The Healing Prayer of the Hierarchs

Preface
"Saint Nicholas Healed..."
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
The Modern Miracles of Saint Spyridon
Saint Spyridon of Trimythous
The Healing Prayer of the Hierarchs of the 20th Century
Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco
The Kursk- Root Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign"
Saint John of Tobolsk
Saint Nectarios of Aegina
Saint Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)
St. Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev)
Saint Nicholas of Japan, Equal-to-the-Apostles
Saint Nicholas of Serbia (Velimirovich)
Saint Tikhon (Bellavin) - Patriarch of Moscow, Apostle to America
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk - A Helper in Sadness
Saint Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to the Americas
Saint Theophan the Recluse

Preface

"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. "(John 14:12)
"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17–18)

  In this collection, we endeavor—using simple, accessible language and through brief sketches—to recount the lives of renowned Holy Hierarchs and to describe modern-day miracles, and the Holy Hierarchs of the latter times;—enlighteners, missionaries, and wonderworkers— by virtue of their boundless faith, a righteous life, and—through boundless mercy and love for humanity and the entire surrounding world—were deemed worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the power of miracle-working, spiritual insight, and the gift of healing through prayer.   Many of them were called upon to endure, with great courage and humility, the sufferings that fell to their lot; some languished in prisons, offering prayerful support to other martyrs for the faith. Others, amidst harsh climatic conditions and with their lives constantly in peril—often deprived of shelter and the barest necessities—warmed themselves in the bitter cold through fervent prayer, and traversed vast distances to lead pagans to the true faith.
   A third group—forsaking the world at the end of their lives—withdrew into seclusion, where they led an ascetic existence. Having given away everything they possessed to the needy, they devoted themselves to feats of prayer, yet continued to shepherd their flock through extensive correspondence, leaving behind a rich spiritual legacy in their writings. A fourth group, during difficult periods of their lives, endured persecution, slander, and mockery with profound humility; they simply intensified their prayers and placed their complete trust in the Great Providence of God. Veneration of these great luminaries of God grows with each passing year; to this very day, in response to prayers addressed to these holy hierarchs, the Lord calms the elements and performs miracles of healing.
Through the prayerful intercession of God’s saints, people facing difficult life situations receive tangible assistance; subsequently, their faith grows, as does their desire to lead a pious life—strictly observing God’s commandments and adorning their lives with deeds of mercy and Christian love for others.


 
"Saint Nicholas Healed..."
In recent times, many books have appeared containing accounts of miracles manifested by the Lord through the prayers of Saint Nicholas. We present here several testimonies of Saint Nicholas’s miraculous aid, reproduced with some abridgments:

Testimony of Oleg  Kovalkov:
"Saint Nicholas has performed more than one miracle in my life. However, I will describe the most significant one.
Saint Nicholas healed an acquaintance of mine. She was diagnosed with cancer, which was progressing rapidly, and doctors insisted on immediate surgery...
I possessed some miraculous myrrh of Nicholas of Myra, which I had brought back from Bari. I gave this myrrh to my acquaintance and told her to anoint the affected area with it and to trace the sign of the cross upon her forehead.
After some time, she mentioned that she had decided to start ingesting the myrrh in small amounts... About a month later, when she underwent pre-operative medical tests, the doctors were astonished. The proliferation of cancer cells had not merely halted; it had actually gone into reverse—the cell count was significantly lower than it had been before. My acquaintance is now in good health. Glory be to the Holy
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker! May the Lord save us!"

An excerpt from the account of Larisa  V.:
   “...My middle sister lived in a village... And Mom decided to set off to visit her there. (She traveled the sixty kilometers on foot.) It was winter, and snowstorms were frequent. She left on a Friday and returned on Sunday evening... We heard that she had arrived by horse-drawn sleigh. Mom stepped down from the sleigh, entered the house, and immediately fell prostrate before an icon... It was an image of Nicholas the Wonderworker...
   Mom held Nicholas the Wonderworker in very high reverence... And whenever she set out on a journey, she would ask him for his blessing in all things.
   When she approached the icon, she cried out: ‘Oh! Good heavens! So that really *was* Nicholas the Wonderworker himself! Oh, why did you—my dear, sweet one—deceive me like that? I thought you were just some ordinary peasant man!’ In short, we couldn't quite grasp it; Mom’s joy knew no bounds—she was hugging and kissing us all.
   And once she had calmed down, she told us the following story. She had been walking back from her sister’s village on foot and had become utterly exhausted when a blizzard began to brew. Then she spotted some dogs—a whole pack of them running toward her... She kept walking and praying as best she knew how...”
   And the dogs drew close to her... Mom said that only when she saw them up close did she realize that they were actually wolves. She cried out: “Saint Nicholas! Help me! Save me!”
...And suddenly, a little man in a sheepskin coat drove up in a sleigh. He called out to her: “Hey, Anyutka! Hop in!”
   “And I,” Mom said, “thought to myself: *Where on earth did you come from?!*” But he shouted back through the blizzard: “You called for me yourself—and now you’re asking questions!” So, she said, she got in; he cried, “Giddy-up!”—and off they went. “Giddy-u-up!” And as for those creatures—those wolves—who had encircled her... there must have been about ten of them... they scattered and vanished in all directions in an instant... He drove her right up to her very doorstep. And as she was getting out, she said: “Good man, thank you! Tell me your name—how shall I pray for you?” “Why, I’m Nicholas—just Nicholas.” Mom didn't immediately grasp who he was. But once she stepped inside and saw the icon of Saint Nicholas, only then did she cry out: “That was him! It was Saint Nicholas himself!”
   ...There was another incident involving her... she was
suffering terribly from malaria. She endured agonizing pain; doctors prescribed all sorts of powders for her... She began to lose hearing in one ear... One day, she drifted into a sleep bordering on unconsciousness; the doctors had already told us, “We cannot help her, nor do we know how to help; this disease is incurable...” I wept bitterly and cried out: “Saint Nicholas! Please—save my mom! How am I supposed to go on living without my mom?! I’m still just a little child!” I went outside, into the yard... I sat down on a stack of firewood; all around, the sky was so beautiful... I sat there gazing up at the sky and said: “Well, if You exist, Lord, why won’t You send Saint Nicholas? If Saint Nicholas truly exists, let him come to our home!” Just like that—simply, childishly, in the only way I knew how... And then—I went back inside, and there was Mom, sitting on the bed and smiling. “Daughter, go gather some wormwood for me.”
   I thought to myself: “What on earth is this?” Mom had been lying there dying, and suddenly she was sitting up... I could hardly believe it. I felt a little frightened. But she just said: “Go gather it...” So I went out, gathered the wormwood, and brought it back. Mom said: “If only someone would light the stove... I need to brew up this wormwood. No—never mind; I’ll get up and brew it myself!”
   I watched as she walked over and lit the stove. Truth be told, she was still feeling very ill; several times she had to sit down on the floor, clutching her head. She got the stove going, brewed the wormwood, and drank it down... And by evening, she was feeling well again.
   Later, she said: “See what a wonder Saint Nicholas is—what a helper... Don’t you ever forget him!
   When you grow up, remember him. When you are old, remember him. When your time comes to die—remember Saint Nicholas.
   He came to me today. He asked me: ‘Anna, do you want to live?’” And I said: “Well, as God wills.” And he replied: “God wills for you to live; you have a small child... you must raise him.” And so, he said—Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker said—that if you fall ill—whether your head aches, or your stomach hurts, or if anyone in your family is ailing—take wormwood, brew it into a tea, and drink it. And you will be healed...
   And then there was a third incident involving Mother, when she went into the forest to gather firewood... Mother was gathering fallen branches when a lynx leaped down upon her from a tree. It struck her right in the eye with its paw. It clawed her eye. Mother cried out to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker once again.
... Her faith in him was so profound that she never doubted anything whenever she asked him for help.
   That is why she cried out: “Saint Nicholas! I am going blind!” Her eye had swollen shut, and when she returned home, when we happened to have a relative, an aunt who served as the head nurse at a local clinic nearby. The doctors told us that nothing could be done; the eye could not be saved. At that point, Mom began washing the eye with wormwood and adding wormwood to her tea. And she kept pleading with Saint Nicholas: “Saint Nicholas! Do not let me go blind!”
   And by the grace of God, her eye began to heal; the blood that had pooled inside it gradually reabsorbed, and in her old age, she actually saw *better* with that eye than with the healthy one. I, too, was terrified that Mom would lose her sight; she was in such deep distress—weeping and praying fervently—at the frightening prospect of being left partially blind. For she still had to find a way to support the family and earn a living, so her anxieties were entirely justified.
   Later on, when we traveled together to the village—to visit that daughter of hers who was the middle child... while we were there... Mom fell gravely ill. We rushed her to the hospital. The doctor examined her and said: “It is hopeless. Take her home.”
   I wept the entire journey back. When we finally arrived and brought Mom inside, she was completely unconscious; we were already preparing for her funeral. Then, a devout elderly woman from the village came by; she brought some Holy Water—blessed on the Feast of the Epiphany—washed Mom’s face with it, gave her a sip to drink, made the sign of the cross over her with a small icon of Saint Nicholas, and offered up a prayer. Mom regained consciousness. The old woman returned once more to wash her with the Holy Water. And that evening, she washed her with the water again, once again invoking Saint Nicholas. All of Mom’s children, too, began to pray to Saint Nicholas. And my sister... in short, everyone started pleading with Saint Nicholas for help. And—she rose from her bed. It was as if she had never been ill at all. The danger was behind us.
   Such was the protection that Saint Nicholas extended over our family—and over our mother. And how Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker helped me personally, as well!”

Breaking a Harmful Habit:

Galina  K. recounted how St. Nicholas helped her quit smoking: "I had been smoking for nearly forty years! I was afraid to ask God for help; I felt that approaching Him with such a request would be a terrible sin! Yet, I continued to read Orthodox literature, to delve into the meaning of the prayers, and I strove to attend church services more frequently. Then, just before Great Lent, I lingered in the church before the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and—for some reason—I felt a sudden impulse to ask him to help me break this harmful habit. I do not recall whether I recited a specific prayer, but I remember that my tears flowed uncontrollably, and the words poured forth from the very depths of my heart... Afterward, I stepped back from the icon, looked at it from a distance, and was astonished: the face of St. Nicholas seemed to have softened, and his eyes—filled with both tenderness and sorrow—gazed directly into mine!
   That very evening, my temperature spiked suddenly. I will spare you the details of the illness... For a couple of nights, I truly believed I was dying, and I prayed with humility, as best I knew how... I had never been so ill in my entire life! Two weeks later, when I was finally able to breathe freely again, the mere thought of cigarettes filled me with revulsion—and, strangely enough, with the sensation that I had never smoked at all. I am overjoyed that I was able to enter Great Lent having been delivered—through the intercession of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker—from this one destructive passion: smoking. Naturally, I offered him my prayers for thanksgiving. Glory be to God for all things! The icon is located in the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki."

*
  "Irina Ivanova—a woman of deep faith—recounted this story, which took place some twenty years ago. At that time, a massive market for knitted shawls was located not in Uryupinsk (as it is today), but in Povorino. These shawls were the lifeline that helped many villagers survive. Irina had traveled there with her mother to sell the shawls she had painstakingly knitted—work undertaken to help fund her two sons' university studies while raising a third, who was still in school. Her husband had died young, his health broken by backbreaking labor; the shawls were the family's sole means of salvation. And so, having sold their wares, Irina and her mother began making their way toward the exit.
They were hemmed in on all sides by a dense mass of people. Her mother fell back slightly behind her. Irina held the money they had earned clutched tight against her heart; in her hand, she carried only an empty bag. Suddenly, a hulking brute snatched the bag from her hand, while from the other side, another towering figure tugged at her scarf. Before she could even register what was happening, a third figure loomed up directly in front of her—almost face-to-face—and issued a command: "Smile." At that moment, she was seized by sheer terror, realizing that these were robbers operating under the guise of flirtatious young men.
   It was a terrifying moment—one of utter helplessness. And so, she began to recite Psalm 90, known among the people as "The Help of the Living." "Perhaps I recited it aloud—I don't remember," she says, "but what happened next was truly incredible. The hulking brutes suddenly vanished; the crowd parted before me, forming a narrow corridor—just wide enough for a person to pass through—and there, ahead of me, stood a white-haired old man with a beard. To this day, I remember the extraordinary sense of lightness that came over me in that moment. The old man said to me, 'Come, my child, follow me,'—and led me safely out of the crowd." I turned around; Mom was struggling to make her way through the dense crush—the very spot where I had just passed through with ease. And then I remembered the kindly old man who had appeared out of nowhere; I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. This extraordinary experience prompted Irina to finish learning the saving psalm to the very end. And later, she saw her savior depicted on an icon—and recognized him - Saint Nicholas." (Ivan Fedorov, Uryupinsk )

The Rescued Chinese Man

   An elderly woman named N. recalled a story told by her father, who had taken his family to China following the Revolution. In China—in the years after the Revolution—Russian ;migr;s installed an icon of Saint Nicholas at the railway station; before setting off on any journey, they would always light candles and offer prayers before this icon, knowing that the Saint offers aid to travelers. A poor Chinese fisherman remembered this custom when he himself nearly drowned; he cried out something to the effect of: "Man from the station—the one the Russians pray to—help me!"—and the next thing he knew, he came to on the shore. Afterward, he embraced the Orthodox faith; later, it is said, he even became a priest.

The Hurricane

   In 2005—one month before the infamous Hurricane Katrina (which struck on August 28, 2005)—an Orthodox woman was invited to travel to the ocean coast in North Carolina. Throughout the entire week leading up to the trip, she was torn about what to do; television broadcasts warned that a terrifying hurricane was bearing down on the state of North Carolina. She began to pray to Saint Nicholas and Saint John (Maximovitch). (In 1949, Saint John had been with his flock—a group of nearly 5,000 refugees from China—at a camp on the Philippine island of Tubabao. No sooner had the Saint personally succeeded in securing an amendment to U.S. immigration law from the American Congress—thereby arranging for the resettlement of his entire flock to the United States—than a violent storm struck the island, completely destroying the entire tent city.) The day before her trip, she learned that the hurricane had suddenly changed course and was now moving out toward the open ocean.
   A second miracle occurred on the very day of her arrival. That evening, the deserted beach was almost entirely empty. Massive waves quashed any desire to venture into the water; the surf was powerful enough to simply knock a person off their feet. There was nothing to do but watch as the waves crashed onto the shore, one after another. Suddenly, she spotted a dark speck in the distance. At first, she thought it was a dolphin, but then she realized it was a human being. The only people relaxing nonchalantly near the water were three slightly inebriated Americans. She ran over to them and, pointing toward the speck in the ocean, asked if it might be a friend of theirs; exchanging glances, they looked on in horror.
   The faithful woman began to pray, beseeching Saint Nicholas for help. And then a miracle occurred—a few minutes later, a wave washed the victim’s heavy body ashore. The young man sat on the sand, blinking in bewilderment, unable to make sense of anything…


Prayer to Saint Nicholas

O All-Holy Nicholas, most excellent servant of the Lord, our fervent intercessor, and swift helper everywhere in times of sorrow! Help me, a sinner and one in despondency, in this present life; entreat the Lord God to grant me the forgiveness of all my sins—whatever I have committed from my youth throughout my entire life, in deed, word, thought, and through all my senses. And at the departure of my soul, help me, a wretched one; entreat the Lord God, the Creator of all creation, to deliver me from the aerial toll-houses and from eternal torment; that I may ever glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and your merciful intercession, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.


Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

   Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, was born in the city of Patara on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor around the year 270; he was the only son of pious parents, Theophanes and Nonna. It is known that miracles began immediately after the infant's birth: his mother was healed of an illness from which she had long suffered, and during his baptism, the newborn stood upright in the font on his own for a considerable time. On Wednesdays and Fridays, he would refuse his mother's milk; only after the evening prayers was his mother able to feed the infant. From his childhood years, Nicholas excelled in the study of Holy Scripture; by day he would not leave the church, and by night he devoted himself to prayer. His uncle—the Bishop of Patara, who also bore the name Nicholas—appointed him as a reader and subsequently ordained Nicholas to the priesthood. Shortly thereafter, the bishop made him his assistant. Presbyter Nicholas secretly aided those who were suffering. (By that time, his parents had passed away, leaving him a substantial inheritance, which he used to provide assistance to the destitute.)
   The power of the young ascetic’s prayers is attested to by the fact that, during a journey to the Holy Land—when a terrible storm erupted and the ship was in danger of sinking—the tempest ceased in response to the fervent prayer of this chosen servant of God. Furthermore, when a young sailor aboard the vessel fell from the mast onto the deck and was killed instantly, the Lord, in answer to the prayers of Presbyter Nicholas, restored the youth to life.
   While visiting the holy sites of Palestine, Father Nicholas once desired to pray in a church during the night. When he approached the doors, which were locked, they miraculously opened.  The ascetic resolved to remain in Palestine forever, withdrawing from the world to pray to the Lord in solitude; yet, by Divine Providence, he was destined to return to his homeland.
   He journeyed to the Monastery of Zion, founded by his uncle, a bishop; there, one day, while standing in prayer in his monastic cell, he heard a voice: "Nicholas! You must enter into service to the people if you wish to receive a crown from Me... Depart from this place and go out into the world, among the people, so that My Name may be glorified through you!"
   In a vision, the Lord presented him with the Gospel, and the Most Holy Theotokos presented him with an omophorion. Obedient to this command, the chosen one of God settled in the city of Myra, the capital of the land of Lycia.
   When John, the Archbishop of all Lycia, reposed, all the local hierarchs gathered in Myra to elect a new archbishop. To one of the most senior bishops, there appeared in a vision a man radiant with unearthly light, who commanded him to stand in the church narthex that very night and observe who would be the first to enter the church for the morning service: this man, he revealed, was the one pleasing to the Lord—the one whom the bishops were to consecrate as their archbishop; his name, too, was revealed: Nicholas.
   As Father Nicholas made his way toward the church, an elder stopped him and asked his name; he humbly replied: "I am called Nicholas—a servant of your holiness, O Master!" Convinced that he stood before one chosen by God, the elder took him by the hand and led him to the assembly of bishops, where he was received with joy. The elderly bishop, who had been vouchsafed a divine vision, addressed the assembly with these words: "Receive, brethren, your shepherd—the one whom the Holy Spirit has anointed for you, and to whom He has entrusted the care of your souls. It was not a human council, but the Judgment of God that appointed him. Behold, now we possess the one for whom we waited; we have received and found the one for whom we searched. Under his wise guidance, we may boldly hope to stand before the Lord on the day of His glory and judgment!" During the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Diocletian (284–305), Bishop Nicholas, together with other Christians, was cast into prison. Sustained by his prayers, the faithful courageously endured torture and torment. The Lord preserved His chosen servant; and during the reign of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, Saint Nicholas returned to his flock. When Father Nicholas was making his way to the church, and an elder who stopped him asked his name, he humbly replied: "My name is Nicholas—a servant of your holiness, O Master!"
   Convinced that he stood before a chosen vessel of God, the elder took him by the hand and led him to the assembly of bishops, where he was received with great joy. The elderly bishop, who had been vouchsafed a divine vision, addressed the assembly with these words: "Receive, brethren, your shepherd—he whom the Holy Spirit has anointed for you, and to whom He has entrusted the care of your souls. It was not a human council, but the Judgment of God that appointed him. Behold, now we possess the one for whom we waited; we have received and found the one for whom we searched. Under his wise guidance, we may boldly hope to stand before the Lord on the day of His glory and judgment!"
   During the persecution of Christians under the Emperor, when a severe famine struck Lycia, the Lord—in response to the prayers of the holy hierarch—performed yet another miracle. According to tradition, a certain merchant had loaded a large ship with grain; on the eve of his departure for the West, he beheld Saint Nicholas in a dream. The saint commanded him to deliver the entire cargo of grain to Lycia, declaring that he would purchase the entire shipment from him and offering three gold coins as a down payment. Upon awakening, the merchant was astonished to discover—clutched firmly in his hand—three actual gold coins. Realizing that this was a command from on high, he transported the grain to Lycia, and the starving populace was saved. There, he recounted his vision, and the citizens—recognizing the figure from his description—identified him as their own Archbishop. Even during his lifetime, Saint Nicholas became renowned as a defender of the unjustly condemned and a deliverer from wrongful death.
   Saint Nicholas lived to a ripe old age; he reposed peacefully on December 6, 342, and was interred in the cathedral church of the city of Myra. The Lord vouchsafed to his venerable body the gift of incorruptibility and a special miraculous power. His relics began to exude a fragrant myrrh. The incorrupt relics of Saint Nicholas, which currently repose in the Italian city of Bari, continue to exude healing myrrh to this very day. Numerous miraculous icons of the great Saint have been preserved down to our own times. Saint Nicholas is revered as the patron of seafarers and travelers, and as a swift helper in all difficult situations; in times of sorrow and adversity, Orthodox Christians turn to him for aid and receive that for which they ask. O Holy Father Nicholas, pray to God for us!

The Modern Miracles of Saint Spyridon

 During World War II, when the Italians—acting on Mussolini’s orders—attacked Greece, one of their first victims was the neighboring island of Corfu. The bombing campaign began on November 1, 1940, and continued for months. Corfu possessed no air defense capabilities, allowing Italian bombers to fly at exceptionally low altitudes. However, strange occurrences took place during the raids: both the pilots and those on the ground noticed that many bombs, in an inexplicable manner, did not fall straight down but instead descended at an angle, landing in the sea. During the bombings, people flocked to the one sanctuary where they felt certain of finding protection and salvation—the Church of Saint Spyridon. While all the buildings surrounding the church were severely damaged or destroyed, the church itself survived until the end of the war without sustaining a single scratch—not even a single pane of glass was cracked...

*
A testimony from N : "...On the island of Corfu, inside the Church of Saint Spyridon, we asked the priest for a blessing to collect some oil from the votive lamp burning beside the reliquary containing the Saint’s relics... We were drawing the oil up with a syringe and pouring it into small vials we had brought along for the purpose. It was a large group, and everyone was crowding together, trying to fill their vials as quickly as possible; in the commotion, someone accidentally bumped into the lamp, and the remaining oil spilled out. Everyone was deeply upset by this mishap, but one woman was particularly distraught—she was at the very end of the line and hadn't managed to get a single drop. I decided to pour a little of my own oil into her vial. She was holding the empty bottle in her hands when, suddenly, it began to fill up all by itself!
   Since this took place right before the eyes of our entire group, so there were a great many witnesses to this miracle. We were all literally stunned. On the bus, we recalled the instance when Saint Spyridon’s lamp filled itself. All things are possible for God and His saints. I give thanks to the Lord and to Saint Spyridon for deeming me worthy to witness
this miracle! "

*
Testimony from Elena: “In 2002, I spent a long time trying to exchange my one-room apartment for a two-room one... One day, my sister called and asked how things were going. I replied that nothing was working out. She then advised me to request a prayer service for the blessing of water dedicated to Saint Spyridon of Trimythous—which is exactly what I did. Literally just a week later, we were offered a wonderful option at a very reasonable price. The move was scheduled for December 25th—the Saint’s feast day. Through the prayers of Saint Spyridon, everything worked out for us. I often look back on this and am deeply grateful to him. Glory be to God for all things! Saint Spyridon of Trimythous, pray to God for us!”

 
Saint Spyridon of Trimythous

   St. Spyridon  of Trimythous was born in 270 in Askeia, Cyprus, where he worked as a shepherd and was known for his great piety. He married and had a daughter, Irene. Upon the death of his wife, he entered a monastery, and his daughter, a convent.
   Eventually, he became Bishop of Trimythous, in the district of Larnaca, Cyprus, during the reign of Constantine the Great. Taking part in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, he countered the arguments of Arius and his followers. He attempted to explain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, by using a brick, to illustrate how one single entity (a piece of pottery) could be composed of three unique entities (fire, water, and clay).  As soon as he finished speaking, it is said that the shard burst into flame, water dripped on the ground, and only dust remained in his hand. So it is that in the Holy Trinity there are three persons, but only one God.
   After the Council, Bishop Spyridon returned to his diocese in Trimythous, where he died peacefully in 348. When the Saracens took Cyprus, his body was disinterred and taken to Constantinople. The relics were found to be incorrupt, and contained sprigs of basil, both of which were taken to be signs of divine sanctity. When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, St. Spyridon’s relics were removed one last time to the island of Kerkyra (Corfu), where they remain in the St. Spyridon Church to this day, and after 1500 years, still remain incorrupt. By divine grace, St. Spyridon wrought such great wonders that he received the name “Wonderworker.”  He is also known as the “walking saint” because the slippers which clothe the feet of his relics wear out each year from his travels to help people, and are replaced each year on his feast day.  These slippers have been known to work miracles through the prayers of St. Spyridon.

