June 24, 2015
Howell, NJ: Bishop Nicholas leads 300th Anniversary Celebrations of St. John of Tobolsk

On Monday the 22nd and Tuesday the 23rd of June, His Grace, Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, led the celebrations in honor of the 300th anniversary of the blessed repose of the Holy Hierarch John (Maximovitch) of Tobolsk in Our Lady of Tikhvin Church at the Diocesan Center in Howell, NJ. At the All-Night Vigil, His Grace was co-served by Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov (pastor emeritus of St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell), Archpriest Serge Lukianov (diocesan secretary), Archpriest Boris Slootsky and Priest Seraphim Chemodakov (cathedral clerics), Priest Serge Ledkovsky (deputy rector of St. Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ), and Deacon Paul Drozdowski (cathedral cleric). The following morning, they were joined by Archpriest Petro Kunitsky (cleric of Holy New Martyrs of Russia Church in Brooklyn, NY). Praying at the divine services were parishioners of the cathedral and surrounding parishes, as well as of Holy New Martyrs & Confessors of Russia Church in Brooklyn. Many worshippers communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

The Holy Hierarch John (Maximovitch), Metropolitan of Tobolsk & All Siberia, was the last Russian saint to be glorified before the Russian Revolution of 1917. The decision to canonize St. John was confirmed by the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II. In Russia, the Orthodox faithful mark this day by venerating the Holy Hierarch John of Tobolsk, Wonderworker of All Siberia, and all of the saints who shone forth in the Siberian land. Churches in Tobolsk – the ancient capital of the West Siberian Plain region beyond the Urals – hold molebens and a procession with the relics of the holy hierarch.

It is said of the holy hierarch’s life in Siberia that he "was meek, humble, prudent, compassionate toward the poor, and merciful." The Metropolitan humbly bore the cross of missionary activity among Muslims and the native pagan Siberians, and actively pursued the construction of churches, the expansion of benevolent work, and the building of almshouses.

That same day marked the namesday of yet another Holy Hierarch John (Maximovitch) – Archbishop of Shanghai & San Francisco – a relative of the Holy Hierarch John of Tobolsk. Before 1994, when the Russian Orthodox Church glorified St. John of Shanghai, a Liturgy and panihida in honor of the hierarch were served on this day in Our Lady of Tikhvin Church.

Upon completion of the Liturgy, Bishop Nicholas and the clergy sang a short moleben to St. John of Tobolsk, after which His Grace addressed the faithful with a sermon, in which he stressed the necessity of thanking the Lord for giving us His saints: "We often forget that the saints are with us, that they are our intercessors before God, that they pray for us. The saints are the Church Triumphant; they are our ancestors.

"The Lord chose as His apostles simple men. They heard God’s voice and left everything behind in order to follow after Christ. In so doing, they became great preachers – apostles to the whole world. So, too, did the Holy Hierarch John hear God’s voice. He was a monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra: he was tonsured there, served as the monastery’s caretaker, and later became the ruling bishop of the Diocese of Chernigov after the repose of the Holy Hierarch Theodosius. St. John led the Chernigov Diocese for almost 15 years, and then led the Diocese of Tobolsk for four years, over the course of which he did everything in his power to disseminate the Orthodox Faith across Siberia, bringing its people to repentance and salvation. It is no coincidence that St. John is called the Enlightener and Apostle of Siberia."

His Grace thanked the concelebrating clergy, choir, and worshipers for their shared prayers on this day of commemoration, and called on them all to listen to God’s voice crying out to us, never to forget that we have spiritual relatives in the saints, and to come to God’s church not only on Sundays, but also on weekdays, which afford us the greatest opportunity to pray in peace and quiet reflection.

Bishop Nicholas and the faithful made their way with an icon of St. John to the cathedral refectory, where a luncheon was served, after which Fr. Valery spoke about the life of St. John and his connections to the faithful in the American land. In part, Fr. Valery shared the story of how, in our own times, a theological book by St. John of Tobolsk, entitled "The Heliotropion, or Conforming the Human Will to the Divine Will," was copied word-for-word by a pious nun in Brooklyn.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese