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“That the Orthodox Church is precisely the one about which Christ said: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), is attested and confirmed by many signs that have occurred since the foundation of the Church and have not ceased to be clearly manifested in the Orthodox Church, as well as by the miracles not only of the ancients, but also in the times close to us of the shining saints of God.” Archbishop John Act of the commission for the examination of the remains of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In connection with the upcoming glorification of Archbishop John of Shanghai and San Francisco in July 1994, with the blessing of Archbishop Anthony of Western America and San Francisco, the tomb of Bishop John was opened in his tomb under the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos Joy of All Who Sorrow in San Francisco. Before opening the coffin and examining the honorable remains of the late Vladika John in Bose, preparation was required, both spiritual and practical. It was practically necessary to find out how difficult it is to open the sarcophagus in which the Lord’s coffin is located, what condition the coffin is in, and whether there is free access to it. This work was carried out on September 17, the day of remembrance of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. In the evening of this day, Archbishop Anthony, priest Georgy Kurtov, Protodeacon Nikolai Porshnikov, reader Vladimir Krasovsky and B. M. Troyan went down to the tomb and, after Vladyka Anthony served the litiya, began work. In two hours they managed to remove the lid of the sarcophagus and lower it to the floor. The lid weighed about 400 pounds. Opening the lid, the first thing they saw was the robe, shiny as new. Under the mantle stood the coffin of Vladika John. There was no smell. There were several stains on the coffin lid - rust. After examining the coffin, the sarcophagus was closed pending examination of the remains of Vladika John. On September 28, the day of remembrance of the Venerable Chariton the Confessor, a member of the Commission for Preparation for the upcoming glorifications, His Eminence Laurus, Archbishop of Syracuse and Trinity, approved by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, arrived in San Francisco. Another member of the Commission, Archbishop Alypius, was unable to arrive due to two patronal feast days in his diocese. The Commission included (by position as Vicar) His Eminence Kirill, Bishop of Seattle. Several clergy from the Diocesan Council and the clergy of the Cathedral were also appointed to participate in the examination (they will be listed below). In total, three in the rank of bishop, seven in the priesthood, three in the diaconate, one reader and one layman took part in the examination. All participants in this holy cause observed strict fasting on this day. Some prepared for this task through the sacrament of confession, while others celebrated the Divine Liturgy on this day and received communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After Vespers and Matins in the Cathedral, the participants in the examination of the relics gradually began to descend into the crypt with the tomb of Vladika John. Participating: Archbishop Anthony, Archbishop Laurus, Bishop Kirill, Archpriest. Stefan Pavlenko, prot. Peter Perekrestov, priest. Georgy Kurtov, priest. Sergius Kotar, priest. Alexander Krasovsky, hieromonk Peter (Lukyanov), priest. Pavel Ivashevich, protodeacon. Nikolai Porshnikov, deacon Alexey Kotar, hierodeacon. Andronik (Taratukhin), Thu. Vladimir Krasovsky and the caretaker of the tomb Boris Mikhailovich Troyan. All the archpastors and priests took turns reading the Holy Gospel at the tomb. Exactly at 9 o'clock in the evening, the Reverends celebrated a memorial service for Vladyka John. After the funeral service, Archbishop Anthony said a short word, calling on all participants in this holy cause to be reconciled, and then, bowing to the ground, asked everyone for forgiveness. With reverence, dressed in stoles, while singing the troparions “Lord, have mercy on us, have mercy on us,” they began to open the sarcophagus. Priest Georgy Kurtov made a wooden coffin in advance, which was brought to the tomb. Thanks to the preparatory work on September 17, the sarcophagus lid was removed without any difficulty. Having touched the ribbons under the coffin, the clergy took it out and placed it on a board placed on the sarcophagus. It turned out that in many places the coffin was completely rusty, including the bottom. Hieromonk Peter took out the key to the coffin of Vladika John, which he had kept for 27 years, but due to rust, he was unable to open the coffin. There was an attempt to unscrew the hinges on the side of the coffin opposite the lock, but the screws also rusted. Not wanting to carry out such a holy deed with brute force, the