View source for John (Maximovitch) the Wonderworker

[[Image:John Maximovitch.jpg|right|thumb|200px||St. John Maximovitch]]
[[Image:John_mx.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Photo of St. John Maximovitch]]
[[Image:JohnMaximovitch.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Relics of the Saint, USA]]
Our father among the saints '''John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco''' (1896-1966), was a [[diocese|diocesan]] [[bishop]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] (ROCOR) who served widely from China to France to the United States.  

He departed this life on [[June 19]] ([[Julian Calendar|O.S.]]) / [[July 2]] ([[Revised Julian Calendar|N.S.]]), 1966, and was officially [[glorification|glorified]] by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad on [[July 2]], 1994. His glorification was later recognized for universal veneration by the Patriarchate of Moscow on July 2, 2008.

==Life==
The future St. John was born on [[June 4]], 1896, in the southern Russian village (current day Ukraine) of Adamovka in Kharkiv province to pious aristocrats, Boris and Glafira Maximovitch. He was given the [[baptism]]al name of Michael, after the Holy [[Archangel Michael]]. In his youth, Michael was sickly and had a poor appetite, but he displayed an intense religious interest. He was educated at the Poltava Military School (1907-14), Kharkiv Imperial University, from which he received a law degree (in 1918), and the University of Belgrade (where he completed his theological education in 1925). 

He and his family fled their country as the Bolshevik revolutionaries descended on the country, emigrating to Yugoslavia. There, he enrolled in the Department of Theology of the University of Belgrade. He was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]] in 1926 by [[Metropolitan]] [[Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev|Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov]] (later the first [[primate]] of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia). Metr. Anthony later in 1926 [[ordination|ordained]] him hierodeacon. Bishop Gabriel of Chelyabinsk ordained him [[hieromonk]] on [[November 21]], 1926. Subsequent to his ordination he began an active life of teaching in a Serbian high school and serving, at the request of local Greeks and Macedonians, in the Greek language. With the growth of his popularity, the [[bishop]]s of the Russian Church Aboard resolved to elevate him to the [[episcopate]].

Hieromonk John was [[Consecration of a bishop|consecrate]]d [[bishop]] on [[May 28]], 1934, with Metr. Anthony serving as principal consecrator, after which he was assigned to the Diocese of Shanghai. Twelve years later he was named Archbishop of China. Upon his arrival in Shanghai, Bp. John began working to restore unity among the various Orthodox nationalities. In time, he worked to build a large [[cathedral]] [[church]] that was dedicated to ''Surety of Sinners [[Icon]] to the [[Mother of God]]'', with a bell tower and large [[parish]] house. Additionally, he inspired many activities: building of churches, hospitals, and orphanages among the Orthodox and Russians of Shanghai. He was intensely active, constantly praying and serving the daily cycle of services, while also visiting the sick with the [[Holy Gifts]]. He often would walk barefooted even in the coldest days. Yet to avoid the appearance of secular glory, he would pretend to act the fool. 

With the end of World War II and the coming to power of the Communists in China, Bp. John led the exodus of his community from Shanghai in 1949. Initially, he helped some 5,000 refugees to a camp on the island of Tubabao in the Philippines, while he travelled successfully to Washington, D.C., to lobby to amending the law to allow these refugees to enter the United States. It was while on this trip that Bp. John took time to establish a [[parish]] in Washington dedicated to St. [[Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Washington, D.C.)|John the Forerunner]].  

In 1951, Abp. John was assigned to the Archdiocese of Western Europe with his [[cathedra]] in Paris. During his time there, he also served as archpastor of the [[Orthodox Church of France]], whose restored [[Gallican Rite|Gallican liturgy]] he studied and then celebrated. He was the principal consecrator of the Orthodox Church of France's first modern bishop, [[Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis]], and ordained to the priesthood the man who would become its second bishop, [[Germain (Bertrand-Hardy) of Saint-Denis]]. 

In 1962, Abp. John was assigned to the Diocese of San Francisco, succeeding his long time friend Abp. Tikhon. Abp. John's days in San Francisco were to prove sorrowful as he attempted to heal the great disunity in his community. He was able to bring peace such that the new cathedral, dedicated to the ''Joy of all Who Sorrow Icon of the Mother of God'', was completed. 

