John of Kronstadt or John Iliytch SergieffMy life in Christ, or Moments of spiritual serenity and contemplation, of reverent feeling, of earnest self-amendment, and of peace in God ... Extracts from the diary of the Most Reverend John Iliytch Sergieff (pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ; 1829 – ) was a Russian Orthodox archpriest and a member of the Most Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was known for his mass confessions, numerous miracles,Kizenko N. A Prodigal Saint: Father John of Kronstadt and the Russian People. — P. 238. and charitable work, as well as his monarchistic and anti-communist views.Иоанн Кронштадтский // БСЭ. — 1-е изд. — Т. 29. — 1935. — Стлб. 74.: «известный черносотенный русский церковный деятель… Проповеди Иоанна Кронштадтского носили явно черносотенный и антисемитский характер, особенно характерны его выступления против социализма»«<…> автор погромных проповедей и статей, активный поборник контрреволюции, участник церковной травли Л. Н. Толстого. Культ Иоанна Кронштадтского используется реакционными кругами рус. церк. эмиграции в антикоммунистической пропаганде.» — Иоанн Кронштадтский. // Атеистический словарь. / под ред. М. П. Новикова. — М.: Политиздат, 1985. — С. 177.«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)Walter Laqueur. Black Hundreds: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia, New York : HarperCollins, 1993Степанов А. Д. Иоанн Кронштадтский// Чёрная сотня. Историческая энциклопедия / Сост. А. Д. Степанов, А. А. Иванов. Отв. ред. О. А. Платонов. — М.: Институт русской цивилизации, 2008. — С. 229. — 680 с. — ."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 / / С. 499]„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).
John is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is known with the epithet "Righteous".
Early life The future Saint was born as Ivan Ilyich Sergiyev (pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) on in the northern village of Sura, near the White Sea, in Arkhangelsk Governorate, Russian Empire. He came from a hereditary corporation of village clergymen, and his father was a poor dyachok 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 the Theological Academy in Saint Petersburg, the Russian capital. He became the 35th out of 39 students who graduated from the academy in 1855.
"Kronstadt Father" From 1855, he worked as a priest in Saint Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt, the naval base near St. Petersburg. He married the 26-year-old daughter of the archpriest 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.Митрополит Вениамин (Федченков). «Божьи люди: Мои духовные встречи» : Сборник; (Вступительная статья А. Светозарского). - М. : Отчий дом, 1997. - 414,(1) с., (44) л. ил. : ил.; 22 см. (В пер.) / С. 194: „Не так легко восприняла безбрачие в браке молодая жена. Предание свидетельствует, что она даже подавала жалобу на мужа епархиальному архиерею. Но молодой священник уговаривал ее добровольно согласиться с ним: – Лиза! Счастливых семей и без нас с тобою довольно. А мы отдадим себя всецело Богу и ближним. И она наконец согласилась."; 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. He tried to serve the liturgy every day. During the service, he behaved very expressively, deviated from the usual text and turned his back to the altar. He introduced the practice of frequent Confession and Holy 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 the Khlysts. Nevertheless, his distinctive style attracted attention to the young priest and allowed him to show his charisma. John was widely venerated as a saint even during his lifetime because of his fame as a powerful prayer, healer, and visionary.Булгаков С. В. Хлысты-киселевцы // Расколы. Ереси. Секты. Противные христианству и православию учения. Западные христианские вероисповедания. Соборы Западной Церкви. — М., 1913
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.I. K. Surskiy. St. Father John of Kronstadt (in Russian) John came to a wide prominence after the publication of an open letter in the newspaper Novoe Vremya (literally New Time) in 1883.It was an influential conservative pro-government newspaper that was strongly anti-Semitic. For example, such as during the Dreyfus Affair, it took the position of the prosecution and attacked Émile Zola. 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 living wonderworker with healing power (only relics were thought to have that power). The situation was discussed by the highest church organ, the Most Holy Synod, whose hierarchs were in disarray, and Metropolitan Isidore, John's direct supervisor, was especially dissatisfied.
In 1894, Tsar Alexander III of Russia summoned John to Livadia Palace, in the Crimea, as Alexander lay dying of kidney disease.John Perry & Constantine Pleshakov The Flight of the Romanovs: a Family Saga (Basic Books, 1999) pg. 62 While John claimed he had raised the dead previously, he failed to heal the Tsar by his prayers. However, after the invitation to the bed of a dying tsar, John became immune to the criticism of church authorities.
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.
In the fall of 1907, John was appointed by Tsar 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.Церковные ведомости, издаваемые при Святейшем Правительствующем Синоде. 1909. № 1 / С. 30
Support for Russian far right