sick people; children with learning difficulties; people in a desperate situation; those who struggle with alcohol and drug addiction; those who have raising children difficulties;[1] Kronstadt and Saint Petersburg[2]
The future Saint was born asIvan Ilyich Sergiyev (pre-reform Russian:Иванъ Ильичъ Сергіевъ; post-reformRussian:Иван Ильич Сергиев) on 31 October [O.S. 19 October] 1829 in the northern village ofSura, near theWhite Sea, inArkhangelsk Governorate,Russian Empire. He came from a hereditary corporation of village clergymen, and his father was a poordyachok in the local church. The little that is known about his early life is mainly from late memories. In his autobiography, he claims that his parents gave him to a parish school but that the study was too difficult for him. However, he prayed earnestly and received inspiration. He became the top student in the school and then in the seminary, which enabled him to enter theTheological Academy inSaint Petersburg, the Russian capital. He became the 35th out of 39 students who graduated from the academy in 1855.[15]
From 1855, he worked as a priest inSaint Andrew's Cathedral inKronstadt, the naval base near St. Petersburg. He married the 26-year-old daughter of thearchpriest of the cathedral.Benjamin (Fedchenkov) (1880–1961) writes that after the marriage, he surprisingly refused to have sexual relations with his wife, despite her complaints to the church authorities.[16] Their niece Rufina lived with John and Elizabeth.
The young priest behaved unusually:
He walked along the street and constantly prayed and crossed his arms on his chest.
During the service, he behaved very expressively, deviated from the usual text and turned his back to thealtar.
He introduced the practice of frequentConfession andHoly Communion although once or twice a year was then usual.
He allowed the easing from some requirements for the Communicant (in particular, he allowed women during menstruation to communicate, which was usually forbidden).
Not everyone perceived his innovations positively, especially church authorities. His biographer Nadieszda Kizenko notes that some aspects of John's behaviour were reminiscent of the practices of Protestants and others of theKhlysts. Nevertheless, his distinctive style attracted attention to the young priest and allowed him to show his charisma.[17] John was widely venerated as a saint even during his lifetime because of his fame as a powerful prayer, healer, and visionary.[18]
John established a special relief organization. It was called the "House of the Industry" and opened in Kronstadt in 1882. It had its own church, an elementary school for boys and girls, an orphanage, a hospital for anyone who came there, a boarding house, a free public library, shelter for the homeless that accommodated 40,000 people each year, a variety of workshops in which the impoverished could earn some money, a cheap public canteen that served about 800 free dinners on holidays and a hostel for the travelers.
By the early 1890s, John had become well known, and people from all over Russia came to him every day in thousands. He practiced mass confessions during which thousands of people wiped out their sins and went into a frenzy, which was often accompanied by hysterics and tears.[19] John came to a wide prominence after the publication of an open letter in the newspaper Novoe Vremya (literallyNew Time) in 1883.[20] The publication was also a turning point in the relationship between John and his church authorities. In the open letter, 16 people told about their healing thanks to the prayers of John and swore, "Now live according to God's truth and go to Holy Communion as often as possible". Such a publication in a secular newspaper violated the rules under which the religious censor had to preapprove the article, and it was perceived by the church hierarchy as interference into its affairs and a violation of subordination by John. The church did not know what to do with a person who suddenly claimed to be a livingwonderworker with healing power (only relics were thought to have that power). The situation was discussed by the highest church organ, theMost Holy Synod, whose hierarchs were in disarray, and Metropolitan Isidore, John's direct supervisor, was especially dissatisfied.[21]
In 1894, TsarAlexander III of Russia summoned John toLivadia Palace, in theCrimea, as Alexander lay dying of kidney disease.[22] While John claimed he had raised the dead previously, he failed to heal the Tsar by his prayers.[19] However, after the invitation to the bed of a dying tsar, John became immune to the criticism of church authorities.[21]
In 1903,The Kentucky Post, an American newspaper, reported on a letter attributed to John of Kronstadt addressed to Macedonian Christians, who at the time were suffering under Ottoman oppression. The letter referred to Macedonia as "the cradle of Slavs and Orthodoxy" and expressed hope for its liberation from "infidels," urging the people to "believe in God and Russia." The report warned that the message might provoke a "holy war," reflecting how John's religious authority was perceived as influential not only in Russia but also across Orthodox Christian populations in the Balkans.[23][better source needed]
In the fall of 1907, John was appointed byTsar Nicholas II as a member of the Holy Synod, but John did not participate in any meeting of the Holy Synod because of his serious illness.[24]
John at first condemned the participants in theKishinev Pogrom but changed his mind. He apologized to its organisers and accused the Jews themselves of the pogroms. It is probable that John thought that the Jews had organised the events to promote the revolutionary agendas.[27] John still condemned all acts of violence and advised to "fight in a Christian way".[28] After theRussian Revolution of 1905, he became an ally of Russian far-right radicals,[29] also known as theBlack Hundreds, who fought againstleft-wing activists, liberals and Jews.[8] He was an honorary member of theUnion of the Russian People and several other right-wing organizations.[29] He became one of the most celebrated clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church who supported the creator of the Union,Alexander Dubrovin.[30] When Dubrovin invited the hierarchs of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev as well as John to a mass meeting in November 1906, only John attended. Moreover, MetropolitanAnthonii of St. Petersburg sent Dubrovin a sharp rebuke and called his organization terrorist. John publicly consecrated the banners of the Union, thus inspiring its leaders.[31]
John was the only priest of St. Andrew's Cathedral to flee from Kronstadt during theuprising in 1905. The rest of the priests of St. Andrew's Cathedral held a procession to the rebels and urged them to stop the uprising. The press accused John of cowardice after that act, and journals published caricatures of him.
Nikolai Leskov andMaxim Gorky were very critical of John. Gorky called him an "actor of the Imperial Churches".[15] Leskov ridiculed John in his workPolunochniki ("Night Owls") and in a variety of letters.[32] John was also known for his fierce attacks onLeo Tolstoy, whom he considered the devil because of his heretical innovations to the Orthodox faith. John wrote to Tolstoy, "You ought to have stone hung around your neck and be lowered with it into the depths of the sea". In 1902, a collection of such diatribes was published, and Tolstoy did not pay attention to them.[33] In 1902, John was appointed an honorary fellow of theUniversity of Tartu, but declined the title because Tolstoy was granted the same distinction at the same time.[34]
His support of far-right movements and such aggressive attacks on Tolstoy led to the fact that the attitude of the "progressives" in society towards John became negative, and his figure became the personification of "Reactionary" forces.[35]
John himself said that the enemies were slandering him. He thought they were doing so on the account of their opposition to the church as a whole. He also said that he was opposing modernism because the modernists (liberals, atheists, far-left) would transform the country into an "arena of slaughter and bloodshed". In 1907 he also prophesied the fall of the Russian Empire and the "unimaginably terrible times" coming after it.[36]
Gradually, around him formed a circle of persistent admirers, who aspired to confess and to receive communion exclusively from him. Almost all were women. Some of the admirers of John formed anIoannite sect [ru]. The head of the sect was the spiritual daughter of John,Matryona Ivanovna Kiseleva, who received in the sect the name of Porfiriia or theTheotokos. The Ioannites believed that the Christ and the saints were constantly reincarnating and that John was the incarnation of Christ, or as some believed, Prophet Elijah or God of Sabaoth. They also believed that the world as they knew it was about to end, probably after the revolution, and that they could find salvation only by going to God in the person of John.[37] Some even stated that John was a god himself, a home for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time.[18] The Ioannites spread stories about the miracles performed by John, sold the objects related to him andholy water, which was sanctified by John.[37] The Ionnites even attacked John in hopes of, for example, a piece of clothing to serve as a talisman.[38] John himself sharply condemned the actions of the sect, declaring themanathema, calling them "uneducated, mindless and crazy", and not communing them. He also went on trips to various villages on the invitation of local bishops to refute the Ioannite teachings, which he called "the doctrines of the devil".[39]
Icon of Saint John of Kronstadt. He is often depicted with a Chalice in his hands, as he advocated frequentCommunion
John died in his home in Kronstadt on 2 January 1909 [O.S. 20 December 1908]. The coffin with the body was transported through St. Petersburg with reverent ceremonies and buried in theIoannovsky Convent. According to his last will, all his possessions were bequeathed to the convent, which brought great benefits to it and aroused suspicions of forgery.[40]
In 1909, Tsar Nicholas II wrote an order[41] to establish the commemoration of St. John in the Church. Subsequently, theMost Holy Synod issued an edict to commemorate him annually on the day of his death.
