Section 02: My Life in Christ
This section treats St. John of Kronstadt’s spiritual diary, My Life in Christ (Moya zhizn vo Khriste) — the lifelong daily journal of which the published book is a set of extracts. The two files cover, first, the diary as practice and book (its publication history, the post-Soviet recovery of the complete diaries, the Goulaeff translation, and the journal as a form), and second, the theology that runs through it: the name of God, the Eucharist at the center, the candid battle with the passions, providence, and the love of neighbor. It is the inner counterpart to the public ministry of the surrounding sections.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox (glorified ROCOR 1964, Moscow Patriarchate 1990)
Section Contents
| File | Topic |
|---|---|
| The Diary | The lifelong diary practice; the 1893 Russian extracts versus the complete diaries published only post-Soviet (Otchii Dom, from 2001); the Goulaeff English translation (1897) and its Jordanville reprints; the journal as a genre; and several famous passages with citation |
| Key Themes | The diary’s theology: the name of God and liturgical realism; the Eucharist as the center; the humanizing record of the struggle with the passions that Kizenko stresses; creation, providence, and love of neighbor; and the aphoristic style |
How to Use
- Start with The Diary to understand what My Life in Christ is — a journal of extracts, not a treatise — and how its text reaches us.
- Read Key Themes for the theology the diary carries, which previews the eucharistic revival of Section 03 and frames the candid, self-examining man Kizenko sets beside the hagiographic icon.
Cross-References
- For the ministry whose inner life the diary records, see The Kronstadt Assignment.
- For the eucharistic practice that enacts the diary’s central theme, see Daily Liturgy.
- For the contested public dimension set beside the diary’s private candor, see Monarchism and Union.
- For the church-historical setting of the diary’s publication, see The Synodal Period.
References
- John of Kronstadt, St. My Life in Christ: Extracts from the Diary. Trans. E. E. Goulaeff. London: Cassell, 1897; repr. Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery.
- Kizenko, Nadieszda. A Prodigal Saint: Father John of Kronstadt and the Russian People. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
- John of Kronstadt, St. Dnevnik (complete diaries). Moscow: Otchii Dom, 2001– .