My Life in Christ (Moya Zhizn' vo Khriste)
Моя жизнь во Христе
Catalogue updated 2026-06-08
Full Sub Rosa translationRead the full translationOpen reader →Open the chapter reader with the full English translation, source text, notes, and scripture echoes.What is My Life in Christ (Moya Zhizn' vo Khriste)?
The spiritual diary of Fr. John of Kronstadt, the most celebrated priest of late imperial Russia, comprising meditations on the interior life of prayer, the Eucharist, repentance, and the continuous presence of Christ. Fr.
Вся жизнь христианина должна быть непрерывной молитвой, непрерывным стремлением к Богу.
Our renderingThe whole life of a Christian must be an unceasing prayer, an unceasing striving toward God.
What it is
The spiritual diary of Fr. John of Kronstadt, the most celebrated priest of late imperial Russia, comprising meditations on the interior life of prayer, the Eucharist, repentance, and the continuous presence of Christ. Fr. John prayed at the deathbed of Tsar Alexander III at Livadia Palace in October 1894, was later appointed to the Holy Synod by Nicholas II in 1907, and was revered by the imperial court as Russia's greatest living saint of the age. A copy bearing the inscription 'T.N. 1915' on a brown hardback was recovered among Grand Duchess Tatiana's books at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, providing direct documentary evidence of the text's personal use by a Romanov daughter. The diary's consistent theme is that every moment of Christian life can be a moment of meeting with Christ, making it one of the most practically applicable devotional texts in the Orthodox tradition.
Why it still matters
Read in short daily passages, 'My Life in Christ' trains the reader to hold a habitual awareness of Christ's presence throughout ordinary activity; it pairs naturally with the Jesus Prayer as a dual school of inner prayer accessible to laypeople in any vocation.
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Kept alongside
Life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov
Житие Преподобного Серафима Саровского
Archimandrite Seraphim (Chichagov) personally presented his Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery to Nicholas II, who was so moved that he decreed the glorification of St. Seraphim; the solemn canonization took place at Sarov on July 19/August 1, 1903, attended by the Tsar, Empress Alexandra, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and senior members of the imperial family. St. Seraphim of Sarov became the favorite saint of both Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, and his life was read devotionally throughout the Romanov household. A copy of 'The Life of Our Father Saint Seraphim of Sarov' (gray binding, Tobolsk 1918) inscribed to Grand Duchess Tatiana was recovered at Ekaterinburg. The Life is inseparable from Seraphim's recorded conversations on acquiring the Holy Spirit, especially his dialogue with the layman Motovilov.
Morning Prayer of the Optina Elders
Молитва Оптинских Старцев
A prayer of serene daily surrender composed by the Elders of Optina Pustyn, the most spiritually influential monastery in 19th-century Russia. The Optina elders were closely associated with the spiritual renewal of Russian society, and writers such as Dostoevsky and Gogol visited the monastery. The prayer was widely adopted in Orthodox prayer books by the early 20th century and would have been standard devotional material for the imperial family and Russian noble households of this era. Note that this prayer is sometimes confused with a similar one attributed to Philaret of Moscow.
Morning Prayer of St Philaret of Moscow
Молитва митрополита Филарета
A brief but profoundly submissive prayer composed by Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov, the most influential ecclesiastical figure of 19th-century Russia, in which the soul places its entire will into God's hands. It became a beloved part of the Russian Orthodox morning prayer tradition and circulates widely in Russian prayer books. Since Philaret was the direct spiritual authority behind the Romanov court—present at coronations, drafting imperial decrees, and serving as the pre-eminent confessor-bishop to the dynasty—this prayer bears a strong association with the imperial household's devotional life.