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John of Kronstadt Quotes
1829–1908
John of Kronstadt (born Ivan Ilyich Sergiev; November 19, 1829, Sura, Arkhangelsk Governorate — January 2, 1908) is a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, a priest, an ascetic, a wonderworker, and a Russian ultranationalist.
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79 quotes
Orthodox Christians are like a family, the children of Yessou Christ, and in a good family, the mother is always highly respected (the Mother of God), just as older brothers are respected and honored by the younger ones, and these latter imitate the former.
Envy in a Christian is madness.
Sins are secret snakes gnawing at the heart of a person and his entire being; they give him no peace, incessantly sucking his heart; sins are sharp thorns constantly piercing the soul; sins are spiritual darkness.
The devil is such an evil needle that at all times and everywhere it climbs into your heart's eyes, clouding and suppressing them; it is such a poisonous dust that constantly floats in our mental atmosphere and settles caustically on the heart, eating away at it and drilling it.
Arius, the heretic, reduced the Creator to the rank of creatures and did not recognize Him as consubstantial and co-eternal with the Father, a single Being with Him and the Holy Spirit.
Our life is a child's game, but not an innocent one, but a sinful one, because with a strong mind and knowledge of the purpose of our life, we neglect this purpose and engage in empty, aimless affairs.
God is Spirit, a simple Being.
Demon-possessed individuals are peaceful until they are brought close to a sacred object. When they are, an extraordinary force, a repulsion from the sacred, blasphemy, spitting on the sacred, and a piercing scream emerge from them.
Sorrows are a great teacher.
Churches are spiritual schools, clinics, places of enlightenment, rest stops for travelers to heaven, houses of charity where we are shown the greatest benefits and divine assistance to prepare us for settling in heaven.
Whatever passions the enemies fight you with, endure without despondency, without bitterness, with meekness and humility, and do not let the movements of impatience, malice, murmuring, and blasphemy into your heart.
The Jesuits, to please the Pope and their selfish base views and goals, distorted the law of conscience and the law of the Gospel, asserting that to achieve selfish or religious goals, Catholics can use any illegal means.
To repent means to feel in your heart the falsehood, madness, and guilt of your sins—it means to realize that you have offended your Creator, Lord, Father, and Benefactor, who is infinitely holy and infinitely disgusted by sin—it means to desire with all your soul to correct and atone for them.
Pride is a demon; malice is the same demon; envy is the same demon; lewd filth is the same demon; forced blasphemy is the same demon; forced doubt in the truth is a demon; despondency is a demon; there are various passions, but in all of them one Satan acts; various passions, but together they are the barking of Satan in various ways, and a person becomes one, one spirit with Satan.
Consider all sweetness as sweepings and filth; do not love anything earthly, do not pity anything earthly for a person, and do not hold enmity against him for anything. Love seeks to please the beloved and to value nothing for his sake.
Prayer is often called something that is not prayer at all: a person went to church, stood there, looked at the icons, or first at the people, at their faces, their outfits, and says: I prayed to God; stood at home in front of an icon, nodded his head, said memorized words without understanding or sympathy, and says: I prayed to God.
Often, prayer is called something that is not prayer at all: a person went to church, stood there, looked at the icons, or first at the people, at their faces, their outfits, and says: I prayed to God; stood at home in front of an icon, nodded his head, said memorized words without understanding or sympathy, and says: I prayed to God.
The Orthodox Church with its divine service educates us to be citizens of heaven by teaching us every virtue, which is exemplified by the life of the Mother of God and all the saints, and by cleansing, sanctifying, and deifying us in the sacraments.
The Church is eternal truth, because it is united with Truth—Christ—and is animated by the Spirit of Truth.
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