Living in Shanghai, I fell seriously ill with an inflammation of the kidneys. The best doctors attended me, but there was no improvement, and after two months all hope was gone for my recovery. I simply lay drugged, no longer taking any medicine, not even water. I was expected to die any day.
My mother had very strong faith. One day the poor exhausted lady went to church at Saint Olga's Orphanage, which was under the care of Abbess Ariadna. At the end of the service Vladika John came up to her: "Don't cry/' he said. "I know all about it. Julia is near death; I'll come in an hour to give her Unction." He didn't say anything else; he didn't ask for the address, nothing. Within half an hour Vladika was at my bedside, where I lay unconscious.
When he left, my mother later told me, I fell asleep. I slept for a long, long time. Early in the morning I opened my eyes and asked for some water. The pains in my stomach were gone and my temperature had dropped. Within two weeks I was completely well. Abbess Ariadna knows all about this case and can testify to the accuracy of my account.
Sister Julia, Montreal, Canada
There have been many instances in my life when Vladika helped me. Until now I didn't think it was worth paying particular attention to them, but my conscience has been nagging me.
Yesterday I was at the doctor's. I suffer from allergies and often have problems with my nose. After checking my nose the doctor detected a small polyp which he decided to remove then and there. He cut it away and the nose began to bleed profusely — a problem I'd had several years earlier. Mentally I promised Vladika John that if the bleeding stopped I would notify the diocesan commission that was gathering information about the prayerful help of Vladika John. After the operation the doctor left me in the office for a while and then I went home. My nose continued to bleed a little. I then anointed my nostril with oil from Vladika John's sepulchre and lay down to rest. When I woke up, the flow of blood had stopped.
Constantine Youmin, Monterey, CA
Two days ago I brought my grandson to the local church to be baptized. A young woman come up to me and said she thought it wasn't hygienic that all the children were baptized in the same font. I tried to reassure her by relating an incident that I myself had witnessed.
At the Russian hospital in Shanghai, a mental patient, in a moment of lucidity, asked for Holy Communion. Vladika John arrived at once. The sick one was given Communion, but, no longer in his right mind, he forgot about his request and spit out the Body and Blood of our Lord onto the floor. Vladika John did what every true priest ought to do — he licked up every drop and crumb from the floor! And although this mentally deranged man had some dreadful infectious disease, Vladika suffered no ill effects whatsoever. I'm not sure the young woman understood what I was talking about, but I felt compelled to tell her of this incident with Vladika John. I saw this myself; it's not the fruit of someone's imagination.
G. G. Egorov, Moscow