July 4/June 21 - memory of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.translated

On June 19 / July 2, 1994, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia glorified as one of its revered saints one of the greatest ascetics of Orthodoxy of the 20th century, a prayer book for all the suffering and needy, a protector and shepherd who found themselves far from their homeland - St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco. In 2008, when Holy Rus' celebrated the 1020th anniversary of its baptism, the Council of Bishops of the united Russian Orthodox Church established church-wide veneration of St. John.

The future Saint John was born in the village of Adamovka, Kharkov province, on June 4, 1896. In holy baptism he was named Michael - in honor of the holy archangel of God. His family, the Maksimovichs, had long been distinguished by their piety. In the 18th century, St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk, the enlightener of Siberia, who sent the first Orthodox mission to China, became famous from this family; After his death, many miracles happened at his grave. He was glorified in 1916, and his incorruptible relics rest in Tobolsk to this day.

Since childhood, Misha was deeply religious. At his consecration in 1934, he described the mood of his childhood years as follows: “From the very first days when I began to realize myself, I...