My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE LIFE OF SAINT JOHN MAXIMOVITCH (Part II)
In 1926, Metropolitan Anthony tonsured the newly graduated Michael as a monk. He, thereafter, ordained him hierodeacon in the Milkovo, Monastery, giving him the name John, after Michael’s own distant relative, Saint John Maximovitch of Tobolsk. Steeped in the finest family traditions was the young Monk John Maximovitch, or future Saint John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco.
In 1934, Hieromonk John was elevated to the rank of bishop. The elevation took place on the 28th of May. The young Hieromonk John was CONSECRATED BISHOP of Shanghai, far away, from home, to minister in a culture worlds apart from his own. In his sermon on being consecrated bishop, he mentioned his honorable parents: "From the first days when I began to become aware of myself, I wished to serve righteousness and truth. My parents kindled in me a striving to stand unwaveringly for the truth, and my soul was captivated by the example of those who had given their lives for it."
The blessed John of Shanghai entered his Diocese in November, on the Feast the Entrance of the Virgin into the Temple. Once there, he stood before a large cathedral as yet uncompleted. Here he was faced with a monumental challenge: to become the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Shanghai, and to preside over an inter-jurisdictional conflict that stubbornly resisted a peaceable resolution. Physically diminutive of stature, unimposing in person, the first thing he did was to establish contact with Serbs, Greeks, and Ukranians. Religious education received top priority, together with various charitable and philanthropic societies for his flock. The poor and needy, the orphan and widow, found his hand and went not away empty or uncomforted. Archbishop John desired to address problems involving children that were suffering from malnutrition, abuse, and trauma. He became both father and mother to the orphans.
Throughout his life, he was ever conspicuous for his modesty. He avoided gifts earmarked for himself. He never talked about his own successes and labors. Archbishop John, nevertheless, suffered from attempts of poisoning. There was other occasions, as well, when people, out of envy, attempted to poison the man of God. On one such occasion the God of the universe, by His Divine economy and wisdom, permitted this criminal act to occur. Thus, in the midst of illness, was the endurance of Vladyka’s godly soul revealed undisguised. When the blessed John began to weaken, the doctors doubted if he could live more than two months. Deeming him a hopeless case, they prescribed tha the convalesce at a resort in Tsandau. But Archbishop John did not wish to go there. He said, "Let Olga Ivanovna prepare my meals." No one else touched his food. In two months, the man of God recovered.
But once, after a Paschal Liturgy, he did not emerge from the sanctuary for an inordinate amount of time. He, finally, went forth but appeared as pale as a sheet. He then began to vomit forth some rose-colored matter. It was evidently the former contents of a wine bottle from which he rinsed the holy chalice after the Divine Liturgy. He had been poisoned by a certain priest, who afterward live in Los Angeles. Later, the same priest, on his deathbed from cancer, was visited by Archbishop John in the hospital, who released him from his sins. Thus, this priest repented of his sins before his death.
In San Francisco
The Cathedral parish at San Francisco, in 1962, was the largest in the Russian Church Abroad. A particular friend of Vladyka John was Archbishop Tikhon. On account of poor health, Archbishop Tikhon retired. While he was absent, the construction of the great cathedral ceased due to a vexing dispute that divided the Russian community. Thousands of Russians in San Francisco, who knew and remembered blessed John from his days in Shanghai, sent an urgent request to the Synod. They felt that he was the only hierarch capable of restoring unity and concord within the split parish.
Once again, on the Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin into the Temple, the 21st of November, in the year 1962, Archbishop John arrived in San Francisco, which was to be his last assignment. After the repose of Archbishop Tikhon, in accordance with the latter’s request, Vladyka John was appointed the ruling bishop of Western America with all the rights of a Diocesan bishop.
Some Miracles of Saint John
Documented miracles, antemortem and postmortem, reveal Saint Joh’s help and healing with every kind of problem, including: AIDS Virus, appendicitis, arthritis, asthma, automobile accidents resulting in massive injuries, blindness, blood clots in the lungs, bone fracture, brain disease, broken hip, burns, cataracts, cirrhosis of the liver, dangerous growths, diphtheria, eczema, emphysema, eye ailments, help in childbirth, hemorrhaging, infection, insomnia, internal bleeding, intestinal maladies, kidney ailments, leg crushed by weight of a car, leg ailments, lumps on chest, lung ailments, malformed brain, meningitis, mental health, neuralgia, obstructed bowel, paralysis, peritonitis, pneumonia, poisoning, seizures, stomach cancer, demonic possession, and countless more.
The Repose of Saint John in Seattle
While many expected Vladyka John to spend more years among them, he was preparing for death. On the very day of his repose, at the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy which he celebrated, he spent three hours in the altar praying. He emerged not long before his death, which occurred at 3:50 p.m. on June 19/July 2, 1966. He reposed in his room in the parish building next to the church, without preparatory signs of any illness or affliction.
The sad tidings spread speedily throughout the Orthodox world, leaving stunned mourners. Within twenty-four hours, the sacred body arrived in the San Francisco Cathedral–the very one of which Vladyka John had completed the construction. The vigil lasted four days. The funeral service was conducted on June 24/July 7th. The Saint’s body was interred in a small basement chapel under the altar. The resting place of Archbishop John became final in that cathedral. After his repose, the sepulcher became a place of pilgrimage–especially for those suffering from diverse afflictions. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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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 