When it is said
It can be prayed at any hour of the day or night.
Its line about strength suits any moment you feel yourself growing weak and falling.
Where it comes from
Author known
Who St John of Kronstadt was
St John was made a priest in 1855 and sent to St Andrew’s Cathedral in Kronstadt, the naval base near St Petersburg. There he gave much of his time to the poor of the city. He died in 1908. In 1964 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia declared him a saint, and the Moscow Patriarchate followed in 1990.
Repose of Saint John of Kronstadt, Orthodox Church in America; Wikipedia, “John of Kronstadt”
From his diary
St John kept a diary of his prayers and thoughts, published as My Life in Christ. This prayer is one of its entries. The diary came out in English in 1897, translated by E. E. Goulaeff with St John’s own approval, and the prayer is in it. Russian prayer books also carry a prayer to St John that recalls him crying out these same words.
Molitvy sv. pravednogo Ioanna Kronshtadtskogo, Azbyka prayer book (in Russian); My Life in Christ, translated by E. E. Goulaeff (London: Cassell, 1897), on archive.org; The prayer to St John of Kronstadt, Azbyka prayer book (in Russian)
The Scripture in it
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Russian
Господи! имя Тебе – Любовь: не отвергни меня заблуждающего человека.
Имя Тебе – Сила: подкрепи меня изнемогающего и падающего.
Имя Тебе – Свет: просвети мою душу, омраченную житейскими страстями.
Имя Тебе – Мир: умири мятущуюся душу мою.
Имя Тебе – Милость: не преставай миловать меня.
From My Life in Christ, volume 2, entry 1310, as Azbyka’s Russian prayer book prints it.