About eleven or twelve years ago my acquaintances, the Petrovs, offered to give me a ride home from church. This was a middle-aged couple, energetic and well-to-do. As he was driving, Mr. Petrov did nothing but sharply malign Vladika John in a most disrespectful manner.
My husband and I left for Italy the next day, and when I returned to Paris a month later I was shocked to find Mr. Petrov so changed: he had lost at least twenty pounds, and his face was ashen. When I asked what had happened, he answered that his wife was ill and in the hospital. She had undergone an operation but they had found nothing and she was getting weaker virtually by the minute. Very soon she died and was cremated. Mr. Petrov promptly remarried; his second wife was French, a Roman Catholic, and he converted to her faith. They soon left for the south of France. No sooner had they arrived than Mr. Petrov died; he, too, was cremated. What a tragic ending to this couple's earthly existence!
For me it was and is only too evident how the Lord defends His faithful servants, and how careful one must be not to criticize and judge people, especially hierarchs.
IS., B-na
This happened in January 1966. Suffering from excruciating pain, I was rushed to the hospital, where I learned that an immediate operation was necessary. Gangrene was spreading and my life was threatened. During the operation, on the Feast of our Lord's Theophany, a complication developed; my blood was clotting poorly and I lost a lot of blood. After the operation I was so weak that it was a wonder my soul was still in my body. The Greek woman who shared my room told me later that while I was still unconscious, "a hierarch came to see you; he was quite short and entered with rapid steps; he prayed at your bedside, sprinkled you with holy water, blessed you and left." Hearing this I thought, who could it be? I later learned that it was Vladika John. By the prayers of dear Vladika for me, a sinner, I began quickly to recover. I recall this with gratitude and firmly believe in Vladika's power of prayer.
As a boy in Shanghai, my uncle fell seriously ill with a fever. My grandmother told me that after Vladika came to him and prayed, my uncle immediately became completely well.
Here is another case. My mother was going through a lot of internal unrest. Once she was reading and singing on cliros.
After the Divine Liturgy she sat down at a small table near the cliros and began copying out the Old Testament lessons. Vladika John came out of the altar and, seeing my mother, began telling her the life of Saint Eustratius Placides. He afterwards anointed himself and then my mother with holy oil. My mother soon noticed that all her troubles had disappeared, and she experienced an inner calm and strengthening. Again Vladika John helped!
Irene Trubetskoy, Burlingame, CA
My godson Adam was born January 6, 1989, and was adopted a few days later by Father Andrew and Ruth. He was healthy until the fall of 1989 when he developed infantile spasms that cause seizures. En October 1989 he was put on Phenobarbitol and in November he began receiving ACTH injections. A month later the medication Klonopin was added and in January — Diamox. The effects of these drugs ranged from lethargy to extreme irritability. Adam rarely slept through the night and his development was arrested.
I wrote asking Father Peter to pray for Adam at the tomb of Archbishop John, which he did, placing Adam's name under his mitre. Father Peter also sent us oil from the sepulchre, with which we anointed Adam daily. Shortly thereafter, Adam's mother reported that he had begun to be less agitated and, following three months of inactivity, finally began responding to his parents.
In March of 1990 Adam was weaned from Klonopin and that same month, on the feast of the Annunciation, his seizures stopped) Adam was slowly taken off ACTH and in June he was also weaned from Phenobarbitol. In August Adam began walking, and by September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, he was totally drug- and seizure-free.
Because the illness had retarded his development Adam had been receiving physical, occupational and speech therapies. Several months ago, however, he was discharged from the therapy program as he was functioning at an age-appropriate level.
Adam's parents, relatives, and friends consider his recovery a miracle and believe that Archbishop John Maximovitch's prayers and holy oil are responsible for this healing.
I feel fortunate to have learned of Archbishop John from my father who was his student at the Serbian seminary in Bitol, Yugoslavia, and from another student, Father Spiro, who gave me a book of his miracles to read.
I have referred several people for prayers at Archbishop John's tomb and will continue to tell others about this holy man.
Mileva Savich, Chicago