Ignatius Brianchaninov or Ignaty Brianchaninov ( born Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov; rus, Дмитрий Александрович Брянчанинов, , dmʲitrʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ brʲɪnʲtɕɪˈnʲinəf; 15 February 1807 – 30 April 1867) was a bishop and theologian of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

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

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the 1988 meeting of the Local Council of the

. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

are preserved at the ancient Tolga Monastery on the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

near

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) 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 of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

Life and work

Dmitry Bryanchaninov was born in the manor of Pokrovskoye to one of the wealthiest landowning families of the Governorate of Vologda. He was educated at Main Military Engineering School in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. 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 (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

and received the

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for 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 to ...

of Ignatius. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

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

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

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

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

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 , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

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

Books

Available in English translation: * ''The Arena: An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism''. Complete works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Vol. V. Brianchaninov, I. Translated by Arch. Lazarus. Holy Trinity Publications, 1997. * ''The Field: Cultivating Salvation''. Complete works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Vol. I. Translated by Nicholas Kotar. Holy Trinity Publications, 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 Publications, 2019. * ''The Threshold: Trials at the Crossroads of Eternity''. Complete works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Vol. III. Translated by Nicholas Kotar. Holy Trinity Publications, 2023. * Harbor for Our Hope: On Acquiring Peace Amidst Suffering. Brianchaninov, I. Translated by Elena Borowski. Holy Trinity Publications, 2020.

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

Footnotes

External links

Complete work of Ignatius Brianchaninov in Russian
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