Troparion of St. John (Maximovich), Archbishop of Shanghai

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Your care for your flock on their journey, / this is the prototype of your prayers, for the whole world, ever offered up: / so we believe, having come to know your love, to Saint John the Wonderworker! / All of God is sanctified by the sacred rite of the most pure Mysteries, / by which we ourselves are constantly strengthened, / Thou hast hastened to the suffering, O most gratifying healer./Hasten now also to help us, who honor thee with all our hearts.

On July 2, 1994, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad canonized the wondrous saint of God of the 20th century, St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco, the wonderworker.

Archbishop John was born on June 4/17, 1896 in the south of Russia in the village of Adamovka, Kharkov province. At holy baptism he was named Michael in honor of the Archangel Heavenly Powers Michael the Archangel.

Since childhood, he was distinguished by his deep religiosity, standing for long periods of time at night in prayer, diligently collecting icons, as well as church books. Most of all he loved to read the lives of saints. Michael loved the saints with all his heart, became completely saturated with their spirit and began to live like them. The child's holy and righteous life made a deep impression on his French Catholic governess, and as a result she converted to Orthodoxy.

In a time of persecution by Providence Mikhail of God ended up in Belgrade, where he entered the university at the Faculty of Theology. In 1926, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) tonsured him a monk, taking the name John in honor of his ancestor St. John (Maksimovich) of Tobolsk. Already at that time, Bishop Nikolai (Velimirović), the Serbian Chrysostom, gave the following characterization to the young hieromonk: “If you want to see a living saint, go to Bitol to Father John.” Father John constantly prayed, fasted strictly, served the Divine Liturgy and received communion every day, and from the day of his monastic tonsure he never went to bed, sometimes he was found in the morning dozing off on the floor in front of the icons. With truly fatherly love, he inspired his flock with the high ideals of Christianity and Holy Rus'. His meekness and humility were reminiscent of those immortalized in the lives of the greatest ascetics and hermits. Father John was a rare man of prayer. He was so immersed in the texts of prayers as if he were simply talking with the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos, the angels and saints who stood before his spiritual eyes. The gospel events were known to him as if they were happening before his eyes.

In 1934, Hieromonk John was elevated to the rank of bishop, after which he left for Shanghai. According to Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), Bishop John was “the mirror of ascetic firmness and severity in our time of general spiritual relaxation.”

The young bishop loved to visit the sick and did this daily, accepting confession and communicating the Holy Mysteries to them. If the patient’s condition became critical, Vladyka came to him at any hour of the day or night and prayed for a long time at his bedside. There are numerous cases of healing of hopelessly sick people through the prayers of St. John.

With the communists coming to power, Russians in China were again forced to flee, most through the Philippines. In 1949, approximately 5 thousand Russians from China lived on the island of Tubabao in the camp of the International Refugee Organization. The island was in the path of seasonal typhoons that sweep over this sector Pacific Ocean. However, during the entire 27 months of the camp's existence, it was only once threatened by a typhoon, and even then it changed course and bypassed the island. When a Russian mentioned his fear of typhoons to the Filipinos, they said that there was no reason to worry, since “your holy man blesses your camp every night from all four sides.” When the camp was evacuated, a terrible typhoon hit the island and completely destroyed all the buildings.

The Russian people, living in dispersion, had in the person of the Lord a strong intercessor before the Lord. While caring for his flock, Saint John did the impossible. He himself traveled to Washington to negotiate the resettlement of dispossessed Russian people to America. Through his prayers a miracle happened! IN American laws amendments were made and most of the camp, about 3 thousand people, moved to the USA, the rest to Australia.

In 1951, Archbishop John was appointed ruling bishop of the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Church Abroad. In Europe, and then from 1962 in San Francisco, his missionary activity, firmly based on a life of constant prayer and purity Orthodox teaching, brought abundant fruit.

The glory of the Bishop spread both among the Orthodox and among the non-Orthodox population. So, in one of the Catholic churches in Paris, a local priest tried to inspire young people with the following words: “You demand proof, you say that now there are no miracles or saints. Why should I give you theoretical proofs when today St. John the Discalced One walks the streets of Paris?”

The Bishop was known and highly revered throughout the world. In Paris, the railway station dispatcher delayed the departure of the train until the arrival of the “Russian Archbishop”. All European hospitals knew about this Bishop, who could pray for a dying person all night. He was called to the bedside of a seriously ill person - be he Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or anyone else - because when he prayed God was merciful.

A sick slave lay in a Paris hospital Alexandra of God and the Bishop was told about her. He passed a note that he would come and give her Holy Communion. Lying in the general ward, where there were about 40-50 people, she felt awkward in front of the French ladies who would visit her Orthodox bishop, dressed in incredibly shabby clothes and also barefoot. When he gave her the Holy Gifts, the French woman on the nearest bed said to her: “How lucky you are to have such a confessor. My sister lives in Versailles, and when her children get sick, she drives them out into the street where Bishop John usually walks and asks him to bless them. After receiving the blessing, the children immediately recover. We call him a saint."

The children, despite the Lord’s usual severity, were absolutely devoted to him. There are many touching stories about how the blessed one incomprehensibly knew where a sick child might be and at any time of the day or night came to console him and heal him. Receiving revelations from God, he saved many from impending disaster, and sometimes appeared to those who were especially needed, although such a movement seemed physically impossible.

The Blessed Bishop, a saint of the Russian Abroad, and at the same time a Russian saint, commemorated the Moscow Patriarch at the services along with the First Hierarch of the Synod of the Russian Church Abroad.

Turning to history and seeing the future, St. John said that in times of troubles Russia fell so much that all her enemies were sure that she was mortally struck. In Russia there was no tsar, power and troops. In Moscow, foreigners had power. People became “faint-hearted,” weakened, and expected salvation only from foreigners, whom they fawned over. Death was inevitable. In history it is impossible to find such a depth of the fall of the state and such a quick, miraculous uprising, when people rebelled spiritually and morally. This is the history of Russia, this is its path. The subsequent grave suffering of the Russian people is a consequence of Russia's betrayal of itself, its path, its calling. Russia will rise just as it rebelled before. Will rise when faith flares up. When people rise spiritually, when they again have a clear, firm faith in the truth of the Savior’s words: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Truth, and all these things will be added to you.” Russia will rise when it loves the Faith and confession of Orthodoxy, when it sees and loves the Orthodox righteous and confessors.

Vladyka John foresaw his death. On June 19 (July 2), 1966, on the day of remembrance of the Apostle Jude, during an archpastoral visit to the city of Seattle with the Miracle-Working Icon of the Kursk-Root Mother of God, at the age of 71, before this Hodegetria of the Russian Abroad, the great righteous man reposed in the Lord. Sorrow has filled the hearts of many people around the world. After the death of Vladyka, a Dutch Orthodox priest wrote with a contrite heart: “I do not and will no longer have a spiritual father who would call me at midnight from another continent and say: “Go to sleep now. You will receive what you pray for.”

The four-day vigil was capped by a funeral service. The bishops conducting the service could not hold back their sobs; tears streamed down their cheeks and glistened in the light of countless candles near the coffin. It is surprising that at the same time, the temple was filled with quiet joy. Eyewitnesses noted that it seemed that we were present not at a funeral, but at the opening of the relics of a newly discovered Saint.

Soon, miracles of healing and help in everyday affairs began to occur in the tomb of the Lord.

Time has shown that Saint John the Wonderworker is a quick helper to all those in troubles, illnesses and sorrowful circumstances.

http://days.pravoslavie.ru

A modern wonderworker: in the footsteps of St. John of Shanghai

Photo report about this amazing saint and places associated with him.

Archbishop John was born on June 4, 1896 in Ukraine in the village of Adamovka, Kharkov province. He came from an old Ukrainian noble family of the Maksimovichs, to which St. John (Maksimovich), Metropolitan of Tobolsk, also belonged. His father, Boris, was the leader of the nobility in one of the districts of the Kharkov province. At baptism he was named Michael - in honor of the Archangel Michael.
He received his secondary education at the Poltava Military School, where he studied from 1907 to 1914. He then entered the Faculty of Law at the Kharkov Imperial University, from which he graduated in 1918 (before the city was captured by the Soviets). Later he was appointed to the Kharkov District Court, where he served during the reign of Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky in Ukraine and while the Volunteer Army remained there.
In 1921, during the civil war, when the Bolsheviks completely occupied Ukraine, the future Vladyka with his parents, brothers and sister emigrated to Belgrade, where he entered the university. Mikhail graduated from the Faculty of Theology in 1925, earning a living by selling newspapers during his studies.
In 1924 he was ordained by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) as a reader of the Russian Church in Belgrade, in 1926 he was tonsured a monk and ordained a hierodeacon with the name John. On November 21 of the same year, Father John was ordained hieromonk.
From 1925 to 1927, Hieromonk John was a religious mentor at the Serbian State Higher School, and from 1929 to 1934, he was a teacher and director at the Serbian Seminary of St. John the Evangelist in Bitola.


Saint John in Serbia (seated among the clergy, second from left), where the bishop, while still a simple hieromonk, taught at the Bitola Seminary; in Belgrade he was installed as bishop


The first place of Saint John's episcopal service was China. In the photo: young Bishop John, Bishop of Shanghai

In his office in China

On the island of Tubabao in the Philippines, where a camp for Russian refugees from China was organized after the communists came to power there

Saint John flew a lot on airplanes (photo on the left), because his flock was scattered all over the world (in 1951, the bishop was transferred to Brussels as Archbishop of Brussels and Western Europe, and a few years later he headed the Western American See (pictured on the right - Saint John in San Francisco)

“One day we were driving to the airport with the bishop,” says Vladimir Krasovsky, regent of the New Cathedral in San Francisco, “and he asked us to turn to the cemetery. I told him that the airplane couldn’t wait for us, but the bishop insisted. We arrived at the cemetery, and Vladyka went to go around all the graves! And there are thousands of them! Time passes, we are late for the plane, and he keeps walking around looking for someone. I got angry and returned to the car, and Vladyka continued to search. Several hours passed, and he found where. - at the very edge of the cemetery. It turned out that it was the day of death of the man, the bishop served a funeral service at the grave and came to the car: “Now let’s go to the airport!” "

Saint John was always surrounded by children and youth, whom he loved and cared for very much. In the photo on the left: the bishop among the children from the orphanage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk for orphans and children of needy parents; on the right - a bishop with "altar" boys in San Francisco

Before the installation of crosses on the New Cathedral in San Francisco, which was built and opened thanks to Vladyka. The cathedral was consecrated in 1965, Bishop John managed to serve in it for a short time before his death in 1966. (In the photo - St. John is standing third from the left)

Saint John served the Liturgy every day, and when everyone left after the service, he remained at the altar for a long time. He knew the services by heart and often sang himself

Saint John in his cell in San Francisco

Modern San Francisco

The old cathedral in San Francisco, which was consecrated by Bishop John

Hieromonk James (Corazza), a cleric of the Old Cathedral - in Russian he is called Father Jacob - serves prayers for health in front of the mantle of St. John, which is kept on the central lectern of the Old Cathedral. The praying patient kneels before the lectern, and Father James wraps him in the saint's robe during the prayer service.

Shelter of St. Tikhon of Zadonsky in San Francisco. An orphanage for orphans and children of needy parents was founded by Bishop John in Shanghai and then moved to San Francisco

At the shelter of St. Tikhon's temple was consecrated in honor of the same saint

In the cell of Bishop John in the house of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, everything remains the same: in the red corner there are icons, on the table there is a typewriter on which he himself typed decrees and letters, in front of it there is an armchair where the saint rested at night (as is known, he never slept lying on the bed)

On the analogue in the cell of St. John the cross and the Gospel always lie, confession is accepted here

The personal belongings of Vladika John are kept in the cell

On the table next to the portrait of the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas lies orthodox calendar for 1966 - the year of the repose of the saint

Cathedral ("New") Cathedral in San Francisco in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"

The tomb of St. John in the New Cathedral is the original location of his relics. Immediately after the death of the bishop, people began to come here with the hope of his prayers, memorial services were served for the deceased, notes were placed on the relics asking for help from the saint

After the glorification of St. John by the Church Abroad, his relics were transferred to the cathedral

In the cathedral, the bishop's choir, led by Vladimir Krasovsky, sings: “Four generations of Russians sing in our choir!”

As during the life of St. John, boys serve at the altar of the cathedral (in the photo: “altar” boys in the bell tower)

Concert of the choir in the name of St. John in the New Cathedral, dedicated to the memory of the late Metropolitan Laurus. Before the concert, the musicians prayed near the relics of St. John

Now an Orthodox lyceum has been opened in the cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”

Every day, lyceum students serve a prayer service at the relics of St. John

Holiness comes at a high cost to man. The saint gives himself entirely to God: with all his thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions. He leaves nothing for himself, because he himself wants to have only what is God's.

Inconvenient Saint

Saint John of Shanghai (1896-1966) is our contemporary. He did not possess any “majestic appearance of a gray-haired old man”: small, ugly, with a speech impediment, often in a wrinkled cassock and barefoot. Some of the people around him were even embarrassed for “such a bishop,” because the bishop served in large cities: Shanghai, Paris, Brussels, San Francisco.

He often walked barefoot and one day he received an order from his superiors: to wear boots. The bishop wore them with tied laces over his shoulder. A new order came: “put it on your feet,” the bishop was obedient and put it on.

Saint John took monastic vows at the age of 30. Since then, prayer - communication with God and the saints - becomes a greater reality for him than all the deeds, worries and experiences of earthly life.

In prayer, the saint sought the will of God, with which he checked all his actions. Prayer how live connection with God and the saints was the source of Saint John’s “miracles”: the saint prayed - God heard him.

Saint John flew a lot on airplanes, because his flock was scattered all over the world. Pictured is St. John in San Francisco. 1962

Brief biography of St. John of Shanghai

Saint John, baptized Michael, was born in the Kharkov province on July 4, 1896 into the noble family of Boris and Glafira Maksimovich. There was a saint in his family - the outstanding Siberian missionary Saint John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk, glorified by God for miracles and incorruption of his relics.

“From the very first days, when I began to realize myself, I wanted to serve righteousness and Truth,” the saint will say at his episcopal consecration.

Mikhail graduated from Poltavsky cadet corps, and, at the request of his parents, the Faculty of Law of the Kharkov Imperial University, although during his studies I read more the lives of saints and patristic literature.

During the revolution in Kharkov, arrests began, Mikhail's parents asked him to hide. He replied that you cannot hide from the will of God, and without it nothing happens to a person. Mikhail was arrested twice, but he remained completely calm. He literally lived in another world and simply refused to adapt to the reality that governs the lives of most people.

In 1921, during the civil war, the saint's family emigrated to Belgrade. Leaving Kharkov, the parents left Mikhail at the station to look after their things, while they went away, but when they returned, they saw that Mikhail was sitting on the only remaining suitcase, completely immersed in reading the Gospel, which he always carried with him, and all other things were stolen.

In Belgrade, the future saint enters the theological faculty of the university and earns money selling newspapers. The saint at that time is remembered, dressed in a fur sheepskin coat and old boots that were falling apart, but not at all embarrassed by his appearance.

In 1926, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), whom Saint John met back in Kharkov, tonsured Michael a monk with the name John (in honor of Michael’s ancestor, Metropolitan John of Tobolsk).

Saint John teaches at the Bitola Seminary, serves the Liturgy daily, and visits hospitals, where he seeks out the sick in need of prayer, consolation and communion.

In 1934, Hieromonk John was elevated to bishop and appointed to the Shanghai diocese. In Shanghai, Saint John immediately set about restoring church unity, establishing contact with the local Orthodox Serbs, Greeks and Ukrainians. At the same time, the saint built a cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Helper of Sinners”, created hospitals and shelters for orphans and needy children.

With the communists coming to power, Russians from China fled to the Philippine Islands. In 1949, five thousand refugees were on the island of Tubabao. At the request of St. John, the law on Russian refugees was changed in Washington, and many Russians were given visas to the United States.

In 1951, Saint John headed the Western European Diocese with a see in Paris. He put a lot of effort into annexing the parishes of the French Orthodox Church to the Church Abroad and helped create the Dutch Orthodox Church. The Bishop drew attention to the existence of ancient local saints unknown to the Orthodox Church. On his initiative, the Synod of the ROCOR adopted a resolution on the veneration of a number of saints who lived in the West before the division of the churches in 1054.

In 1962, Saint John was transferred to San Francisco. He completes the construction of the cathedral, which was suspended as a result of parish disagreements. However, he himself is subject to attacks and accusations of “abuse of parish funds.” The case goes to civil court.

The American civil court completely acquitted Saint John, but recent years his life was overshadowed by these events.

Saint John died on July 2, 1966 at the age of 71. In 1993, his relics were discovered incorrupt. On July 2, 1994, St. John of Shanghai was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and in 2008, the Council of Bishops of the newly united Russian Orthodox Church established church-wide veneration of St. John.

Prayer is like breathing

“We all stand for prayer, but Vladika John does not need to stand for it: he always remains in it...”, one of his spiritual children, Hieromonk Methodius, said about the saint.

In order to pray like this - to give room to the spirit - one must constrain the flesh, this is the meaning of any asceticism. From the time of his monastic tonsure, Saint John never went to bed, sleeping sitting up and only for a few hours, reserving the night for prayer. He ate, often mixing all the dishes: soup, side dish, compote, so that earthly food did not seem like a pleasure.

From all over the world Saint John letters were sent with requests to pray, sometimes notes were included in them. Many of them are preserved in the archives of the Western American Diocese in San Francisco.

Through the prayers of the saint, many healings occurred

Both people he knew and people completely unknown to him wrote to Saint John. This note is from refugees from Shanghai who, together with the saint, were in exile on the island of Tubabao

Many “Shanghaiites” and “Tubabaites” were lost in different countries after their expulsion. News from them was especially dear

Those who could, included small donations in their letters asking for commemoration; some remained in the envelopes. Now in the archives of the diocese

What is holiness

With the episcopacy at the age of 38 (1936), the saint did not change his ascetic practice, although his life changed greatly: no solitude, people were always nearby, their requests, their strife.

Often monks, for example, Saint Sergius of Radonezh, who was offered to become a bishop, resolutely refused, fearing pride, fearing that this would disrupt their prayer life, often built with great difficulty. After all, a bishop is like a big boss, an administrator who needs to resolve issues with people all the time.

Saint John also did not want to be a bishop. He even brought up his tongue-tiedness as an argument, but a bishop needs to give speeches and sermons. But they answered him that Moses was tongue-tied, and nothing.

The first place of Saint John's episcopal ministry was China

Saint John perceived episcopacy as ecclesiastical obedience. In addition, he greatly believed and revered his spiritual mentor, Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, who blessed him to be ordained. Metropolitan himself Anthony spoke of his student this way: “This small and weak person, almost a child in appearance, is some kind of miracle of ascetic fortitude and rigor in our time of general spiritual relaxation...”

When Saint John became a bishop, they noticed that he sometimes acted like a fool: he looked strange, behaved “not according to the rules,” and did not explain his strangeness in any way. This irritated some - bishops are not supposed to, he is not some kind of hermit, people are looking at him!

But for Saint John, who knew what God wanted from him, it was not so important how people looked at him. Some of his actions were foolishness for Christ's sake - when the truth of Christ is more important than all truths, customs and human concepts.

“The saint was often criticized for violating the accepted order of things. He was late for services (not for personal reasons, but staying late with the sick or dying) and did not allow people to start without him, and when he served, the services were very long. He had a habit of showing up in different places without warning and at unexpected times; often visited hospitals at night. At times his judgments seemed contrary to common sense, and his actions seemed strange and he did not explain them, Fr. Seraphim Rose, who knew him from his youth.

Saint John did not wash or iron his cassock, did not comb his hair and beard, which caused confusion to those who met him

The saint was not infallible, he was wrong and did not hesitate to admit it when he discovered it. But usually he was still right, and the seeming strangeness of some actions and judgments subsequently revealed a deep spiritual meaning. The life of St. John was fundamentally, first of all, spiritual, and if it violated the established order of things, it was only in order to force people to wake up from spiritual slumber.”

Photos of the saint in the vestibule of the Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, where he celebrated liturgy daily

Funeral service on the street

Once, when the Bishop was in Marseille, he decided to serve a memorial service at the site of the assassination of the Serbian King Alexander. None of the clergy, out of false shame, wanted to serve with him. And indeed, what a thing you’ve ever seen – to serve in the middle of the street! Vladyka went alone. Residents of Marseille were stunned by the appearance of a clergyman in unusual clothes, with long hair and barefoot, walking with a suitcase and a broom in the middle of the street... When the bishop cleaned a small part of the sidewalk with a broom, he took a censer from his suitcase, lit it and began to serve a requiem service,” this is how one of his spiritual daughters recalled St. John.

“It cannot be said that everyone remembers Vladyka as an active administrator,” says Archpriest Peter Perekrestov, author of the book about the saint “Vladyka John - Saint of the Russian Abroad,” “although Saint John built several churches, opened an orphanage, a sisterhood, worked with young people and a lot helped his flock all over the world. But the main thing for which he is loved and revered is that he was a real monk, faithful to God.

He constantly prayed, served the Divine Liturgy daily (few people could maintain such a rhythm, so the bishop often served alone - he read and sang the entire service himself), received communion every day, fasted strictly - he ate only once late in the evening, and during Lent and the Nativity he ate only prosphora."

Saint John in San Francisco. The photo shows that he put the boots on his bare feet

“So that he wouldn’t be praised - they say, he doesn’t sleep, he serves every day, he’s almost a saint,” Vladyka acted like a fool, says Father Peter, “he was often late for an hour or more, walked barefoot and in wrinkled clothes.”

But in everything related to the service, the bishop was very strict with himself and with others. He never spoke in the altar and after the service he remained there for several hours, and once remarked: “How difficult it is to tear yourself away from prayer and move on to earthly things!”

The saint heard even unspoken requests

Mrs. Liu, one of the saint’s spiritual daughters, recalls: “In San Francisco, my husband was in a car accident. At this time, the bishop was already in a lot of trouble. Knowing the power of his prayers, I thought: “If I invited the Bishop to my husband, the husband would get better,” but I was afraid to do this because the Bishop was busy. And suddenly the bishop comes to us himself, accompanied by a certain gentleman who brought him. He only stayed for five minutes, but I believed that my husband would feel better. And, indeed, after this visit from the bishop, the husband began to recover.

Later, I met the man who brought the bishop to us, and he said that he was taking the bishop to the airport, when suddenly the bishop told him: “We’re going to L.” He objected that they would be late for the airplane, and that he could not turn back right now. Then the bishop said: “Can you take on a person’s life?” There was nothing to be done, so he took the bishop to us. However, Vladyka was not late for the plane, because the flight was delayed for the sake of Vladyka.”

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - the hallmark of the city - is located very close to the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"

It is not often that a saint appears who combines in one person such different ministries as episcopacy, foolishness, miracle-working and extreme asceticism. The Apostle Paul wrote about the gifts of the Holy Spirit: “to some is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to some faith, to some gifts of healings, to others the working of miracles, to others prophecy, to others discerning of spirits, to others various tongues, and for some the interpretation of tongues.”

Saint John of Shanghai had all these gifts, including “different languages” (he served the Liturgy in Greek, and French, and Dutch, and Arabic, and Chinese, English and Church Slavonic). The saint was a rare ascetic and loving shepherd, theologian, missionary and apostle, protector of orphans and healer.

God gave all this to Saint John because he acquired the main gift - the gift of love, without which none of the greatest human skills have power or value.

Saint Nicholas (Velimirović), who was the ruling bishop in the Ohrid and Žić diocese during Saint John’s stay in Yugoslavia, said about him: “If you want to see a living saint, go to Bitol to Father John!” And Father John was at that time thirty years old.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia (Velimirović)

St. John's notebook, where he wrote down thoughts and quotes he liked from the books he read

Saint at home

The spiritual daughter of Saint E. Chertkov recalls: “I went to visit Vladyka several times when he lived in the Cadet Corps near Paris. He had a small cell on the top floor. In the cell there was a table, an armchair and several chairs, and in the corner there were icons and a lectern with books. There was no bed in the cell, because Vladyka did not go to bed, but prayed, leaning on a high stick with a crossbar on top. Sometimes he prayed on his knees; Probably, when I bowed, I fell asleep a little in this position, on the floor. Sometimes during our conversation, it seemed to me that he was dozing. But when I stopped, he immediately said: “Continue, I’m listening.”

Photo of St. John of Shanghai in his office in San Francisco

When he was not serving, but was at home, he usually walked barefoot (to mortify the flesh) - even in the most severe frosts. Sometimes he would walk barefoot in the cold along the rocky road from the building to the temple, which was located at the gate, and the building stood inside the park, on a hill. One day he injured his leg; doctors could not cure her, and there was a danger of blood poisoning. We had to put Vladyka in the hospital, but he refused to go to bed. However, at the insistence of his superiors, Vladyka finally submitted and went to bed, but put a boot under him so that it would be uncomfortable to lie there. The hospital nurses, French women, said: “You brought a saint to us!” A priest came to see him every morning, served the Liturgy, and Vladyka received communion.”

