Saint Nicholas of Japan and His Legacy
At the end of His time on earth, Our Lord Jesus Christc commanded His Apostles and disciples, saying, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (Mt. ). At the feast of Pentecost this preaching to all peoples was manifest in the spiritual gift of “tongues,” when the Apostles’ words were miraculously heard by their listeners in their own that time the “gift of tongues” has been extremely rare, but has been replaced by the efforts of Orthodox missionaries to study the language and culture of the people they preach to, presenting the Gospel to them in their native tongue andin a cultural context, yet without compromising the Faith.
Such missionaries have often been called “equals-to-the-apostles” by the Orthodox Church, thatis, those who labored with the zeal and in the mannerof the first Apostles. Well known among such saints are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century evangelizers of the Slavic peoples. A more recent example of this type of saint is St. Nicholas (Kasatkin), who brought the light of Orthodoxy to
By Presbytera Doreen Bartholomew
On August 1, , one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Orthodox Church was born, a man who, in the course of his life in Japan, left behind over two hundred churches, more than 30, Orthodox Christians, translations of almost the entire Bible, almost all of the Orthodox liturgical texts and theological literature; a man who founded several schools, a seminary, a library and countless other institutions, some of which are still functioning today.
The early life of Ivan Dimitrievich Kasatkin was one of poverty and great hardship. His mother died when he was very young and he was brought up by his father, the village deacon. He was full of life and very mischievous but his pranks ceased when he entered the church for services. He sang and prayed with such attentiveness that it seemed inevitable he would enter the seminary, which he did in
The Smolensk Seminary was miles from Ivan&#;s home and, being one of the poorer seminarians, he was forced to walk back and forth at the beginning and end of term. Nevertheless, he never lost his sense of humor and remained a good student. After graduation in he was offered a scholarship to the
Who was St Nicholas of Japan?
Saint Nicholas, Enlightener of Japan Ivan Dimitrievich Kasatkin was born on August 1, in the village of Berezovsk, Belsk district, Smolensk diocese, where his father served as deacon.
At the age of five he lost his mother. He completed the Belsk religious school, and afterwards the Smolensk Theological Seminary.
In Ivan Kasatkin entered the Saint Peterburg Theological Academy. On June 24, , in the academy temple of the Twelve Apostles, Bishop Nectarius tonsured him with the name Nicholas.
On June 29, the Feast of the foremost Apostles Peter and Paul, the monk Nicholas was ordained deacon. The next day, on the altar feast of the academy church, he was ordained to the holy priesthood. Later, at his request, Father Nicholas was assigned to Japan as head of the consular church in the city of Hakodate.
At first, the preaching of the Gospel in Japan seemed completely impossible. In Father Nicholas’s own words: “the Japanese of the time looked upon foreigners as beasts, and on Christianity as a villainous sect, to which only villains and sorcerers could belong.” He spent eight years in studying the country, the language, manners and customs of th
1. St. Innokenti of Alaska. Young Nikolai met him in Kamchatska and received important advice.
2. In the book I referred to, they are mentioned as “converts.” However as Japan was a non-Christian country, I suppose this refers to their baptisms.
3. Christian Journal, Jan. , St. Petersburg, Pozninev, translated by K. Nakamura, Archbishop Nikolai and Japan in the Meiji Era
4. According to the Book List of the Meiji Era complied by Rev. Jude Nushiro (Metropolitan Daniel of Tokyo), “Songs for Pascha” with 17 pages, size 22 x 30 cm. And “Vigil” with 52 pages were printed around Meiji 10 ().
5. In Great Litany, Bishop Martian of Kamchatska( at this post) was commemorated.
6. Pavel Nakai’s family had organized “Kaitoku-do,” a famous private school for Chinese classical reading, a predecessor of Faculty of Literature of Osaka University. At that time, Pavel worked for the mission around Osaka.
addition to the above, Gospel in Chinese with special marks to show the word order and additional letters in order to read Chinese according to Japanese grammar, “訓点新約” was published.
8. More accurate translation was pursued but it was difficult to catch the meanin
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