Sections of the site
Editor's Choice:
- There is a question: is there really an addiction to sex?
- Communicating with people Communicating with other people is a process
- Family Psychology: Statement of the Family Problem in Modern Psychological Science
- Secrets of NLP techniques for manipulating people Manipulation of consciousness as a way of psychological influence
- Manipulations in communication and their neutralization Manipulations in communication and their neutralization examples
- How to change your habits: a matrix of human behavior patterns Model of behavior in psychology
- Psychology of men and women
- Aggression: types, causes, ways of working
- Scenario of a wooden wedding, ideas for competitions Scenario of the 5th wedding anniversary
- international day of laughter
Advertising
Saint JOHN (MAKSIMOVICH), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, miracle worker
|
.jpg)
.JPG)
Archpriest Sergiy Kotar, a clergyman, visited our parish in September of this year. We have already published, in which he talked about the Lyceum of St. John, an Orthodox school that operates during the arrival of the Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon. On the eve of the day of finding the relics of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, we publish the story of Father Sergius about the veneration of the relics of the saint.
- Father Sergius. In the church where you serve, there are the relics of St. John. Please tell us about the veneration of the Saint across the ocean.
Yes, the relics of St. John are in our church, we receive daily letters from all over the world in different languages, and many letters are written directly in the name of Vladyka, addressed to him, and with various requests. And these letters are placed under the shrine, then they are collected and burned, and people write that they have received an answer to their request. If the letter contains a request for a prayer service, we serve a prayer service. A lot of people just come from the street to pray. Vladyka John, in some mysterious way, actually became a world saint. Letters come from all over the world. It even surprises me when we receive letters from Russia, where there are so many relics, so many saints, but they turn to St. John. Every Saturday before Vigil we have a common prayer service, where there are all the notes with names that are collected during the week, placed under the shrines, and they are mentioned in the prayer service. And there are many private prayers.
Reference: Vladyka John, baptized Michael, was born in the Kharkov province on July 4, 1896, to the pious nobles Boris and Glafira Maksimovich. Already from childhood, young Mikhail felt some kind of special desire for holiness, similar to that of his distant relative - the outstanding Siberian missionary St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk, glorified by God with miracles and incorruptible relics. Mikhail was a sickly boy with poor appetite; he turned toy soldiers into monks, and fortresses into monasteries. The Svyatogorsk Monastery, located not far from the estate of the Maksimovichs, disposed the young Mikhail to a thoughtful attitude towards life. Under the influence of the lad Michael, the non-Orthodox governess converted to Orthodoxy.
In 1914, Mikhail graduated from the Poltava Cadet Corps and entered the Kharkov Imperial University at the Faculty of Law. He studied excellently, although he devoted part of his time to the study of the lives of saints and spiritual literature. Kharkov church life contributed to the initial steps of young Michael along the path of piety. The relics of the wonderworker Archbishop Meletius (Leontovich) rested in the tomb of the Kharkov Cathedral, who spent the nights in prayer, standing with his hands up. Michael fell in love with this saint and began to imitate him in the feat of staying awake at night. Thus, young Michael gradually began to develop a desire to devote himself entirely to God, and in connection with this, high spiritual qualities began to manifest in him: abstinence and a strict attitude towards himself, great humility and compassion for those who suffer.
Even before leaving Russia, young Michael met His Beatitude Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), the founder of the Russian Church Abroad. At the end of the civil war, Mikhail evacuated with his family to Yugoslavia, where he entered the theological faculty of the University of Belgrade, from which he graduated in 1925. Having become better acquainted with young Michael, Metropolitan Anthony fell in love with him very much and brought him closer to himself. In 1926, Metropolitan Anthony tonsured Mikhail a monk with the name John (in honor of Metropolitan John of Tobolsk) and soon ordained him a hierodeacon. On the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, monk John became a hieromonk. In 1929, he began teaching at a Serbian gymnasium and quickly won the love of students with his ability to inspire them with lofty Christian ideals.
