Jean de Cronstadt
1829-1908 19th century
Daily, stubborn prayer at the heart of the city and its misery, not far from the world, but within it.
Who was Jean de Cronstadt?
A married priest of Russia, he served the same parish in Kronstadt, a wretched garrison town, for fifty-three years, weaving together daily liturgy, concrete charity, and the welcome of the crowds who flocked to him. His spiritual journal, My Life in Christ, records day by day the experience of a man who prays in the midst of the world. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him in 1990.
In their own words
Prayer is the breathing of the soul.
When you pray, strive to pray more with the heart than with the lips.
The Church is heaven on earth.