Diaries of Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt

Volume XXVI. 1890–1894, 1896–1898, 1908 The extensive spiritual heritage of the great prayer book of the Russian land, Saint Righteous John, Presbyter of Kronstadt, is known to the pious reader from his works, recently republished - sermons, conversations, words, reflections. A significant part of the saint’s spiritual heritage also lies in his diaries, the first complete edition of which was undertaken with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. Before us is the second book of the first volume of the diaries of the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt (for 1856 and 1857-1858), which represents personal notes, or more precisely: “Spiritual experiences, observations, thoughts and advice for someone who begins, with God’s help, to know himself or to walk in the spirit, according to the Apostle.” This quote from the diary speaks about the essence and purpose of the book, which contains a description of life in the Church and the unique experience of the spiritual growth of Father John of Kronstadt, his path to holiness. The diary records with the utmost openness his work of fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel, fighting human sinful passions and saving the soul. Familiarization with this patristic experience and edification from it are of great importance for us, and Saint John himself, although he wrote the diary primarily for himself, was aware of the spiritual benefit of reading it for others. In a note made on a diary notebook, he wrote: “I consider everything good and fair in this book not to be mine, but to belong to God,” and asked: “Not to destroy this book even after my death.” The image of the saint is revealed to the reader with all clarity, who, being the same person as us, achieved holiness through a constant struggle against sinful passions - a struggle not against blood and flesh, but... against the spirits of wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12), against that old man of his (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9), which must be crucified daily, according to the word of the Apostle, with passions and lusts ( Gal. 5, 24). A person like us, with the same weaknesses, infirmities, shortcomings, unlike us, who passively fix them, gradually become exhausted and fall, he fought against them until he sweated, until he bled, and won. The Lord, calling everyone to Himself (Matthew 11:28), wants all people to be saved and to achieve the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). “Many are called, but few are chosen,” He says (Matthew 22:14). God's chosen ones differ from others in that they responded to this Divine calling with fiery zeal and asceticism. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt was such a chosen vessel of God. God’s providence for him was special, which Father himself wrote with amazement more than once in his diary. The hand of the Lord was always over him; Through the fervent prayer of Father John, the Lord always sent him His help. From autobiographical materials we know about the appearances of the Mother of God to Father John in 1894 and 1898. In one of the diary entries from 1857, we learn about the first appearance of the Queen of Heaven to him. The book is of great interest to researchers of the life of Father John, as it contains valuable autobiographical information: memories of his early youth, his years of study at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and about relatives and friends. In these diaries, the priest appears as a teacher, giving lectures on geography, discussing the laws of physics, touching on the laws of biology, and making interesting observations about the laws of nature. The diary contains many everyday sketches. But the most important thing is the spiritual edification of the book, which will be useful to both laymen and priests. A layman will find a lot of moral teaching here for himself, and for a priest, Saint Righteous John, in his diary entries, gives important advice from his liturgical activities: he describes temptations, difficult situations that often arise in the practice of any priest, and shows a way out of them. The book contains St. John's thoughts, teachings, outlines, and completed sermons that can be used by the church preacher. In addition to the edification contained in the book, reading its divinely inspired, patristic words has a beneficial effect on the reader’s soul. “Millions of people lived through the world before me, and most of them experienced the same thing that I experience, and they passed on their experiences to paper, just as I pass on to the same paper my inner, moral experiences. I wish that other people who have the opportunity to read about my experiences will believe them as much as I believe myself.” Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt You might be interested in: