Ignatius Brianchaninov

Life events

1. Born — 1807

   Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov was born on 15 February 1807 at the manor of Pokrovskoye to one of the wealthiest landowning families of the Governorate of Vologda.

2. Educated — 1827

   He studied at the Main Military Engineering School in St. Petersburg — not a theological academy — performing successfully in his studies while growing deeply dissatisfied with lay life and turning to prayer.

3. Other — 1827

   In 1827 he fell seriously ill and left the army, using the occasion to abandon a military career and pursue a monastic vocation.

4. Tonsured — 1831

   In 1831 he took monastic vows and received the monastic name Ignatius, formally entering Russian Orthodox monastic life after several years of preparation.

5. Ordained — 1831

   He was ordained a priest shortly after his monastic tonsure in 1831 and rose rapidly to the rank of archimandrite.

6. Other — 1833

   At approximately age 26 he was appointed superior of the Maritime Monastery of St. Sergius in St. Petersburg, a consequential administrative appointment for so young a monastic.

7. Consecrated — 1857

   In 1857 Ignatius was consecrated Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, the episcopal office he would hold for only four years before retiring to a monastery.

8. Died — 1867

   He died on 30 April 1867 at the Nikolo-Babayevsky Monastery on the Volga, where he had retired in 1861 from episcopal duties to devote himself to spiritual writing.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Ignatius Brianchaninov was glorified (canonized) by the 1988 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, during the millennial celebrations of Russian Christianity. (likely)
• His relics are preserved at the ancient Tolga Monastery on the Volga River near Yaroslavl. (likely)
• After only four years as Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea (1857–1861), he retired to the Nikolo-Babayevsky Monastery on the Volga to concentrate on spiritual writing rather than episcopal administration. (likely)
• Wikipedia describes him as 'one of the greatest Eastern Orthodox patristic writers of the nineteenth century'; his works translated into English include The Arena, On the Prayer of Jesus, and multiple volumes from Holy Trinity Publications. (likely)
• Educated at the Main Military Engineering School in St. Petersburg rather than a seminary, he was an unusual nineteenth-century Russian bishop whose entire formation before illness was military, not theological. (likely)