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MAN IS A DIVINE STAR:
THE PATRISTIC LEGACY OF JOHN OF KRONSHTADT
IN THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL UPBRINGING OF YOUNG PEOPLE
V. O. Gusakova
(for the 180th anniversary of the birth of Our righteous father St. John of Kronstadt)
The invaluable significance of the patristic legacy is not only in the profound clarification of dogmas of faith, but in the wise edification that puts people on the right path. Regardless of the level of civilization, the creations of the holy fathers of the Church are always relevant.
Today the patristic legacy of St. John of Kronstadt continues to serve as a faithful guide in the spiritual and moral upbringing of young people. Let us look at the Christian anthropology of St. John. In his book "My life in Christ”, he wrote enthusiastically: "Man is a miraculous, wonderful, magnificent creation of God, especially a holy man; he is the divine star, a lavish flower, beautiful, pure and not tempted, he is a fragrant cedar, a multi-colored pearl, a precious stone which has not price; a beautiful fruitful tree of the paradise of God!”1. These words of the Kronstadt pastor are particularly significant for the teenagers of today who because of their lack of education and enlightenment, in the true Russian sense of these concepts1 2, take little care to reveal the image of God in themselves and those around them, or to attain him by the path of good deeds. Without any worthy heroes for examples, young people imitate "idols of consumption” (show people and pop stars) that are forced on them by the media, and in their actions they are guided by advertising slogans ("Take everything from life!”).
St. John of Kronstadt said that a true image for a person is the saints whose images are depicted on icons. God created the first man "after his own image, the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). Man was the living icon of
1
Иоанн Кронштадский. Моя жизнь во Христе. - М., 2005, с. 451.
2 «Просвещение» происходит от слова «свет». В православии: животворящий свет изливается от Бога на человека и одухотворяет его душу. Отсюда - просвещен тот, чья душа просветлена или одухотворена. Стремление к свету - познанию Бога и его творения есть истинный смысл просвещения.
Корень слова «образование» - «образ». Образование, равно преобразование помраченной грехами души, предусматривает раскрытие образа Божия в каждом человеке.
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the One God, but because of sin he lost his initial beauty and at the same time distorted his iconic nature. In memory of the true image, Jesus Christ came to the world, embodying the Son of God. The desire to resemble Christ in everything and reveal the image of God in oneself and in others -in people close to one - determined the earthly path of the Russian saints. Their lives are a bright page in our history, which it is useful and necessary for teenagers to familiarize themselves with. Saints give an example of true love of God and people, and their edifications, in particular by John of Kronstadt, serve as a reminder that desecrating the image of God in oneself and those around one is a sin.
Over the course of time, human requirements, preferences and tastes change. Following this, the daily life, lifestyle and culture of people change. Spiritual and moral values remain eternal, which in Rus were the commandments of Christ. The most important commandment states: "Love one another as I loved you. Greater love hath no man that this, that he lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). Love determines the best qualities of the human character, shown in faith in God, respecting for one’s parents, patriotism, honesty, selflessness, dedication and mercy. In the Russian language, the verbs “lyubit”’ (love), “zhalet”’ (“zhalovat”’) (pity), and “sochustvovat” (sympathize) have become almost synonyms. Love did not mean the appetites of the flesh, but empathy with close ones, and the aspiration to share with them sorrows and joys, and provide assistance. But today people often forget about this.
A reminder of love as the higher spiritual experience is provided by the words of St. John of Kronstadt: “My God, how love and genuine
sympathy for us from a close person delights our heart 1....... in loving a
close person, we love God; in respecting any person, we respect the image of God, God Himself and ourselves, for a close person - a second, fifth, tenth, 100th, 1000th, millionth and so on is I. There are many leaves on the tree, they lead an identical life, they have identical origin, and an identical form, an identical beginning and an identical end”1 2. These words, which were relevant in the late 19th century, when a split was forming in Russian society, have not lost their importance in the late 20th-early 21st century, when on television screens and in the press there is emphasis on individualism, which reaches geocentricism, and the concept of “love” is reduced to satisfying momentary lust in the passions of the flesh. The
1
Иоанн Кронштадский. - Указ. соч., с. 413.
2 Иоанн Кронштадский. - Указ. соч., с. 472.
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legacy of St. John sends us to true "long-enduring, "unfeigned” and "sacrificial love”, which was united by the righteous marriage of Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia Muromsky (|1228), Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra (| 1918). Today the memorial days of these saints should replace the western European holiday of St. Valentine, which is popular among young people, and exchange the celebration of free love with reverence for marital fidelity.
During the period of Soviet power, the Christian commandments which the Russian person was guided by were transformed into common human norms of morality. In the growing generation, qualities of an upstanding citizen were instilled, the ideals of which were declared to be fighters for general happiness, heroes of war and labor. With the collapse of the USSR, the ideals of Soviet times were subject to ridicule, while true Orthodox ideals, which for decades were driven out of the national conscious, did not take root again and were initially regarded by young people as something naive and outdated. Young men and women naturally turned to the western mass "consumer” culture, vivid, garish and scandalous, giving the maximum shocking abilities to single out a person from the crowd (the common mass), advocating satiety and satisfaction, confirming self-love and geocentricism. In the situation any tutor (pedagogue) must direct the uncontrolled outbursts of teenagers in the desire "not to be like all the rest” on the right path, which leads towards spiritual growth.