His grave became a place of pilgrimage. After theOctober Revolution, the Soviet authorities decided to eliminate it. In 1923 to 1926, when theIoannovsky Convent began to be closed, the option of reburial in one of the cemeteries was discussed, but the idea met resistance from Soviet authorities, who feared that the new grave would become another place of veneration. Also discussed was the option of bricking up the crypt and later burying the remains more deeply, along with concreting the floor of the crypt. It is known that the crypt was indeed bricked up, but there is no information on reburial.[42] The book of the Soviet historian of religionNikolai Yudin[43] claimed that a coffin with the bones of John was taken far out of city and burned.[44][45] After 1990, the Church-necropolis (Russian:Церковь-усыпальница) of John was consecrated in thecrypt of the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles of the Ioannovsky Convent; inside the Church necropolis, where the coffin of John used to be, a new empty coffin on the floor (sarcophagus) was built.[46] The official website of the John Convent claims that the relics continue to be in the crypt, but there have been no excavations that could prove it.[47] TheOrthodox Encyclopedia: states that the tombstone (sarcophagus) is located above John's relics.[48]
St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Church, in Utica, NY. Dedicated in 1964 as the first church in the world to St. John of Kronstadt.
In 1990, after the beginning ofperestroika and the liberalization of church life in theSoviet Union, John was canonized by the Moscow Patriarchate. Also, after 1990, the rehabilitation of the sectarian Ioannites started, and even the Ioannite leaders who had been condemned by the Synod were incorporated into the mainstream Orthodoxy in Russia.[52]
From 1990 to 2016, more than 60 new churches or altars in Russia alone were dedicated to him. There is also a church named after him inHamburg, Germany. His flat in Kronstadt was partly restored and officially registered as a memorial museum. His biography was published in the most respected Russian series of biographical books, Lives of Remarkable People.[53] The John Apartment Museum is located in Kronstadt, at 21 Posadskaya Street. Monuments to John have been placed inKronstadt,Irkutsk andMoscow.
Ioannovsky Convent, the second-largest monastic community in Saint Petersburg, is closely connected with his name. It was established by John, and during his life, he spiritually nourished the convent.
In 2014,Vitaly Milonov proposed to establish 14 June as a memorial day for John in Saint Petersburg but theFederation of Jewish Communities of the CIS was absolutely opposed and made an official statement: "John of Kronstadt was a member of the odious Black-Hundred organization Union of the Russian People, known for its terrible anti-Semitism and moral support for Jewish pogroms in pre-revolutionary Russia"[54][55]
Icons of John most commonly portray him holding a Communion chalice because he reawakened the Russian Orthodox Church to the apostolic tradition of receiving Holy Communion every Divine Liturgy.
His life and work are commemorated on thefeast days of 20 December Old Style (2 January New Style)[56][57] and 19 October Old Style (1 November New Style).[58]
Mein Leben in Christo. Aus dem Tagebuch, Übers. v. S. H. Kurio, München 2008,ISBN978-3-935217-33-0.
