John of Shanghai and San Francisco

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco
John on his arrival in Shanghai
Bishop of Shanghai, Archbishop of Western Europe, Archbishop of San Francisco
Born	(1896-06-04)4 June 1896 Adamovka, Izyumsky Uyezd, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	2 July 1966(1966-07-02) (aged 70) Seattle, Washington, USA
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	June 19/July 2, 1994, San Francisco, California, U.S. by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Major shrine	Cathedral of the Theotokos, Joy of All Who Sorrow, San Francisco, California, USA
Feast	June 19 (O.S.)/July 2 (N.S.) (nearest Saturday in ROCOR)
Attributes	Glasses

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco (Russian: Иоанн Шанхайский и Сан Францисский, romanized: Ioann Shankhayskiyi i San Frantsiskyi; born Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch, Russian: Михаил Борисович Максимович; 4 June 1896 – 2 July 1966) was a ascetic and prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. He is often referred to as St. John the Wonderworker.

Life

Early life

Mikhail Maximovitch was born in 1896 in the village of Adamovka of the Izyumsky Uyezd of the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (in present-day eastern Ukraine).

Growing up he collected icons and church books, and was captivated by the lives of saints; even in play he would pretend toy soldiers were monks and fortresses were monasteries. His piety so impressed his French caretaker that she converted from Catholicism to Orthodox Christianity.

Maximovitch attended Poltava Military School from 1907 to 1914. Later he attended and received a degree in law from Kharkov Imperial University in 1918. He studied and attended church in Kharkiv, where he was inspired by metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky to deepen his spiritual learnings.

He later recalled that the local monastery had become more important in his life than secular institutions. Maximovitch was a patriot and was profoundly disappointed by what he saw as human weakness during the 1917 revolution. As a result, he dedicated his life to serving God.

Yugoslavia

His family sought refuge in Yugoslavia and brought him to Belgrade in 1921. In 1925 he graduated from Belgrade University with a degree in theology. To support his impoverished family, he sold newspapers.

In 1926, he was tonsured and ordained a hierodeacon by Russian Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), who gave him the name of John after his relative, John of Tobolsk.

Later that same year, he was ordained to the priesthood by Russian Bishop Gabriel (Chepur) of Chelyabinsk. After his ordination, John reportedly stopped sleeping in a bed. He would nap in a chair or kneeling down in front of the icons, praying. He ate only once a day. For several years he worked as an instructor and tutor in Yugoslavia. He worked as a religious teacher in the Gymnasium of Velika Kikinda between 1925 and 1927. In 1929, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church appointed him as a teacher of the seminary in Bitola under principal Nikolaj Velimirović. His reputation grew as he started visiting hospitals, caring for patients with prayer and communion.

Shanghai

In 1934, he was ordained a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia by Metropolitan Anthony and assigned to the diocese of Shanghai. In Shanghai, John found an uncompleted cathedral and an Orthodox community deeply divided along ethnic lines. He quickly became involved in local charitable institutions and also founded an orphanage and home for children of the destitute.

He worked to restore church unity and establish ties with local Orthodox Serbs and Greeks. Miracles began to be attributed to his prayers.

As a public figure, it was impossible for him to completely conceal his ascetic way of life. During the Japanese occupation, he routinely ignored the curfew in pursuit of his pastoral activities.

As the only Russian hierarch in China who refused to submit to the authority of the Soviet-dominated Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow, he was elevated in 1946 to archbishop of China by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

When the Communists took power in China in 1949, the Russian colony was forced to flee, first to a refugee camp on the island of Tubabao in the Philippines, and then to the United States and Australia. John traveled to Washington, D.C., to ensure that his people would be allowed to enter the US.

Western Europe

Icon of Our Holy Father John of Shanghai and San Francisco

In 1951, John was assigned to the Archdiocese of Western Europe with his see first in Paris, then in Brussels.

His work in compiling the lives of saints introduced numerous pre-Schism Western saints to Orthodoxy, where they continue to be venerated. His charitable and pastoral work continued.

San Francisco

In 1962 John was reassigned by the Holy Synod to the see over San Francisco. He found a divided community and a cathedral in an unfinished state. Although he completed the building of the Holy Virgin Cathedral and brought some measure of peace to the community, he became the target of slander from political enemies, who filed a lawsuit against him for alleged mishandling of finances related to construction of the cathedral. He was exonerated.

Deeply reverent of John of Kronstadt, John played an active role in the preparation of his canonization in 1964.

The Relics of St. John

Death and veneration

On July 2, 1966 (June 19 on the Julian calendar), John died while visiting Seattle. He was entombed beneath the altar of the Holy Virgin Cathedral he had built in San Francisco. It is dedicated to the Theotokos, Joy of All Who Sorrow, and located on Geary Boulevard in the Richmond district.

In 1994, he was glorified on the 28th anniversary of his death. His incorrupt relics occupy a shrine in the cathedral's nave. His feast day is celebrated on the Saturday nearest to July 2.

Portions of his relics are located in Serbia, Russia, Mount Athos, Greece, South Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, United States, Canada, England, and other countries.

Further reading

• Dunlop, John B. (2017). Exodus: St. John Maximovitch Leads His Flock out of Shanghai. Yonkers: St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-580-3
• Perekrestov, Archpriest Peter. (1994). Man of God: Saint John of Shanghai & San Francisco. Redding: Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society. ISBN 1-879066-05-X
• Rose, Fr. Seraphim & Abbot Herman. (1987). Blessed John the wonderworker: A preliminary account of the life and miracles of Archbishop John Maximovitch (Third, revised ed.). Platina: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. ISBN 0-938635-01-8.
• Father Seraphim: His Life and Work ISBN 1-887904-07-7.

External links

• Virtual tour of Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco (location of some of his relics)
• Saint John The Wonderworker Church
• Official report on the uncovering of the relics
• Life, Miracles and Sermons of St. John, by Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
• San Francisco Russian Orthodox Cathedral Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"
• St John of Shanghai parish Belfast, Northern Ireland: https://stjohnofshanghaibelfast.org/