As a hieromonk, John continued to succeed in the feat of strict abstinence, to which he added the feat of all-night prayer, which was beyond the strength of most people. During this period, at the request of the local Greeks and Macedonians, he began to serve for them in Greek. Like St. Righteous John of Kronstadt, Vladyka served the Liturgy every day, which gave him great spiritual strength, warming his love for God and people. Hieromonk John began to visit hospitals and look for the sick in need of prayer, consolation, and communion. Since the fame of Hieromonk John was constantly growing, the bishops abroad decided to raise him to the rank of bishop. Wanting to evade such a high rank, Hieromonk John began to refer to his tongue-tied tongue. But the bishops remained adamant, pointing out to him that the prophet Moses was tongue-tied.
The consecration of Hieromonk John as a bishop with his appointment to the Shanghai cathedra took place in May 1934. Vladyka arrived in Shanghai at the end of November and immediately set about restoring church unity, establishing contact with local Orthodox Serbs, Greeks, and Ukrainians. At the same time, Vladyka set about building a huge cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The guarantor of sinners", which was completed along with a three-story parish house and a bell tower. Possessing inexhaustible energy, Vladyka John inspired the construction of churches, hospitals and shelters and took a most active part in many social initiatives in Russian Shanghai.
But with all this vigorous activity, Vladyka John was, as it were, in a different world. To avoid worldly glory and human praise, he sometimes pretended to be a holy fool. Being constantly in prayer, Vladyka, if he did not serve in the temple, then he himself read all the daily services. Vladyka often went barefoot even on the coldest days, ate once a day, and ate only prosphora during Lent. For cheerfulness, he poured cold water over himself in the morning. I didn’t go to visit, but I always visited those in need of help even at the most unexpected time and in bad weather. Vladyka visited those sick people he knew daily with the Holy Gifts. He had clairvoyance and the gift of powerful prayer. Many cases of miraculous help through the prayers of Vladyka John have been recorded.
A certain parishioner in 1939, because of the trials that befell her, began to lose her faith. Once, when she entered the church during the service of Vladyka John, she saw how, during the Transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts, a light in the form of a large tulip descended into the Chalice. After this miracle, faith returned to her, and she began to repent of her cowardice.
Once, from constant standing, Vladyka's leg became very swollen, and the doctors, fearing gangrene, ordered him to go to the hospital. After long requests, Vladyka was finally persuaded to go to a Russian hospital. But he did not stay there for long: on the very first evening he secretly fled to the cathedral, where he served an all-night vigil. A day later, the swelling of the leg disappeared without a trace.
Vladyka visited prisons and served the Liturgy for the prisoners. Often, at the sight of Vladyka, the mentally ill calmed down and took communion with reverence. One day Vladyka John was invited to take Communion to a dying man in a Russian hospital in Shanghai. Vladyka took a priest with him. Arriving at the hospital, he saw a young and cheerful man, about 20 years old, playing the harmonica. This young man was to be released from the hospital the next day.
Vladyka John called him with the words: “I want to give you communion now.” The young man immediately confessed and took communion. The astonished priest asked Vladyka why he did not go to the dying man, but lingered with the apparently healthy young man. Vladyka replied: "He will die tonight, and the one who is seriously ill will live for many more years." And so it happened.
The construction of a shelter for orphans and needy children in Shanghai was a great act of mercy from Vladyka. Initially, 8 orphans lived in the shelter, over the years the shelter began to give shelter to hundreds of children, and in total 1,500 children passed through the shelter. Vladyka himself gathered sick and starving children from the streets of the Shanghai slums. Once, during the war, the orphanage did not have enough food to feed the children. Vladyka prayed all night, and in the morning there was a call: a representative of some organization had arrived with a large donation for the orphanage. 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.
In Shanghai, singing teacher Anna Petrovna Lushnikova taught Vladyka to breathe correctly and pronounce the words correctly, and this helped him improve his diction. At the end of each lesson, Vladyka paid her $20. Once, 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, as the hospital was locked up in the evenings due to martial law. In addition, there was a strong storm that night. Anna Petrovna was eager and called out to Vladyka. Suddenly, at about 11 am, Vladyka appeared in the ward. Not believing his eyes, A.P. asked Vladyka if this was a dream, or if he really came to her. Vladyka smiled, prayed, and gave her communion. After that, she calmed down and fell asleep. The next morning she felt well. No one believed A.P. that Vladyka visited her at night, since the hospital was tightly locked. However, the roommate confirmed that she also saw Vladyka. Most of all, they were struck by the fact that under Anna Petrovna's pillow they found a 20-dollar bill. So Vladyka left material proof of this incredible event.
