A Prodigal Saint (Paperback)

Nadieszda Kizenko

ISBN 10: 027101976X / ISBN 13: 9780271019765

Verlag: Pennsylvania State University Press, Pennsylvania, 2000

Beschreibung

Paperback. Rarely are we privileged to see the making of a saint, but it is just what this book gives us for John of Kronstadt (1829-1908), a major figure in the religious life of Late Imperial Russia. So popular was Father John during his years of ministry that Kronstadt became a pilgrimage site replete with peddlers selling souvenir photographs, postcards, and commemorative mugs. A Prodigal Saint follows Father John's development from activist priest to venerated spiritual leader and, after his death, to his elevation to sainthood in 1990. We see both the inner life of an aspiring saint and the symbiotic relationship between a living icon and his followers. Father John represented a fundamentally new type of religious behavior and a new standard of sanctity in Late Imperial Russia. He ministered to the poor of Kronstadt, creating shelters and employment programs and participating in the temperance movement. In the process he acquired a reputation for prayerful intercession that soon spread beyond Kronstadt. When he was asked to minister to the dying Alexander III in 1894, his fame became international as he attracted correspondents from the United States and Europe.In his later years he allied himself increasingly with the radical right, which has had momentous implications for the Russian Orthodox Church in the twentieth century. A portrait of the life of Father John of Kronstadt, a priest in tsarist Russia, venerated in his lifetime and later elevated to sainthood. It draws on documents from the Russian archives, thousands of letters he received from his followers and police reports on the sect that formed around him. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 9780271019765

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: A Prodigal Saint (Paperback)
• Verlag: Pennsylvania State University Press, Pennsylvania
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2000
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 027101976X
• ISBN-13: 9780271019765
• Einband: Paperback
• Zustand: new

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

Rarely are we privileged to see the making of a saint, but it is just what this book gives us for John of Kronstadt (1829-1908), a major figure in the religious life of Late Imperial Russia. So popular was Father John during his years of ministry that Kronstadt became a pilgrimage site replete with peddlers selling souvenir photographs, postcards, and commemorative mugs. A Prodigal Saint follows Father John's development from activist priest to venerated spiritual leader and, after his death, to his elevation to sainthood in 1990. We see both the inner life of an aspiring saint and the symbiotic relationship between a living icon and his followers. Father John represented a fundamentally new type of religious behavior and a new standard of sanctity in Late Imperial Russia. He ministered to the poor of Kronstadt, creating shelters and employment programs and participating in the temperance movement. In the process he acquired a reputation for prayerful intercession that soon spread beyond Kronstadt. When he was asked to minister to the dying Alexander III in 1894, his fame became international as he attracted correspondents from the United States and Europe. In his later years he allied himself increasingly with the radical right, which has had momentous implications for the Russian Orthodox Church in the twentieth century.Kizenko draws upon rich and virtually unknown documents from the Russian archives, including Father John's diaries, thousands of letters he received from his followers, and the police reports on the sect that formed around him. John's diaries are a truly unique source, for they document the making of a modern saint: his struggles with doubt, his ascetical practices, and his growing realization that others saw him as a saint. Kizenko explores the extent to which Father John collaborated in the formation of his own cult and how he himself was influenced by the expectations and desires of his audience. In the final chapter she follows Father John's po

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nadieszda Kizenko is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Albany. She has contributed articles to Russian Review, Pravoslavnaia Rus', PSALM Notes, Russkoe Vozrozhdenie, and Peace and Change.