Saint Venerable John Climacus, also known as John of the Ladder, John Scholasticus and John Sinaites, was a 6th–7th-century Christian monk at the monastery on Mount Sinai revered as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. "The Ladder of Divine Ascent", composed by John in the early seventh century, describes how to raise one's soul and body to God by acquiring ascetic virtues and became one of the most widely read and much-beloved books of Byzantine spirituality. Climacus uses the analogy of Jacob's Ladder as the framework for his spiritual teaching. Each chapter is called a "step" and deals with a separate spiritual subject. There are thirty Steps of the ladder, which correspond to the age of Jesus at his baptism and the beginning of his earthly ministry. This book is one of the most widely read among Orthodox Christians, especially during the season of Great Lent, which immediately precedes Pascha (Easter). It is often read in the trapeza (refectory) in Orthodox monasteries, and in some places, it is read in church as part of the Daily Office on Lenten weekdays, being prescribed in the Triodion.
Saint Alexandra of Rome is Christian martyr and saint, known from "Martyrdom of Saint George" as either Emperor Diocletian's wife or the wife of Dacian, a Roman Prefect. While Saint George was being tortured, Alexandra went to the arena, bowed before him and professed her faith openly. When she questioned whether she was worthy of paradise and of martyrdom without being baptized, Saint George told her “Do not fear, for your blood will baptize you.” She was denounced a Christian and imprisoned on her husband’s orders in Nicomedia, then sentenced to death.
Saint Vassa was a 4th-century Christian martyr from Edessa in Greek Macedonia who with her three young sons was tortured to death. She is venerated on August 21, by the Greek Orthodox Church and Serbian Orthodox Church.
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