Ioann of Kronstadt

Ioann of Kronstadt (real name – Ioann Ilyich Sergiev) was a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, a mitred archpriest. Rector of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt. Member of the Holy Governing Synod since 1906. A preacher, spiritual writer, and church-social figure of right-conservative and monarchist views. Canonized among the righteous by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia on October 19 (November 1) 1964, and later, on June 8, 1990, by the Russian Orthodox Church. He was born on October 19, 1829, in the village of Sura, Pinezhsky Uyezd, Arkhangelsk Governorate, into a poor family. He was sickly and frail from childhood, but his mother constantly prayed for him. From an early age his father took him to church and instilled in him a love of God and of worship.

  

Ioann of Kronstadt completed the parish school, then successfully graduated from the Arkhangelsk Theological Seminary and the Theological Academy in Saint Petersburg with a Candidate of Theology degree. He married the daughter of a priest, Elizaveta Nesvitskaya. After his ordination the young priest was appointed sacristan of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt. It was a criminal city, to which thieves, murderers and all sorts of evildoers were exiled. But Ioann was not afraid of these outcast people; on the contrary, he strove to help them spiritually — he spoke with them, comforted them, helped them, and shared their sorrows with them. Together with his flock he established a House of Industry where free assistance was provided to all in need. Ioann celebrated his last Divine Liturgy on December 9, 1908, and on December 20 he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. Father Ioann is buried in the St. Ioann's Convent in Petersburg. In June 1990, at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, a churchwide canonization of the righteous Ioann of Kronstadt took place.