĐENjA IZRAZA ŽALOST I PLAČ KOD JOVANA LESTVIČNIKA, SA OSVRTOM NA NAJSTARIJI DEČANSKI I HILANDARSKI PREVOD LESTVICE

Abstract

As part of the general literature for monks, The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John of the Ladder, has taken an extremely significant place in the development of theological thinking, Byzantine and old Serbian literature, which has resulted from the possibility of implementing the timelessness of the given morals, particularly from the aspect of spiritual growth and incessant advancement of mankind. The explicitness of the phenomena forming the ascetic life, the psychological basis of virtues and passions, analysis of their causes and consequences have enabled readers of The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John of the Ladder to conceive the graduality of spiritual advancement, but also to get a clearer understanding of certain phenomena and their correlations. The differentiation between mourning (sorrow) and weeping (tears), determination of their origin, thus definition of the joy-making mourning has become a specific problem in the translations of The Ladder of Divine Ascent from the Greek language into other languages Based on the oldest saved translations and transcripts of The Ladder of Divine Ascent into the Serbo-Slаvonic language (Dečani 71, Chilandar 182) and based on Bogdanović’s translation of The Ladder of Divine Ascent into the modern Serbian language, it is possible to conclude that the delicacy of distinguishing between mourning and weeping has remained unsolved, i.e. that by failing to make a distinction between the two it is not possible to achieve full understanding of St. John's morals nor of the causal-consequential link of the different mystic phenomena. Thus, we also bring in this work our new translation from the Greek language of those places in The Ladder of Divine Ascent dealing with the question of mourning (sorrow) and weeping (tears) as well as transcribed segments of the same kind Dečani 71 and Chilandar 182, pointing out by analysis to the necessity of making a distinction between the above mentioned phenomena, particulary of the joy-making mourning, which is nothing else but a recognition of God’s blessing and is as such classified among phenomena, the understanding and experience of which certainly enable also the spiritual advancement which is the imperative of St. John's morals.