IOANN OF KRONSTADT (Ivan Il'ich Sergeev, 1829–1908), also known as John of Kronstadt, was a Russian Orthodox priest. Ioann was born in the village of Suro in the Arkhangelsk province of Russia and at the age of ten was sent to the parochial school in Arkhangelsk. He later entered the seminary there, finishing at the top of his class in 1851. He then enrolled in the Theological Academy of Saint Petersburg, one of the four graduate faculties of theology in the empire. High-strung, physically weak, overworked, and radically committed to his life of study, prayer, ascetic discipline, and spiritual struggle, Ioann suffered greatly during these academic years. An added burden was the constant necessity to support himself by outside work. He finished the academy near the bottom of his class in 1855, was ordained deacon on November 11 of that year, and priest on the very next day...