Washington, DC, July 2, 2012
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| Icon of St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco. |
The
Russian Orthodox Church is celebrating today, July 2,
the memory of St. John
(Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco, one of
the most venerated saints of the Russian Orthodox
Church Abroad. Services to St. John will be celebrated
in Orthodox Church all over the world. But especially
festive will be the services at the Church of St. John
the Baptist in Washington, DC (ROCOR). This is the only
parish in the U.S. that was founded by St. John of
Shanghai personally, in 1949, for the Russian
immigrants living in the U.S. capital, where the holy
hierarch lived for a brief period, reports the
Russian World Fund.
“For us, this day is essentially a second patronal
feast day. This is a very important event for the
faithful, and we have the great honor of having two
heavenly patrons,” related Fr. Victor Potapov,
rector of the church.
St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco was canonized by
the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 1994.
Fourteen years later, at a bishop’s council, the
Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate glorified St.
John for veneration by the entire Russian Orthodox Church.
