Blessed John

One of the most striking events in the Orthodox Church in recent years has been the extraordinary response to the remarkable life of the reposed leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop John Maximovitch (1896-1966). He served the Church as bishop, first of Shanghai in the Far East, then of Western Europe, in Paris and Brussels, and finally of Western America in San Francisco.

Manifesting many contrasting forms of sanctity, he was at once a God-inspired theologian and a “Fool-for-Christ,” a zealous missionary leader and a feeder of the poor, a severe ascetic and a loving father to orphans. Like Moses, he delivered his flock from oppression, bringing it from communist China to the free world; like the first apostles, he was given power from God to heal wounded souls and ailing bodies.