Key to the Fatherland of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

See also: “Fatherland” Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) “The Key to the Fatherland of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov”, compiled by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John (Snychev), is a unique publication in which Vladyka John brought into a certain system all the rich patristic material contained in the book “Fatherland”. Thanks to a clear thematic distribution into various sections and questions, “The Key to the Fatherland” allows the modern reader to better understand the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church and quickly find answers to many theological, dogmatic and spiritual-moral questions. This work is nothing more than the material distributed in departments and issues, located in the book “Fatherland”. In it, the compiler, to the best of his strength and capabilities, sought to bring the spiritual pearls of the Holy Fathers scattered throughout the Fatherland into a certain system and, through individual topics and questions, help the reader understand the teaching of the holy ascetics and quickly find answers to certain perplexed questions. The pages in “The Key to the Fatherland” are quoted from the book “The Fatherland” (pub. St. Petersburg, 1903). There are few books more beloved and revered by the Orthodox reader than “The Fatherland” by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. The work of Vladyka John, who systematized the sayings of the Holy Fathers by topic and in alphabetical order, continues the work of St. Ignatius, who made the sayings of the ancient ascetics accessible to his contemporaries. Our hasty and hectic age leaves the laity less and less time for systematic reading of spiritual literature. The work of Metropolitan John allows us to open the Fatherland on the page that contains the answer to our momentary perplexities and questions. Vladyka John compiled the “Key” while he was still at the Samara See. In those years, unable to publish the book by printing, the archpastor gave his blessing to print it in several copies on a typewriter for his spiritual children. When compiling the “Key,” Vladyka used the 1903 edition of “Fatherland,” links to pages and sections of which were preserved by us. Just as in the Fatherland, we have highlighted the comments of St. Ignatius himself, typing them in a different font from the main one.