Vladyka's former Shanghai servant, now Archpriest Georgy L., says: “Despite Vladyka's strictness, all the servants loved him very much. For me, Vladyka 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 ordinary food with my family, and ate bread and water alone ... My parents became worried and took me to Vladyka. After listening to them, the Saint ordered the watchman to go to the shop and bring sausage. In response to my tearful pleas that I did not want to break Great Lent, the wise Archpastor ordered me to eat sausage and always remember that obedience to parents is more important than self-willed deeds. “How can I go on, Vladyka?” I asked, still wanting to do something "especially" ascetic. “Go to church the way you used to go, and at home do what dad and mom tell you.” I remember how upset I was then that Vladyka did not assign me any “special” feats.”
With the coming to power of the Communists, Russians from China fled to the Philippine Islands. Five thousand refugees were on the island of Tubabao. Vladyka walked around the island every day and, with his prayers and the sign of the cross, protected the island from seasonal typhoons, this was recognized by the Filipinos themselves. At the request of Vladyka, Washington changed the law on Russian refugees, thanks to which many Russians were admitted to the United States.
In 1951, Vladyka headed the Western European diocese, with a cathedra in Paris. Vladyka made great efforts to annex parishes of the French Orthodox Church to the Church Abroad and helped establish the Dutch Orthodox Church. Vladyka drew attention to the existence of ancient local saints, hitherto unknown to the Orthodox Church. On his initiative, the Synod passed a resolution on the veneration of a number of saints who lived in the West before the separation of the churches in 1054. Vladyka constantly traveled around Europe and served the Liturgy either in French, or in Dutch, and later in English. Many revered him as an unmercenary healer.
E.G. Chertkova 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 he bowed, he fell asleep a little in this position, on the floor. That's how he exhausted himself! Sometimes during our conversation, it seemed to me that he was dozing. But when I stopped, he immediately said: "Go on, I'm listening."
“When he did not serve, but was at home, he usually walked barefoot (to kill the flesh) - even in the most severe frosts. Sometimes he walked barefoot in the cold along a rocky road from the building to the temple, which was located at the gate, and the building stood inside the park, on a hill. Once he hurt his leg; doctors could not cure her, and there was a danger of blood poisoning. I had to take Vladyka to 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 his boot under him to make it uncomfortable to lie down. The sisters of the hospital, French women, said: “You brought a saint to us!” Every morning a priest came to him, served the Liturgy, and Vladyka took communion.”
“Since we didn’t have our own priest at one time, one day a priest from another parish came to us and served the vigil. The whole vigil lasted 45 minutes! We were horrified! So much was missed that we decided to tell Vladyka about this in the hope that he would influence this priest in terms of observing the order of worship. And Vladyka, smiling sweetly, tells us: “Well, you can’t please you! I serve too long, and he too short! How sweetly and meekly Vladyka taught us not to judge.”
V. D. says: “Many knew that Vladyka did not need to be asked to visit anyone: the Lord Himself inspired him where and to whom to go. In Parisian hospitals, many knew Vladyka John and let him into the hospital at any time. Moreover, Vladyka unmistakably went where he needed to go. When my brother was shot in the head, he was admitted to the hospital.
An x-ray showed that he had a large crack in his skull. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot; he was in a terrible state. Vladyka, who did not know my brother, by some miracle found him in the hospital, prayed over him, and took communion. When my brother had a second x-ray of his head, no cracks were found. My brother recovered quickly. The doctor could not understand anything!
The Last Years of Vladyka John
The Gospel Commandments of Beatitude, having a consistent connection with each other, end with a reward for the patience of reproach and persecution for the truth. The time has come for Vladyka John, at the end of his days, to endure many sorrows. These sorrows caught him back in Brussels: from San Francisco, sad news came to him from his spiritual children that disagreements had begun in their parish. At this time, an old friend of Vladyka John, Archbishop Tikhon of San Francisco, retired. In his absence, the construction of the cathedral was suspended, and the quarrel paralyzed the community. In response to the persistent request of thousands of Russian parishioners in San Francisco, the Synod appointed Archbishop John to the See of San Francisco to restore peace and complete the construction of the cathedral.