Blessed Father John of Kronstadt on Prayer (1966 Jordanville)
Counsels on the Christian Priesthood, tr. W. J. Grisbrooke (1994 Crestwood)
Spiritual Counsels of Father John of Kronstadt, tr. E. E. Goulaev (1967 London)
My Life In Christ Or Moments of Spiritual Serenity ... Extracts From The Diary Of ... John Ilyich Sergieff ... Cronstadt ... Translated ... By E. E. Goulaeff (1897)[1]
My Life in Christ: The Spiritual Journals of St John of Kronstadt. translated by E.E. Goulaev, revised by Nicholas Kotar. Holy Trinity Publications, 2018.ISBN9780884654650
Season of Repentance: Lenten Homilies of St John of Kronstadt. translated by Sergio Tancredo Sette Camara E Silva. Holy Trinity Publications, 2015.ISBN9780884653844
^Кутейникова Н. С., Большакова С. Е. Святые покровители Санкт-Петербурга: святая блаженная Ксения и святой праведный Иоанн Кронштадтский. Вопросы иконографии. // Научные труды. — № 5. — 2006. — С. 3—12.
^Иоанн Кронштадтский //БСЭ. — 1-е изд. — Т. 29. — 1935. — Стлб. 74.: «известныйчерносотенный русский церковный деятель… Проповеди Иоанна Кронштадтского носили явно черносотенный и антисемитский характер, особенно характерны его выступления против социализма»
^«Именно контрреволюционностью, приверженностью монархизму, шовинизму и антисемитизму объясняется благословение Иоанном Кронштадтским "Союза русского народа" и других погромных, черносотенных промонархистских организаций. Вот что сказал на панихиде по И. Сергиеву известный московский черносотенец протоиерей И. Восторгов: "Он призывал Божие благословение на патриотические союзы и содружества и сам состоял даже их членом". Поэтому и нет ничего неожиданного в том. что в связи со смертью кронштадтского протоиерея Святейший Синод получил телеграмму соболезнования от председателя "Союза русского народа" Дубровина. А и некрологе сообщалось, что при продвижении погребальной процессии от Балтийского вокзала до Иоанновского монастыря "впереди его гроба несли освященное им знамя Союза русского народа"» (Гордиенко Н. С. Кто такой Иоанн Кронштадтский. СПб.: Ленингр. орг. о-ва «Знание» РСФСР, 1991/ С. 9; цитата по книге История государства Российского : Жизнеописания. XX век / Рос. нац. б-ка; Авт.-сост. С. Н. Синегубов и др. - М. : Кн. палата, Том 5. XIX век. М., 1998. /С. 170)
^abWalter Laqueur. Black Hundreds: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia, New York : HarperCollins, 1993[page needed]
^"Своей репутацией «святого», своей проповедью и своим влиянием на царя верно служил Cоюзу [русского народа] Иоанн Кронштадтский, избранный почетным членом союза, — живой «бог» принял участие в погромной борьбе против революции." –Никольский Н. М. «История русской церкви» / Москва, Издательство АСТ, Мидгард 2004 /ISBN5-17-023114-8 / С. 499]
^McLean, Hugh (1953). "Leskov and Ioann of Kronstadt: On the Origins of Polunoscniki".The American Slavic and East European Review.12 (1):93–108.doi:10.2307/3004258.JSTOR3004258.After the turn of the century the figure of Father Joann took on new dimensions as chief prophet and spiritual chaplain to the extreme Right in Russian politics. He "consecrated the first banner" of the Union of the Russian People, a band of anti-Semites and pogrom-organizers, and during the Revolution of 1905 stood firm by the scepter of absolutism in the radical press he was caricatured training a cannon on the insurgent masses.
^„Иоанн Кронштадтский, монах Илиодор, Пуришкевич, Дубровин и другие монархисты-погромщики."–Бутинова, Мария Сидоровна;Красников, Николай Петрович. «Музей истории религии и атеизма: Справочник-путеводитель» / М. С. Бутинова, Н. П. Красников; Акад. наук СССР. М-во культуры РСФСР. Музей истории религии и атеизма. - Москва; Ленинград : Наука. [Ленингр. отд-ние], 1965. - 195 с. / С. 162
^„Мракобес-монархист Иоанн Кронштадтский был одним из организаторов Союза русского народа, призывал правительство и верующих к кровавой расправе с революционерами," – «Из истории художественной культуры Екатеринбурга-Свердловска: К 250-летию города» / Редколлегия:...Б. В. Павловский (отв. ред.) [и др.]; МВ и ССО РСФСР. Уральск. гос. ун-т им. А. М. Горького. - Свердловск : [б. и.], 1974. - 91 с. : ил.;/ С. 65
^„В дни первой русской революции 1905 г. он [Иоанн Кронштадтский] вступил в ряды черносотенной организации "Союза русского народа", и призывал потопить в крови революционное движение." –Белов А. В. «Правда о православных "святых".» — М.: Наука, 1968. — 168 с./ С. 163 (Научно-популярная серия/ АН СССР).
^abФирсов, Сергей (1 December 2004).Герой веры или "артист императорских церквей" [Hero of the Faith or "Actor of the Imperial Churches"].Независимая газета (in Russian). Retrieved12 September 2019.
^It was an influential conservative pro-government newspaper that was strongly anti-Semitic. For example, such as during theDreyfus Affair, it took the position of the prosecution and attackedÉmile Zola.
^"Во время оно случися смутъ велiй во граде некоемъ Кронштадтомъ именуемомъ. Матроси и иніи мужи мнози скокаху по стогнамъ градскимъ и убиваху другъ друга и резаху женъ со чады и домочадцы, тщася власти придержащiи испразднити. Оныя же власти предрожащiи Остелецкiй и Беляевъ во мундирiе облачении подъ кроватями нетленни, Господа Бога славословя, обретошася. Друзiи же власти офицерстiи во ризы и исподники женстiи и хулиганстiи облекошася, и сице животъ свой соблюдоша. Всечестнейшему же отцу Iоанну во Кронштедте сущу, се поликіи многочитіи чины притекоша: Отче всеблагіи, всетерпеливый, многомилостивый, чесо ради медлиши? Ты еси блудницу Порфирію во Богородицу хейротанисавый, ты еси піяницу горчайшего во Архангела Михаила претворивый, сътвори чудо: утиши брань и смутъ велій и скрежетъ зубовный, да бы и мы многогрешніи от него не пострадавша. Отвещав честный старецъ рече: Вас ли стонящихъ и мятущихся зрю? Не вкупе ли с вами азъ многогрешніи неисчестно с высоты амвонной ко сотне черной вопихъ, взывахъ и глаголахъ! Не матроси се, а любезные чада наша хулиганстіи мятутся! Духъ мой зело взыграяся ибо чуетъ избиеніе богомерзской интелдигенціи. Потеку на осляти ко чаду моему любезному во Питеръ градъ; "Кривошлыче, сладчайшій, возликуй со мной въ твоихъ Ведомостяхъ Градоначальства церкви и отечеству на пользу. Аминь" - Once in Kronstadt there was a mutiny. Sailors and other people ran around city streets and killed each other, and cut women with children and households, trying to overthrow the government. Representatives of the authorities: Osteletsky and Belyaev remained unscathed, as they lay under the beds in their uniforms and prayed to God. Other government officers dressed in women's clothes, or dressed like hooligans and thus saved their lives. Numerous people came to John, who was in Kronstadt, and addressed him with the words: "You are a father full of goodness, full of patience and always ready to promote the well-being of others. Why do you hesitate? You ordained harlot-Porfiria in Mother of God. You ordained bitter drunkard in Michael the Archangel. Make a miracle, calm down the war and a big rebellion, and a dental screech, so that we will not suffer". Honest elder answered: "Do not I see you groaning and restless? I am a sinner. I called out, yelled and addressed uncountable to the Black Hundred from the pulpit with you, is not it? These are not sailors, and our beloved children bully commit mutiny! My soul is indignant and feels that there will be a beating of the wicked intellectuals! I will run on donkey to my beloved son in St. Petersburg, where I'll tell him: "Krivoshlyk, sweetest, rejoice with me in your newspaper «Vedomosti of the St. Petersburg City Government and the Metropolitan Police» of the church and the fatherland for good. Amen.
