SCIENTIFIC AND TEACHING ACTIVITY OF SAINT INNOCENT OF PENZA

Abstract

The goal is to review the scientific and teaching activity of Saint Innocent (Smirnov), one of the most outstanding theology representatives of the 19th century. The actuality of the research of the life and work of this Russian Orthodox Church representative exists due to the need to study his contribution to the development of the theology in the 19th century. The goal is to present the biography of Saint Innocent concisely yet capaciously and to study his literary and homiletic heritage based on the data of the archival funds of Russian State Historical Archive, Central State Historical Archive and Russian National Library. Saint Innocent, being an educated monk as well as rector of the spiritual seminary in St. Petersburg, was one of the founders of the theology in Russia. Living in St. Petersburg, he worked a lot on eradication of occultism among Russian people at the beginning of the 19th century. His preachment and his teaching activity present him as a true spiritual guide of devoutness. His short stay on the department in Penza left a long-lasting memory in people’s hearts that is why Orthodox Christians started to esteem him right after his death, even thought he was canonized only in 2000 due to some historical reasons. The unique personality of the saint, his saturated life and his theology heritage serve as data for a historically based research.