Deeply revering [[John of Kronstadt|St. John of Kronstadt]], Abp. John played an active role in preparation of his canonization.

He reposed during a visit to Seattle on [[July 2]], 1966, while accompanying a tour of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. He was laid to rest in a crypt [[chapel]] under the main altar of the new cathedral.



{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=[[Victor (Svyatin) of Krasnodar and Kuban|Victor (Svyatin)]]|
title=Bishop of Shanghai|
years=1934-1946|
after=[[Symeon (Du) of Shanghai|Symeon (Du)]]}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Archbishop of Shanghai<br>(ROCOR)|
years=1946-1949|
after=?}}
{{succession|
before=Nathanael (Lvov)|
title=Bishop of Western Europe<br>(ROCOR)|
years=1951-1962|
after=Anthony (Bartosevich)}}
{{succession|
before=[[Tikhon (Troitsky) of San Francisco|Tikhon (Troitsky)]]|
title=Archbishop of San Francisco<br>(ROCOR)|
years=1962-1966|
after=[[Anthony (Medvedev) of San Francisco|Anthony (Medvedev)]]}}
{{end box}}

==External links==
*[http://saintjohnwonderworker.org/ Saint John Maximovitch Eastern Orthodox Web Page]
*[http://orthodoxchurchquotes.com/category/sayings-from-saints-elders-and-fathers/st-john-of-shanghai-and-san-francisco/ Quotes by St. John the Wonderworker] - [http://orthodoxchurchquotes.com Orthodox Church Quotes] website
*[http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/johnmx1.htm Life and miracles of St. John Maximovich] - By Bishop [[Alexander (Mileant) of Buenos Aires|Alexander (Mileant)]]
*[http://www.zeitun-eg.net/stcyril6/stjohnmaximovitch.exe St. John Maximovich: e-book for Windows® with Internet Explorer]
*[http://www.serfes.org/lives/stjohn.htm Life of St. John Maximovitch the Wonderworker - Compiled by Fr Demetrios Serfes]
*[http://ortodoks.dk/ortodoks-tro-og-praksis/de-hellige/the-orthodox-veneration-of-mary-the-birthgiver-of-god ''Orthodox Veneration of Mary, the Mother of God''], written by St. John the Wonderworker himself, published with a foreword by [[Seraphim Rose]].
*[http://www.stmaryofegypt.org/library/st%5Fjohn%5Fmaximovich/ Homilies and Other Writings of Saint John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco].
*[http://orthodox.cn/saints/johnmaximovitch_en.htm St John the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Shanghai]
*[http://www.atlantaorthodoxchurches.org/stjohn/akathist.htm Akathist to our Holy Hierarch John]
*[http://www.roca.org/OA/108/108e.htm  Remembering Vladika John, By Hieromonk Peter Loukianoff] 
*[http://saintjohnwonderworker.org/trial1.htm A Saint's Final Golgotha: The Trial of St. John Maximovitch in Public Court (1963)]
*[http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/decline.aspx The Decline of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (from St. John Maximovitch's report to the 1938 All-Diaspora Sobor of the ROCOR)]
*[http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/features/remembrances_of_st._john_of_shanghai Remembrances of St. John by Bishop Peter (Loukianoff), an AFR podcast]

===YouTube and Other Videos===
Note: Videos are ''not'' necessarily in English
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=s--yoov4knI Images and voice over of Saint John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco]
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=LkZ9w5R7hyk Canonizarea Sfântului Ioan Maximovici]
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GkfdJtsj75w PS Ambrozie despre Sf. Ioan Maximovici şi Vlădica Averchie]
* [http://www.orthodox.cn/multimedia/stjohn_en.htm Video: St John Maximovich's church in downtown Shanghai]

[[Category:Russian Saints]]
[[Category:American Saints]]
[[Category:Serbian Saints]]
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Shanghai]]
[[Category:Bishops of San Francisco]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in China]]
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]
[[Category:Modern Saints]]
[[Category:20th-century saints]]

[[ro:Ioan Maximovici]]