Saint John, our holy father among the Saints, was an apostle, missionary, and miracle-worker. His life was an open book of piety, love, and ascetic labors. His conduct was a living example, instructing us how to love God and our neighbor. He had said, “Holiness is not simply righteousness, for which the righteous are accounted worthy to enjoy blessedness in the Kingdom of God, but it is rather such a height of Righteousness that men are so filled with the grace of God that it flows from them and out upon those who are in fellowship with them. Great is their blessedness! It proceeds from the vision of the glory of God! Being filled to overflowing, also, with love for men which proceeds from love for God, they become intercessors and defenders for them before God.
Before everything else and more than anything else, THE SAINT LOVED TO ABIDE IN PRAYER. He was constantly in an attitude of prayer. As an exceptional model of zeal and discipline, he strictly celebrated the cycle of divine offices every day. He conducted services not only in church, but even as a passenger in an automobile or an airplane. He could be in the city, or countryside, or forest, or mountains, but the services were his constant companion. He was inspired by them as one who abided in the Spirit. It was his joy to be in constant union with the heavenlies and engaged in noetic prayer. On one of many occasions when he delayed in coming out of the altar after Divine Liturgy, those who were waiting for him grew restless. One of them went to the side entrance of the sanctuary and whispered, “Vladyka,” we are waiting for thee!” A few minutes later he exited and said, “How difficult it is to tear oneself away from prayer and come back to earth!” He possessed the fear of God and loathed to offend our Savior Christ by means of his human weaknesses. He, therefore, engaged in ascetical contests that countered the infirmities and passions of the flesh. He restricted his rest, food, and drink. His fare consisted of tea at five o’clock at night. For forty years he only dozed or slept in a little chair–never a bed. He is also remembered for his scholarly works and sermons, but his favorite homilies theme was the lives of the Saints.
The heavily bearded and long-haired little man, in priestly black, was often seen walking barefoot. He had with him a large icon in a black case on his chest, hung by a strap about his neck. One of his legs was longer that the other, resulting in a slight limp due to the lack of prosthetic shoes. When he spoke, a seeming speech impediment could be detected. The impact on many of those who saw him for the first time–those who noticed him at all, that is–was to stare, and then to pretend not to stare. Yet, at the same time, the onlooker was induced to take in as much of his appearance as it was possible to do without seeming to do so.
The miracle-working and clairvoyant bishop endured poisoning and being haled into court on legal charges. But they had attempted to poison and to persecute in a court of law the wrong man. The wrong kind of man. For he was a man who knew who would visit him–even before the visitors arrived. He knew why they had come and what their sins were before they had opened their mouths. He was, therefore, not deceived by flattering lies and disingenuous self-portrayals. He could work miracles of healing and expel evil spirits. That such a man should be undeserving of the slightest accusation should go without saying, although such was sadly not to be the case. There was a certain glory even in his persecutions. The man of God whom we are praising is Archbishop John. People would one day come to know him after his repose as a humble and indefatigable bishop whose tomb would lie in a place of sanctity and honor, hidden deep within a subterranean sepulchre two stories beneath the main hall in the magnificent cathedral known as “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” in San Francisco. The exterior of this church was a monumental structure, with a soaring edifice adorned with five golden domes and crosses. Petitioners and pilgrims flowed in afterward. The spiritually and physically struggling would either write, or call, or visit in person, requesting and even begging tearfully–prayers from Archbishop John who had the ear of the Almighty God. At this point, they knew him as Blessed John of Shanghai and Beginnings.
The servant of God, Michael Maximovitch, was born in the village of Adamovka. This took place in the Province of Kharkov, in Southern Russia, on the 4th of June, in the year 1896. This child, in holy Baptism, was named after the Archangel Michael. His father’s name was Boris, a marshall of nobility. His mother, Glaphyra, was a devout and blessed. Boris’ father was a prominent landowner of the area. Glaphyra’s father was a doctor practising in Kharkov. Boris’ brother was rector of the University of Kiev. It appeared that a similar worldly career awaited the young Michael. He was the eldest child who had a positive influence on his four brothers and one sister. The quiet and gentle lad was sickly and had a poor appetite. Although he strived to be on good terms with all, he had no particular friends. He loved animals, especially dogs. Noisy children’s games did not agree with his general pensiveness.
Young Misha–his nickname or diminutive–loved to “play monastery.” He made toy forts into monasteries. As he matured, his religious fervor deepened. He preferred collecting icons and books on religion and history. Actually, he had a large library. His favorite books were those on the lives of the Saints. He did not keep the accounts to himself. He spoke of their feats with such enthusiasm to his siblings that they came to know both hagiography and history through him.
Misha was extremely patriotic. He loved Russia and her history. This love extended to all the Slavic and Orthodox people. In 1912, when the Serbs were betrayed by the Bulgarians, Misha’s righteous indignation was such that he removed the pictures of the Bulgarian king from the younger children’s scrapbooks. He sealed up the family phonograph record of the Bulgarian national anthem lest anyone should play it. The Maximovitch children also had a governess. She was a French Catholic who also heard the fifteen-year old Misha speak of Orthodoxy and her heros. By reason of his pious influence, the governess received Baptism and became an Orthodox Christian. Yearly, Misha participated in the procession, from Kharkov to the Ozeryansk Monastery, bearing aloft the wonderworking Theotokos Icon of Ozeryansk.
Michael was fortunate to graduate before its seizure by the detested Soviet political terrorist movement in 1917. The Maximovitch family was intensely loyal to Tsar Nicholas and his family. Hence, the days of the 1917 Revolution, when Michael came to the age of manhood, were days of grief and mourning. He was not afraid to keep the traditions of the Church amidst the rampant anti-Christian movement.
For such a man as he was to become, he could not root himself in that environment. The blood-drenched Communist yoke was about to sweep the black cloud of its ever-expanding shadow across the holy land of Mother Russia. A LAST IMPEDIMENT TO THE ADVENT OF THE ANTICHRIST WAS THE HOLY CHURCH. SHE WAS ABOUT TO BE DISLODGED BY THE DEVIL AND HIS MINIONS. There was to be no more Tsar to put a half to the Communists’s satanic advance. There was no leading light to guide and inspire multitudes that were not only oppressed but deluded as well. Most could not look to God with unquenchable faith beyond the more petty and burdensome aspects of their mundane lives.
In 1921, during the Russian Civil War, young Michael–together with his parents, brothers, and sister–was evacuated to Belgrade, where he and his brothers entered the University of Belgrade…Who could have known it? He was now a young student–together with his two brothers–at a university. His brothers chose different professions in which to invest their lives. One graduated as an engineer. Another studied law and served in the police department. By contrast, in 1924, Michael was ordained a Church Reader in the Russian Church in Belgrade by Metropolitan Anthony, who continued to exert influence over the young man. He graduated in 1925 in the faculty of Theology. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
(To be continued)
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“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 