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| St. John of Kronstadt |
Life of St. John of Kronstadt
This married Orthodox Priest (of humble peasant stock) never travelled to our side of the world. He was well known in Russia, by rich and poor alike. Word of him soon reached world-wide among Orthodox, but also by various religions and ethnicities. American newspapers were similarly captivated and wrote many articles about this fascinating Saint.
Matthew Namee (Orthodoxhistory.org) once wrote about St. John's America connection:
It is difficult, a century later, to understand the fame of St. John. He was the most famous Orthodox priest in the world, and in the West, he might have been the most famous Orthodox clergyman, period — patriarchs included. How to illustrate this… Of course, he was covered by all the big papers — the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post. But it went beyond that. In 1891, the Idaho Avalanche devoted nearly a full column on its front page to a description of St. John. Papers in Wisconsin, Oregon, Ohio, and Georgia wrote about his miracles. The Iowa City Citizen reported that a blind man received his sight at St. John’s funeral. The Boston Globe called him Russia’s “uncrowned pope.” His diary, My Life in Christ, was translated into English and distributed in America. For many Americans, Father Ioann, or Ivan, or John, simply was Orthodoxy. No comparable figure exists today; probably, no comparable figure could exist. The American press reported on St. John like you would expect them to report on a superhero. We will never see the like again.
And then, of course, there are the obvious connections between St. John and American Orthodoxy. St. Alexander Hotovitzky, the leading priest in the Russian Mission, had a personal audience with him. And before she had ever laid eyes on St. Tikhon, Isabel Hapgood had shaken hands with St. John. The great priest was a regular subject in the official magazine of the Russian Mission. And St. John himself took a personal interest in American Orthodoxy, sending money to support the building of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City. (If you visit there, they have a great icon of the saints of the cathedral — founders Tikhon and Alexander; those who served there: Raphael, John of Chicago, and Alexis Toth; and their financial benefactors Tsar Nicholas II and St. John of Kronstadt.) Although he never set foot on American soil, one might reasonably number St. John among the saints of North America."
A further connection:
As well as all that has been said here, it is good to mention that St. John was first glorified a Saint in America (as The Church in Russia was undergoing martyrdom at the time).
And the first Orthodox Church dedicated to St. John of Kronstadt--worldwide--is the St. John of Kronstadt Church in Utica, NY.
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| Tomb of St. John of Kronstadt |
Writings by or about St. John:
1. (Book) My Life in Christ (Autobiography), by St. John of Kronstadt
2. (Book) Season of Repentance: Lenten Homilies, by St. John
3. (Article) Sorrow and Joy: a Homily on the Nativity of the Mother of God, by St. John
4. (Article) St. John of Kronstadt as seen by St. Alexander of New York
5. (Articles) Writings by or about St. John (OrthodoxChristian.com)
6. (Article) A Poem (translated), by St. John
7. (Book) Abbess Thaisia of Leushino: Autobiography of a Spiritual Daughter of St. John of Kronstadt (part of the book shares stories and instructions of St. John)
8. A Preparation for Confession, by St. John
9. (Article) Life of St. John, with photos & illustrations
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The Life of St. John of Kronstadt:
*Side-note: I'm not quite sure why one man interviewed in the film mentions it is too late for him to be baptized. He's still alive, so it's not too late to be baptized.
*Side-note: I'm not quite sure why one man interviewed in the film mentions it is too late for him to be baptized. He's still alive, so it's not too late to be baptized.