Icon corner and desk in the office of St. John in the orphanage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in San Francisco. All objects on it were left as they were under the saint.

In this chair, which stands in the study, Saint John rested at night. There was no bed in his room

The books on the shelves of the study are the same as in the time of St. John

Now in the office of St. John, confession is taking place for those who came to pray in the Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk at the shelter (and now, when the children have grown up, the diocesan administration of the Zaparno-American Diocese is located in this building)

The calendar of the year of the death of St. John is left on his desk in his office

There was a schedule on the office wall school lessons so that Saint John knows when and where the orphanage children are occupied. He often walked into lessons or came to classes during breaks.

Liturgical vestments of St. John

The building of the shelter of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in San Francisco, where the temple and cell of St. John are located. Today the building houses the diocesan administration of the Western American Diocese

For the mercy of saints there is neither Greek nor Jew

Saint John responded to requests for help regardless of a person’s faith and nationality. They knew about this and called to the seriously ill person, be he Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or anyone else, because when St. John prayed, God was merciful.

“How happy you are that you have such a bishop”

The saint’s spiritual daughter recalls: “In a Paris hospital there was a sick woman named Alexandra, and Vladyka John was told about her. He passed a note that he would come and give her communion. Lying in the common ward, where there were about 40-50 people, she felt embarrassed in front of the French ladies that she would be visited by an Orthodox bishop, dressed in incredibly shabby clothes and, moreover, barefoot.
When he gave her the Holy Gifts, the French woman on the nearest bed said to her: “How lucky you are to have such a confessor. My sister lives in Versailles, and when her children get sick, she drives them out into the street where Bishop John usually walks and asks him to bless them. After receiving the blessing, the children immediately recover. We call him a saint."
And in one of the Catholic churches in Paris, a local priest told his parishioners: “You demand proof, you say that now there are no miracles or saints. Why should I give you theoretical proofs when today St. John the Discalced One walks the streets of Paris?”

Saint John himself visited the sick daily and demanded the same from his clergy. They should have written reports to him about this

Lord and children

In Shanghai, where Saint John was sent in 1934 from Belgrade, there lived about 20 thousand Russians (in total there are about 120 thousand in China), constituting the largest group of foreigners in the city. Bishop John discovered a huge number of homeless orphans on the streets of the city. In March 1943, Chinese authorities issued a decree on the mobilization of women. This was another reason for the appearance on the streets of Shanghai huge number children left without parents. Saint John created an orphanage for such children. Often the saint himself collected sick and starving children from the streets of Shanghai slums.

The orphanage existed from 1935 to 1951, when the saint moved with his entire flock (and the remaining orphanage children) to America. Over the entire existence of the orphanage, its pupils included more than 3,500 orphans - both Russian and Chinese.
During the Japanese occupation of China, the orphanage was often short of food. Then the saint prayed, and soon unknown people arrived and brought what was needed.

Saint John with the children of the St. Tikhon of Zadonsky in San Francisco. In the same shelter there was his cell and church, where he celebrated the liturgy, if services were not planned in other churches of the diocese

To defend the Russians before the Japanese authorities, the saint declared himself the temporary head of the Russian colony. Ignoring the shooting, he walked the streets to visit the sick or dying. Japanese officers recognized the ruler and, amazed at his firmness and courage, often let him through.

Children from the orphanage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in Shanghai

“What do you need most?”

Once during the war, there was nothing to feed the shelters, which numbered more than ninety people, and the bishop continued to bring new children. The staff was indignant, and one evening Maria Shakhmatova, the treasurer of the orphanage, accused Bishop John of making the rest starve by bringing new children. Then the bishop asked: what does she need most? Maria Alexandrovna answered with offense that there was no food at all, but at worst, she needed oatmeal to feed the children in the morning. The Bishop looked at her sadly and, going up to his room, began to pray and bow, so diligently and loudly that even the neighbors began to complain.

In the morning, Maria Alexandrovna was awakened by a knock on the door; an unfamiliar man, who looked English, introduced himself as an employee of some grain company and said that they had extra supplies of oatmeal left, and he would like to give them to orphanage children. Sacks of oatmeal began to be brought into the house, and the bishop continued his prayer, now a prayer of thanks.

St. John's fundraising

The Ladies' Committee, specially created by St. John, as well as the Society of Friends of the Shelter, collected funds for the existence of the shelter. They talked about their activities through the press. Through newspapers, new helpers, benefactors, and even adoptive parents of orphans were found and included in the work. Moreover, editorial offices often served as donation collection points, and journalists not only covered events, but also took an active part in preparing charitable fundraising events.

Russian newspapers published in Shanghai published invitations to charity events and reports on their implementation.

Published reports on charitable events criticized absentees who did not wish to donate to children

Invitation to a charity winter festival in favor of the shelter. Program: ball, vodka buffet and cold dinner

A complete list of all charity lottery winnings was published for those who were unable to attend in person.

Calls to donate to the shelter of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk were published not only on the pages of newspapers, but also sounded on the radio

The newspaper "Novoye Vremya" publishes an analytical analysis of the charitable activities of Russians in Shanghai

Report on the receipt and expenditure of funds received for the shelter from donors

Newspapers of that time were paper versions of modern ones. social networks on the Internet. The morning in Shanghai began with watching the “news feed”: who said something interesting to whom, responded, reported, suggested.

New ways to raise funds were invented over tea, and immediately with representatives of the press. The results of these meetings were immediately published in newspapers: “The society consists of 8 ladies and two newspaper reporters. Having settled down at the tea table, the society is discussing the question of in what form it is now necessary to appeal to the public in order to “swing” it for new donations, which are so necessary for the St. Shelter of St., patronized by the gathered ladies. Tikhon of Zadonsk."

The Ladies' Committee held fairs and balls for the benefit of the Shelter several times a year. Sometimes entrance to events was paid, sometimes free, then donations were accepted in a mug. Musicians, dancers, and pop performers were invited - in those years, many creative people lived in Shanghai, for example, the famous poet and singer Alexander Vertinsky.

The evenings always included lotteries and auctions. The guests themselves donated valuable prizes. In addition to charity events (balls, auctions, lotteries, concerts) for high society, events were held for ordinary people, the proceeds from which went to social projects of St. John of Shanghai, for example, charity football matches.

Shanghai newspaper" New way" regularly published lists of needs and reports on fundraising for the orphanage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, founded by St. John of Shanghai

Typhoon Lord

With the communists coming to power, Russians from China fled to the Philippine Islands. In 1949, five thousand refugees were on the island of Tubabao. The Bishop walked around the island every day and, with his prayers and the sign of the cross, protected the island from seasonal typhoons. When the Russians expressed fears at the first sign of an approaching typhoon, the Filipinos themselves remained completely calm, saying: “As long as your holy man goes around our island, nothing will happen to us all.”

Saint John with parishioners in front of the entrance to the tent church on the island of Tubabao

And indeed: as soon as the last batch of Russian refugees was taken out, a strong typhoon hit the island and almost completely destroyed all its buildings.

Many Russian refugees temporarily staying in the Philippine Islands and living in difficult conditions in an unusually hot climate were not given visas to the United States. Saint John went to Washington to take care of this. As a result of his petition, the American Congress changed the law on Russian refugees, and Russians could go to the United States. Some Russian refugees left for Argentina and Australia.

Letter from St. John of Shanghai to presidents and dignitaries of various countries asking for asylum for Russian refugees

Saint in the dock

In 1962, St. John was transferred to San Francisco in response to persistent requests from thousands of local Russian parishioners who knew him well from Shanghai: the construction of the cathedral in San Francisco was suspended due to disagreements in the parish. The saint looked into the case, found a mess in the finances and reporting documentation and called the debtors to account. The debtors sent complaints to the Synod.

At the Synod, the saint’s ill-wishers used these complaints as a convenient excuse: they raised the question of the “illegality” of his appointment to the department in San Francisco and his recall. In the Synod, the saint had many who despised the “noisy” and “bizarre” bishop as “an insufficiently subtle theologian” or a “bad administrator.”

Cathedral (“New”) Cathedral in San Francisco in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”

Ill-wishers were afraid of the main thing: the living miracle-working saint, who came to the leading department of the most significant diocese of the Russian Church Abroad, was the most realistic candidate for the place of the already very sick first hierarch. The activities of ill-wishers have borne fruit. The Russian community in San Francisco was in disarray from the “party struggle.” At parish meetings, the saint and his supporters were accompanied by shouts and insults. Among the saint's persecutors were even those whom he healed from cancer and other serious illnesses.

Some women scolded the saint and even spat on him. One woman later recalled with horror how her mother ran up and spat in the saint’s face - immediately after the service. But some of the saint’s admirers openly stood up for him. For example, Abbess Ariadne loudly, with a staff in her hands, denounced in the cathedral those who insulted the living saint.

On July 9, 1962, the San Francisco Examiner ran a front-page story about the trial of a Russian archbishop, along with photographs of him in the courtroom. The process lasted four days. Next to the bishop in court were his closest friends: bishops Savva of Edmont, Leonty of Chile, Nektary of Seattle, and Abbess Ariadne. Fr. came regularly. Seraphim Rose (then a disciple of St. Eugene Rose).

Before the installation of crosses on the New Cathedral in San Francisco, which was built and opened thanks to Vladyka. The cathedral was consecrated in 1965, Bishop John managed to serve in it for a short time before his death in 1966. (In the photo - St. John is standing third from the left)

In 1994, on June 19 / July 2, the Russian Orthodox Church abroad glorified one of the greatest ascetics of Orthodoxy as one of its revered saints. XX century, a prayer book for all the suffering and needy, a protector and shepherd who found themselves far from their long-suffering Motherland - St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco. It is providential that this happened on the eve of the celebration of the day of remembrance of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. It is also providential that in the year when Holy Rus' celebrates the 1020th anniversary of its baptism, the Council of Bishops of the newly united Russian Orthodox Church established church-wide veneration of St. John.

Solemn glorification of St. John, the Wonderworker of Shanghai, in San Francisco on June 19 / July 2, 1994

Believers from all over the world began to flock to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in San Francisco a few days before the glorification of the saint. Daily funeral liturgies were performed, memorial services were served hourly, confession was continuous.

Two days before the celebration, on Thursday, during the liturgy, communion was taught from five cups. The cathedral, in which there could only be a thousand people, could not accommodate all the believers, and about three thousand people stood outside, where all the services were broadcast on a large screen. Three miraculous icons of the Mother of God were present at the celebrations: the Kursk-Root icon, the Iveron myrrh-streaming icon, and the local shrine - the renewed Vladimir Icon. The glorification was led by the oldest hierarch of the Russian Church abroad, Metropolitan Vitaly. He was concelebrated by 10 bishops and 160 clergy.

On Friday, July 1, at 1:30 pm in the lower church, the relics of St. John of Shanghai were transferred by Metropolitan Vitaly from the tomb to a shrine made of expensive wood. The saint was dressed in snow-white vestments, trimmed with silver braid and crosses; his slippers were sewn in Siberia, his undercoat was also from Russia. The reliquary was solemnly transferred to the upper temple. At 4:30 it was committed last funeral service.

During the all-night vigil before the polyeleos, Metropolitan Vitaly opened the shrine: the holy relics, except for the face, were open, the hands were visible. The icon of the saint was raised high by two tall priests, and glorification of the saint was sung publicly. The venting of the relics ended at 11 o'clock at night.

On Saturday, services alternated in the chapels of the temple. The first liturgy was celebrated at 2 a.m. by Bishop Ambrose of Vevey. Over 20 priests concelebrated with him. The reliquary was brought by the clergy into the altar and placed on a high place. The second liturgy began at 5 a.m., with about 300 people receiving communion. And at 7 o’clock in the morning at the Divine Liturgy, 11 bishops and about 160 clergy united around Metropolitan Vitaly. Three choirs sang, there were about 700 communicants. The religious procession went around the entire block, all directions of the world were overshadowed by miraculous icons. Then the holy relics were placed in a specially constructed vestibule in the temple. The service ended at 1:30 pm. The festive meal brought together about two thousand people. Behind her a word of praise was read to Saint John. Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany delivered a speech befitting the occasion.

The celebrations continued on the second day, on the Sunday of All Saints Who Shone in the Russian Land. The flow of pilgrims to the saint’s shrine did not stop.

This is how a great spiritual celebration took place - the canonization of St. John, the Wonderworker of Shanghai, in the city of San Francisco on July 2, 1994. This event not only filled the hearts of Russians living abroad with joy, but also gladdened the hearts of many people in Russia who knew about the extraordinary life of Bishop John. It also embraced converts to Orthodoxy scattered throughout the world - Orthodox French, Dutch, Americans...

Who was this man who shrewdly went to the sick, brought the dying person back to life, cast out demons from the possessed?

Childhood and adolescence of the future saint

The future Saint John was born in the village of Adamovka, Kharkov province, on June 4, 1896. In holy baptism he was named Michael - in honor of the holy archangel of God. His family, the Maksimovichs, had long been distinguished by their piety. In the 18th century, St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk, the enlightener of Siberia, who sent the first Orthodox mission to China, became famous from this family; After his death, many miracles happened at his grave. He was glorified in 1916, and his imperishable relics to this day they rest in Tobolsk.

Misha Maksimovich was a sickly child. He maintained good relations with everyone, but did not have particularly close friends. He loved animals, especially dogs. He did not like noisy children's games and was often immersed in his thoughts.

Since childhood, Misha was deeply religious. At his consecration in 1934, he described the mood of his childhood years as follows: “From the very first days that I began to become aware of myself, I wanted to serve righteousness and truth. My parents kindled in me the zeal to stand unwaveringly for the truth, and my soul was captivated by the example of those who gave their lives for it.”

He loved to play “monastery,” dressing up toy soldiers as monks and making monasteries out of toy fortresses.

He collected icons, religious and historical books - and this is how he formed a large library. But most of all he loved to read the lives of saints. In this way he had a great influence on his brothers and sister, who, thanks to him, knew the lives of saints and Russian history.

Mikhail's holy and righteous life made a strong impression on his French governess, a Catholic, and she converted to Orthodoxy (Misha was then 15 years old). He helped her prepare for this step and taught her prayers.

The country estate of the Maksimovichs, where the whole family spent the summer, was located 12 miles from the famous Svyatogorsk Monastery. Parents often visited the monastery and lived there for a long time. Crossing the gates of the monastery, Misha entered with enthusiasm into the monastic element. They lived there according to the Athos rule, there were majestic temples, the high “Mount Tabor”, caves, monasteries and a large brotherhood of 600 monks, among whom were schema-monks. All this attracted Misha, whose life from childhood was built on the lives of saints, and encouraged him to often come to the monastery.

When he was 11 years old, he entered the Poltava Cadet Corps. And here he remained just as quiet and religious, looking little like a soldier. At this school, when he was 13 years old, he distinguished himself by one act that brought upon him charges of “disturbing order.” The cadets often marched ceremoniously to the city of Poltava. In 1909, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, this march was especially solemn. When the cadets passed in front of the Poltava Cathedral, Mikhail turned to him and... crossed himself. For this, his fellow students ridiculed him for a long time, and his superiors punished him. But through the intercession of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, the punishment was replaced with a commendable review indicating the boy’s sound religious feelings. So the ridicule of his comrades gave way to respect.

After graduating from the cadet corps, Misha wanted to enter the Kyiv Theological Academy. But his parents insisted that he enter the Kharkov Law School, and, for the sake of obedience, he began to prepare for a career as a lawyer.

The relics of Archbishop Meletius († 1841) rested in Kharkov. He was an ascetic; he practically never slept, was a seer and predicted his death. Requiem services were constantly being served at his tomb, under the temple... The same thing was later repeated in the fate of Vladika John.

During his studies in Kharkov - in the years when a person matures - the future saint realized the whole meaning of his spiritual education. While other young people referred to religion as “old wives' tales,” he began to understand the wisdom hidden in the lives of the saints compared to a university course. And he indulged in reading them, although he excelled in legal sciences. Assimilating the worldview and comprehending the variety of activities of the saints - ascetic labors and prayer, he loved them with all his heart, was completely saturated with their spirit and began to live according to their example.

The entire Maksimovich family was devoted to the Orthodox Tsar, and young Mikhail, naturally, did not accept the February Revolution. At one of the parish meetings it was proposed to melt down the bell - he alone prevented this. With the arrival of the Bolsheviks, Mikhail Maksimovich was sent to prison. Released and jailed again. He was finally released only when they were convinced that it did not matter to him where he was - in prison or in another place. He literally lived in another world and simply refused to adapt to the reality that governs the lives of most people - he decided to unwaveringly follow the path of Divine law.

Emigration. In Yugoslavia

During the civil war, together with his parents, brothers and sister, Mikhail was evacuated to Yugoslavia, where he entered the University of Belgrade. He graduated from its Theological Faculty in 1925, earning his living by selling newspapers. In 1926, at the Milkovsky Monastery, Mikhail Maksimovich was tonsured a monk by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), and with a name in honor of his distant relative, St. John of Tobolsk. On the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, a 30-year-old monk became a hieromonk.

In 1928, Father John was appointed teacher of the law at the Bitola Seminary. There were 400–500 students studying there. And Father John, with love, prayer and labor, began to educate young people. He knew each student, his needs, and he could help each student resolve any confusion and give good advice.

One of the students spoke of him this way: “Father John loved us all, and we loved him. In our eyes, he was the embodiment of all Christian virtues: peaceful, calm, meek. He became so close to us that we treated him like an older brother, loved and respected. There was no conflict, personal or social, that he could not resolve. There was no question to which he did not have an answer. It was enough for someone on the street to ask him something, and he would immediately give an answer. If the question was more important, he would usually answer it after church service, in class, or in the cafeteria. His answer was always informatively rich, clear, complete and competent, because it came from a highly educated person who had two university degrees - in theology and in law. He prayed for us daily and nightly. Every night he, like a guardian angel, protected us: he adjusted the pillow for one, the blanket for another. Always, entering or leaving a room, he blessed us with the sign of the cross. When he prayed, the students felt that he was talking with the inhabitants of the heavenly world.”

Bishop Nikolai (Velimirović) of Ohrid, the great Serbian theologian and preacher, once addressed a group of students like this: “Children, listen to Father John! He is God's angel human form».

A completely fabulous episode happened with Father John when he was called to his consecration in Belgrade in 1934. Arriving in Belgrade, he met a lady he knew on the street and began to explain to her that there had been a misunderstanding: they were supposed to consecrate some Father John, but they called him by mistake. Soon he met her again and, puzzled, explained to her that it turned out that the consecration concerned him.

Sending him as a bishop to China, Metropolitan Anthony wrote: “Instead of me, as my own soul, as my heart, I send you Bishop John. This small, frail man, almost a child in appearance, was in fact a mirror of ascetic firmness in our time of general spiritual relaxation.”

In the Far East. Shanghai

Arriving in Shanghai, Bishop John was faced with conflicts that had flared up in church life. Therefore, first he had to pacify the warring parties.

The bishop paid special attention to religious education and made it a rule to attend oral exams according to God's law in all Orthodox schools in Shanghai. He simultaneously became a trustee of various charitable societies, actively participating in their work.

He set up an orphanage for orphans and children of needy parents, entrusting them to the heavenly patronage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, who especially loved children. Vladyka himself picked up sick and starving children on the streets and in the dark alleys of the Shanghai slums. Vladyka tried to replace their father, especially paying attention to them during the great holidays of Christmas and Easter, when parents try so hard to please their children. On such days, he liked to organize evenings for the children, for example, with a Christmas tree, performances, and got them wind instruments.

His joy was to see young people united in the brotherhood of St. Joasaph of Belgorod, where conversations were held on religious and philosophical topics, and Bible study classes.

The Bishop was extremely strict with himself. His feat was based on prayer and fasting. He took food once a day - at 11 pm. During the first and last weeks of Great Lent I did not eat at all, and on the remaining days of Great Lent and Nativity - only altar bread. He usually spent his nights in prayer and, when his strength was exhausted, he laid his head on the floor or found brief peace sitting in a chair.

Miracles through the prayers of Bishop John

There are numerous miracles that occurred through the prayers of Bishop John. A description of some of them will allow us to imagine the comprehensive spiritual power of the saint.

A seven-year-old girl fell ill at the shelter. By nightfall, her temperature rose and she began to scream in pain. At midnight she was sent to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a volvulus. A council of doctors was convened, who told the mother that the girl’s condition was hopeless and that she would not be able to endure the operation. The mother asked to save her daughter and perform an operation, and at night she went to Vladyka John. The Bishop called the mother to the cathedral, opened the royal doors and began to pray in front of the throne, and the mother, kneeling in front of the iconostasis, also fervently prayed for her daughter. This lasted a long time, and morning had already arrived when Vladyka John approached the mother, blessed her and said that she could go home - her daughter would be alive and well. The mother rushed to the hospital. The surgeon told her that the operation was successful, but he had never seen such a case in his practice. Only God could save the girl through the prayers of her mother.

A seriously ill woman in the hospital called to the bishop. The doctor said that she was dying and there was no need to bother the bishop. The next day, the bishop arrived at the hospital and said to the woman: “Why are you stopping me from praying, because now I have to perform the liturgy.” He gave communion to the dying woman, blessed her and left. The patient fell asleep and began to recover quickly after that.

A former teacher at a commercial school fell ill. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed severely inflamed appendicitis and said he could die on the operating table. The sick man's wife went to Vladyka John, told him everything and asked him to pray. Vladyka went to the hospital, laid his hands on the patient’s head, prayed for a long time, blessed him and left. The next day, the nurse told his wife that when she approached the patient, she saw him sitting on the bed, the sheet on which he slept was covered in pus and blood: appendicitis had burst at night. The patient recovered.

After the evacuation from China, Bishop John and his flock found themselves in the Philippines. One day he visited the hospital. Terrible screams were heard from somewhere far away. To the bishop’s question, the nurse answered that she was a hopeless patient who was isolated because she was bothering everyone with her screams. Vladyka wanted to go there immediately, but the nurse did not advise him, since the stench emanated from the patient. “It doesn’t matter,” the bishop answered and headed to another building. He placed a cross on the woman’s head and began to pray, then confessed her and gave her communion. When he left, she no longer screamed, but moaned quietly. Some time later, the bishop visited the hospital again, and this woman herself ran out to meet him.

Here is a case of exorcism. A father talks about the healing of his son. “My son was obsessed, he hated everything holy, all holy icons and crosses, he split them into the thinnest sticks and was very happy about it. I took him to Vladyka John, and he put him on his knees, placing either a cross or the Gospel on his head. My son was very sad after this, and sometimes ran away from the cathedral. But the bishop told me not to despair. He said that he would continue to pray for him, and over time he would get better, but for now let him continue to be treated by doctors. “Don’t worry, the Lord is not without mercy.”

This went on for several years. One day my son was reading the Gospel at home. His face was bright and joyful. And he told his father that he needed to go to Minhon (30–40 km from Shanghai), to a mental hospital, where he sometimes went: “I need to go there, there the Spirit of God will cleanse me from the spirit of evil and darkness, and I then I will go to the Lord,” he said. They brought him to Minhon. Two days later, his father came to visit him and saw that his son was restless, constantly tossing about in bed, and suddenly he began shouting: “Don’t, don’t come near me, I don’t want you!”

The father went out into the corridor to find out who was coming. The corridor was long and opened onto an alley. There the father saw a car, Bishop John got out of it and headed towards the hospital. The father entered the room and saw that his son was thrashing about on the bed and shouting: “Don’t come, I don’t want you, go away, go away!” Then he calmed down and began to quietly pray.

At this time, footsteps were heard along the corridor. The patient jumped out of bed and ran down the corridor in only his pajamas. Having met the bishop, he fell on his knees in front of him and cried, asking him to drive away the spirit of evil from him. Vladyka put his hands on his head and read prayers, then took him by the shoulders and led him into the ward, where he put him on the bed and prayed over him. Then he gave communion.

When the bishop left, the patient said: “Well, the healing has finally taken place, and now the Lord will accept me to Himself. Dad, take me quickly, I have to die at home.” When the father brought his son home, he was happy to see everything in his room, especially the icons; began to pray and took the Gospel. The next day he began to urge his father to quickly call the priest so that he could receive communion again. The father said that he only received communion yesterday, but the son objected and said: “Dad, hurry up, hurry up, otherwise you won’t have time.” Father called. The priest arrived and my son received Holy Communion once again. When the father accompanied the priest to the stairs and returned, his son’s face changed, smiled at him again and quietly went to the Lord.

This is how God was glorified in the actions of St. John.

But there were people who hated him, slandered him, tried to push him aside, and there were even those who tried to poison him and almost succeeded in this, for the saint was dying.

During the evacuation from communist China, Bishop John showed himself to be a good shepherd, leading his flock to a quiet refuge, a shepherd ready to lay down his life for his sheep. There is a known case when he sat for days on the steps of the White House in Washington and thus obtained permission for five thousand refugees to enter the United States.

In Western Europe

In the early 1950s, Bishop John was appointed to the Western European See with the title of Archbishop of Brussels and Western Europe. He settled in the cadet corps in Versailles. And again in front of his beloved children.

Vladyka turned out to be an indispensable guardian and father for the sisters of the Lesna monastery, who had just evacuated from Yugoslavia. He served with particular zeal in the memorial temple in Brussels, erected in memory of royal family and all the victims of the revolution. He found a good mansion in Paris and built his cathedral in it, dedicated to All Russian Saints. The Bishop tirelessly toured the churches of his widely spread diocese. He constantly visited hospitals and prisons.

In Western Europe, his work acquired apostolic significance. He introduced the veneration of Western saints of the first centuries, submitting to the Synod for approval a list with detailed information about the life path of each individual saint. He contributed to the development of the French and Dutch Churches. Although the results in this area are questioned by many, he could not refuse his support to those seeking the Orthodox faith and life, obviously pinning his hope on the spiritual disposition of individuals. This activity of his found its justification in many cases. Let us only point out the fact that the Spanish priest he ordained served for about 20 years as rector in the Parisian church he created.

Through the prayers of Bishop John, many miracles occurred in Western Europe. A special collection will be required to testify about them.

In addition to such diverse miraculous phenomena as clairvoyance and healing of mental and physical infirmities, there are two testimonies that the ruler was at some point in the radiance and standing in the air. One nun of the Lesna monastery testified to this, as well as reader Gregory in the Church of All Russian Saints in Paris. The latter, having finished reading the hours one day, went up to the altar for additional instructions and saw through the slightly open side door Bishop John in radiant light and standing not on the ground, but at a height of about 30 cm.

In the United States of America. San Francisco

The bishop arrived on the coast of the far West of America, to his last see, in the fall of 1962. Archbishop Tikhon retired due to illness, and in his absence the construction of the new cathedral stopped, as acute disagreements paralyzed the Russian community. But under the leadership of Bishop John, peace was restored to some extent and the majestic cathedral was completed.

But it was not easy for the bishop. He had to endure a lot meekly and silently. He was even forced to appear in a public court, which was a flagrant violation of church canons, demanding an answer to the absurd accusation that he had concealed dishonest financial transactions of the parish council. True, all those brought to justice were eventually acquitted, but the last years of the bishop’s life were darkened by bitterness from reproach and persecution, which he always endured without complaint or condemnation of anyone.

Accompanying the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God to Seattle, Bishop John on June 19/July 2, 1966 stopped at the local St. Nicholas Cathedral - a temple-monument to the Russian New Martyrs. After serving the Divine Liturgy, he remained alone in the altar for another three hours. Then, having visited with miraculous icon spiritual children who lived near the cathedral, he followed to the room of the church house where he usually stayed. Suddenly a roar was heard, and those who came running saw that the bishop had fallen and was already leaving. They sat him in a chair, and in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God he gave up his soul to God, fell asleep for this world, which he so clearly predicted to many.

For six days Vladyka John lay in an open coffin, and, despite the summer heat, not the slightest smell of decay was felt from him, and his hand was soft, not numb.

Discovery of holy relics

On May 2/15, 1993, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad decided to canonize Archbishop John of Shanghai and San Francisco.

A preliminary examination of his honest remains took place on September 28 / October 11, 1993. The secondary examination and revegetation of the remains of the saint took place on December 1/14, 1993, on the day of remembrance of the righteous Philaret the Merciful.

While singing the irmos of the great canon “Helper and Patron,” the lid was removed from the coffin, and before the clergy, overcome with awe and reverence, the imperishable remains of the bishop appeared: eyebrows, eyelashes, hair, mustaches, and beard were preserved; the mouth is slightly open, the hands are slightly raised, the fingers are partially bent, giving the impression that the bishop is preaching with the movement of his hand; all muscles, tendons, nails are preserved; the body is light, dried, frozen.

While singing the canon of St. Andrew of Crete, they began to anoint the entire body with oil. Then the holy relics were anointed with myrrh from the myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God of Iveron while singing the troparion “From Thy holy icon, O Lady Theotokos...”. After this, they began to put on new clothes, up to the bishop’s vestments of snow-white color with silver braid and crosses.

The final funeral litany was served.

“Eternal memory” spread throughout the universe. And then they sang with enthusiasm: “Master of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and purity, lamp of the universe, God-inspired fertilizer for the bishops, John, the wise, with your teachings you have enlightened everything, spiritual priest, pray to Christ God to save our souls.”

Troparion to Saint John, voice 5

Your care for your flock on their journey, / this is a prototype of your prayers, ever offered up for the whole world: / thus we believe, having known your love, to the saint and wonderworker John! / Everything is sanctified by God through the sacred rites of the most pure mysteries, / with them we ourselves are constantly strengthened, / you hastened to the suffering, / the most joyful healer. // Make haste now to help us, who honor you with all our hearts.

Monasticism

Hieromonk John (Maksimovich), 1934

John (Maksimovich), Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America, Shanghai, saint, wonderworker.
In the world Maksimovich Mikhail Borisovich, born on June 4/17, 1896 in the village of Adamovka, Kharkov province. At holy baptism he was named Michael in honor of the Archangel of the Heavenly Forces, Archangel Michael. He came from the noble Maksimovich family, among his ancestors was the enlightener of Siberia, Saint John of Tobolsk. Mikhail's parents, Boris and Glafira, raised their son in piety.
Since childhood, Mikhail was distinguished by his deep religiosity; he stood for long periods of time in prayer at night, and diligently collected icons, as well as church books. Most of all he loved to read the lives of saints. Michael loved the saints with all his heart, became completely saturated with their spirit and began to live like them. And his aspirations were expressed in children's games - he turned toy soldiers into monks, and fortresses into monasteries. The Svyatogorsk monastery, located not far from the Maksimovich estate, had young Mikhail to a thoughtful attitude towards life. The child's holy and righteous life made a deep impression on his French Catholic governess, and as a result she converted to Orthodoxy.
Mikhail thought of devoting his life to serving his homeland, entering either the military or civil service. First, he entered the Petrovsky Poltava Cadet Corps, which he graduated in 1914. Then he studied at the Faculty of Law of the Kharkov Imperial University, from which he graduated in 1918. He studied excellently, although he devoted part of his time to studying the lives of saints and spiritual literature. Kharkov church life contributed to the initial steps of young Mikhail along the path of piety. In the tomb of the Kharkov Cathedral rested the relics of the wonderworker Archbishop Meletius (Leontovich), who spent his nights in prayer, standing with his hands raised. Michael fell in love with this saint and began to imitate him in the feat of night vigil. So, gradually, young Michael began to develop a desire to completely devote himself to God, and in connection with this, high spiritual qualities began to appear in him: abstinence and a strict attitude towards himself, great humility and compassion for the suffering. During his years of study, Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) had a particularly strong influence on him, who became his spiritual mentor, and Mikhail began to delve deeper into the study of spiritual life. In the end, as he recalled, the local monastery and temple became closer to him than any secular institutions.
The tragedy of 1917-1918 finally convinced him of human weakness, of the fragility of everything earthly. He decided to renounce the world and devote himself entirely to serving God. During the civil war, the Maksimovic family was evacuated to Yugoslavia, where Mikhail entered the university at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, graduating in 1925.

Bishop of Shanghai

In May 1934, Hieromonk John was consecrated Bishop of Shanghai, Vicar of Beijing and left to join his flock.
The new bishop arrived at his see on the day of the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple and continued his pastoral and ascetic work here with redoubled zeal. Here he immediately set about restoring church unity, establishing contact with local Orthodox Serbs, Greeks and Ukrainians. Possessing inexhaustible energy, Bishop John was the inspirer of many initiatives in Shanghai and took an active part in many social endeavors of the Russian community. Here he completed the construction of a new cathedral in honor of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Helper of Sinners", erected the majestic St. Nicholas Church - "Temple-Monument to the Tsar Martyr Emperor Nicholas II and His August Family", founded a home for the elderly and an orphanage in honor of St. Tikhon Zadonsky. The bishop populated the orphanage with abandoned children, whom he himself fearlessly collected from the streets and slums of Shanghai.

Bishop John of Shanghai

At first there were 8 orphans living in the shelter, over the years the shelter began to provide shelter to hundreds of children, and in total 1,500 children passed through the shelter. The children, despite the Vladyka’s usual strictness, were absolutely devoted to him, and the saint himself labored for them before the Lord - so, when during the war there was not enough food in the orphanage to feed the children, the Vladyka prayed all night, and in the morning there was a call: a representative of which had arrived -an organization with a large donation for the shelter. During the Japanese occupation, Vladyka declared himself the temporary head of the Russian colony and showed great courage in defending the Russians before the Japanese authorities.
As before, the saint strengthened himself and enlightened his flock with the daily celebration of the Divine Liturgy. The Bishop was very strict at the altar, demanded precise knowledge and adherence to the rules, prohibited any conversations during the service, and very often remained in the temple for a long time after the service. Then he visited the sick daily, accepting confession and communicating the Holy Mysteries to them. If the patient’s condition became critical, the bishop came to him at any hour of the day or night and prayed for a long time at his bedside. There are numerous cases of healing of hopelessly sick people through the prayers of St. John, his unexpected appearances at the most needed moment. The saint also visited prisoners in prisons and the mentally ill and possessed in a hospital for the insane. And everywhere he evangelized and preached, awakening the conscience of some and warming the hearts of others.
The strictest ascetic life of the ruler was expressed not only in fasting (he ate food only once a day, and during fasting he ate only prosphora) and sleep deprivation. To avoid worldly fame and attention, the ruler adopted the traits of foolishness, in which his feat shone even brighter. Thus, Saint John walked everywhere either barefoot or wearing only sandals, even in winter. He wore his cassock to such disrepair that it looked more like the clothes of a beggar.

Exodus from China

With the communists coming to power in China, Russians who did not accept Soviet citizenship were again doomed to exodus. Most of the Bishop's Shanghai flock went to the Philippines - in 1949, approximately 5 thousand Russians from China lived on the Philippine island of Tubabao in a camp of the International Refugee Organization. The island was in the path of seasonal typhoons that sweep across this sector of the Pacific Ocean. However, during the entire 27 months of the camp's existence, it was only once threatened by a typhoon, and even then it changed course and bypassed the island. When a Russian mentioned his fear of typhoons to the Filipinos, they said that there was no reason to worry, since “your holy man blesses your camp every night from all four sides.” When the camp was evacuated, a terrible typhoon hit the island and completely destroyed all the buildings.

Bishop John of Shanghai on Tubabao Island

The Russians not only survived on the island, but were also able to leave it thanks to the saint, who himself traveled to Washington and ensured that American laws were amended and most of the camp, about 3 thousand people, moved to the USA, and the rest to Australia.

Archbishop of Western Europe

In 1951, Archbishop John was appointed to care for the flock of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Western Europe and Africa with the title "Brussels and Western Europe" and with a see in Paris. Here the Bishop began to restore the memory and veneration of the ancient Orthodox saints of the West and brought many converts from local peoples, adding many French and Dutch parishes to the Church Abroad. His fame spread throughout the entire population. So, in one of the Catholic churches in Paris, a local priest tried to inspire young people with the following words: “You demand evidence, you say that now there are no miracles or saints. Why should I give you theoretical evidence when today Saint Jean Barefoot walks the streets of Paris ". In Paris, the railway station dispatcher delayed the departure of the train until the arrival of the "Russian Archbishop". All European hospitals knew about this bishop, who could pray for the dying all night. He was called to the bedside of the seriously ill - whether he was Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or anyone else - because when he prayed, God was merciful. So, in a Paris hospital there was an Orthodox woman who was embarrassed in front of her neighbors in the ward when a ragged and barefoot bishop arrived at her. But when he gave her the Holy Gifts, the French woman on the nearest bed said to her: “How lucky you are to have such a confessor. My sister lives in Versailles, and when her children get sick, she drives them out onto the street where Bishop John usually walks, and asks him to bless them. After receiving the blessing, the children immediately recover. We call him a saint."

Archpastor of San Francisco

In 1962, due to difficulties with the construction of a new cathedral in San Francisco, Saint John, at the request of thousands of former Shanghai flocks who now lived there, was appointed to the Western American See. At this time, the bishop’s longtime friend, Archbishop Tikhon of San Francisco, retired; in his absence, the construction of the cathedral was suspended, and the quarrel paralyzed the community. The saint endured many sorrows here; he was even forced to appear in a civil court and give an answer to absurd accusations of shortcomings of the parish council. But with love and patience the saint brought the matter to an end, and in 1964 the cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” was erected. And in the last years of his earthly life, despite the enmity, the saint continued to work miracles with his constant prayers.

Demise and veneration

On July 2, 1966, on the day of remembrance of the Apostle Jude, during an archpastoral visit to the city of Seattle with the miraculous icon of the Kursk-Root Mother of God, at the age of 71, the great righteous man reposed in the Lord. He served the Divine Liturgy and remained in the altar alone with the icon for another three hours, then, having visited the spiritual children near the cathedral with the miraculous icon, he proceeded to the room of the church house where he was staying. The servants seated the Lord in a chair and saw that he was already leaving. So the Vladyka gave up his soul to God before the Hodegetria of the Russian Abroad.
The funeral service for the Bishop was led by Metropolitan Philaret. The bishop lay in the coffin for six days, but, despite the heat, no smell of decay was felt, and his hand remained soft. At the funeral service, both the multitude of those gathered and the bishops themselves who performed the service could not restrain their sobs. It is surprising that at the same time, the temple was filled with quiet joy. Eyewitnesses noted that it seemed as if they were attending not a funeral, but the unveiling of the relics of a newly discovered saint.
The saint was buried in a tomb under the cathedral he built. Soon miracles of healing and help in everyday affairs began to happen here. Time has shown with many evidence that Saint John the Wonderworker is a quick helper to all those in troubles, illnesses and sorrowful circumstances.
In 1994, a special commission for the glorification of the bishop discovered his relics incorrupt and on July 2, 1994, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia canonized the wondrous saint of God of the 20th century, St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco, the wonderworker. His church-wide glorification in the Russian Orthodox Church was accomplished by the decision of the Council of Bishops on June 24, 2008. His memory is celebrated on June 19, Old Style / July 2, New Year).
Already during his lifetime, many believers considered the elder a saint; through his prayers, numerous miracles of healing were performed, and the most complex vital problems of those who believed in the power of his prayers were solved in an incredible way.

From the memoirs of the spiritual children of Blessed John:

“Father John was a rare man of prayer. He was so immersed in the texts of prayers that it seemed as if he was talking with God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and angels...”
“In 1939, my faith began to waver, I decided not to go to church anymore, but to go to my friends. My path lay past the cathedral, and then I heard singing in the temple.
I went to the temple. Bishop John served. The altar was open. The Bishop said the prayer: “Come, eat, this is My Blood... for the forgiveness of sins,” after which he knelt down and made a deep bow. I saw the Chalice with the Holy Gifts uncovered, and at that time, after the words of the Lord, a light descended from above into the Chalice. The shape of the light was similar to a tulip flower, but larger size. Never in my life did I think that I would actually see the consecration of the Gifts by fire. My faith was rekindled again. The Lord showed me the faith of the Lord, I felt ashamed for my cowardice." (Mother Augusta)
“I saw how his face was sometimes literally transformed during the Liturgy, especially during the days of Lent, shining with an unearthly light, and his eyes were always full divine love, radiated an inexpressible joy, inaccessible to sinners - and this was a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. But what was most amazing was his gift to see the human heart and draw it to Christ. In the end, if it were not for this righteous man, I would never have even thought about the possibility of pastoral service to the Church for me." (Father Georgy Larin)
“In San Francisco, my husband, having been in a car accident, was very ill, he lost control of his balance and suffered terribly. Knowing the power of the Lord’s prayers, I thought: if only I could invite the Lord to my husband, but I was afraid to do this at that time because of my busy schedule Vladyka. Two days pass, and suddenly Vladyka comes to us, accompanied by B. M. Troyan, who brought him. Vladyka was with us for five minutes...
This was the most difficult moment of the illness; after visiting Vladyka, the husband began to recover. Later I met B. M. Troyan, and he told me that he was driving the car when he was taking Vladyka to the airport. Suddenly the Lord says to him:
- Let's go to Liu now.
He objected that they would be late.
Then the Lord said:
-Can you take on a person's life?
There was nothing to do, so he took Vladyka to us. However, Vladyka was not late for the plane, because he was detained." (L. A. Liu)
“Once in Shanghai, Vladika John was called to the bedside of a dying child, whose condition, according to doctors, was hopeless. Entering the house, Vladika John went straight to the room where the sick boy lay, although no one had yet managed to show him where to go. Not Having even begun to examine the child, Vladyka prostrated himself in front of the icon in the corner of the room and prayed for a long time. Then, assuring the relatives that the child would recover, he quickly left. And indeed, by the morning the child felt better, and soon he recovered - without medical help.” (Dr. A.F. Baranov-Erie, Pennsylvania)
“I was the head of a church district in the Philippines, sometimes I accompanied Vladyka to a hospital in the city of Guan, where seriously ill Russians were lying. Vladyka visited them, gave them pocket Gospels and small icons. Once, entering the Russian hospital ward, we heard terrible screams, coming from afar. When Vladyka asked, the sister said that she was a hopelessly ill woman who was placed in a former American military hospital adjacent to this building. Vladyka immediately decided to go to the sick woman. I followed him... Approaching the sick woman, Vladyka laid her on her head. cross and began to pray. I went out and prayed for a long time, then confessed to her and gave her Holy Communion. When we left, she no longer screamed, she only moaned quietly after a while, we arrived at the hospital again and barely had time to drive our jeep into the yard. , as a woman ran out of the hospital and threw herself at the Vladyka’s feet. It was the “hopeless” patient for whom he prayed.” (G. Larin - Sydney)
One day, from constant standing, the Vladyka’s leg became very swollen, and the doctors, fearing gangrene, ordered him to go to the hospital. After many requests, we finally managed to persuade Vladyka to go to a Russian hospital. But he did not stay there long: on the very first evening he secretly fled to the cathedral, where he served an all-night vigil. A day later, the leg swelling disappeared without a trace.
Vladyka visited prisons and served Liturgy for prisoners. Often, at the sight of the Lord, the mentally ill calmed down and took communion with reverence. Once, Vladyka John was invited to give communion to a dying man in a Russian hospital in Shanghai. The Bishop took the priest with him. Arriving at the hospital, he saw a young and cheerful man, 20 years old, playing the harmonica. This young man was supposed to be released from the hospital the next day. Vladyka John called him over with the words: “I want to give you communion now.” The young man immediately confessed and took communion. The amazed priest asked the Vladyka why he did not go to the dying man, but stayed with the apparently healthy young man. The Bishop replied: “He will die tonight, and the one who is seriously ill will live for many more years.” And so it happened.

In Shanghai, singing teacher Anna Petrovna Lushnikova taught Vladyka to breathe correctly and pronounce words correctly, and thereby helped him improve his diction. At the end of each lesson, Vladyka paid her 20 dollars. One day, during the war, in 1945, she was seriously wounded and ended up in a French hospital. Feeling that she might die at night, Anna Petrovna began to ask the sisters to call Vladyka John to give her communion. The sisters refused to do this, since the hospital was locked in the evenings due to martial law. In addition, there was a strong storm that night. Anna Petrovna was eager and called Vladyka. Suddenly, at about 11 o’clock at night, the Bishop appeared in the room. Not believing her eyes, A.P. asked the Lord if this was a dream, or if he really came to her. The Bishop smiled, prayed and gave her communion. After that she calmed down and fell asleep. The next morning she felt healthy. No one believed A.P. that Vladyka visited her at night, since the hospital was tightly locked. However, the neighbor in the ward confirmed that she also saw the Vladyka. What amazed everyone most was that they found a 20 dollar bill under Anna Petrovna’s pillow. So the Lord left material evidence of this incredible event.
A former Shanghai servant of the Vladyka, now Archpriest Georgy L., says: “Despite the severity of the Vladyka, all the servants loved him very much. For me, the Lord was an ideal that I wanted to imitate in everything. So, during Great Lent, I stopped sleeping in bed, and lay down on the floor, stopped eating regular food with my family, and ate bread and water alone... My parents became worried and took me to the Vladyka. Having listened to them, the Saint ordered the watchman to go to the shop and bring sausage. To my tearful requests that I don’t want to violate Lent, the wise Archpastor ordered me to eat sausage and always remember that obedience to parents is more important than unauthorized feats. “What should I do next, Master?” - I asked, still wanting to strive in some “special” way. - “Go to church as you still went, and at home do what your dad and mom tell you.” I remember how upset I was then that Vladyka did not assign me any “special” feats.”
Anna Khodyreva says: “My sister Ksenia Ya., who lived in Los Angeles, had severe pain in her arm for a long time. She went to doctors and was treated with home remedies, but nothing helped. Finally, she decided to turn to Vladyka John and wrote him a letter in San Francisco. Some time passed and the hand got better. Ksenia even began to forget about the previous pain in her arm. One day, while visiting San Francisco, she went to the cathedral for a service. At the end of the service, Vladyka John allowed the cross to be kissed. Seeing my sister, he asks her: “How is your hand?” But Vladyka saw her for the first time! How did he recognize her and the fact that her hand hurt?”
Anna S. recalls: “My sister and I had an accident. A drunk young man was driving towards me. He hit the car door with great force from the side where my sister was sitting. An ambulance was called and the sister was taken to the hospital. Her condition was very serious - her lung was punctured and a rib was broken, which made her suffer greatly. Her face was so swollen that her eyes could not be seen. When the Lord visited her, she lifted her eyelid with her finger and, seeing the Lord, took his hand and kissed it. She could not speak, because there was a cut in her throat, but tears of joy flowed from the slits of her eyes. Since then, Vladyka visited her several times, and she began to recover. One day, Vladyka came to the hospital and, entering the general ward, told us: “Musa is very bad now.” Then he went to her, drew the curtain near the bed and prayed for a long time. By that time, two doctors approached us, and I asked them how serious the sister’s situation was and whether it was worth calling her daughter from Canada? (We hid from our daughter that her mother had an accident). The doctors replied: “Whether or not to call your relatives is your business. We don't guarantee she'll live until morning." Thank God that she not only survived that night, but completely recovered and returned to Canada... My sister and I believe that the prayers of Vladika John saved her.”
Archbishop John said: “The highest prayer is the one when a person forgets all his goals, even the highest, burning with one desire - to move as close to the Lord as possible, to lay his head at His feet, to give his whole heart. This is perfect love. and perfect prayer. When you only want to breathe in the Lord, live only in Him, love Him, take refuge in His closeness, in His ineffable love.”
The statements of St. John Maksimovich about prayer sound like a spiritual testament to us today: “The babbling of a child is pleasing to Him. The Lord accepts all human requests, no matter how small and insignificant they may be, if the human heart rejoices and trembles, standing before the face of the Lord. Everything small is done. great in this coming. Everything imperfect is made perfect. Do not be embarrassed by the magnitude or insignificance of your petitions, but seek, first of all, not what you want to ask, but Him whom you want to ask. The requests of only those who love the Lord less are unworthy. than the thing or deed for which they ask. If you love the Lord most of all, then blessed is every request you make, both great and small, and every request you have will be fulfilled, and the one that is not fulfilled by God’s will will bring you greater good. than the one that will be fulfilled. And the great fruit always remains in our soul from prayer - we ascend to heaven, to the Creator..."

Akathist
Saint John of Shanghai
and San Francisco Miracle Worker

Kontakion 1
Chosen Miracle-Worker and a considerable Servant of Christ, exude valuable inspiration and inexhaustible abundance of miracles to the whole world. We praise Thee with love and let us call Thee:

Ikos 1
Show thee in the image of an angel in the last times of all creation, the Creator, with the mercy of God, caring for the people of the earth. Looking at Your virtues, Most Blessed John, we cry out to You:

Rejoice, you who fulfill the will of God with fear and trembling!

Kontakion 2
Seeing the abundant outpouring of Your virtues, O glorious Saint John, like a life-giving source of God’s miracles, you give us water, faithfully crying out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 2
A mind filled with love, as well as with theology, the God-Wise John, and wise with the knowledge of God and adorned with love for suffering people, teach us to know the True God, as we too cry out to Ti in tenderness:
Rejoice, unshakable stronghold of the Truth of Orthodoxy!
Rejoice, precious vessel of the gifts of the Holy Spirit!
Rejoice, honest denouncer of unbelief and false teaching!
Rejoice, zealous fulfiller of God's commandments!
Rejoice, vigilant ascetic, never giving himself rest!
Rejoice, beloved shepherd of the flock of Christ!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 3
By the power of God's grace, you appeared as a good syrup-giver and mentor to young men,
raising them in the passion of God and preparing them for the service of God.
For this reason, Your child looks at You and cries out to God in gratitude: Hallelujah!

Ikos 3
Having truly, Father John, a song was sung to You from heaven, and not from earth: how can anyone from man be able to preach the greatness of Your works. We, offering to God as imams, cry out to Tisitsa:
Rejoice, you who cover your children with unceasing prayer!
Rejoice, guardian of Your flock with the Sign of the Cross!
Rejoice, receptacle of great love, regardless of the differences of languages!
Rejoice, all-bright and all-loving lamp!
Rejoice, image of spiritual meekness!
Rejoice, giver of spiritual sweets to those in need!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 4
We are overcome by a spiritual storm: how worthy it is to praise Your miracles, Blessed John. For you have gone to the end of the universe for the sake of salvation and the gospel of the Gospel to those in darkness. Thanking God for Your apostolic works, we sing to Him: Hallelujah!

Ikos 4
Hearing near and far the greatness of Your miracles, which by God’s mercy have been revealed even to our time. In You, God glorified, we marvel and cry out in fear:
Rejoice, enlightener of those in the darkness of unbelief!
Rejoice, Thou who brought Thy people from the far East to the West!
Rejoice, fountain of miracles poured out by God!
Rejoice, you who admonish the lost with love!
Rejoice, quick consoler of those who repent of their sins!
Rejoice, supporter of those who are to come along the right path!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, miracle worker of the last times!

Kontakion 5
Thou hast appeared the divine light, dispelling all fierce storms, protecting the island from the deadly whirlwinds with Thy prayers, O Saint John, and protecting with the Sign of the Cross. Teach us, who call upon You for help, O Holy Wonderworker, to boldly cry out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 5
Having seen Your much help in adversity and circumstances, Blessed Father John, Thou art a bold intercessor before the Throne of God and a quick helper in troubles. For this reason, we trust in Your protection before God and cry out to You:
Rejoice, banisher of dangerous elements!
Rejoice, Thou who deliverest from need through Thy prayer!
Rejoice, O giver of bread to the hungry!
Rejoice, prepare abundance for those who ask!
Rejoice, comforter in these sorrows!
Rejoice, thou who hast snatched away many who fell from destruction!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 6
Thou hast appeared, preaching as a new Moses, the blaring one, bringing Thy people out of the captivity of slavery, O Blessed John. Deliver us too from the slavery of sin and the enemies of God’s salvation, just as we cry out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 6
Through Thy prayer, Thou hast accomplished the impossible, O good Shepherd, and has inclined the worldly authorities to compassion for Thy people. For this reason, we also cry out to You in gratitude:
Rejoice, you who earnestly help those who call upon You!
Rejoice, thou who deliverest from unrighteous murder!
Rejoice, you who preserve from slander and slander!
Rejoice, protector of the innocent from bondage!
Rejoice, reflector from the attack of the wicked!
Rejoice, darker of lies and manifester of truth!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 7
Although you ardently glorified the Saints of the West, who had fallen from the truth, you restored their veneration in the Orthodox Church, O lover of the saints of the East and West. Today, with them in heaven, pray to God for us, singing on earth to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 7
Having seen You again, the chosen one of God, together with the saints of ancient Gaul, You appeared in the last times as one of these, inspiring Your flock to observe Orthodox faith like these in the West I confess. Preserve us also to remain in this faith, crying out to Ty:
Rejoice, New Martin in your abstinence, exploits and miracles!
Rejoice, New Herman in Your confession of the Orthodox Faith!
Hail, New Hilary in Divine Theology!
Rejoice, New Gregory, in honoring and glorifying the Saints of God!
Rejoice, New Favste, with Your tender love and monastic zeal!
Rejoice. New Caesar in firm love for the Rules of the Church of God!
Rejoice, Holy Our Father John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 8
We saw a terrible miracle at the end of Your earthly life, Passion-Bearing Saint John, You were elevated to New World, preaching ancient Christianity there and accepting persecution for the sake of Your righteousness, preparing Your soul for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Now marveling at Your patience and long suffering, we gratefully cry out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 8
You were all the worker of the grapes of Christ, God-bearing Father, you did not know rest until the end of Your laborious life, help us unworthy in our deeds, we too will be diligently faithful to God, wondrous servant of God John, as we cry out to You in glory:
Rejoice, you who endured to the end and achieved salvation!
Rejoice, thou who was honored to die before the icon of the Mother of God!
Rejoice, courageous guardian of faith amid the persecution of the unrighteous!
Rejoice, for being a good shepherd of Your flock, the ruling hierarch who sadly accepted his death!
Rejoice, after death you consoled your flock with your miraculous return!
Rejoice, giver of many miracles to Thy cancer with faith and love!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 9
All angelic nature rejoiced at the ascension of Your soul to the heavenly abodes, but we, amazed at Your miracles on earth, manifested by the action of the Holy Spirit, sing to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 9
The prophets of many things will not be able to tell the strength of Your holy life, O righteous Father John, the sanctuary of the ineffable God. Oh, wondrous manifestation of God to our time of little faith, we silently glorify You, crying out like this:
Rejoice, chamber of Divine commandments!
Rejoice, small and weak receptacle of the angelic abodes!
Rejoice, ladder, with which we conveniently ascend to heaven!
Rejoice, hospital that quickly cures all kinds of ailments!
Rejoice, secret repository of the feat of prayer!
Rejoice, brightly decorated temple of the Holy Spirit!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 10
To save the world, like all the Savior, you have sent us a new saint. Thus through Him you called us from the dark depths of sin. Hearing Thee, calling us to repentance, Blessed Father John, we, in poor virtue, cry out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 10
Thou art a wall to all who resort to Thy heavenly intercession, Father John; protect us also from the demonic militia, free from ailments, misfortunes and various needs, those who call upon Thee with faith:
Rejoice, you who have been blinded by sight!
Rejoice, through the power of prayer you give life to those on your deathbed!
Rejoice from rebellion and war!
Rejoice, water of salvation that irrigates those perishing in the fire of sorrow!
Rejoice, fatherly intercession of the lonely and abandoned!
Rejoice, holy Teacher of those who seek the truth!

Kontakion 11
You brought unceasing singing to the Most Holy Trinity, Blessed Father John, in thought, speech and good deeds: with much understanding of the true Faith you understood the commands, by faith, hope and love, instructing us in the Trinity to sing to the One God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 11
The illuminating lamp of Orthodoxy has appeared to those in the darkness of ignorance, the good shepherd of the flock of Christ. Thus, after Your Dormition, You reveal the truth to those who do not know it, enlightening the souls of the faithful, crying out to You like this:
Rejoice, enlightenment of the wisdom of God to those who live in unbelief!
Rejoice, rainbow of quiet joy of the meek!
Rejoice, thunder, who frightens those who persist in sin!
Rejoice, lightning, consuming heresies!
Rejoice, confirmation of the dogmas of Orthodoxy!
Rejoice, watering of God's thoughts!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 12
The grace given to You from God, poured out knowingly: let us receive this with reverence and gratitude, flowing to Your wonderful intercession, O All-Praised Father John, glorifying Your miracles, we cry out to God: Hallelujah!

Ikos 12
Singing praise to God, in You the meek and humble servant was wondrously glorified, appearing to the fallen and faithless world, having created nothing equal to the gift of Your miracles. Wondering at them, we bow down with the saints and honor Thee:
Rejoice, new star of righteousness rising in the sky!
Rejoice, new prophet, who delivers us from the reign of evil!
Rejoice, new Jonah, prophesying destruction from sin!
Rejoice, new Baptist, call everyone to prayer and repentance!
Rejoice, New Paul, who bore the burdens of preaching the Gospel!
Rejoice, new apostle, bright preaching of faith!
Rejoice, Holy Hierarch Father John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 13
O Most Blessed and Precious Servant of God, Our Hierarch John, consolation to all in their present sorrows, accept our present prayer offering, so that the Lord may beseech you to get rid of Gehenna for us through Your God-pleasing intercession, for after your death you yourself said: “Tell the people, although I am dead, but I am ALIVE": Hallelujah! (three times)

Ikos 1
Show the image of an angel to You in last times The Creator of all creation, with the mercy of God, cares for the people of the earth. Looking at Your virtues, Most Blessed John, we cry out to You:
Rejoice, adorned with piety from early childhood!
Rejoice in fulfilling the will of God with fear and trembling!
Rejoice, you who demonstrate the grace of God in secret blessings!
Rejoice, quick hearing from those who suffer in the distance!
Rejoice, loving haste for the salvation of your neighbors!
Rejoice, joy to all who come to You with faith!
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Kontakion 1
Chosen as the Miracle Worker and great Servant of Christ, exude valuable myrrh and inspiration and an inexhaustible abundance of miracles to the whole world. We praise Thee with love and let us call Thee:
Rejoice, Our Hierarch John, Wonderworker of the last times!

Prayer

to Saint John, the Wonderworker of the last times

Oh, Our Hierarch John, good Shepherd and seer of human souls. Now pray for us at the Throne of God, as he himself said after death: “Although I died, I am ALIVE.” Beg the Almighty God to grant us forgiveness for our sins, so that we may boldly perk up and shake off the despondency of this world and cry out to God to grant us humility and Inspiration, God-consciousness and the spirit of piety on all the paths of our lives. As a merciful syrup-feeder and experienced guide on earth, now be the leader of Moses and Christ’s all-encompassing admonition in the turmoil of the church.
Hear the groans of the confused youths of our hard times, overwhelmed by the all-evil demon, and shake off the laziness and despondency of the exhausted shepherds from the onslaughts of the spirit of this world and those languishing in an idle stupor.
May we tearfully cry out to You, O warm prayer book, visit us orphans, drowning in the darkness of passions, waiting for Your fatherly instruction, may we be illuminated by the non-evening light where You abide and pray for Your children, scattered across the face of the universe, but still drawn to the light by weak love Where the light of Christ our Lord abides, to Him is honor and dominion now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Greatness

We magnify, we magnify You, O Holy Father John, and we honor Your holy memory. You pray for us, Christ our God.

Troparion (Ch. 6)

Glorious heir of Christ as an apostle, / You appeared to save us who are of little faith and cold in heart. / You were clothed with the grace and deeds of the ancient saints, / For this reason you received Heavenly mysteries from God. / Oh, kind orphan giver, giving hope to the world’s outcasts, / Oh, Lamp of Christ, kindled by the Divine flame / at the dawn of the Last Judgment. / Pray for us, Saint John, that our hearts may also be kindled with the flame of saving love for Christ / and our souls may be saved in the last times.

Saint John Maximovich was known in Russia not so long ago, but in emigration he was revered on all continents, and, seeing his holy life, many Russian people returned to Christ, and Westerners began to think about the truths of Christianity.

Vladyka John’s homeland was the Kharkov region, where on June 4, 1896 he was born into the noble Maksimovich family. His father was the leader of the nobility in his district. His family has already given Russia one saint - Metropolitan John (Tobolsk).

At baptism, the newborn boy was named Michael. He grew up sickly. He received his education in accordance with his origin - the cadet corps and the law faculty of Kharkov University, after graduating from which he even worked in court. From his student days, those around him perceived Mikhail as a person of special spiritual giftedness, so Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), popular at that time among young believers, tried to get to know him. Subsequently, he assessed John (Maksimovich) as a person close to him in spirit. Of course, the influence of the archbishop, who became his confessor, was enormous, and already in emigration in 1926 he tonsured him into monasticism with the name John. This was followed by ordination. In exile, in Yugoslavia, despite terrible poverty and the need to constantly earn money for living, the young man graduated from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Belgrade. For several years the young hieromonk labored in the teaching field, and I must say two things at once. Firstly, since the seminary where he worked was in Bitola, he came under the influence of the great Serbian ascetic Bishop Nikolai (Velimirović), and secondly, from the very first steps on the monastic path he showed himself to be a great ascetic. Like the ancient monks, he never slept lying down, fasted strictly and served the Divine Liturgy every day, or at least received communion if he could not serve. “This small, weak man, almost a child in appearance, is some kind of miracle of ascetic fortitude and severity in our time of general spiritual relaxation,” wrote the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), about Hieromonk John (Maximovich). Students subsequently recalled not only his asceticism, but also his kindness and care towards them. “During the same period, he published a number of Theological works (“Veneration of the Mother of God and John the Baptist and the new direction of Russian Theological thought”, “How the Holy Orthodox Church honored and honors the Mother of God”, “Doctrine of Sophia - the Wisdom of God”), in which patristic positions, he polemicized with supporters of the theological concept of “sophiology,” primarily with the priest Sergius Bulgakov.” He also disagreed with Vladyka Anthony on some points (with his theory of atonement), but out of respect for his spiritual mentor, he argued with him privately.