In San Francisco, that eternally foggy city of the far West, Vladyka arrived in the autumn of 1962. Under the leadership of Vladyka, peace was restored, the majestic cathedral in honor of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" was built and decorated with golden domes. The erection of the crosses in 1964 was a victorious event in the life of Vladyka John. Since that time, the majestic crosses on the cathedral, symbols of Christ's victory, have been shining over the hills of modern Babylon.
But it was not easy for Vladyka: he had to endure a lot meekly and silently. He was even forced to appear in an American civil court and give an answer to ridiculous accusations of ecclesiastical shortcomings in the parish council. Although the truth triumphed, Vladyka's last years were filled with the bitterness of slander and persecution.
Several cases of miraculous help from Vladyka have been preserved relating to the last period of his life. We restrict ourselves to two stories.
Anna Khodyreva says: “My sister Xenia Ya., who lived in Los Angeles, had a severe and long pain in her arm. She went to doctors, 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 worship. At the end of the service, Vladyka John gave 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 drunken young man was driving towards me. He hit the car door with great force on 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 pierced and a rib was broken, which made her suffer a lot. Her face was so swollen that her eyes could not be seen. When Vladyka visited her, she raised her eyelid with her finger and, seeing Vladyka, 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 arrived at the hospital and, entering the general ward, said to us: “Muse is very ill now.” Then he went to her, drew the curtain beside the bed, and prayed for a long time. By that time, two doctors had approached us, and I asked them how serious the situation of my sister was and whether it was worth calling her daughter from Canada? (We hid from our daughter that the mother had an accident). The doctors replied: “To call or not to call relatives is up to you. We do not guarantee that she will live until the 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 Vladyka John saved her.”
L. A. Liu recalls: “In San Francisco, my husband got into a car accident and was very sick; he lost control of his balance and suffered terribly. At this time, Vladyka experienced many troubles. Knowing the power of Vladyka's prayers, I thought: If I invite Vladyka to my husband, he will recover. However, I was embarrassed to invite Vladyka, knowing his busyness. Two days pass, and suddenly Vladyka enters us, accompanied by Mr. B. M. Troyan, who brought him. Vladyka stayed with us for only about five minutes, but I began to believe that my husband would recover, although he was going through the most critical moment.
Indeed, after visiting Vladyka, he had a sharp turning point, after which he began to recover. Later, I met Mr. Troyan at a church meeting, and he told me that he was the one driving the car when he drove Vladyka to the airport. Suddenly, the Lord says to him: "Let's go to Liu now." He objected that they would be late for the plane. Then the Lord asked: "Can you take on a person's life?" There was nothing to do, and he took Vladyka to us. However, Vladyka did not miss the plane, for he was detained.”
Several people claim that Vladyka John knew about the time and place of his death. On June 19, 1966, Vladyka accompanied the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon to Seattle, 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 stayed. The attendants seated Vladyka in a chair and saw that he was already moving away. Thus, Vladyka surrendered his soul to God in front of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Sign of the Mother of God.
The funeral service for Vladyka was officiated by Metropolitan Philaret. For six days Vladyka lay in the coffin, but, despite the heat, there was no smell of corruption, and his hand remained soft. Vladyka rests in a tomb under the cathedral. A special peace and tranquility reign there and signs of God's mercy are being created. In 1994, a special commission for the glorification of Vladyka John discovered that his relics were incorrupt. Vladyka John continues to help people who turn to him for help. We restrict ourselves here to two cases.
Victor Boyton related the following about Vladyka John's healing of his friend. “A miracle happened after I received another issue of the English edition of Orthodox Life from Jordanville with a photograph of Vladyka John. I had a friend, a Muslim from Russia, who was suffering from blood cancer and was losing his sight. The doctors said that in three months he would be completely blind. Having placed a photograph of Vladyka John by my lamp, I began to pray daily for my friend. Within a short period of time, my friend recovered from blood cancer and began to see normally. The eye doctors were amazed by this case. Since then, my friend has been leading a normal life and reading without hindrance. Indeed, Vladyka John is holy!”
Archpriest Stefan P. recalls: “My brother Pavel, not being a military man, lived in Vietnam for several years. There he looked for children wounded or orphaned as a result of the ongoing war. He arranged them in shelters or hospitals. So he became close to the Vietnamese, Kim Yong, his future wife, who also helped unfortunate children. The brother introduced Kim to the Orthodox faith and the lives of many saints of God. She told her brother that at the most difficult moments, a certain old man appeared to her in a dream vision, who comforted her and indicated what to do. Once, for the Easter holiday, I sent my brother cassettes of monastic singing and several books and magazines of spiritual content. After receiving my package and showing Kim spiritual literature, my brother was surprised when she saw the cover of a magazine and exclaimed, “This is the old man who appears to me in my dreams!” Here she pointed to the famous photograph of Vladyka John, taken among the graves of the cemetery of the Novo-Diveevsky Monastery in Spring Valley. Subsequently, Kim was baptized in the Orthodox Church with the name Kira.”
His Beatitude Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), refusing an invitation to come to China, wrote to Vladyka Dimitry (Voznesensky), the father of the future Metropolitan Filaret: “Friend, I am already so old and weak that I can’t think of any travel except traveling to the cemetery ... But instead of myself, I, as my soul, as my heart, send to you Vladyka Bishop John. This small and weak man, almost a child in appearance, is some kind of miracle of ascetic steadfastness and strictness in our time of general spiritual relaxation...” This is how Vladyka John, then still a very young, newly ordained bishop, was defined by his great Abba. Such was Vladyka John then, and such he remained until the end of his life - "a miracle of ascetic fortitude" - a high example of a spiritual, prayerful disposition. Vladyka John prayed continuously. Back in Harbin, the young, but also spiritually minded Hieromonk Methodius, accurately noted: “We all stand for prayer, but Vladyka John does not need to stand at it: he always abides in it ...” Indeed, who dealt with Vladyka John as with a prayer book and archpastor who cares about human souls and is always ready to help, and who has experienced the power of his prayer on himself or on his loved ones - they will always remember with gratitude that they had the good fortune to know the greatest saint of the 20th century.
It so happened in my life that I often visit America for work, in one of my favorite cities - San Francisco. In fact, I'm here right now. San Francisco is a beautiful city that has its own identity.
You can immediately recognize him on all postcards: skyscrapers, the ocean, hills, the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the capital of high technologies, the world-famous companies Google, Apple, Facebook, and many others are based here. Also nearby is the wine capital of the United States, which is often called the American Tuscany - Napa Valley.
It is also a city with a developed coffee culture, excellent shops, and it is also the most liberal city in the United States. He really has many faces. But few people know that San Francisco is one of the capitals of American Orthodoxy.
None of my friends from the Orthodox community even dare to say exactly how many Orthodox parishes there are. There are many of them. According to my calculations, there are about twenty of them in the city, together with the suburbs. The Orthodox community here is impressive. Almost all branches of Orthodoxy are represented: the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the Moscow Patriarchate, many parishes of the Greek and Antiochian Orthodox Churches, and, perhaps, the most "American" church - the Orthodox Church in America.
San Francisco also has its own shrines, which are visited by pilgrims from all over the Orthodox world. It is here, in the large Russian cathedral on Geary Street, that the relics of one of the main saints of America, John of Shanghai, are located. This great theologian came here from China, which was undergoing a communist takeover. He did a lot for the development of the local Orthodox community. The authorities appreciated him so much that they handed him the keys to the city. I was lucky to visit his cell, which is located in the building of the diocese.
Once here, you seem to have been in the old, pre-revolutionary Rus'. Old books, lampadas, icons prayed by the saint himself. In general, in churches here they honor that Old Rus', the royal family, the old Russian language, that Great Rus', which we, perhaps, no longer remember.
Therefore, for an Orthodox Christian, San Francisco is a special city. And it is definitely special for me. In the suburb where I am staying, a 15-minute drive from my house, there is a church of the beautiful St. Nicholas.
Passing by and coming here for services, I feel as if at home in Pskov, where the saint is loved with special love. And then one day something happened to me that I personally consider an Orthodox miracle. One day, while cycling around a nearby lake, I managed to lose my bag with all my valuables, including my passport, money, credit cards, keys... The search yielded no results. Mentally saying goodbye to the bag, I began to think what I should do next. In the evening, my friends got a call on their mobile phone. They said that they found the bag, and gave the address where you can come for it. And what do you think? The house where I came to pick up the bag turned out to be a stone's throw from the church of St. Nicholas.
2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of St. John of Shanghai, a man who was called a saint during his lifetime. There are still people alive who personally knew the great prayer book. Archpriest Georgy Gutorov managed to meet with some of them in San Francisco.
Icon of St. John of Shanghai from the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos in Leonovo. Written by Deacon Nikolai Gutorov, son of Archpriest Georgy Gutorov
It all started with a photograph that was shown to me on the website of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Church Abroad by a parishioner of our Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos in Leonovo. It depicted the moment when the holy relics of Vladyka John were changed into new hierarchal robes. I was struck by his hands, head, feet - for the first time I saw a truly imperishable person.
Soon this parishioner told me that he had written to Archpriest Peter Perekrestov from the church in San Francisco, where the incorrupt relics of the saint were buried. I expressed my special reverence for Vladyka and asked, on occasion, to convey my regards to the priest from San Francisco. In response, Father Peter wrote that he could donate a particle of the holy relics to our church. I couldn't believe it!
Father Peter arrived in Moscow during Great Lent, on the feast of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. We celebrated the liturgy together, and he solemnly handed over the precious shrine to the church. And two years later, Father Peter invited me to the USA.
Father Stefan
In 2013, I happened to take part in the celebrations dedicated to the day of memory of St. John. At the festive service, we met Archpriest Stefan Pavlenko, who serves not far from San Francisco, in the city of Burlingame, in the Church of All Saints Who Resplendent in the Russian Land.
Father Stefan's mother, in her youth, when she lived in Belgrade, was friendly with the future Bishop John. His parents are known to have emigrated to Yugoslavia after the 1917 revolution, where he graduated from the theological faculty of the University of Belgrade.
Father Stefan (according to his mother Maria) told me that on the occasion of the graduation of students of the theological faculty, many clergymen came to the celebration. Graduates approached the blessing of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky). Next to him stood an old man of high spiritual life - a real seer. When the young hieromonk John (Maximovich) approached for blessing, the elder said: “With the relics of this man, planes will fly to Russia across the whole world.” And so it happened. I was one of those priests who brought a particle of the relics of St. John from America to Russia. Now it is kept in the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky.
As a child, Father Stefan personally communicated with Vladyka. It was already in America in 1962, when John of Shanghai headed the diocese of San Francisco. Thirty years have passed since his mother last saw Vladyka. They were not in correspondence, and seemed to know nothing about each other. And so, when Vladyka John arrived in San Francisco, Maria said to the twelve-year-old Styopa: “You go into the altar, there will be several bishops. You will see a strange person who does not look like a bishop at all. He will most likely be barefoot. Come to him and take his blessing."
Vladyka John was foretold a special fate and special reverence even in his youth.
When the boy saw a small humpbacked man, he immediately guessed: this is exactly the one whom his mother told him about. He approached, took a blessing, and suddenly Vladyka said: “Hello, Styopa. How is your mother Maria alive and well?” Then he named by name all the members of his family, whom he had never seen before and did not even know about them, mentioned some details of their life. The boy was shocked. “But most of all,” Father Stefan told me, “I was afraid that if he knows everything, it means that he also knows that when I saw him, so small, I thought he was a dwarf.”
Spiritual daughter of Claudius
When filling out documents at the American embassy to travel to the United States, I asked for a visa for only one week, and they gave me one for three years. It seemed to be an accident, some kind of mistake. Nevertheless, I visited San Francisco twice more: in 2014, when the twentieth anniversary of the glorification of Vladyka John and the acquisition of his relics was celebrated, and in 2015, when the fiftieth anniversary of the Cathedral in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" was celebrated . As it turned out, the American visa was issued to me for three years not by chance ...
In America, I saw Vladika John's spiritual daughter Claudia, who was brought up by him first in Shanghai and then in the Philippines. The future saint was consecrated bishop and sent to Shanghai in 1934, where he took care of Russian emigrants who left Russia after the revolution.