John of Kronstadt warned the young generation of the harm of worldly temptations and satiety. He wrote: "I should not become attached to anything apart from my God, and I part with everything I can like dust under my feet, and I have one love of God and people close to me in my heart...” Like an instruction for all teachers, his words are: "A wonderful phenomenon in nature: when you put a plant in a large wide pot or in a tub, the plant puts down deep roots; it thickens, giving many branches, and the tree grows up thinly, giving few and small leaves and flowers. But when you put it in a small pot, then the root is small, and the plant grows up quickly, giving good leaves and flowers. Is this not the way with a person? When he lives with plenty of room, abundance and satisfaction, then he grows into his belly and does not grow up spiritually, he does not bring fruits - good deeds, but when he lives in closeness, in poverty, in sickness, in misfortune and grief, in a word when the animal side crushes him, then he grows up
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spiritually, gives flowers of good deeds, matures and brings rich fruits”1. In constant worry about material sufficiency, people inevitably move towards spiritual ruin. In the fuss of daily life they do not notice that their hearts have hardened, and that they themselves have become spiritually deaf and blind. Truth, Goodness and Beauty that are inherent to God are hidden from them, and they are incapable of understanding the world and perceiving the true divine beauty that transforms and "saves the world”. Only labor, fasting and prayer can put a person back on the true path to salvation.
Impelling people to do good deeds is the main task of educational activity of any pedagogue (tutor or pastor), and his personal example is decisive in the upbringing of young people. Paying great attention to this, Father John wrote: "You should never forget that we are all one body and must encourage each other to love and do good deeds... we must remember that if we have bright souls, stand firmly in faith and piety, then our flock will be firmer, brighter and purer; if the head is bright, then the members are bright too”1 2.
A clear example of the use of the patristic legacy of St John of Kronstadt in educating the growing generation may be the curriculum "The earthly and heavenly battle. The spiritual and moral traditions of the Russian army”, developed for students of the St. Petersburg cadet rocket and artillery corps. At the basis of this lies the thoughts of Father John on the mission of man, applied to the military theme. The educational goal of study is giving cadets knowledge about warriors who are among the saints, who served the faith and truth of their Fatherland. It is they and their victories that give worthy examples to today’s youth who decided to become defenders of the Homeland at a young age. The educational task of the course is to teach cadets benevolence, diligence, peace-keeping, faith and fidelity to duty, bravery, selflessness and modesty. It is these values that form a spiritual and moral personality, to which the words of St. John of Kronstadt may be applied: "Man is the image of God - the live image of the living God; in the soul of man, especially a believer who does good deeds, the Divine radiance is reflected, His perfection”3.
1 Там же, с. 300-301.
2
Там же, с. 471.
3
Иоанн Кронштадский. - Указ. соч., с. 544.
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THE HUMANITARIAN FOUNDATIONS OF ETHNO-PEDAGOGY AS A COMPONENT PART OF HUMAN EDUCATION A. A. Beisenbaeva
History has shown that the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan are multi-national states in which dozens of different peoples and nationalities live and work side by side. In these conditions, studying the pedagogical experience of our peoples becomes particularly important. At present, the problems of theory and practice of ethno-pedagogy in the Republic of Kazakhstan are being widely studied by psychologists and pedagogues, who agree that ethno-pedagogy constitutes a historical phenomenon in concentrated form, and includes all the spiritual and moral values of the people.
In publications of recent years, it has been pointed out that the method of translating culture and social experience to new generations is a mentality which is formed throughout the life of several generations, and that this process is of a historical nature. In the broad sense of the word, mentality is the genetic code of the people, which predicts the course of history. From the philosophical and methodological viewpoint, the mentality is a form and method of reflecting events, a kind of reaction or reflection of the conscience, which is reflected in the behavior of the person.
Attention to the history of the national culture is shown most intensively in the growth of interest in material and spiritual values, including works of national wisdom. However, it should be remembered that an interest in the ideas of the historic past of national pedagogy, and in sources, are in general not only linked with understanding national cultural traditions, but with moral problems that our society faces. It becomes obvious that for the spiritual development of a people, it is necessary to study the legacy of the past, and find a unity in it which arises as the result of a common and indivisible humanitarian tradition, as one of the main parts of socio-political and cultural-historical development of society as a whole. It should be noted that the uniqueness of Kazakh thought does not allow advocating national exclusiveness and discord between peoples. A love of one’s country and people is combined with friendliness and respect for all other peoples.
Each people possesses and preserves their own special and united ideas. Among the Kazakhs, the national idea has always reflected a feeling and recognition of the deep and harmonic union of the person and the world, which is manifested in feeling and creating together, involving such
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special qualities of the personality as nobility, broadness of spirit, hospitality and charity. K. Nurlanova wrote on this topic: "The entire vital selfawareness of the nomads is full of a recognition of the deep and harmonic link between the person and the world. From childhood, the Kazakhstan ritual culture forms this context of relation to the world, and an according way of life and behavior.”
Thus, ethno-pedagogy, as a science about the empirical experience of different ethnic groups, currently requires the full attention of scholars, and a search of effective paths for realizing progressive pedagogical ideas, at the basis of which has always been uniqueness, justice, unity and humanism.
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