Due to his characteristic modesty, he did not even think about becoming a bishop, and when he was called to Belgrade to inform about the ordination, he decided that this was a mistake and strongly objected, proving that he was both unworthy and tongue-tied. It was only noticed to him that the prophet Moses had the same problem.

He was consecrated bishop on March 28, 1934, and immediately went to Shanghai for his destination. In Shanghai, an unfinished cathedral and an acute conflict between Christians of different jurisdictions awaited him. He had to be known in Russia not so long ago, but in emigration he was revered on all continents, and, seeing his holy life, many Russian people returned to Christ, and Westerners began to think about the truths of Christianity.

“When caring about the salvation of human souls,” said the saint, “we must remember that people also have bodily needs that loudly declare themselves. You cannot preach the Gospel without showing love in your actions.”

He followed this principle strictly. He treated his spiritual children like a father treats his children - he knew who’s name was who, who needed what, who lived where. He took special care of the children. He walked the streets of Shanghai and collected abandoned children, often simply ransoming them from the Chinese. He placed them in a shelter he created in the name of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. This shelter saved about three and a half thousand children from vagrancy and raised them as worthy people. Children of low-income parents were also placed there. His pupils still remember Vladyka with gratitude. He was strict with both children and adults when it came to Divine services - and very gentle and good-natured outside the church - he could play with the kids and joke with them. The children adored him.

“It soon became obvious to his new flock that the Vladyka was a great ascetic. The basis of his asceticism was prayer and fasting. He took food once a day - at 11 pm. During the first and last weeks of Great Lent I did not eat anything at all, and on the remaining days of this Lent and the Nativity Lent I only ate altar bread. He usually spent his nights in prayer and, when his strength was finally exhausted, he laid his head on the floor, forgetting himself for several hours before dawn. When the time came to serve Matins, he would not answer those knocking on the door; then, upon entering, they would find him curled up on the floor near the icons and overcome by sleep. From a light touch on the shoulder he jumped up and a few minutes later he was already serving in the temple - cold water dripping from his beard, but he was completely awake.

Vladyka served in the cathedral every morning and evening, even when he was sick. He celebrated the Liturgy here (as in subsequent years) every day, and if for some reason he could not do this, then at least he partook of the Holy Mysteries. Wherever he was, he did not miss the Divine Services. “One day,” a witness reports, “Vladyka’s leg was seriously swollen, and a council of doctors, fearing gangrene, prescribed him immediate hospitalization, which he categorically refused. Then the Russian doctors notified the parish council that they absolved themselves of any responsibility for his condition and even for his life. After much persuasion by members of the council, who were even ready to forcibly hospitalize him, Vladyka was forced to agree and in the morning, the day before the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, he was sent to a Russian hospital, but by 6 o’clock, limping, he came to the cathedral on foot and began to serve. Within a day the swelling was completely gone.”

Vladyka loved long scheduled services and cut virtually nothing short, even if he had to be late for the service, and this sometimes happened due to his incredible busyness.

Later, in France, he was nicknamed John the Barefoot because he always walked barefoot. The clergy decided to put shoes on him, and he was ordered to wear shoes.

He honestly wore it under his arm.

In the end, under pressure from management, he had to put on shoes, but he walked only in soft shoes or sandals and always without socks - in any weather. However, these shoes were often given to the poor, and then he again found himself barefoot. He served in this form, for which he was severely reprimanded by his superiors. His clothes were also poor, made from the cheapest Chinese fabric.

The Bishop visited the sick every day, confessed them and gave them communion, and often did this without an invitation - the Lord revealed to him which of his spiritual children needed his prayerful help. To get to the sick, he could cross the front (during the Sino-Japanese War), without fearing anything at all. He believed in the Lord, and the Lord kept him. He gave communion and prayed all night long at the bedside of the dying, and in the morning they felt better, or the illness went away completely. But if he saw that a person must depart to the Lord, he would certainly commune him with the Holy Mysteries on the day of his death and very strictly discipline the priests subordinate to him if they did not have time to do this.

He brought the light of Christ into the darkest corners - into prisons and mental hospitals. In prisons, he served the Liturgy on an ordinary small table and gave communion to the mourners. His visits were always a joy - prisoners were comforted, the possessed and mentally ill were pacified, and the sick were healed.

There are many known cases of his miraculous help. “Here is one miracle among many performed by the prayers of the Lord, evidence of which is in the archives of the District Hospital in Shanghai (reported by N. Makovaya).

“Lyudmila Dmitrievna Sadkovskaya was fond of sports - horse racing. One day, a horse threw her and she hit her head hard on a rock, losing consciousness. She was taken unconscious to the hospital. A council of several doctors gathered and declared the situation hopeless - he would hardly survive until the morning: there was almost no pulse, his head was broken, and small pieces of the skull were pressing on the brain. In this situation, she should die under the knife. Even if her heart had allowed the operation, then with a successful outcome she should have remained deaf, dumb and blind.

Her own sister, having listened to all this, in despair and bursting into tears, rushed to Archbishop John and began to beg him to save her sister. Vladyka agreed, came to the hospital, asked everyone to leave the room, and prayed for about two hours. Then he called the chief doctor and asked to examine the patient. Imagine the doctor’s surprise when he heard that her pulse was like that of a normal, healthy person! He agreed to immediately perform the operation, but only in the presence of Archbishop John. The operation went well, and what a surprise the doctors were when after the operation she came to her senses and asked to drink! She saw and heard everything. She still lives: she speaks, sees and hears. I've known her for 30 years. N.S.M.” There were hundreds, and maybe thousands, of similar cases in the Lord’s practice.

In 1946, Vladyka John was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

When the Communists seized power in China, Vladyka emigrated to America with his flock in 1949, but it was not easy - Russians in America were treated with caution, and Vladyka had to sit on the steps of the White House for quite a long time before the authorities accepted him. He managed to achieve changes in American legislation, and almost all of his flock arrived in the States. The transit point on their way was the island of Tubabao in the Philippines.

The main feature of the climate there was constant typhoons. Five thousand Russian emigrants lived in a tent city, and Vladyka John walked around it every day and blessed it on all four sides. During their 27 months on Tubabao, there was never a typhoon. Or rather, one typhoon was aimed at them, but through the prayers of the Lord, it bypassed the island. It is interesting that the natives immediately connected this miracle with the prayers of the Lord and even reassured the Russians, saying: “As long as your holy man walks around your camp, nothing will happen to him.”

In 1951, the Synod sent him to the Western European diocese with a see in Paris, and then in Brussels, and Vladika John became one of the leading hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad.

In Western Europe, the Bishop accepts the local Dutch and French Orthodox Churches under his jurisdiction. Now he began to serve the Divine Liturgy in Dutch and French, as he had previously served in Greek and Chinese (and later he would celebrate the liturgy in English). He usually served in the language of the country in which he was located. He began publishing liturgical literature in French and Dutch. He “cared for Greek, Arab, Bulgarian and Romanian Orthodox parishes, giving them a special status. Contributed to the emergence of Western Rite parishes. Ordained a Spanish Orthodox priest for the Madrid Mission."

“In Paris, where rental prices exceeded the capabilities of the parish, an ordinary garage served as the premises for the temple. “Church in the Garage” became a favorite parish for Russians, who came to services from all over the city and from the suburbs. The Lesninsky monastery, which by that time had moved to France, also enjoyed special patronage from the bishop.

For his spiritual students, Vladyka remained the same as he had been before - a friend, a man of prayer, to whom one could turn for help at any day and hour. I was struck by his accessibility, complete unpretentiousness and oblivion of himself for the sake of others. In Europe, Archbishop John was recognized as a man of holy life, so Catholic priests also turned to him with a request to pray for the sick.”

In Europe, through the efforts of Bishop John, the veneration of local saints from the period of the undivided Church was restored. Moreover, he collected information not only about generally revered saints, but also about locally revered saints, compiled a list of them, found images and appealed to the Synod with this. His initiative was supported and new ancient saints appeared in the calendar of the Orthodox Church.

He took a very active part in the canonization of the Tsar-Martyr and Father John of Kronstadt, following whose example he served the Liturgy daily.

Vladyka John’s last assignment was the cathedra in San Francisco, where the largest parish of the Russian Church Abroad was located. Serious disagreements arose in the community regarding the construction of the cathedral, and, at the request of the Shanghai children of Bishop John, it was transferred here.

He appeared there on the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple on November 21 (December 4), 1962.

The Bishop managed to reconcile the warring parties and complete the construction of the cathedral, but along this path he ascended to Golgotha. He was accused of financial fraud and dragged into legal proceedings. He was acquitted, but suffered very painfully from the shame and slander, especially since it all came from his fellow clergy.

He did not judge anyone and suffered in silence.

Vladyka John advocated not only for the theoretical purity of Orthodoxy, but also for the practical.

One evening on the eve of October 19 (November 2), 1964, when the Russian Church Abroad celebrated the solemn canonization of Father John of Kronstadt, whom the Bishop deeply revered (even took an active part in compiling a service and akathist for him), a group of Russians decided to organize on that night (which Moreover, on the eve of Sunday) there was a Halloween ball, and in the San Francisco Cathedral during the first all-night vigil dedicated to St. John of Kronstadt, many, to the great sadness of the Bishop, were absent. After the service, Vladyka went to where the ball was still going on. He walked up the steps and entered the hall - to the complete amazement of the participants. The music stopped, and the Lord, in complete silence, looked intently at the speechless people and began to slowly walk around the hall with a staff in his hand. He did not utter a word, and there was no need for that: one look from the Lord stung everyone’s conscience, causing general stupor. The Bishop left in silence, and the next day he hurled thunders of holy indignation and zealously called everyone to a reverent Christian life.”

Of course, many did not understand his foolishness, the childish spontaneity of his behavior, the fact that he placed service to the poorest part of his flock above all else, and these people spoiled the Vladyka a lot of blood. He did not hesitate to admit that he was wrong and often amazed people who knew him with completely unconventional decisions, in which, however, the will of God was guessed.

“When Metropolitan Anastassy announced his retirement in 1964, Archbishop John became the main candidate to succeed him in the place of Metropolitan and First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. During the re-voting, he remained one of two candidates with a difference of one vote between them. To resolve this even distribution, the Bishop invited the youngest of the hierarchs, Bishop Philaret, and persuaded this unexpected candidate to responsibly and reverently accept such a high ministry. The next day, he withdrew his candidacy and recommended the election of Bishop Philaret, whom the bishops elected unanimously, seeing in this sudden turn of events the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Vladyka achieved such high authority among the hierarchs of the Russian Trans-Church Church shortly before the end of his earthly life. And this authority was not based on any external merits, for the Lord was frail, bent, had neither ambition nor cunning, and did not even have a clear reprimand. It was based solely on those inner spiritual virtues, thanks to which he became one of the great Orthodox hierarchs of this century and a truly holy man. Righteousness shone in him.”

He was a seer and a miracle worker, but he covered up his spiritual gifts with a very spontaneous, very kind, almost childish foolishness. The Lord revealed to him the time and place of his blessed death, as evidenced by several people close to him. He died on July 2, 1966, during prayer “in his room in the parish building next to the church, without preliminary signs of any illness or grief. They heard him fall, and when those who ran up to help put him on a chair, he rested peacefully and, apparently, painlessly before the image of the miraculous Kursk icon Signs."

While the question of the burial place was being decided, the Vladyka’s body lay unburied in the heat for 6 days without the slightest signs of decay or decomposition, and there was no unpleasant odor. His hands, according to eyewitnesses, were soft. The Bishop was buried in the crypt of the cathedral he built.

After the death of the Lord, miracles began to happen at his grave.

The incorrupt relics of Blessed John Maksimovich were studied by the canonization commission, which found that they were similar to the relics of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and the Orthodox East. July 2, 1994 Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Vladyka John Maksimovich was solemnly canonized. In 2008, he was glorified in his homeland.

Rejoice, I am fighting new villages,

Rejoice, planter of verbal vegetation,

Rejoice, more toiler than the floating fields,

Rejoice, master of the verbal paradise,

Rejoice, Saint John, solitary worker of the Lord's harvest!

Used literature:

1. Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose), Hegumen Herman (Podmoshensky). "Blessed John the Wonderworker."

2. Archbishop John Maksimovich - Wikipedia

3. “Holy ascetic of universal significance” Website of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Brooklyn