Saint Ignatius (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth an ...

Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov, russian: link=no, Дмитрий Александрович Брянчанинов, ; 1807–1867) was a bishop and theologian of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. He stands out as one of the greatest Eastern Orthodox patristic writers of the nineteenth century. He was glorified (canonized) as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by the 1988 meeting of the Local Council of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

are preserved at the ancient

Tolga Monastery Tolga may refer to: People * Tolga (given name), a given name of Turkish-origin * Nazlı Tolga, a Turkish-Dutch journalist and television host Places * Tolga, Algeria, a municipality in Biskra Province, Algeria * Tolga District, a district of Bi ...

on the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

near

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

Life and work

Dmitry Bryanchaninov was born in the manor of Pokrovskoye to one of the wealthiest landowning families of the

Governorate of Vologda Vologda Governorate (russian: link=no, Вологодская губерния, ''Vologodskaya guberniya'', ''Government of Vologda'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed fr ...

. He was educated at Main Military Engineering School in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Although successful in his studies, he was deeply dissatisfied with the lay life and turned to a life of prayer. In 1827 he fell seriously ill and left the army on this ground. He began pursuing a monastic vocation and in 1831 took

monastic vows Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

and received the

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...

of Ignatius. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a priest shortly afterwards. He rose rapidly to the rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

and at the age of 26 was appointed superior of the Maritime Monastery of St. Sergius in St. Petersburg. In 1857, Ignatius was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, but he retired only four years later to the Nikolo-Babayevsky Monastery on the Volga to devote himself to spiritual writing. He wrote a large amount of material, mostly about the spiritual life and prayer. Only a small portion of his writing has been translated into English. Although his writing was intended primarily for

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s, his works are highly recommended for lay Christians by leading Orthodox figures such as Father Thomas Hopko.

Books

Available in English translation: * ''The Arena: An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism''. Brianchaninov, I. Translated by Arch. Lazarus. Holy Trinity Monastery, 1997. * ''The Field: Cultivating Salvation''. Complete works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Vol. I. Translated by Nicholas Kotar. Holy Trinity Monastery, 2016. *
On the Prayer of Jesus
'. Brianchaninov, I. Translated by Arch. Lazarus. Ibis Press, 2006. * ''The Refuge: Anchoring the Soul in God''. Complete works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Vol. II. Translated by Nicholas Kotar. Holy Trinity Monastery, 2019.

Quotes

* ''He who is careless about prayer is careless about his salvation; he who quits prayer renounces his salvation.'' * ''Worldly people and even monks without spiritual discernment are nearly always attracted by humbugs, imposters, hypocrites and those who are in demonic delusion, and they take them for saints and genuine servants of God.''quoted from ''The Arena'' by Hopko

References

External links

Complete work of Ignatius Brianchaninov in RussianIgnatius Brianchaninov
article from OrthodoxWiki

article from ''Orthodox America''

Trinity-Sergius Laura, 6–9 June 1988 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryanchaninov, Ignatius 1807 births 1867 deaths People from Gryazovetsky District People from Gryazovetsky Uyezd Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Russian theologians 19th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Military Engineering-Technical University alumni 19th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Translators of the Philokalia