St. John Maximovitch

St. John Maximovitch was born Michael Maximovitch on 4 June 1896 in the province of Kharkov in the Russian Empire. Fleeing the Revolution, he became a monk and was consecrated a bishop of the Russian Church Abroad in 1934, taking up his see in Shanghai, where he cared heroically for his flock and especially for orphans, whom he gathered from the streets, during the upheavals of war and revolution in China.

When the communist advance forced the Russian exiles to flee once more, he labored tirelessly, even petitioning the government of the United States, to secure a refuge for thousands of his people. He later served in Western Europe and finally in San Francisco, where he oversaw the building of a great cathedral. Famed for his extreme asceticism, his ceaseless prayer, his childlike simplicity, and reported gifts of healing and foresight, he died on 2 July 1966 while visiting Seattle. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1994, and his incorrupt relics are venerated in San Francisco.