The Three Hierarchs

   On January 30 (February 12 according to the New Style calendar), the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Universal Teachers and Hierarchs: Basil the Great (†379), Gregory the Theologian (326–389), and John Chrysostom (347–407). This feast was established in the 11th century during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos. At that time, a dispute arose in Constantinople regarding the relative significance of these three Hierarchs: Basil the Great—Archbishop of Caesarea, a scholar, and founder of monastic communities; John Chrysostom—organizer of the magnificent Divine Liturgy and author of the renowned Liturgy of John Chrysostom; and Gregory the Theologian—a masterful interpreter of Holy Scripture.
   The Great Hierarchs preached during a turbulent era; they were compelled to combat heresy, participate in resolving theological questions regarding the Holy Trinity, interpret the Holy Scriptures, deliver impassioned sermons, aid the suffering, and preside over episcopal sees throughout the Byzantine Empire.
   According to Church Tradition, in order to put an end to ongoing disputes, the Three Hierarchs appeared in a miraculous vision in the year 1084 to John Mauropous—the Metropolitan of Euchaita and a renowned hymnographer of that time—affirming their equality before the Lord and commanding that a common feast day be established to commemorate them.

The Healing Prayer of the Hierarchs of the 20th Century

Glorious is God in His saints!

"...But even if our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day." (2 Cor. 4:16).
"One need only look at a sick person, or one afflicted by some other misfortune, to be convinced of how salutary—at times—illness and adversity are for us here." – The Righteous Saint John of Kronstadt.
"Physical illness begets humility of soul, just as the Apostle [Paul] says: 'Even if our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day….' The only means of alleviating sorrows are tears, patience, and prayer." – The Venerable Alexei Shepelev.

   By virtue of their pious lives, steadfast faith, and love for God and humanity, the saints and ascetics of recent times have been deemed worthy of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit—just as the Holy Apostles were. Through their prayers, the Lord performed numerous miracles that strengthened the faith of the sick; moreover, those estranged from the faith—and even non-believers—upon witnessing these miracles, embraced Holy Baptism.
   In this section, we present various testimonies confirming the power of the saints' prayers, alongside brief biographies of these holy servants of God. The Lord granted healing to many sick individuals for whom these saints interceded during their lifetimes. Miraculous healings continued unabated for decades following their blessed repose; indeed, countless testimonies have been left by those who requested memorial services, prayed for the repose of the saints' souls, implored them to act as intercessors before the Lord, or—with faith—anointed their afflicted body parts with oil from the lamps burning before the saints' holy relics, thereby receiving healing. It was on the basis of these very testimonies that these holy figures were ultimately glorified.
   Accounts of physicians unable to help certain ailing individuals, who, upon learning of their patient’s recovery, acknowledged these events as miracles, inspired those far removed from the faith to embrace the Orthodox Faith.

From the recollections of the spiritual children of Saint John and about healings received through the prayers of St. John

   From the recollections of the spiritual children of Blessed John: “Father John was a man of rare prayer. He would become so immersed in the texts of the prayers that it seemed as though he were conversing with God, the Most Holy Mother of God, and the angels...”
   “In 1939, my faith began to waver; I decided to stop attending church and instead go visit some acquaintances. My path took me past the cathedral, and there, from within the church, I heard singing. I entered the church. Bishop John was officiating. The altar was open. The Bishop intoned the prayer: ‘Come, eat; this is My Blood... for the remission of sins,’ after which he knelt down and made a profound prostration.”
   “I saw the Chalice containing the Holy Gifts uncovered, and at that moment—following the words of the Bishop—a small flame descended from above into the Chalice. The flame was shaped like a tulip, though larger in size. Never in my life had I imagined that I would actually witness the Consecration of the Gifts taking place through fire. My faith was rekindled. The Lord revealed to me the depth of the Bishop’s faith, and I felt ashamed of my own faint-heartedness.” – Mother Augusta.
   “I saw how his face would sometimes literally be transfigured during the Liturgy—especially during the days of Great Lent—shining with an unearthly light, while his eyes, always filled with divine love, radiated an inexpressible joy inaccessible to sinners; and this was a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. But what was most remarkable was his gift for seeing into the human heart and drawing it toward Christ. After all, were it not for this righteous man, I would never even have conceived of the possibility of undertaking pastoral ministry in the Church.” – Father George Larin.
   “Once, in Shanghai, Vladyka John was summoned to the bedside of a dying child whose condition—according to the doctors—was hopeless. Upon entering the house, Vladyka John headed straight for the room where the sick boy lay, even though no one had yet had the chance to show him the way. Without even examining the child, Vladyka prostrated himself before an icon in the corner of the room and prayed for a long time. Then, assuring the relatives that the child would recover, he quickly departed. And indeed, by morning the child’s condition had improved, and he soon made a full recovery—without any medical intervention.” – Dr. A.F. Baranov, Erie, Pennsylvania.
   Through the prayers of this great ascetic, many people were healed. Believers regarded him as a saint during his lifetime. After he reposed in the Lord—and soon thereafter glorified—many continued to receive healing by seeking his prayerful intercession. Even today, many receive healing according to their faith, often shortly after anointing the area of affliction with oil from the lampada burning before the Saint's reliquary.

  The following testimonies are taken from the book, Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, compiled by Archpriest Peter Perekrestov:

  Testimony from Father S.A. of Denver: “On Sunday, December 18, I learned that one of my parishioners—Leonty L., a man of sixty—was in the intensive care unit... The doctor informed Leonty’s family that a tumor had been discovered in one of his lungs and that he had only one month left to live—that he could pass away at any moment. On Monday morning, our parish reader and a parishioner accompanied me to the hospital, where we chanted a prayer service to Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco….” After the service, the priest anointed Leonty with oil from a lampada burning before the Saint’s reliquary—oil that had been sent from San Francisco; on Tuesday, word came that the tumor had vanished. The doctors were utterly bewildered; on Wednesday, they discharged Leonty from the hospital. Father S.A., along with all the faithful who learned of the event, gave glory to the Lord. Glorious is God in His saints!

   This next account retells the miraculous healing from cancer of a 60-year-old Muslim woman and bears witness to the extraordinary grace bestowed by the Lord upon a great ascetic. Through miracles of healing, the Lord leads those of other faiths to Orthodoxy.
  Testimony of Seraphim B. from Eureka, California: "This story, which I witnessed personally, happened to a Muslim friend of mine... It began in a bookstore... One day, while in a bookstore, I reached out for a book about the last Russian Tsar, and someone nearby reached for that very same book. His name was Raul (a Muslim man living in Eureka). We began talking about the Royal Martyrs and Russia... Several months later, we met again, and Raul looked sorrowful... I asked him what was wrong. He told me... that his mother had breast cancer and there was no hope for her recovery..."
   As it later turned out, it was no coincidence that Divine Providence had brought them together: Seraphim—an Orthodox Christian who knew of the miracles of healing wrought through the prayers of the saints—gave Raul an icon of Saint John. He also gave him a small piece of cotton wool wrapped in foil, soaked in oil from the lampada burning before Saint John’s reliquary, and persuaded his new acquaintance to send these items to his mother. He explained that it was necessary to anoint the area where the tumor was located with the oil, making the sign of the cross. A few weeks later, Serafim learned from Raul that a miraculous healing had taken place through the prayers of the Holy Hierarch. The doctor who had taken X-rays of his mother found nothing amiss. Additional examinations were conducted using different equipment, yet no traces of cancer were detected. Later, Raul’s parents expressed a desire to personally thank the Holy Hierarch; they traveled to San Francisco to visit the church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God known as "Joy of All Who Sorrow." This event inspired them to begin studying Orthodoxy and to attend an Antiochian church located near their home.
   Another healing from cancer, brought about through the prayers of Holy Hierarch John, occurred in Chicago. Mileva Savich sent her testimony to Father Peter, attesting that she had been healed in 1996 through the intercession of Holy Hierarch John.

   The Tumor Vanished.

A Testimony by Abbot Kirill (Osipov), 1994:
"Valentina A., a parishioner of our church dedicated to the 'Reigning' Icon of the Mother of God [in Astrakhan], having read a book about healings received through the prayers of Blessed John, approached me after the divine service and asked for oil from the relics of Vladyka John for her daughter, who was gravely ill at the time. Valentina explained that a tumor had appeared on her daughter's breast. As the tumor grew, her daughter consulted with doctors. The diagnosis was terrifying: breast cancer. The doctors recommended surgery.
   I administered the Sacrament of Unction to the patient, and later—having soaked a piece of cotton wool in oil from Vladyka John's relics—I gave it to her. She anointed the afflicted area with the sign of the cross several times. She returned to the doctors and underwent another examination prior to the scheduled surgery. Both the doctors and the patient herself were astonished: the tumor had vanished."
   A remarkable instance of healing from multiple ailments—including cancer—occurred at a district hospital in the Astrakhan region. A gravely ill woman named Galina requested to be baptized and to receive Holy Communion while in the hospital. Abbot Kirill (Osipov) visited the hospital, baptized the patient, heard her confession, administered Holy Communion, and anointed her with oil taken from the reliquary of Saint John. To the doctors' astonishment, the patient soon recovered and was discharged to return home.

   Testimony of Galina Simakova from Russia: “In May, I was brought to the hospital in critical condition. I could not move, drink, or speak. For nearly a month, I was unable to take any food... My only plea was: ‘God, if You exist, save me for the sake of my grandchildren, and I will turn to You with faith.’ Due to severe pain, I could not sleep. My diagnosis included: rheumatoid arthritis affecting all joints, lung cancer, a heart defect, and anemia. Consequently, my kidneys, liver, and spleen were also impaired... I reached out to Lyubov Grigoryevna with a request that she bring a priest so that I could be baptized, make my confession, and receive Holy Communion. As soon as Father Kirill baptized me, administered Communion, and anointed me with holy oil from Vladyka John, I immediately rose to my feet. To the utter astonishment of both the doctors and the other patients, I began to recover rapidly. All those terrifying diagnoses were cleared by my attending physician—it was like something out of a fairy tale. My heart brought me great joy: the diagnosis of a ‘heart defect’ was removed, followed shortly thereafter by the diagnosis of ‘lung cancer.’ I am especially grateful for the holy oil taken from the reliquary of Vladyka John of Shanghai. These are true miracles! Whenever any ailment arises—be it a wound, a toothache, a bruise, or a dog bite—I simply anoint the spot while offering up holy prayers, and the pain vanishes... Now I pray to God, and I see clearly that He hears me and comes to my aid.”

Prayer to the Holy Hierarch John Wonderworker of Shanghai & San Francisco

   O beloved Hierarch John, good shepherd and beholder of the hearts and minds of men! Thou prayest for us now at the throne of God, as thou thyself didst say after thy death: "Even though I have died, yet am I alive." Beseech the most compassionate God, that He grant us forgiveness of sins, that we may come wakefully to our senses, and cry out to God, asking that we be given the spirit of humility, the fear of God and piety in all the ways of our life. As thou wast a merciful nurturer of orphans and a skilled instructor on earth, be thou now a guide and Christian understanding for us amid the turmoil of the Church; hearken to the groaning of the troubled youth of our corrupt times, who are tempest-tossed by most wicked demonic possession, and mercifully regard the despondency of our weak pastors, caused by the inroads of the corrupting spirit of this world, and who languish in idle indifference. Hasten thou to make supplication, we cry to thee with tears, O fervent advocate; visit us, who are orphaned, scattered over the face of all the world and in our homeland, astray in the darkness of the passions, yet who by our feeble love are drawn to the light of Christ and await thy fatherly instruction; that, having acquired piety, we may be shown to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, where thou abidest with all the saints, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be honor and dominion, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco

“If you desire to see a living Saint, go to Bitol to Father John.” – Bishop Nicholas (Velimirovich)

   The future St. John was born on June 4, 1896, in a village called Adamovka, in Kharkiv province to pious aristocrats, Boris and Glafira Maximovitch. He was given the baptismal name of Michael, after the Holy Archangel Michael.  In his youth, Michael displayed an intense religious interest. He was educated at the Poltava Military School (1907-1914), Kharkiv Imperial University, from which he received a law degree in 1918.
   During the Russian Civil War, he and his family were evacuated to Yugoslavia. While in Yugoslavia, he received a degree in theology at the University of Belgrade . After college, he went to a Serbian monastery and was ordained as a monk , at this time receiving his new name: John. The same year, he was ordained as a hieromonk and started teaching in a Serbian seminary. Saint John prayed constantly, served the liturgy every day, and fasted strictly, eating only one meal per day. He slept while sitting up in a chair, and had a cold bath every morning at 4 am.
   With the growth of his popularity, the bishops of the Russian Church Aboard resolved to elevate him to the episcopate. Saint John was consecrated as a bishop  in 1934 and sent to the Shanghai diocese. In the mid-1930s there were about 20,000 Russian immigrants living in Shanghai. Saint John organized the construction of a church, an asylum, hospitals and other social establishments. He always found time to visit the sick in hospitals despite bad weather, and often spent nights at the hospital, praying beside the beds of terminally ill people. To great surprise the ill would recover, all thanks to St. John's prayers. He would also take orphaned children off the streets and put them in the orphanage he established in honor of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.    This orphanage was like a home to the children and St. John was their loving and caring father. He knew the names of all the orphans and kept track of those who were sick or needed help. Once, during the war, there was not enough food in the orphanage to feed the children. Vladyka prayed all night, and in the morning an unknown person had brought a donation for the orphanage.
   However, when China became a communist regime, St. John had to leave the country with his congregation of about 5 000 people, all of them Russian refugees. The only country which agreed to provide them with asylum was the Philippines. In 1949, the refugees were allowed to live on Tubabao, one of the Philippine islands, which was often hit by typhoons.
   Life on the island was difficult and the refugees had to live in the jungle, cutting the trees by hand in order to set up a camping ground. The locals believed that the refugee camp was left untouched by storms because their “saint” would walk around their camp each day.
   St. John really did walk around the camp each day, blessing each tent, because the violent storms were always threatening to destroy it. Typhoons hit this island every year, but during the 27 months that St. John and the refugees spent on the island, not a single storm hit their camp. One day, on November 11, 1950, a typhoon was moving towards the island; however, it split in half when reaching the refugee camp and did not touch it. Instead, it hit a neighboring island and destroyed everything, killing 600 people.
   Saint John personally petitioned the American Congress and succeeded in making it change the immigration laws, in order to allow Saint John’s congregation to move to the United States. When the refugees left their island, an enormous typhoon hit and completely destroyed their tent camp.
   Archbishop John became the head of the Western European Diocese in 1951. In 1951, Archbishop John was assigned to the Archdiocese of Western Europe with his cathedral in Paris. During his time there, he also served as Archpastor of the Orthodox Church of France, whose restored Gallican liturgy he studied and then celebrated (he served the liturgy in French, Dutch, Greek, Chinese and English). In 1962, Abp. John was assigned to the Diocese of San Francisco. He reposed after serving liturgy 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 Holy Virgin Cathedral, also known as the "Joy of All Who Sorrow."
   In June of 1994, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia glorified him as a saint. On June 24, 2008 he was glorified as Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Select sayings of Saint John of San Francisco on the topic of prayer:

   “What is prayer? It is a conversation with God. The lofty, immaterial aim of prayer is worthy of all reverence. Yet the highest form of prayer is that in which a person forgets all his own aims—even the loftiest ones—burning with but a single desire: to draw as near as possible to the Lord, to lay his head at His feet, and to surrender his whole heart. This is perfect love and perfect prayer. It is when one desires only to breathe the Lord, to live solely by Him, to love Him, and to take refuge in His nearness—in His ineffable love…. The Lord accepts all human petitions—however small and insignificant they may be—provided that the human heart rejoices and trembles as it stands before the face of the Master….
   Do not be troubled by the magnitude or insignificance of your requests; rather, seek—above all—not that which you wish to ask for, but Him of Whom you wish to ask. Requests are deemed unworthy only when they come from those who love the Lord less than the very object or matter for which they ask.
   But if you love the Lord above all else, then every petition of yours—both great and small—is blessed; every request of yours shall be fulfilled, and any request that, in accordance with God’s will, is not fulfilled will bring you a greater good than the one that is. And a great fruit always remains within our soul from prayer: we ascend to heaven, to the Creator of Lights, and upon our heart descends the divine coal of Seraphic grace….”

Veneration of the Mother of God

Saint John (Maximovich) said: “From apostolic times to the present day, all those who truly love Christ must honor Her who bore Him, raised and protected Him in His childhood.
If She was chosen by God the Father, if the Holy Spirit descended upon her, if God the son dwelled in her, obeyed her in his childhood, cared for her while hanging on the cross, should she not be worshiped by everyone who professes the Holy Trinity?
In the days of her earthly life, the friends of Christ, the apostles, showed great care and devotion to the Mother of the Lord, especially Evangelist John the Theologian, who, fulfilling the will of her Divine Son, took her and cared for her as his own Mother, since the Lord on the cross said to him: ‘Behold Thy Mother.’
Evangelist Luke painted her images — some with the Eternal Baby, and others without him. When he brought them and showed them to the Blessed Virgin, She approved of them and said: ‘My Son's grace will be with them.’ She repeated the song that Elizabeth once sang in her house: ‘My soul magnifies my Lord, and my spirit rejoices about God, my Savior…’
The Orthodox Church maintains its doctrine on The Most Holy Theotokos on the basis of the Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture, and glorifies her daily in its temples, asking for her help and protection ....”
In front of all the icons the Christians pray with the hope of intercession from the Mother of God. Tradition credits Saint Apostle Luke with painting the first icons of the Mother of God. “Let the grace of Him Who was born of Me and My mercy be with these Icons,” said the All-Pure Virgin after seeing the icons.

The Kursk- Root Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign"

    “Who carries the disease with patience and thanksgiving, represents an act of bravery or even more.” – Saint Seraphim.

   The miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" healed the future Saint Seraphim of Sarov (his baptismal name being “Prokhor”). Prokhor Moshnin was seriously ill as a child, and once in a dream he saw the Blessed Virgin, who promised to visit and heal him. Soon the following happened: the participants of the Religious Procession carried the Kursk icon of the Mother of God, "The Sign," along the street where the house of the Moshnins was located. Suddenly it began to rain heavily, and the procession, in order to shorten the way back, went through their yard. Prokhor and his mother went out, kissed the miraculous icon, bowed, and the icon was carried over them. After that, Prokhor began to feel better and soon completely recovered from his illness. Thus the promise of the Queen of Heaven to visit the youth and to heal him was fulfilled. When he decided to devote his life to God, having embarked on the monastic path, Prokhor received a new name: Seraphim.
   The story of the miracle-working icon begins during the times when the envious and cruel Mongols led by Batu Khan flew to Holy Russia in a whirlwind. They exploited the lack of unity and friendship among the princes of Russia who lived separately in wide open spaces. While the Mongols themselves did not plow or sow due in part to their arid stony earth, they satiated themselves at the expense of the labor of others. The Mongols sought to benefit from subjugating Rus land which could grow in abundance high wheat stalks and juicy herbs. The Mongolian cavalry tore into the lands of the Rus like locusts, ravaging cities and villages, taking captive girls of beauty, cattle, and loot. For a prolonged period, the Rus focused on healing wounds and paying tribute to the Mongols until the princes realized that it was necessary to live together, join their forces, and oppose the nomads.
   During the invasion of Batu Khan (a grandson of Genghis Khan) the Russian city of Kursk was destroyed to such a degree that it was overgrown by trees. In 1295 a hunter discovered an icon in the roots of a tree. When he lifted the Icon up, a spring sprang from the ground. The rumor about the miracle Icon reached Prince Vassily Shemyaka who ordered the Icon to be brought to Rylsk. But he himself did not take part in the solemn meeting of the Icon, and he became blind because of his disbelief. Only after his repentance before the Icon was his vision returned. In appreciation for his healing, Shemyaka built a Church named after the Nativity of the Mother of God. It was decided that the miracle Icon be placed into this Church. But the Icon returned to its previous place in the roots of the tree numerous times. Then it was decided to build a chapel at the place where the Icon was found. In 1383 mongols burnt the chapel, they chopped the Icon in two halves, and captured the priest. After some time, the priest returned to the holy place, where he found the two halves of the Icon , put them together and they immediately merged, and in the place where there was a cut there appeared dew.  In 1612, after praying before the icon, the battle against the poles was won. There are numerous examples of evidence for the healings of the faithful who prayed before this Icon.

 
Saint John of Tobolsk

   Upon his monastic tonsure, the future ascetic Saint John (Maximovich) was named John, in honor of his kinsman, Saint John of Tobolsk. Undoubtedly, Saint John of Tobolsk (1651-1715) prayed in heaven for his kinsman and through his prayers, the Lord deemed Saint John worthy to bear his life’s cross. Many spiritual gifts were bestowed upon him and through his prayers he saved many people in countries throughout the world.
   The ensuing discussion of the life of Saint John of Tobolsk is taken from the website of the Orthodox Church in America  (OCA) with some abridgments. Saint John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk and All Siberia, the Wonderwonder was born in the city of Nezhino in 1651. His father Maxim Vasil’evich and mother Euphrosyn; had seven sons, of which John was the eldest. Upon his completion of the Kiev-Mogilyansk College (afterwards the Kiev Spiritual Academy), the future hierarch emerged from it as a teacher of the Latin language. Thereafter, in 1680, he accepted monasticism at the Kiev Caves monastery and became absorbed in inner spiritual activity. With the general consent of the brethren, the young monk was given the permission to preach. From this period he demonstrated exceptional eloquence. He attached a special significance to inner religious knowledge. The chief theme of his life can be defined at a stroke as, “how ought man to conform his will with the will of God?” He developed this theme both in his preachings, and in his subsequent missionary service. In 1688, they sent him on a mission to Moscow where he was appointed by the Patriarch Joachim (who served from 1674-1690) as vicar of the Briansk-Svensk Monastery. The Monastery at the time was under the Kyiv Caves Lavra.
   Shortly before his passing on February 5, 1696, Saint Theodosius , Archbishop of Chernigov, appointed Hieromonk John to be his successor as Archimandrite of the Chernigov Yeletsky Monaster. Saint John revered the memory of Saint Theodosius, believing in the power of his prayerful intercession before the Lord. Due to his faith, Saint John received healing from a serious illness through the prayers of Saint Theodosius. At the very height of Saint John’s sickness, Saint Theodosius appeared to him and said, “Serve tomorrow; you will be well.” On the following day, Saint John became completely well and, to the amazement of everyone near him, served the Divine Liturgy. This miracle of Saint John’s healing, marked the beginning of the veneration of Saint Theodosius, as a grace-bearing saint of God.
   On January 10, 1697 Patriarch Adrian of Moscow and All Rs (1690-1700) consecrated Archimandrite John as Bishop of Chernigov, in the Dormition cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Upon entering into the administration of the diocese, Bishop John created a collegium near the archbishop’s cathedral, similar to the Kiev Academy. In view of its high level of theological education and training, Saint John’s school received wide renown. In essence, this was the first seminary in Russia and its model inspired the opening of seminaries in other dioceses of the Russian Church.
   Later, the saint opened a printing press, at which he and his successors published many works of spiritual and moral content. The life of Saint John was illumined by lofty virtues, especially humility, which is reflected in his works. While in Chernigov during 1714, the saint published his chief work, originally written in the classical Latin language which was the standard practice of graduates at the Kyiv school. In 1888, Professor I. A. Maximovich translated the Heliotropion into the modern Russian language and published it in parts in the Chernigov Diocesan Newsletter, and later in a separate book (Kyiv, 1896). Saint John’s name was not only connected to the Latin-Greek-Russian lexicon, but also to Mount Athos. He had a special interest in the fate of Russian inhabitants on the Holy Mountain, and sent them substantial material aid during what were difficult years. On August 14, 1711, after his elevation to the dignity of metropolitan, Saint John arrived at the see of Tobolsk and All Siberia. The saint constantly concerned himself with the enlightening of his diocese and resumed the work he had started in Chernigov. He continued apostolic preaching among the pagans of Siberia, converting many thousands to Christ. In 1714, Saint John set off to Peking to head a mission with Archimandrite Hilarion (Lezhaisky). In Tobolsk he again undertook publishing activity, using the printing press he set up at Chernigov. During this time, Metropolitan John published the Heliotropion in the Slavonic-Russian language so that the Siberians could also understand it.
Saint John often helped people secretly, and sometimes in the garb of a simple monk. He would bring generous alms to the homes of the needy saying, “accept this in the Name of Jesus Christ.” His home at Tobolsk was always open to all those in need of help or a word of comfort. On the day of his repose on June 10, 1715, Saint John prepared a dining-hall at his home after the divine liturgy. He served at the table himself for both the clergy and the impoverished. Having taken his leave of everyone, the saint withdrew to his chambers. When the church bells rang for Vespers, he died while at prayer and on his knees. The saint was buried in the chapel of Saint John Chrysostom at the Tobolsk Dormition-Sophia cathedral. Saint John has long been venerated in Siberia. In light of the numerous miracles and longstanding local veneration of Saint John, the Church established in 1916 the all-Russian celebration of the saint to be held on June 10, the day of his repose. At present, his body rests in the Tobolsk cathedral of the Protection of the Mother of God.

Saint Nectarios of Aegina

   Saint Nectarios of Aegina  (1846–1920) (in the world Anastasios Kephalas), son of Dimosthenis and Vassiliki, was born on October 1st, 1846, in Eastern Selyvria of Thrace (Now Turkey). He was one of six children. His parents were very poor but pious Christians...  His early years were spent at the local elementary school in Selyvria... At the age of fourteen and with his parents’ blessings, Anastasios went to Constantinople  to find work for their financial assistance with the hope that he would be able to continue his studies...
   In Constantinople, the young man managed to get a job in a tobacco shop. Here Anastasios, who wanted to realize his childhood dream — to help people spiritually, — began to write the sayings of the Holy Fathers on the pouches and wrappers of tobacco products. Anastasios was paid very little money, which was barely enough for food. When his clothes and shoes were worn out, Anastasios decided to ask the Lord for help. He truly believed that the Lord would help him. Telling in a letter about his plight, he wrote on the envelope the following address: “to the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven."
   And the Lord really helped him through a good man, the owner of a nearby store, who at the same time was going to the post office. The man felt sorry for the barefoot young man and suggested to take his letter to the post office. Anastasios handed him his letter willingly. The kind man looked at the envelope, and saw that instead of an address on  it, there was written only to whom the letter was intended for. He realized that the Lord wanted him to help the poor young man. He walked a little, opened the letter and read it, then immediately he sent money to Anastasios. After receiving the money, Anastasios thanked the Lord.
   The following significant event strengthened the faith of Anastasios even more. One day the young man went home to spend the Christmas holidays with his family. During the trip, a storm began and the mast of the ship broke down, unable to withstand the onslaught of the wind. Everybody was terrified, but Anastasios did not lose courage and he took off his belt, tied his cross to it, and pulled the mast down. He held the mast with one of his hands; and with the help of the other hand, he crossed himself and called upon the Lord to save the ship. The prayer of the young man was heard: the ship arrived safely to the port.
   The Lord did not only save Anastasios, but also helped him to receive a spiritual education. When he was twenty, Anastasios went to the Island of Chios where he was appointed teacher at a village named Lithi. He was always present at church services and was never far from those in need... Seven years later, at the age of 30, he entered the great and renowned monastery of Nea Moni... After completing three years as a novice under the care of the venerable Elder Pachomios, on November 7, 1875, he became a monk and received the name of Lazarus in his tonsure. He studied, prayed and fasted, even harder now, day and night…Two years later, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Gregory of Chios, due to his great virtues and his piety. It was at his ordination as deacon that he was given the name Nectarios.  He had only completed elementary school, therefore, Elder Pachomios convinced him to complete his high school studies in Athens. This was made possible through the financial support of a wealthy local benefactor...
    At the age of forty, the Patriarch ordained deacon Nectarios as a priest and sent him to the Church of St. Nicholas in Cairo. A few years later, in that same church, he was consecrated as Bishop of Pentapolis. (He will rise high up the spiritual ladder. He was destined to become Metropolitan of Pentapolis. His rapid rise, the love of the Patriarch and the people, and—even more so—the Saint's virtuous and pure life, aroused envy and hatred in many. Influential figures slandered the Saint, and the Metropolitan of Pentapolis was dismissed from his post.)
   With profound humility, this chosen one of God endured his trials. For his steadfast faith, he was deemed worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the gift of spiritual insight and the gift of healing. Contemporaries recounted that, when he celebrated the Divine Liturgy, his face radiated a light that was visible to those around him. Miracles began to happen after the prayers of the ascetic, and people were healed after his prayer.
   For some time, Bishop Nectarios was the Director of the Ecclesiastical school in Athens. Bishop Nectarios  treated the children and employees of the school with great love and great patience. There were cases when he imposed a strict fast upon himself for the fault of the students. He abstained from food and drank only water, and he prayed for the salvation of the students’ souls.
   The Elder spent the last years of his life on the island of Aegina, where he founded a convent. He was able to buy a small plot of land of his own means. There was an abandoned and almost destroyed monastery on that plot.
   He was not afraid of any work: he planted trees and flowerbeds, cleaned, and sewed slippers for nuns. He was infinitely merciful, quickly responded to the needs of poor people, often asked the nuns to give the last meal to the poor visitors. The nuns sometimes handed out the last things they had, but after the prayers of the elder, the Lord would send
the merciful people who would bring foodstuffs or monetary donations to the monastery the very next day.
   The spiritual children of the Elder Nectarios told that through the prayers of elder Nektarios not only the situation on the island began to change, but also even the climate had changed. Farmers had asked the elder for prayerful help repeatedly during a drought; and after the prayer of Bishop Nektarios, the plentiful rain descended to the earth, and the harvest was saved. Many believers venerated the Elder as a saint: believers said that they saw his “light” during his prayer. On November 8, 1920, the Lord took the soul of Bishop Nectarios to his Heavenly abode.
   Many miraculous healings happened at the grave of Elder Nectarios. Residents of the Greek island of Aegina, through the prayers of the righteous man, were protected during the German occupation in World War 2. After the war, the former German commandant admitted that the military pilots, who flew to bomb the island of Crete, were flying past the island of Aegina and did not see it (despite the good visibility and the cloudless sky). On November 5, 1961, Bishop Nectarios was canonized as a Saint of the Greek Orthodox Church (Saint Nektarios of Aegina).

Kontakion 1
In joy of heart let us hymn with songs the newly revealed star of Orthodoxy, the newly erected bulwark of the Church; for, glorified by the activity of the Spirit, he pours forth the abundant grace of healings upon those who cry:
Rejoice, O Father Nektarios, model of patience and lover of virtue.

 Saint Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)

   Saint Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky) (1877–1961) was a brilliant surgeon who rendered accurate diagnoses without fail. He also possessed a gift of the Holy Spirit—the gift of healing through prayer. Patients deemed incurable were healed after visiting Vladyka Luke. According to eyewitness accounts, during the final years of his life, even as he was losing his sight, Vladyka continued to aid the suffering by offering consultations and interceding in prayer for those with terminal illnesses. One day, a twelve-year-old boy was brought before the Vladyka. A tumor had formed on the sick boy’s neck, hanging down onto his chest. Vladyka asked the boy’s mother not to heed the doctors who were insisting on surgery, but rather to return to him in three days. Three days later, the grateful mother brought her son, who was now completely healed, to the hierarch to receive his blessing.

The Life the Holy Hierarch & Confessor Luke

   On April 27, 1877, in Kerch, a son was born into the large family of a Catholic pharmacist, Felix Voyno-Yasenetsky. The boy was named Valentin and in the late 1880s, the family moved to Kyiv. While the future Archbishop’s father was a Catholic, his wife, Maria, had been born into an Orthodox family. Consequently, she raised their children in the Orthodox tradition. A deep faith came to Valentin after he undertook a thoughtful reading of the New Testament, a copy of which had been gifted to him by his school principal at his high school graduation.
   From childhood, Valentin had an inclination toward drawing; he even intended to enroll in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, yet at the same time, he aspired to become a rural teacher or a medical assistant. In 1898, Valentin entered the Medical Faculty of Kyiv University, and in 1903, he successfully graduated. He was destined to become not only a remarkable surgeon but also, having taken monastic vows in his later years under the name Luke, to become a spiritual mentor and healer to many people. On March 30, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, Valentin departed for the Far East as part of a Red Cross detachment. The young surgeon began his medical practice in Chita where he performed highly complex operations with flawless precision.
   In 1904, Valentin married Anna Vasilievna Lanskaya, a nurse. Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds moved to the district town of Ardatov, and later relocated to the village of Verkhny Lubazh. Patients from neighboring provinces traveled to seek out the young surgeon. On one occasion, following a successful operation performed by Valentin, a young beggar regained his sight. Before long, the healed youth gathered blind people from all over the surrounding region and to many of them he restored their vision. In the hospitals where he worked, Valentin frequently encountered severe complications following the administration of general anesthesia. The advent of analgesic agents for local anesthesia led the surgeon to recognize the need to explore the field of regional analgesia; consequently, from 1907 to 1916, he gathered material for his doctoral dissertation. Valentin moved to Moscow and secured a position at the clinic of the prominent scientist P.I. Dyakonov.
   In 1916 he wrote, and successfully defended, his doctoral dissertation which would prove to be of much importance and relevance. During the early years of his career he published many scientific treatises and eventually became the head surgeon and professor of surgery at the hospital in Tashkent in March 1917. From 1917 to 1923 he lived in Tashkent and worked in the New City Hospital as a surgeon.
   In 1919 his beloved wife died from tuberculosis, leaving their four children without a mother's care, which was a severe trial for Doctor Voyno-Yasenetsky, but he never remarried .
   By the providence of God, Valentin’s life unfolded in such a way that in February 1922—following the death of his wife and with the blessing of Bishop Innocent of Tashkent and Turkestan— he was ordained a deacon. Just one week later, he was ordained a priest. Father Valentin was assigned to a church in Tashkent, where he served and pleased God. At the same time, he did not give up his medical practice or his teaching.  In 1923, Father Valentin, moved by zeal and piety, was tonsured as a monk. Bishop Andrew (Ukhtomsky) of Ufa, after listening to Valentine’s sermons, chose for him the name of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke. Thus, Father Valentin became Hieromonk Luke. At the end of May, Hieromonk Luke was secretly consecrated as Bishop of Penjikent. A few days later, he was arrested because of his support for Patriarch Tikhon.
   For some time Saint Luke languished in the dungeon of the Tashkent prison until he was taken to Moscow. He was allowed to live in a private apartment for a short time before he was taken into custody again: first in Butyrka prison, and then to Taganskaya prison. Then the sufferer was sent into exile to Yeniseisk where he served at home and was allowed to operate. There, he saved the health of more than one resident. Several times the Saint was transferred from one place to another. The Saint recalled an encounter while in   Yeniseisk: staying in a house where divine services were being held, he unexpectedly encountered an elderly monk he did not know, who, upon seeing him, froze in astonishment. When Bishop Luke asked him what was the matter, the monk replied, “Ten years ago, I had a dream… I dreamt that I was in a church of God, and an unknown hierarch was ordaining me as a hieromonk. Just now, when you entered, I saw that very hierarch.” “The monk made a prostration before me, and during the Liturgy, I ordained him a hieromonk. Ten years earlier, when he had last seen me, I was a district surgeon in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Yet in the eyes of God, I was already a bishop at that very time…. Such are the inscrutable ways of the Lord,” Vladyka Luke recalled.
   Bishop Luke used every opportunity to serve God and to heal people, and after the end of his exile, he returned to Tashkent and served in the local church. But the Soviet authorities were not going to leave the bishop alone. Following his very first successful operations, news of the gifted surgeon spread like wildfire throughout the entire region. Denunciations began to be written against the physician—a man who recited prayers before every surgery and maintained that it was God who healed the sick through his hands.
   In May of 1931, he was subjected to another arrest and spent several months in prison after which he was exiled to Arkhangelsk for a period of three years. While in Arkhangelsk he continued to treat patients. In December 1937, he was arrested again. The Saint was interrogated for several days in a row, demanding that he sign certain protocols... He went on a hunger strike, flatly refusing to sign what his Christian conscience could not accept. A new sentence followed, and a new exile, this time to Siberia. From 1937 to 1941, the convicted Hierarch lived in the town of Bolshaya Murta, in Krasnoyarsk Territory. At the beginning of World War II, he was relocated to Krasnoyarsk and was involved in treating the wounded. In 1943, the Saint was appointed as the Archbishop the Krasnoyarsk, and a year later he was appointed as the Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk. During this period, the attitude of the authorities toward the Saint seemed to have changed. In February 1946, he was awarded the Stalin Prize for scientific developments in the field of medicine.
    On June 11, 1961, the Lord called Saint Luke to His heavenly Kingdom. His body was buried in the Simferopol cemetery. On November 22, 1995, Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea was numbered among the locally venerated Saints of Crimea. On March 20, 1996, Saint Luke's relics were transferred to the Holy Trinity church in Simferopol. At the last Memorial Service, His Eminence Bishop Lazarus, Archbishop of Simferopol and the Crimea noted: "For the first time on the Crimean land there is an event of exceptional importance. The radiant personality of Archbishop Luke seems to us today as a saving beacon, toward which each of us must direct our gaze." A part of his relics was also given to Sagmata Monastery in Greece, and throughout the world, where they continue to work countless miracles. In May 1946, Saint Luke was made Archbishop of Crimea and Simferopol. At this time his eye disease progressed, and in 1958 he became completely blind. However, as eyewitnesses recall, the Saint not only did not lose his courage, nor did he lose the ability to come to church on his own, to venerate shrines, and to participate in the Divine Services.

St. Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev)

   Archbishop Seraphim (1881–1950) was born in Ryazan and was given the name Nikolay Sobolev. His mother, Maria was a woman of strong faith and had eleven children, but the majority of them died at an early age. Once, when Nikolay was studying at a Holy parochial school, his arithmetic teacher was showing a very complex problem on the blackboard. Once he demonstrated it, he asked the students whether they understood. In return, there was only silence from the class. The teacher asked the same question more than once, and didn't receive a satisfying answer. Angered, he screamed “so, whichever one of you is stupid, come to the front of the class!” Nikolay, immediately got up, and stood in front of him. Surprised, the teacher asked, “Is it really you, Sobolev, that is stupid?” “Yes, I'm stupid” replied Nikolay. “You are not stupid, you are an intelligent, good boy, go back to your seat...”
   Nikolay was an excellent student, and he finished school as the top student in the class. After he finished parish school, he attended the Ryazan Theological Seminary. Before his last year in the seminary, Nikolay experienced a sudden inspiration to dedicate all of himself to the Lord. With tears in his eyes, he began to feverishly pray, “My Savior! Help me write this essay as best as I could, and I give you my word that I'll be a monk and belong to you from now on, with all of my being.” From that moment, his essays were always the best in class. Once he graduated from the seminary, his mother, feeling that his health was too poor to attend the Academy, put all of her efforts into making him into a priest. Finally, in mid-August of 1904, she said, “all of our efforts to find you a wife and urge you to become a priest, didn’t get anywhere. Now it is time for you to be in charge of your own destiny.” To this he answered, “if it is so, then let's go to the cathedral, to our Mother, the Queen of Heaven, to her miraculous icon ‘Bogolybskaya,’ and ask the Mother of God, for her to point out my own life’s route.” His mother readily agreed. However, the miraculous icon was already gone from the cathedral as it was on the way back to Zimarovo. In route to the cathedral, they met a companion of Nikolay’s, and he advised him to go to the Academy.
   After receiving his mother's blessings, Nikolay was on his way to the Academy. The first entrance exam was in written form. He got the best grade for his essay, but after that, the next part had to be demonstrative, and for this he was unprepared. The night before the exam, he sat and wept - of 150 questions, he only knew one. In tears, Nikolay, begged the Lord and Savior, that he would get the one question that he knew how to answer. The next morning, he went to the Academy’s church and gave an earthly bow to the Icon of Our Savior, and he asked for his request once again and went to the exams. The Lord answered his prayers, and was given the same exact question that he begged the Lord he would receive. After getting an excellent grade, he thanked the Lord and went on to study for the next exam. The next exam was about Church history, and there were 250 questions, and Nikolay was only good at answering one question, so he once again begged our Savior to get the same exact question he knew well. With tears, he begged: “Savior of Mine, Joy of mine! You are merciful, omnipotent, what must it take for you to answer my request once again? You see that I only know how to answer one question, and the rest, I do not know. Let it be, that I get the same question. Otherwise, I will fail, and will have to go home, and that will distress my mother.” Afterwards, the young man went to his room, and fell asleep in tears. In the morning, before the exam, he was very worried; after all, this was the day that determined his fate. When they called Nikolay to the test table, he took out the ticket with the question he had hoped for. He answered questions on the ticket so well, that the professor decided to give thanks to the Ryazan Seminary for such an excellent student.
   In the spring of 1907, Nikolay Sobolev attended a service conducted by Father John of Kronstadt at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt. He later recalled the event: "Father John blessed me... The Father placed his hands upon my head in the sign of the cross, lifted his eyes toward heaven, and, in a moving voice, pronounced: 'May the blessing of God rest upon you.' I immediately felt as though a fiery spark had descended upon my head and coursed down to my very feet. A singular, profound joy filled my heart and my entire being."
   In January 1908, Nikolai was tonsured a monk, receiving the name Seraphim (in honor of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov). A month later, he was deemed worthy to be ordained a hierodeacon, and that spring, he was ordained a hieromonk.
   In September 1908, Father Seraphim defended his candidate’s dissertation on the topic: "The Teaching of the Holy Fathers of the 5th and 6th Centuries on Humility, According to the Philokalia." In 1908, Father Seraphim began teaching at the Pastoral School in Zhytomyr and was subsequently transferred to the position of Superintendent of the Kaluga Spiritual School. During this period, he frequently visited Optina Hermitage and conversed with the now-glorified Elders Anatoly, Barsanuphius, and Joseph.

“This is a miraculous catch!”

   In 1910, on Christmas break, Father Seraphim went to his mother's city of Peremishl. His mother was really happy, but had no idea what to feed her lovely son, for he did not eat meat, and to find fish in the city during the winter was impossible. So, tearfully she turned to the icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. After praying to his image, she put on her sheepskin coat and stepped outside. From the side she saw a man walking by very quickly. She called to the man and he came up to her. “Are you a fisherman?” she asked. “Yes, I am, and so what?” “My son will be coming soon, he is a monk, and he does not eat meat, just fish. Can you go up to the river, and catch some fish, I will pay you anything.” “Do you think fish can be caught at this time? All the fish are at the bottom right now, it's 25 degrees below zero, right now.” But the mother still insisted. “My son will pray to God for you.” The man finally agreed. He went to the river Oka, and it took him an hour to just break the ice, then after crossing himself and praying, just like the mother taught him, he put down his fishnet and said “My Lord, for Father Seraphim, your slave, send some fish.” Once the net went down in the water, the net started moving, and the man pulled out a big fish. He brought it to the mother who happily offered him money. The man, however, sharply refused, saying, “Mother, I don't need anything, this is a miraculous catch, tell your son to pray to God, for Peter, his slave; this is a miracle!”
   In 1911, Father Seraphim was appointed Inspector of the Kostroma Seminary. In 1912, Hieromonk Seraphim became an Archimandrite and Rector of the Voronezh Spiritual Seminary.
   Following the revolution of 1918, the seminary was closed, and Father Seraphim relocated to the Monastery of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk. When Red Army troops entered Voronezh, he fled the city in an open coal car. Upon reaching the Crimean Peninsula, he was appointed Rector of the Taurida Theological Seminary by a decree of the Supreme Church Administration of Southern Russia. On October 1, 1920 in the Cathedral of Simferopol, Archimandrite Seraphim was consecrated a bishop, and soon after this he had to leave his native land. When the Red Army advanced into Crimea, Bishop Seraphim departed for Constantinople, subsequently relocating to Bulgaria.
    During his lifetime, witnesses said, Archbishop Seraphim was always understanding of people's limitations, and he healed people's heartaches and soul wounds with love. He cared for poor and ailing Russian people:  arranged free hospital admission for some, placed others in homes for the disabled, secured financial aid for a third group, and simply fed yet others at his own home. At that time, Russian monks on Mount Athos were on the verge of starvation, as Russia no longer provided them with support. The Vladyka established a committee to collect aid for them and, in his sermons, urged his parishioners to donate to this holy cause. In Bulgaria, people thought of him as a gifted elder, to whom the Lord helped see sins of the people. Through his prayers, people were healed and single people found their soulmates. Many students, right before exams, went to the temple to ask the elder to pray for them, and after receiving his blessing, passed their exams.
   In 1934, Bishop Seraphim was elevated to the rank of Archbishop. Archbishop Seraphim left this world to our Lord in 1950, February 26, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Before his death, Vladyka said to his spiritual children, “If I find boldness before the Lord, I will not leave you.” And in fact, the night after the burial, Vladyka appeared in a dream to one of his spiritual sons, a monk, and said, “Why are you weeping? I have not died, I am alive!”
   Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev) recounted that when they began documenting testimonies regarding the assistance rendered by Vladyka Seraphim, testimonies corroborated by medical records, "There were more than a hundred recorded posthumous miracles alone attributed to his prayers. The majority of these were instances of miraculous healing, including many cures from cancer, as well as cases involving the gift of a child and the resolution of family matters. It has also been noted that the prayers of this Hierarch aid schoolchildren and university students in passing their exams."
   A woman named Maria Krusteva from the city of Stara Zagora suffered from a leg that had swollen so severely that she was unable to wear any footwear. In Sofia, a doctor prescribed medication, but she could not afford to purchase it due to the high cost. Before heading home, Maria spent a long time praying at the tomb of Vladyka Seraphim, located in the crypt of St. Nicholas Church. She boarded the bus with one foot shod in a shoe and the other clad only in a sock. Yet, by the time she reached her hometown, the swelling had completely subsided. A young woman named Kamelia Stamatova from Burgas testified in a letter that her grandmother had been diagnosed with an aggressive, rapidly progressing form of cancer. The entire family prayed to Vladyka Seraphim for help. A month later, a medical examination revealed that not a single trace of the disease remained. A young man, A.P., graduated from a university in Sofia with a specialization in Russian philology. He worked in his field for a time, but was soon laid off along with several colleagues due to staff reductions. He struggled unsuccessfully to find suitable employment. An acquaintance of his mother suggested that he turn to Archbishop Seraphim in prayer and ask for his assistance. He followed this advice and, quite unexpectedly, he secured a teaching position at a school.
   In February 26. 2002, the glorification of Bishop Seraphim occurred in the Cathedral “Dormition of Blessed Virgin Mary” in the city of Sofia. In February 2016, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a decision to glorify Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Boguchar as a saint.

Troparion to Saint Seraphim, Archbishop of Boguchar
 Tone 4
Ever inflamed with divine zeal, / thou didst appear as a pillar of Orthodoxy, / shining forth in the city of Sofia; / and through thy piety, thou didst lead many people unto Christ. / O good shepherd, Hierarch Seraphim, / pray unto Christ God // that our souls may be saved.
 
Saint Nicholas of Japan, Equal-to-the-Apostles

   Saint Nicholas (Kasatkin) Equal of the Apostles, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Missionary, Founder of the Orthodox Church in Japan, honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. (Name Day: May 9).
   Saint Nicholas (1836–1912) (named John Kasatkin by his parents) was born on August 1, 1836 in the village of Berezovsky Pogost, Belsky District, Smolensk Province into the family of a deacon. He graduated from the Belsk Theological School and the Smolensk Theological Seminary (1857). Being among the best students, he was recommended for the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. There, he studied until 1860 when he was awarded a Ph. D in Theology and given the post of rector of the church at the Russian consulate in the city of Hakodate, Japan. On June 23, 1860, he was tonsured by the rector of the Academy, Bishop Nektarios (Nadezhdin), and received the name Nicholas after Saint Nicholas of Myra. On June 30, he was ordained a Hieromonk. He arrived at Hakodate on July 2, 1861. During the first years of his stay in Japan, on his own, he studied the Japanese language, culture, and way of life.
The first Japanese person to convert to Orthodoxy, despite the fact that conversion to Christianity was forbidden by law, was the adopted son of a Shinto cleric, Takuma Sawabe, a former samurai who was baptized with two other Japanese in the spring of 1868. In 1870, through his intercession, a Russian ecclesiastical mission was opened in Japan with its center in Tokyo. On March 17, 1880, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was assigned as vicar of Reval, then vicar of the Diocese of Riga. He was consecrated as a Bishop on March 30, 1880, in Holy Trinity Cathedral at Alexander Nevsky Lavra.   In the course of his missionary work, Father Nicholas translated the Holy Scriptures and other liturgical books into Japanese. He established a theological seminary, six theological schools for girls and boys, a library, a shelter and other institutions. He published the Orthodox journal Church Herald in Japanese. According to his report to the Holy Synod, by the end of 1890, the Orthodox Church in Japan numbered 216 communities with 18,625 Christians in them. On March 8, 1891, the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Tokyo, called Nikorai-do by the Japanese, was consecrated.    On March 24, 1906, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Tokyo and All Japan. In the same year, the Kyoto Vicariate was founded. In 1911, when half a century of Saint  Nicholas' missionary work was completed, there were already 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which included 33,017 Orthodox laymen.
Archbishop Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan, fell asleep in the Lord on February 3, 1912 at the age of 76. After the Hierarch's repose, the Japanese Emperor Meiji personally gave permission for him to be buried within the city, at the Yanaka cemetery. In Japan, Saint Nicholas is revered as a great righteous man and a special intercessor before the Lord. He was canonized on April 10, 1970, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate. Saint Nicholas is also commemorated on the Sunday before July 28 (Synaxis of the Smolensk Saints).
 
Saint Nicholas of Serbia (Velimirovich)

   Nikolai Velimirovich was born in 1881 into the large peasant family of Dragomir and Katerina Velimirovich in a small Serbian village. His mother subsequently took monastic vows. After completing gymnasium, the young Nikolai Velimirovich entered the Belgrade Theological Seminary. Upon his graduation from the seminary, he began working as a village schoolteacher. Subsequently, he received a scholarship to pursue studies in Switzerland and Germany, and later in England. During his life he successfully mastered several foreign languages. Upon his return to Belgrade, the future Bishop was struck by a severe illness. During his sickness, he made a vow to God to dedicate his life to Him, to the Holy Orthodox Church, and to his fellow human beings. This decision was soon followed by Nikolai’s miraculous recovery from a grave illness. At Rakovica Monastery, located near Belgrade, he received the monastic tonsure with the name Nikolai, and was subsequently ordained.
   In 1910, Hieromonk Nikolai was already pursuing his studies in Russia at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. He visited the Orthodox shrines of the Russian land, and during this journey, he acquired that love for Russia and the Russian people which would accompany him throughout the remainder of his life. In 1912, he arrived in Bosnia—a territory that had been annexed by Austria-Hungary shortly before. There, in Sarajevo, his speeches stirred the enthusiasm of the Serbian youth and the leaders of the Serbian national liberation movement. He uttered the famous words: "Through their immense love and great hearts, the Bosnian Serbs have annexed Serbia to Bosnia." This provoked the wrath of the Austrian occupation authorities; Hieromonk Nikolai was removed from a train bound for Belgrade and detained in Zemun for several days. Subsequently, the Austrian authorities forbade him from traveling to Zagreb.
   Even at that early stage, the future Bishop began to emerge as the de facto spiritual guide of the Orthodox Chetnik liberation movement.   In 1920, Hieromonk Nikolai became the Bishop of Ohrid, in Macedonia. The Bishop traveled to the most remote corners of his diocese, met with the faithful, assisted in the restoration of churches and monasteries destroyed by the war, and founded orphanages.  The Bishop devoted all his free time to prayer and literary endeavors. He slept very little. It was here that his works—such as Thoughts on Good and Evil, Homilies, Missionary Letters, and other remarkable writings—came into the world, one after another.  Bishop Nikolai established such charitable homes for children in many Serbian cities; in the pre-war years, these homes provided shelter for approximately 600 children. It is known that during the German occupation—while he was held under German surveillance within a monastery—Bishop Nikolai saved a Jewish family, a mother and daughter, from imminent execution. Indeed, he even transported the young girl by concealing her inside a sack of provisions.
    In 1944, Bishop Nikolai and Patriarch Gavrilo were imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp. On May 8, 1945, the prisoners were liberated by the advancing American army. While in the camp, the bishop wrote the book "Through Prison Bars", in which he calls upon Christians to repent and reflects on why God permitted such terrible calamities to befall humanity. Together with his people, Bishop Nikolai endured terrible suffering during the war years. Yet, God preserved him amidst these tribulations.
  Always distinguished by his deep love for the Russian people, he fittingly concluded his earthly journey in the Russian Monastery of Saint Tikhon in Pennsylvania. He reposed in the Lord during private prayer in his cell on March 18, 1956. Vladyka’s body was transferred to the Serbian Monastery of Saint Sava in Libertyville, where it was laid to rest. The popular veneration of him as a saint, which had begun during his lifetime, continued and intensified after his death. The ecclesiastical glorification of Saint Nikolai of Serbia occurred on March 18, 1987.  In 1991, his holy relics were transferred from the United States to his native Leli;. The transfer of the Vladyka’s relics became a nationwide celebration, and the day of the transfer was entered into the church calendar. The church housing this great shrine attracts an ever-increasing number of pilgrims each year. By a decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, dated October 6, 2003, the name of Saint Nicholas of Serbia was included in the Menologion of the Russian Orthodox Church, with his feast day celebrated on April 20/May 3 (the day of the transfer of his relics). Orthodox Christians throughout the world—and particularly in Serbia and Russia—turn to Vladyka for prayerful intercession.

Saint Tikhon (Bellavin) - Apostle to America

"May God teach every one of us to strive for His truth, and for the good of the Holy Church, rather than something for our own sake." St. Tikhon

   St. Tikhon (Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin) (1865—1925) was born on January 19, 1865 into the family of Ioann Bellavin, a rural priest of the Toropetz district of the Pskov diocese. His childhood and adolescence were spent in the village. When Vasily was still a boy, his father had a revelation: Vasily would become a great man. The prophecy proved true. From 1878 to 1883, Vasily studied at the Pskov Theological Seminary. His fellow students liked and respected him for his piety, brilliant progress in studies, and constant readiness to help them; they often turned to him for explanations of lessons. Vasily was called "bishop" and "patriarch" by his classmates.
   In 1888, at the age of 23, Vasily graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy as a layman, and returned to the Pskov Seminary as an instructor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology. He led an austere and chaste life, and in 1891, when he turned 26, he took monastic vows. Nearly the whole town gathered for the ceremony. He embarked on this new way of life consciously and deliberately, desiring to dedicate himself entirely to the service of the Church. The meek and humble young man was given the name Tikhon in honor of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.
   He was transferred from the Pskov Seminary to the Kholm Theological Seminary in 1892, and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Archimandrite Tikhon was consecrated Bishop of Lublin on October 19, 1897, and returned to Kholm for a year as Vicar Bishop of the Kholm Diocese. Bishop Tikhon zealously devoted his energy to the establishment of the new vicariate… On September 14, 1898, Bishop Tikhon was made Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. As head of the Orthodox Church in America, Bishop Tikhon of the Aleutian Islands and North America, worked to build churches, translate liturgical texts into English, and establish Orthodox parishes for immigrants and converts across the USA. "Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska" became the "Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America" in 1900.  Both clergy and laity loved their Archipastor.
   On May 22, 1901, he blessed the cornerstone for St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York, and was also involved in establishing other churches. On November 9, 1902, he consecrated the church of St. Nicholas in Brooklyn for the Syrian Orthodox immigrants. Two weeks later, he consecrated St. Nicholas Cathedral in NY. He did much to promote the spread of Orthodoxy, and to improve his vast Diocese. In 1905, the American Mission was made an Archdiocese, and St. Tikhon was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.
   In 1907, he returned to Russia, and was appointed to serve in Yaroslavl, where he quickly won the affection of his flock.  He spoke simply to his subordinates, never resorting to a peremptory or overbearing tone. When he had to reprimand someone, he did so in a good-natured, sometimes joking manner, which encouraged the person to correct his mistakes. After his transfer to Vilnius (Lithuania) on December 22, 1913, he did much in terms of material support for various charitable institutions.  In the summer of 1915, German troops launched an offensive in Lithuania. At the end of August 1915, the city of Vilnius fell to the Germans. Archbishop Tikhon was forced to leave his Diocese.
   After the February Revolution and formation of a new Synod, St. Tikhon became one of its members. On June 21, 1917, the Moscow Diocesan Congress of clergy and laity elected him as their ruling Bishop. On August 15, 1917, a local council was opened in Moscow, and Archbishop Tikhon was raised to the dignity of Metropolitan, and then elected as chairman of the council. The council had as its aim to restore the life of the Russian Orthodox Church on strictly canonical principles, and its primary concern was the restoration of the Patriarchate. All council members would select three candidates, and then a lot would reveal the will of God. The council members chose three candidates. The lot with the name of Patriarch Tikhon was drawn by Elder Alexy (Hieromonk Alexy Soloviev (1846-1928)) of the Zosima Hermitage. This occurred on November 18, 1917, at the All-Russian Local Council in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, after a secret vote and a prayer service before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. (The position of Patriarch was brought back in 1917 after being abolished for 200 years.)
   St. Tikhon did not change after becoming the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. In accepting the will of the council, he foresaw that his ministry would be filled with affliction and tears, but through all his suffering, he remained the same accessible, unassuming, and kind person. All who met St. Tikhon were surprised by his accessibility, simplicity and modesty. He bore a very heavy cross. The situation was complicated by external circumstances: the change of the political system, by the accession to power of the godless regime, by hunger, and civil war. This was a time when Church property was being confiscated, when clergy were subjected to court trials and persecutions, and Christ's Church endured oppression.
   Patriarch Tikhon called his flock to fulfill the commandments of Christ, and to attain spiritual rebirth through repentance. His irreproachable life was an example to all.
   On July 12, 1919 (New Style), an assassination attempt was made on Patriarch Tikhon. As he was leaving the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a woman (later rumors suggested that a man was hiding under woman's clothing) stabbed the saint in the side.     The Patriarch was saved by the leather belt on his cassock, which softened the blow. On September 25, 1919, when the civil war was at its height, Patriarch Tikhon issued a message to the clergy urging them to stay away from political struggle.
   The summer of 1921 brought a severe famine to the Volga region. In August, Patriarch Tikhon issued a message to the Russian people and to the people of the world, calling them to help the famine victims. He gave his blessing for voluntary donations of church valuables, which were not being directly used in liturgical services. However, on February 23, 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee published a decree making all valuables subject to confiscation.
   According to the 73rd Apostolic Canon, actions such as this decree were regarded as sacrilege, and the Patriarch could not approve total confiscation. The Patriarch's message was viewed as sabotage -   he was imprisoned from April 1922 until June 1923.
   Being a good pastor, who devoted himself entirely to the church's cause, he called upon the clergy to do the same: "Devote all your energy to preaching the word of God and the truth of Christ, especially today, when unbelief and atheism are audaciously attacking the Church of Christ. May the God of peace and love be with all of you!"
His concern for the organization of Church life, and sleepless nights combined to undermine his strength and his health. 
   On May 6, armed guards appeared at the Trinity Compound, where the Patriarch's residence was located. Patriarch Tikhon was informed that he was under house arrest. On May 19, he was taken under guard to the Donskoy Monastery and placed under arrest in a small two-story house next to the gate church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.
   In his final address, Patriarch Tikhon said: "My children! All Orthodox Russians! All Christians! Only on the rock of healing evil with good will the indestructible glory and greatness of our Holy Orthodox Church be built, and her Holy Name and the purity of the deeds of her children and servants will be elusive even to her enemies. Follow Christ! Do not betray Him. Do not succumb to temptation, do not destroy your souls in the blood of vengeance. Do not be defeated by evil. Conquer evil with good!"
   Since the spring of 1923, preparations for Patriarch Tikhon's trial had been underway. An indictment had already been drawn up, demanding that the Patriarch should be sentenced to death by firing squad for "counterrevolutionary activity." During these days, in May 1923, Patriarch Tikhon was returned from the GPU internal prison to the Donskoy Monastery. On June 27, 1923, Patriarch Tikhon was finally released from custody. In 1924, he began to feel unwell.
   He checked into a hospital, but would leave it on Sundays and Feast Days in order to conduct services. On Sunday, April 5, 1925, Patriarch Tikhon served his last Liturgy, and died two days later. Almost a million people came to say farewell to the Patriarch. St. Tikhon, the eleventh Patriarch of Moscow, who was primate of the Russian Church for seven and a half years.
   On September 26/October 9, 1989, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Patriarch Tikhon and numbered him among the saints. For nearly seventy years, St.Tikhon's relics were believed lost, but in February 1992, they were discovered in a concealed place in the Donskoy Monastery.
   In May 1991, monastic life was resumed in Donskoy Monastery. In 1992, after a fire in the Small Cathedral of Donskoy Monastery, excavations under the church floor during renovations led to the discovery of a coffin containing the incorrupt relics of St. Patriarch Tikhon in the crypt. On February 22, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' celebrated a prayer service at the Saint's coffin, and on April 5, 1992, the holy relics were ceremoniously transferred to the Great Cathedral of Donskoy Monastery. (Despite the 100% humidity in the crypt, the holy relics of Patriarch Tikhon, having lain in the ground for 67 years, were almost completely preserved. His right hand, most of his torso, part of his legs, his hair, beard, and all his bones were completely preserved.)  (Days of remembrance: February 9: the day of the uncovering of his relics; March 25: the day of his death; September 26: the day of his glorification; November 5: the day of his election to the Patriarchal throne; Patriarch Tikhon is listed in the Synaxis of Moscow Saints; Moscow and St. Petersburg Saints; and New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church).

Prayer to St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
   O our good shepherd, holy and great Patriarch Tikhon... We believe that you, standing before the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity, have great boldness in your prayers before the Lord. Look even now upon us, your sinful and unworthy children, for to you, who have great boldness before the Creator of all things, we now fall down and fervently pray: beseech the Lord, that He may give us the determination to acquire the piety of our fathers, which you have acquired from your youth. You were a zealous defender and guardian of the true faith in your life, and help us also to keep the Orthodox faith unshakably...  Amen.


Bishop Basil (Rodzianko)

   We would also like to mention Bishop Basil (Rodzianko)  (1915-1999):  Vladyka converted over three thousand people to Orthodoxy. One time, a group of young protestants, who studied the ancient confessions, asked Vladyka Basil to conduct a lecture on Orthodoxy. Two years later, the circle of those studying Orthodoxy expanded to three thousand; in time, all the students became Orthodox. The sermons conducted by Vladyka Basil in Washington were broadcast to Russian radio stations, and in Moscow as he preached live on air.
   According to the testimony of his spiritual children, Vladyka had "humbly endured all unjust oppression” and “defended his offenders when someone judged them.” He always called upon his spiritual children not to lose heart and to pray instead, pointing to the many wonderful events that would happen in his life right after a fervent prayer. He observed that sometimes, when one’s prayer is answered, people forget to thank the Lord, thinking that it is just a coincidence, yet one must thank the Lord for everything. He would say that coincidences do not just happen, citing the words of Metropolitan Anthony: "When I stop praying, coincidences stop happening."
   The Book "Unholy Saints" by Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), now Metropolitan,  mentions that before taking the monastic vows, the future bishop asked his spiritual father, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh,  who was preparing him for episcopal service in America: “Whom should I be in obedience to?” He understood how to fulfil the vow of chastity and the vow of non-possession, but it was unclear to him how he would fulfil the monastic vow of obedience as a bishop, especially with respect to leading people. The wise Vladyka Anthony answered him this way: “You will be in obedience to everyone, and anyone you meet on your journey through life. As long as that person’s request is within your power to grant, and not in contradiction with the Scriptures.” For the rest of his life, Vladyka tried to fulfill this obedience.
   The following accounts are a few examples when Vladyka “gave all of himself in obedience to everyone who addressed him.” In 1988, when Vladyka Basil was going down the stairs of a five-story building, running late for the theological conference, he met an elderly woman who asked him to bring communion to her dying sister in the hospital. Despite being in a hurry for the conference, where he was to deliver a report in the presence of His Holiness the Patriarch and other prominent hierarchs, Vladyka agreed.44 When his companion objected, reminding him that they were late, Vladyka replied: “What can be more important for a priest than to bring communion to a dying man?” Despite arriving late for the conference and having his report left unheard, he remained true to himself.
   In the late 1980s, in one of his visits to Moscow, Vladyka accepted an invitation from a young priest to come serve in his parish. When it turned out that it would be necessary to go under Kostroma to the village of Gorelets, Archimandrite Tikhon, who was accompanying him at that time, began to dissuade Vladyka from going. Knowing that it would take a long time to get there, Vladyka Basil was not afraid of the journey, and so all those accompanying him had to follow him to the Russian countryside.
   On the way to Gorelets, at the crossroads of country roads, they had to stop unexpectedly. There was a truck on the side of the road, and in the middle, near an inverted motorcycle, an elderly man lay dead with his son standing over him. Vladyka came up to him and asked the boy if his father was a believer. The young man replied that his father was an Orthodox believer, and although he never went to church, he always listened to religious broadcasts from London, remarking that Rodzianko was the only person he believed. When Vladyka shared his last name, the son of the deceased was shocked. After reading the prayer for the departing soul, Vladyka said: “God’s Providence brought me here from the other end of the world, on this exact day and hour, to this crossroad, in order to give tribute to the one who believed in me, a sinner. Let us pray for his soul…” And so, they sang a requiem over the deceased. That day, Vladyka thanked the Lord for giving him the opportunity to be at that crossroad on that precise day, e to pray for the repose of the soul of a man who considered him to be his spiritual father.

   Vladyka Basil (Vladimir Mikhailovich Rodzianko) (1915-1999) was born on May 22, 1915 in a large family of Mikhail Mikhailovich Rodzianko in the estate of Otrada. (His grandfather, Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko was chairman of the third and fourth State Duma of the Russian Empire. When Basil’s grandfather became aware that by decision of the revolutionary government “the whole family, to the last grandson of the former chairman of the State Duma” was sentenced to death, he was forced to leave his homeland with his family and settle in the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.)
    In 1925, when Vladimir was ten years old, he entered the First Classical Russian-Serbian High School (Gymnasium) in Belgrade. He often served at the altar of the Russian Trinity Church in Belgrade, where he met his future spiritual mentor, Hieromonk John (Maximovitch),  future Archbishop of San Francisco, and later glorified as a Saint.7 Father John, who loved children very much, carefully healed Vladimir’s spiritual wounds. Vladyka Basil recalled: “He managed to show me another world, bright and wonderful, a kind of paradise we used to live in and from which we were expelled. A new life began for me…”
   Later, in one of his sermons, Vladyka Basil would say: “Love one another. Who knows, any drop of love for one's neighbor may lead him not to the left, but to the right side…. Love, whatever it may be, has the power to set us on the right path, and not on the left, on Judgment day, at the time of ultimate separation between good and evil. No matter how difficult this life is… if there is at least a small seed of pure and sacrificial love in the heart, then all is not lost, there is possibility for salvation.”
   Upon graduation from high school in 1933, Vladimir Rodzianko enrolled in the Department of Theology of Belgrade University, from which he graduated in 1937.  One year later, he married Mary (Maria) Kulibayeva, daughter of a priest. The same year, he began work on a dissertation at Oxford. Between 1937 and 1939, Vladimir Rodzianko continued his education at the postgraduate school at the University of London, where he studied Western religions and theology. 
   In 1939, Vladimir received his diploma. He was invited to give a course of lectures on Russian theology at Oxford. In early 1940, he had to return to Yugoslavia. That same year, he was ordained a deacon, and on March 30th, 1941, he was ordained a priest in the Russian Holy Trinity Church in Belgrade. At the end of World War II, Father Vladimir was the rector of a rural parish and secretary of the Red Cross. Through his efforts, assistance was provided to many innocents of Hungarian and German descent whose relatives lived in other countries. For this, he was arrested and charged with “subversion in aiding foreign countries.” Father Vladimir relied on God in everything, remembering the words of the Gospel of Matthew (10:19-20): “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious about how you are to speak and what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that hour, For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Martyrdom for Faith

“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you as well” (John 15:20).
   In Serbia, after the war, icons of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the icons of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Savior began to appear on the windows of many houses. The authorities of Yugoslav dictator Tito began to seize and break windows with miraculous images, cruelly persecuting those who would talk about the miraculous faith-strengthening icons. Through the centuries of persecution and genocide, the Serbian people persevered.
   In July 1949, during the reign of the Communists, a miraculous icon depicting two evangelists appeared on the window in the village council of the Yugoslav village where Father Vladimir served. Many people gathered to see the unprecedented miracle15 of the Lord’s manifestation. They took the window out, and later, Father Vladimir served a prayer service in front of the miraculous image. This was followed by an arrest16 and a trial that resulted in Father Vladimir being sentenced to eight years imprisonment at hard labor for “high crime of illegal religious propaganda.”
   He shared that once, when he fell asleep in a cell after hard physical work, he saw the Most Holy Seraphim of Sarov, who, with great love, began to console him. The Reverend talked about the fact that there would be no tests beyond his powers, and those that were sent were necessary for the old man to renew. The next day, Father Vladimir woke up full of joy, with confidence in the future, and hope that through the prayers of the Reverend, the Lord would not leave his family.
On this same day, for the first time, the opportunity arose to send a letter home, and he managed to notify his wife about this wonderful vision. Later, he learned from her letter that on the same day, when Matushka Mary fervently prayed, she also saw Holy Seraphim, who comforted her, saying that he had taken Father Vladimir under his patronage. Soon after the Reverend's prayerful intercession, Matushka Mary had the opportunity to give private lessons. She had been previously dismissed from the gymnasium where she taught for being the wife of the “enemy of the people.”19
   Father Vladimir was transferred to the main prison in Yugoslavia, where he had to listen to and interpret radio programs, including those from radio station BBC in England. In 1951, Father Vladimir was prematurely released at the request of the Yugoslav authorities by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Jeffrey Fisher. Thereafter, Father Vladimir was permitted to move to Paris with his family, where his parents lived at that time.
   As the years passed, the meek Bishop Basil, remembering those days, would say that he felt his unworthiness, recalling all the miracles that were revealed to him through the prayers of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
 
   In 1953, the Orthodox Bishop Nikolai (Velimirovich),  who at that time lived in London, invited Father Vladimir to move to Great Britain and become the second priest in the Cathedral of St. Sava of Serbia  in the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Father Vladimir accepted this invitation and moved to England.
   In 1955, he received an offer to take part in the activities of the Russian-language service of the British radio station BBC and to create the program himself. As a priest of the Serbian Patriarch in Great Britain, Father Vladimir began to conduct religious radio programs on the BBC, which were broadcast to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.   For over 20 years, he led his programs, which also included holiday worship services.
   Thus began the missionary  work of the pastor, which brought Father Vladimir spiritual joy, as he had always dreamed of being useful to the Russian people. On March 5, 1978, Mother Mary departed to the Lord. Approximately 6 months after the death of his wife, in London, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom)  tonsured him into the monastic name Basil in honor of St. Basil the Great. From 1979 onward, he no longer took part in the programs on the BBC radio station.
Vladyka shared that he dreamed of a secret tonsure, but the Lord wanted him to be ordained Bishop of Washington and to become a vicar of the primate of the Orthodox Church in America. Having received a holiday certificate from Patriarch German of Serbia, he was accepted into the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America at the end of the year and was assigned to be the vicar of the Primate.
   On January 12th, 1980, he was ordained bishop of Washington, vicar of Metropolitan Theodosius in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Washington, which would become the palace of his pastoral ministry. On April 25, 1984, Vladyka was dismissed. He became an honorary rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral and a confessor of the cathedral’s parishioners, who respected him greatly. Until the last day of his life, he did not know peace. Despite numerous illnesses, he remained eager to be of help to people around him and to share his spiritual experience. Until his last breath, he sought to warm everyone around him with the love given to him by the Lord. Vladyka fell asleep in the Lord on the night of Friday, September 17, 1999. Having had no money for expensive drugs and treatment, this was the day he was supposed to receive American citizenship, after which he would have been able to use free medical care.
   Vladyka Basil gave all his strength and entire spiritual experience to the service of Orthodoxy, urging everyone to learn compassionate sacrificial love, the kind which all Christians should strive for. It is said of Vladyka Basil that he was “a priest from God.” When teaching young priests, Bishop Basil would say, “Kind pastor, understand that your first pastoral step is confession. Be afraid of it, fear it, because so much depends on the word you say during the confession, to the one who has completely surrendered their human soul to you, who came under your stole. Make sure that there is never pressure on the soul, so that there is no frightening threat. Do not scare, do not terrify, and do not push on a person’s conscience and soul, but give all of yourself. To begin with, cut off your own will to demonstrate and set an example, and save with love those, who came to you to confess. The elders never enslaved anyone for anything. They saved their disciples, their spiritual children, their “lost sheep,” with love, and love is always in freedom from one side and the other. Freedom is love, love is freedom…”

"The Jesus Prayer is given to us for repentance—for those times when we dwell silently and serenely in the grace of the Spirit, amidst the deep stillness of Hesychia  that permeates all things, including our daily labor. It is ceaseless; it does not interfere with our earthly tasks, but rather sanctifies them. Any disruption of this prayerful atmosphere is always a sin, and indeed, any sin is possible only outside of it. When such a temptation arises, the Jesus Prayer becomes the ladder that leads us away from sin. Herein lies the answer to the question: ‘How is it possible to pray without ceasing?’ People often say, ‘I cannot repeat the Jesus Prayer endlessly.’ Yet there are only two ways to cease praying: either in the silent glory of the Holy Spirit, or in sin. This is the ‘Invisible Warfare.’ ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force.’" — Bishop Basil (Rodzianko)

Sources consulted:

The Life and Miracles of Saint Nicholas. "Tsarskoye Delo" Publishing House, 1999.
"Monastery Diary," *Ural* (Journal), 2002, No. 3.
"Day by Day." http://nikola-khamovniki.ru/idi-za-mnoy/
 https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Serafim_Sobolev/#pisma
Modern Miracles of Saint Nicholas. Stories from the editorial mailbag of the *Pravoslavie.Ru* portal.
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/61692.html
The Life of Saint Nectarios. Saint Nectarios Church Nicholas of Japan (Kasatkin), Equal-to-the-Apostles. ttps://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikolaj_Japonskij/
The Life of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk. Published by Zadonsk Nativity of the Virgin Monastery.2000.
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Tihon_Zadonskij/
wonderworker-of-zadonsk-and-all
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Uncovering of the relics of Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
https://www.akathists.com/saint-tikhon-of-moscow/akathist/
"Orthodox Word," July-August, 1966, quoted in Orthodox America.