Наружность о. Иоанна

NUMEROUS portraits and images of Fr. John gives about him, although a truthful, but not entirely accurate idea. The portraits do not capture the endless love that shone in the eyes of this shepherd, the cheerful, even joyful mood that inspired this face with a smile of condescension and boundless patience. On some cards Fr. John was depicted alone. Here he is filmed in full height. He stands cheerfully, firmly, his meek, pure, holy face is illuminated with affection. The eyes are directed somewhere into the distance. From the outside, it seems as if he is going somewhere with open arms to save people, ready to embrace the whole world in his arms. Here he is shown sitting. The head is tilted slightly to one side and rests on the hand. The facial expression is somehow sad-joyful, thoughtful. It seems that a deep thought about suffering people lies in his soul and gives his mood a shade of holy sadness. In other photographs he is not alone. Here he is photographed with his sisters, dressed in the simplest rural dress; their heads are covered with simple scarves. All three are sitting on a bench near their home, in Sura, far from here. Poor sisters, did they ever think that their brother, as poor as they are, would one day be so great and known everywhere? Of course not. The strong brotherly confidence in each other is visible. There is no stiffness or pomp. Everything is nice and simple. Something extraordinary, captivating the soul and heart, emanates from this group. Here's about. John is photographed with his old mother, also dressed very simply and wearing a cap. Recently she lived in Kronstadt. Here she ended the days of her life; She was buried here in the cemetery. A magnificent monument now stands over her grave. It was created by the tender love of a son for his mother. Here he is filmed walking into a field in his native land. There he was photographed in a group of various public figures who wished to appear with him. Here about. John was filmed during his conversation with large crowds of people. One photograph shows him standing on a balcony with a sea of ​​heads all around him below. On another he was filmed standing in the wheelhouse of a Volga steamship. The pier, embankment, boats and all kinds of vessels are crowded with people. Here he prays, there he blesses, here he talks to the people. Further, the cards depicted all kinds of views of the native land of Fr. John: old poor church, new church created by Fr. John, the old house in which Fr. was born. John, fields, forests, meadows, mountains where he loved to walk as a child, a river meandering like a ribbon near Sura. On some cards Fr. John is photographed full-length, in others half-length, in others in profile. Here it was filmed with awards, there without awards. Here he had some crosses, there others. Here are these robes, there are different ones, and more and more new, each better and more luxurious than the other. Some portrayed him as still quite young, others as significantly older. Among this huge and so diverse collection of all kinds of photographs of Fr. John's paintings were of all sizes, ranging from a small business card to such huge ones that in their size they could compete with a canvas of quite decent sizes. Reviewing all these cards and groups for the hundredth time, I, writes V.M., could not help but pay attention to one circumstance, very curious and remarkable. There seemed to be not a single card in this sea of ​​cards on which Fr. John would have been shot in exactly the same way. Regardless of the card, he had a different expression on his face. At times this difference reached such proportions that it was difficult even to recognize it. John. Anyone who had not seen him would certainly not have recognized him here. Interested in this, we asked people who knew Fr. John, what explains such a difference in photographs depicting the same person. It turns out that we noticed something very true and characteristic. Fr.'s facial expression. Joanna changes frequently and sometimes with amazing speed. That's why it comes out so differently on cards. This was partly observed for Fr. John during the Divine Service. Indeed, his face was wonderful at these moments, and his expression often changes, becoming now sad, now mournful, now joyful, breathing with strength and power, now joyfully mournful. Sometimes the sun, flooding the earth with a mass of light, wonderfully plays with its golden rays on the greenery, flowers, trees, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, gently and amazingly changing its tones, thickening and weakening its colors. Something similar could be observed in the face of Fr. John. It glowed with some extraordinary light, which now intensified, now weakened, appearing first in the eyes, sometimes on the cheeks. At these moments I involuntarily remembered an ancient story about how they once wanted to remove the image of Christ the Savior. But despite all their efforts, they did not succeed, because the expression on the Savior’s face was constantly changing. In my opinion, these cards, which so diversely convey the features of Fr. John are of great importance. They describe to us the history of his inner life, the history of his spiritual growth, joys and sorrows, his fervent prayer and sincere sorrow for a sinful world, the change of mood caused in him by the people around him. During the Divine Service, one sight of the revered shepherd, shining with the grace of the Risen Christ and a fiery prayerful feeling, clothed in a shiny, brocade robe, giving his meek, youthful face some kind of unearthly, spiritual beauty - miraculously influenced the soul of everyone, involuntarily illuminating the heart with a touching consciousness of the holiness of the hour being experienced, and the soul filled with delight thirsted to completely immerse myself in this joint prayer with the shepherd, I longed, according to the words of the “Cherubim Song,” to now leave all worldly cares and be carried away with my thoughts to God, to rush with my whole being there, to the altar, where our good shepherd and prayer book prayed with us and for us. We are reliably aware of cases of the beneficially charming influence that the mere sight of the bright face of Fr. John of Kronstadt. In all countries - not only Russia - it became known about the miraculous power of his prayers and this Divine power, accomplished through