Next to the father. Memories of spiritual children about the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt

Contents Part I. Memoirs of Abbess Taisia Father Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev as a shepherd Father Archpriest John Sergiev's stay in the Leushinsky monastery in 1899 In blessed memory of Father John of Kronstadt Conversations with Father John of Kronstadt In blessed memory of the good Kronstadt shepherd Small monastery “Pustynka”, or “Cross”, with Church in the name of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian Handwritten notes by Father John of Kronstadt on separate sheets of paper, kept by Abbess Taisia Biography of Abbess Taisia Part II. Travel notes by Alexandra Nartsizova Letters about traveling with Father John of Kronstadt to his homeland and other places From a letter to the editor of the “Russian Pilgrim” A trip to the Goritsky Kinovia in 1892 St. Petersburg memories Travel with Father John of Kronstadt to his homeland in 1893 About the power of faith, and what should be the qualities of a godly faith, and why unbelief and are wickedness disgusting to God? A trip to Sura and return from there with Father John of Kronstadt The journey of the father of Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev, the shepherd of Kronstadt, to his homeland in the village of Sura, Arkhangelsk province, Pinega district in 1897 Appendix. Biography of Alexandra Flegontovna Nartsizova Part III. Diary entries of Ekaterina Dukhonina How Father John of Kronstadt put me on the path of salvation A large number of memories have been preserved about the holy righteous Father John of Kronstadt, and this is not surprising - after all, he was the true Shepherd of all Russia and the circle of people who personally knew him was incredibly wide. He was in constant communication with people, serving the Liturgy every day, confessing, receiving communion; he received a huge number of letters and telegrams, so the Kronstadt post office had to open a special branch for his correspondence. Father John often traveled around Russia, and where it became known about his arrival, many people were waiting for him, people were looking for a meeting with him, they hoped for his help. For some, communication with Father John was limited to a short conversation, a reply letter, and general prayer. Others were rewarded with long spiritual communication with him. These are the authors of the texts presented in this publication. It included works of various genres: letters, diaries, notes, memoirs, poems - written by the three spiritual daughters of Father John, three women of different fates and different characters, belonging to different classes of Russian society. The first of them, Abbess Taisiya (Solopova) of the Leushinsky Monastery, came from an ancient noble family. For more than thirty-five years she was, in her words, “in the closest spiritual relationship” with Father John of Kronstadt. They were connected by true spiritual friendship. Mother Taisiya was a “comforter” in conversations with Father John about “subjects of a spiritual, sublime nature” and everything she heard “carefully wrote down, trying to remember every word.” Being a highly educated and literary gifted person, Abbess Taisiya preserved the memory of Father John in texts of various genres: poems, chronicles, memoirs, spiritual reflections, “conversations.” The “conversations” of Abbess Taisia ​​with Father John are especially valuable because Father at one time wanted to “check them himself, found them correct, made corrections in some places, where he added additions in his own hand.” The book also includes the memoirs of Alexandra Nartsizova, a resident of Yaroslavl, born into the family of a poor official who came from a clergy background. Nartsizova is perhaps one of the most unusual “memoirists” in history: Alexandra Flegontovna was deaf. It is unknown whether she would have dared to write if Father John himself had not blessed her. “To my question, what lifestyle should I choose? - Father John said among other things: “You have a writing hand, share your talent!” Deprived of hearing, Alexandra Nartsizova saw more sharply and felt more deeply; She looked at everything that was happening joyfully, with open eyes, trying not to miss anything that attracted the attention of her spiritual father. Father repeatedly invited her on trips to his homeland - Sura. From her very first trip, Nartsizova began recording her impressions. Deafness did not prevent her from conveying Father John’s words to us with maximum accuracy: after the sermon, she asked Father for the text of the speech and carefully copied it into her notebook. The third part of the book is the diary of Ekaterina Dukhonina, the wife of the famous general, hero of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878, defender of Shipka Mikhail Lavrentievich Dukhonin. The pious reader in her diary will see a true miracle of the transformation of the human soul, which occurred thanks to the prayerful participation of Father John: “... how this real lamp on our darkened earth saved my life, led me from the wrong path on which I could have completely died, how he took me under his leadership as a spiritual daughter and put me on the true path, making me a sincere, convinced Christian.” Ekaterina Dukhonina closely followed the political life of the country. Thanks to her diary, precious information has reached us, giving an idea of ​​the social position of the Kronstadt Shepherd. The Lord gave the authors of the published texts the opportunity to know Father John well: to often talk with him, to be close to him during his interactions with various people, to witness his miracles - and therefore they could truly deeply retain in their memory and convey to us the personality traits of Father, the features of his everyday life. These texts, collected under the cover of one book, give today’s reader the opportunity to see from different sides, through the eyes of people so different from each other, God’s miracle - the personality of a holy man, the righteous father John of Kronstadt - to hear his word, his instructions and feel the main thing that constituted the true essence of Father John - love for God and man.