The beginning of the life of the Monk John of Kronstadt. The First Miraculous Sign

"May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and may rivers of living water flow from my heart to the glory of God and to the salvation of the people of God. Amen."

So wrote St. John of Kronstadt in one of his books. These words became the guiding thread of his whole life.

It is impossible to count how many people the Lord saved from death, from illnesses, from life's troubles through the prayers of Father John! "Rivers of water are alive" for more than a dozen years really flowed from the heart of "dear father" – both for the glory of God and for the salvation of everyone who asked him for help.

John Sergiev was born on October 19, 1829 in the village of Sura, Arkhangelsk province, in the family of a reader of the local church, Elijah, and his wife Iodora.

The baby was born so weak that his parents hurried to baptize him, fearing that he would not survive. And then the first miracle happened: as soon as the priest immersed the baby in the font three times, the newborn became animated, turned pink, and began to move actively. At baptism he was given the name John in honor of St. John of Rylsk, celebrated on this day. From that day on, the boy began to grow rapidly and get stronger.

Among the seven Church Sacraments, the Sacrament of Baptism is in the first place. This is the beginning of man's path to God and together with God. This is entering under God's protection, under His protection.

The Holy Martyr Justin, who lived in the second century, writes:

Infants are worthy of the blessings bestowed through Baptism, according to the faith of those who bring them to Baptism. An infant, of course, cannot yet believe on his own, but his godfather believes for him, his parents believe, the priest who performs the Sacrament believes, and according to their faith the grace of God sanctifies and regenerates the human soul.

Previously, in Russia, children were baptized on the 40th day after birth. But there were exceptions: if a child was born weak, sick, the priest baptized him as soon as possible. It was customary among the people to believe that after the Sacrament of Baptism was performed, a weak child would either soon depart to God (but he would depart as a member of the Church of Christ, and therefore into eternal life), or he would quickly recover and become stronger. In any case, during the performance of the Sacrament, the soul of the infant was entrusted to the Lord – to His Providence, at His discretion.

So it happened with little John Sergiev. As soon as he entered under God's protection during the Sacrament, he was immediately given the strength to survive and live on. This was the first sign that the Lord needed the boy who had been born, that he had been chosen.

John grew up as an unusual boy: he did not like noisy games, communicated little with his peers. He spent all his time in the parish church with his father or helped his mother around the house - in a large family it was necessary to work a lot.