 |
 |
||
Ukrainian Orthodoxy |
 |
Orthodoxie ukrainienne |
|
Saints of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Dr. Alexander Roman (email)
Ukrainian Mission Outreach to East and West
Apostles to the Diaspora
In this century, a descendant of St. John Maximovitch, Metropolitan of Siberia, would take up his forefather’s desire to work in China. St. John Maximovitch (II) became Archbishop of Shanghai where he built two Ukrainian-style Orthodox Churches, one of which had the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God “Sporuchnitsa Hrishnykh” or “Help of Sinners.” St. John then moved to the Philippines where he founded an orphanage. Before the Japanese invasion, St. John moved his children to California where he built his Church of Our Lady, Joy of All who Sorrow on Geary Boulevard (to which Natalie Wood bequeathed a generous sum).
Before that, St. John Maximovitch was Professor of Theology in Serbia, founded the French Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church of the Netherlands and ordained the first Spanish Orthodox Priest. He translated the Divine Liturgy of a number of Western Rites, most notably the Gallican Rite. He also served the Divine Liturgy in Chinese and was a great servant and helper of the Chinese Orthodox. He often walked bare-foot and French Roman Catholics even called him, “St Jean nus-pieds.” He did not sleep on a bed for over forty years and practiced other austerities. He reposed in the Lord in 1966 and immediately a stream of miracles came from his Relics and intercession.
One of St John’s greatest achievements was his work in returning the Orthodox Saints of the West back to the Orthodox Church Calendar. The Celtic, Old English, Gallican and other Orthodox Saints were researched by him and many Orthodox Churches, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, now have Western Orthodox Saints in their calendars, thanks to St John. The historic Kyivan Church always had Western Saints in its Calendar, including, as was mentioned, Pope St Clement whose Icon adorns the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kyiv. Nowhere else among the Eastern Orthodox Churches are Western Saints so honoured as in the Church of Kyiv. And this was, as Metropolitan Ohienko wrote, because “Ukraine was never afraid of western culture and civilization!”
St John often walked bare-foot and French Roman Catholics even called him, “St Jean nus-pieds.” He did not sleep on a bed for over forty years and practiced other austerities. He reposed in the Lord in 1966 and immediately a stream of miracles came from his Relics and intercession.God glorified his Servant and he is truly the Apostle of the Diaspora and his spiritual children pray to him in many languages. During the formal Glorification ceremony in San Francisco in 1994, the orphans he had nurtured and protected carried his Ark or Coffin to the altar. His cult is widely recognized and accepted by Orthodox and even non-Orthodox Churches and communities.
Another Orthodox Apostle of the Diaspora is Saint Raphael Hawaweeny, Bishop of Brooklyn, New York (Glorified on May 28-May 29, 2000, Feast: February 27th). Born in Syria in 1860, Raphael graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy in 1889. After arriving in America, he worked with Orthodox immigrants of different cultural backgrounds, including Ukrainians, whom he received under his Omophorion. Although a Syrian, he was very “pro-Slavic,” owing to his education at Kyiv which allowed him to appreciate Slavic culture and traditions. At a time at the turn of this century when Ukrainian and other Orthodox immigrants were trying to make a new home for themselves in North America, St Raphael of Brooklyn made them feel welcome as one of the Fathers of North American Orthodoxy. He also translated service books into English and these are still used today.
[ Home ] [ Articles ] [ Prayer ] [ Saints ] [ Theophilus ] [ Q & A ] [About Us] [ 
]