^Laqueur, Walter (1993).Black Hundreds: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 50–51.
^abKizenko, Nadieszda (1998). "Ioann of Kronstadt and the Reception of Sanctity, 1850-1988".The Russian Review.57 (3): 327.doi:10.1111/1467-9434.00027.
^„Иоанн Кронштадтский... – настоятель Андреевского собора в Кронштадте, выступавший с конца 19 - начала 20 века с позиции крайнего обскурантизма. Ярый монархист, один из основателей черносотенного «Союза русского народа», непримиримый противник революционных движений, призывавший к жестокой расправе над «смутьянами»". – «Православие: Словарь атеиста» / Под ред. Н. С. Гордиенко. — М.: Политиздат, 1988. — 270[2] с.; 17 см.;ISBN5-250-00079-7 : / Стр. 94 - 95
^Ksenia, Nun (2000).Pyhä Johannes Kronstadtilainen [Saint John of Kronstadt] (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Lintulan Luostari. pp. 157–160.ISBN952-91-1772-8.
^abKizenko 2000, Part 6: The "Ioannites" and the Limits of Veneration.
^Ksenia, Nun (2000).Pyhä Johannes Kronstadtilainen [Saint John of Kronstadt] (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Lintulan Luostari. pp. 155–157.ISBN952-91-1772-8.
^Юдин, Николай (1962).Правда о петербургских "святынях" (in Russian). Ленинград: Лениздат. p. 61.Гроб с костями царского прихвостня и черносотенца [Иоанна Кронштадтского] вывезли далеко за город и сожгли
^Равинский, Дмитрий (2014)."Тайные памятники" Петербурга - Ленинграда(PDF).Телескоп: журнал социологических и маркетинговых исследований (in Russian).3:28–30. Retrieved19 September 2019.
^ Blessed John the Wonderworker: A Preliminary Account of the Life and Miracles of Archbishop John Maximovitch. Platina: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1987.(ISBN0938635018)
Karl Christian Felmy:Predigt im orthodoxen Russland. Untersuchungen zu Inhalt und Eigenart der russischen Predigt in der 2. Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Göttingen 1972, Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht,ISBN3-525-56428-7
Aksenov, R.,„Pasi ovzy Moja“. Utschenie o pastyrstwe swjatogo Ioanna Kronschtadtskogo, W pomoschtsch pastyrju, Klin 2002.
Akwilonow, E. P.,Mysli o. Ioanna Kronschtadtskago o wospitatelnom snatschenii slowa Boschija, St. Petersburg 1909.
Duchonina, E. W.,Is moich wospominanij ob o. Ioanne Kronschtadtskom, St. Petersburg 1907.
Felmy, K. C.,La teologia eucaristica di Ioann di Kronstadt, trans. by E. Cosentino, in: La Grande Vigilia, ed. A. Mainardi, Spiritualità orientale, Bose 1998, 225–242.
Strischew, A. N., ed.,Swjatoj prawednyj Ioann Kronschtadtski w wospominanijach samowidzew, Moskau 1997.
Surski, I. K.,Otez Ioann Kronschtadtski, Moskau 2008,ISBN5-85280-135-6.
Tereschtschenko, T. N.,Simfonija po tworenijam swjatogo prawednogo Ioanna Kronschtadtskogo, Moskau 2007,ISBN978-5-485-00141-4.
Weniamin (Fedtschenkow),Otez Ioann Kronschtadtski, St. Petersburg32005,ISBN5-88335-053-4.
Werchowzewa, W. T.,Wospominanija ob otze Ioanne Kronschtadtskom jego duchownoj dotscheri, Sergiew Posad 1916.
Whyte, A. D.,Father John of the Greek Church. An Appreciation, with some characteristic passages of his mystical and spiritual autobiography ("My Life in Christ"), Edinburgh, London u. New York 1898.
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