The first thing that struck Vladyka upon his arrival in Shanghai was the huge number of homeless children. And he organized a shelter in the name of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. At first, there were only eight children in the orphanage, but soon their number went into the hundreds. When the so-called cultural revolution took place in China, there was no place left for Russian people in this country - they were asked to leave it. Someone returned to the Soviet Union, someone went to Australia, and Vladyka with a colony of five thousand Russian refugees moved to the Philippines, to the island of Tubabao.
Claudia said that life on the island was very harsh. The tent camp was pitched right in the wild jungle. The refugees were constantly under the threat of ferocious typhoons. Vladyka John blessed every tent at night, and no one went to bed without waiting for his rounds. On the neighboring islands, the elements destroyed everything to the ground, local residents died in the hundreds, and only the island of Tubabao was spared by typhoons for two and a half years ...
In order to get his flock to move from the Philippines to America, Vladyka sat for several days on the steps of the White House in Washington. Senators passed by, and he blessed them and smiled. His tenacity did not go unnoticed. In the end, five thousand people received American citizenship!
Subdeacon Demetrius
Subdeacon Demetrius serves in the temple of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow". When he was only a few months old, he contracted meningitis. The case seemed absolutely hopeless, the boy was discharged from the hospital to die.
Heartbroken father (he was the headman of the cathedral) went to Vladyka John for advice. And he, like Christ, says: "Go, your son is healthy." And indeed, he comes home, and his son is healthy. I saw this "hopeless" - more than two meters tall.
And this is far from the only evidence of the miraculous help of Vladyka. He readily helped people during earthly life, and helps after it. The saint constantly went to hospitals, confessed, took communion, admonished people before his death. Vladyka was always at work. It is known that from the day he took monastic vows, he never slept in bed. Dozing either in a chair or just on the floor.
Once I heard a conversation between two priests that Vladyka must have traveled all over the world. Yes, he was in North America, and in South, and in China, and in the Philippines. For eleven years Vladyka served as a bishop in Western Europe. Lived in Paris and Brussels.
In any weather, he could be seen in sandals on his bare feet. Yes, and he often gave those to the poor and, left without shoes, walked the streets barefoot. One Catholic pastor, a Frenchman, in a conversation with the youth exclaimed: “You demand proof? Are you saying there are no miracles or saints now? Why should I give you theoretical proof when Saint Jean Pieds Nus – Saint John Barefoot walks the streets of Paris today!”
Vladyka John owns the providential words that “not only for our sins the Lord deprived us of our homeland, but also so that we could preach Orthodoxy throughout the world.” Thanks to the Russian emigration and such saints as John of Shanghai, now the whole world knows about Orthodoxy.
Vladyka told Russian emigrants: “The Lord deprived us of our homeland not only for our sins, but also so that we could preach Orthodoxy throughout the world.”
…When Vladyka was buried in 1966, the streets of the city were filled with people. Both Russians and Americans all wanted to say goodbye to the Shanghai and San Francisco miracle worker.
According to American laws, people can only be buried outside the city. And it seemed that it was impossible to change this, especially since Vladyka died on the weekend, when no institutions in the country were working. But a miracle happened. For the sake of such a respected person, an exception was made (which is almost impossible for law-abiding Americans!). Over the weekend, all the necessary amendments to the law were made, and the saint was buried with honors in the crypt of the San Francisco Cathedral. Vladyka rested in the temple, which he once built himself.
Archpriest Peter Perekrestov - Dean of the Cathedral
Helpful information:
Address:Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin "Joy of All Who Sorrow", California;
6210, Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94121
Popular:
New
- Communicating with people Communicating with other people is a process
- Family Psychology: Statement of the Family Problem in Modern Psychological Science
- Secrets of NLP techniques for manipulating people Manipulation of consciousness as a way of psychological influence
- Manipulations in communication and their neutralization Manipulations in communication and their neutralization examples
- How to change your habits: a matrix of human behavior patterns Model of behavior in psychology
- Psychology of men and women
- Aggression: types, causes, ways of working
- Scenario of a wooden wedding, ideas for competitions Scenario of the 5th wedding anniversary
- international day of laughter
- Colorful party in oriental style: decoration, costumes and entertainment Scenario Arabian night