the worthy servant of the Altar - Fr. John, became famous, reliably became known to countless people and has already been attested in print. We received several news of how beneficially the sight of the beautiful, inspired face of the Kronstadt priest acted. To us, wrote one priest who had the good fortune to concelebrate with Fr. John during his recent trip to the north: “For the first time I especially felt how true, wise, invaluable and beautiful the rite of the Orthodox Church is, to which we have the unspoken, little understood and valued happiness of belonging. At the sight of Fr.'s face. John, I was convinced for the first time how faithfully our Orthodox Church depicts in the Holy Icons the saints of God with a halo of light around their faces - dry, exhausted by fasting, constant labor, and most of all, internal heart disease, honorable sadness about their own and universal sins. I convey to you truly and accurately my impression: the face of Fr. Joanna - lightning fast, radiantly shining. What kind of light is this? This is the light of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, who lives essentially in him; This is the light of the Divine, which we will see after leaving our bodies, if by our deeds we do not deserve to be separated from this light and are not cast into total darkness. It is best to understand the meaning of this lightning speed of Fr. John is possible if we compare his appearance with the opposite, which we all, and each of us, encountered in daily life. Have you seen how the face of the envious turns green, how the corrupted one turns black, how the sad one fades, how the cowardly one turns pale? There is no doubt that these reflections, strictly corresponding to the states of the soul, give an idea of ​​​​that mysterious pitch darkness about which we are warned in the Holy Gospel. The internal painful state of the soul - angry, melancholy, despondent, fearful, faint-hearted - is reflected on the face, which is the mirror of the soul. The mysterious pitch darkness that takes possession of the soul, invisible to us, makes itself felt outward, on a person’s face. And so, if we compare these phenomena, which definitely speak for themselves, with what we see on the mirror of the soul of Fr. John, then you will involuntarily be confirmed in the truths of our holy faith. When we surrender to the feeling of sincere goodwill, generosity, pity, our faces brighten: meek, noble, good people have bright faces. U o. For John, all this, which we notice in daily reality, was reflected on his face to an extreme degree, in accordance with the great measures of humility, meekness, kindness, patience, hard work, which he acquired in the hard labors of the apostleship, through unceasing inner sincere prayer, to which we are all called and without which salvation is impossible, and through a selfless struggle with the passions of dishonor: - with voluptuousness, love of money, love of glory, - without which (struggle) it is impossible to achieve dispassion, that is, the goal of all Christian efforts.” Another priest writes to us: “From personal wonderful impressions, the traces of which have not cooled in me to this day, I received the complete conviction that inside Fr. John, in his heart and soul, rests the Holy Trinity of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Do not say that this confidence is hasty, immoderately enthusiastic, exaggerated. We are all called by the Holy Church to cleanse ourselves from passions in order to infuse ourselves with the Holy Spirit, that is, so that we tangibly have the Holy Spirit within us, which is achieved, as you know, firstly, through reading and humble study of the Word of God, preserved in the Holy Scriptures to this day, and definitively explained in the patristic works; secondly, through sincere prayer, which is possible only through fasting and abstinence of the belly, hearing, sight, as well as all feelings from everything bad, impetuous, passionate; thirdly, through all sincere good deeds, i.e., diligent fulfillment of the Gospel commandments in spirit and truth, i.e. in the right spirit, the right true understanding of it, the Holy Spirit. observed by the Church, and fourthly, through the sacraments and, especially, the sacrament of worthy communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. By these means, we can all tangibly infuse ourselves with the Holy Spirit, whose presence in us shines on our faces, as it radiantly shines on the face of the Kronstadt righteous man. If the Lord falsely promised to come with the Father and the Spirit and create an abode inside that person who will diligently do the commandments of the Lord’s Gospel, then why are you amazed at my statement that the Holy Trinity, God dwells inside the Kronstadt laborer, the apostle of love, the same name of Grace (the name John means grace).” Here are two excerpts from the many testimonies that have accumulated in our hands. It is best to compare the portrait of Fr. John of Kronstadt, the Light of Orthodoxy, the flaming hearth of miraculous prayer, a great Christian for countless deeds of mercy, with a portrait of Count Leo Tolstoy, barking blasphemously at the Holy Church of God, who destroyed with his vile false teaching many human souls, each of which is dearer to God than the whole world. In the portrait of Fr. John we see an angelic face, meek eyes, a bright forehead, pure lips: the general expression on his face is inexplicable - attractive. In the portrait of Leo Tolstoy we see a gloomy brow, covered as if by clouds, a stern gaze, and a general posture of pride. But may, Lord, let everyone be saved and freed from eternal torment! The great saints fell at the end of the race, and the most wretched sinners delighted the Kingdom of Heaven. But looking at the portraits of Fr. John of Kronstadt and Leo Tolstoy, we can confidently say: the first stands on the narrow thorny path of Christ, leading to the Kingdom of Eternal Bliss, in order to delight and receive what has been so long and so earnestly sought; the second stands on a wide, free path, the end of which looks at the bottom of hell, and the day is near when he will enter the region of eternal darkness and torment through the door of death. May the will of the Lord be done and, glory to God in the highest, but may there be peace on earth and in men “good will” - imitate Fr. John and turn away from the ways of Leo Tolstoy.