clergy slowly tried to open the lid. Vladyka Anthony, seeing that there were difficulties, sang “No other help for the imams...” and, almost immediately, the lock was opened. Everyone moved aside, letting Archbishop Anthony through to the open lid of the coffin. At 10:10 pm, Vladyka Anthony, with trembling and fear of God, opened the coffin with the honorable remains of the ever-memorable Archbishop John. It should be noted that with the exception of Bishop Kirill, who participated in the opening of the relics of the newly venerable martyrs Prince. Elizabeth and nun Barbara in Jerusalem, none of those present witnessed the opening of the relics, and this further aggravated the reverent awe with which the tomb of Vladika John was surrounded. Vladyka John’s face was covered and everyone’s first attention was paid to his bright, imperishable hands. The white vestment and miter of Vladika John turned green. Having crossed himself and reading the 50th psalm, Vladika Anthony removed the air from the face of Vladika John and everyone saw the imperishable face of the ever-memorable hierarch. The skin on the Vladyka’s face is light (during the second discovery of the relics of Vladika John 1 on December 14, 1993, they were washed and re-robed. After washing, the relics turned out to be dark brown in color, like the relics in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and in the East. What previously gave the relics a light color during the washing of the relics was washed away. – Ed.). The beard is completely preserved. There are small holes in place of the eyes, but this is barely noticeable, since the miter on the head of Vladika John sits very low. The Vladyka's vestment has almost completely decayed and his legs are visible - they are dark - it is known that Vladika John had very sick legs and even during his lifetime they were dark from wounds. There is a noticeable stain on the Lord’s leg - the place where there was a bloody wound. There was no fragrance or unpleasant odor, but there was a slight smell of dampness - neither earth nor rust. After the discovery of the face of Vladika John, there was extraordinary silence, then everyone began to carefully examine the holy remains and in quiet voices note the condition of both the remains and the vestments, the cross... One by one, everyone venerated the incorruptible remains of Vladika John. It was decided to transfer the relics to a new wooden coffin. The clergy did not know how fragile the body was and therefore put a shroud under it and only then transferred it to a new coffin while singing the irmos of the Great Canon “Helper and Patron... On the immovable Christ the Stone...”. Already in the new coffin, the clergy began to cleanse the remains of Vladika John from the decayed lining (and pillow) of the coffin. The body of Vladika John, raised high, turned out to be quite light in weight and ossified, and not flexible or fragile as expected. It should be noted in what state the participants in the examination of the relics were: after the discovery of the face of Vladika John, a kind of extraordinary spiritual calm, an extraordinary reverent silence was felt. No one was surprised or talked, but everyone felt so good, so blessed to stand at the relics of the Lord. There was no rush, no fuss - no one wanted to leave the relics, but simply stand by them, pray and touch them. Having cleared the relics from the lining of the coffin and from the earth poured at the end of the funeral service for Bishop John, the clergy again lowered the relics into a wooden coffin and Archbishop Anthony, while reading the kontakion of the Great Canon “My soul, arise...” covered the face of the ever-memorable Archbishop John with new air, and the body was covered with a veil. Then Vladyka Anthony told everyone that one clergyman of the diocese, Priest Yaroslav Belikov, had a two-year-old son who was very sick, and that he and his son were waiting near the cathedral to venerate the relics. They sent for Father Yaroslav and soon he, with the baby in his arms, went down to the tomb and placed his son Vsevolod in the imperishable hands of Vladika John. The wooden coffin was carried and lowered into a sarcophagus cleaned of rust, closed, sealed and covered with a mantle. The lid of the sarcophagus was brought in and installed in its original place. The clergy sang the holy troparion “Orthodoxy teacher, teacher piety and purity...”. A funeral litany was served. Everyone venerated the tomb of Vladika John and were anointed with oil from the lamp on the tomb. At 11:15 in the evening, everyone began to disperse, thanking the Lord God for His mercy to us, shown by the incorruption of the remains of the ever-memorable Saint John, which all of us, the undersigned, witnessed. (signatures of all participants in the examination follow) September 28 (October 11), 1993 San Francisco, California The end and glory to our God! You might be interested in: