My First meeting with Archbishop John took place at the Lesna Convent, located at that time in the suburbs of Paris. The church was situated within the great hall of the convent. I had heard a lot about our dear Archbishop and very much wanted to see him. The Liturgy had not yet begun when we arrived, but the Archbishop was already standing in the middle of the church, in his white under-vestment, waiting to be vested, while the faithful were standing along the wall. There were already quite a number of people, and I stood to the side. Glancing at Vladika, I noticed that he was of short stature, slightly hunched, and had rather unkempt hair. For some reason I felt sorry for him. I thought: How difficult it must be for him! And I began wholeheartedly to pray for him. He stood motionless, but as soon as I started praying he abruptly turned his head in my direction and looked straight at me, his eyes penetrating my very being. This unexpected gesture sent shivers down my spine — I felt such joy!
At first the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad did not have its own church in Paris, and we rented a Lutheran church. Nor did we have a choir; we gathered singers from various parishes, and I too was part of this conglomerate choir. Once — I cannot remember if it was before the Cherubic Hymn or before Communion — the choir had no piece to sing, and as a result there was a long pause. People in the choir started asking me about Vladika, and I began telling them what I had heard. Suddenly I had a feeling that I must keep quiet. After all, the Divine Liturgy was in progress, and it must be that our conversation was not pleasing to Vladika. I felt awkward, but the singers were so interested in what I had to say that they insisted I continue. I thought the feeling I had could be just a figment of my imagination, and I resumed talking. Again I sensed Vladika ordering me to be quiet — this time rather sharply — and I desisted. Everyone kept asking me to go on. "I cannot!" "Why not?" they asked, and I answered that Vladika does not want it and does not permit it. Here is a second example of Vladika's gift of clairvoyance. It was impossible for him to have actually heard what we were talking about.
I went to visit Vladika several times. He lived at the Cadet Corps outside Paris, in Versailles, where he had a small monastic cell on the top floor of a house. In this cell there was a table, his armchair, and several chairs around the table. There may also have been another small table and a dresser. In the corner there were icons and a stand with books. I cannot remember the exact arrangement; at that time I wasn't interested. There was no bed in the cell; Vladika never lay down to sleep. Sometimes, as we were conversing, he would nod off, sitting in his chair. At that point, I would stop, but he would immediately say, "Go on, go on; I'm listening." And indeed, Vladika responded to all my questions. All night long, Vladika would pray, leaning on his staff. Sometimes he prayed on his knees; it is likely that when making prostration's he would doze off a bit in this position, on the floor. This is how he exhausted himself!
When Vladika John was not serving and was at home, he always made a point of going barefoot, for the sake of mortifying the flesh. Even during severe frosts. He used to walk barefoot in the freezing cold from the Cadet Corps residence, which was on a hill inside the park, down a steep path to the church, which was located at the front gate. Once, he hurt his foot; doctors were unable to treat it, and there was danger of blood poisoning. It became necessary to send Vladika to the hospital, but he did not want to lie down in a bed. Since this was against hospital regulations, Vladika finally conceded. Nevertheless, he put a boot underneath himself, so that it would be uncomfortable for him to lie there. The nurses said, "You brought us a saint!" Every morning a priest would come to him and serve Divine Liturgy, and Vladika would partake of the Holy Mysteries.
In a wing near the entrance gate of the Lesna Convent lived a young man whom Vladika had brought out of China. His body was twisted, and he walked with a severe limp; his hands were deformed and his speech was impaired. Although he looked mentally retarded, he was of sound mind. He smiled a lot, and everyone liked him. Then he became seriously ill (he had been diagnosed with meningitis) and was hospitalized. When Vladika was told that the man's condition was hopeless and that he might not live through till the next day, he immediately went to him and prayed over him for a long time. The following day the man was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health. What happened to him after that I don't know.
When Vladika arrived in Paris, there was a severe housing shortage. In order to start a church, two adjoining garages in a row of garages located in a courtyard were rented. Inside they were fashioned into a little church. After a few years, Vladika managed to find a house and to convert it into a house-church. (It now has an exact copy of the miracle-working Kursk Icon of the Mother of God, with a piece of the original.) I personally liked the garage church: it was small and rude, but it had a very prayerful atmosphere. Our dear Vladika often came to us and served there. It was so easy to pray with him! People found his prayerful disposition to be contagious. I often went to him for Confession. He knew how to confess you in such a way that, without realizing it, you would recall your sins and leave feeling peaceful and joyful, happy to have experienced heartfelt repentance. The Lord allowed me, the unworthy one, to do a lot of work in this church. Glory to God for all things! And although Vladika ate nothing during the entire Passion Week, on Pascha he was more energetic than anyone, joyful, beaming, so that all those praying were involuntarily drawn to celebrate with him.
One lady (she did not belong to the Church Abroad) told her girlfriend that she wanted to go to the church where Vladika John was serving. Her friend did not want to go, because Vladika John was not of her jurisdiction. But then she agreed to go, and even to venerate the Cross; however, she would not kiss Vladika's hand. At the end of the service both ladies came up to the Cross. The one who had resisted coming "melted" under the profound impression of the service and decided to kiss Vladika's hand after all. Vladika let her kiss the Cross, but abruptly withdrew his hand. The lady gasped in astonishment. How could he have known?!
During one of the Passion Week services, before we had a permanent reader, a layman was reading It was a long reading, and he thought Vladika would not notice if he turned two pages at once. Vladika, standing in the middle of the church, without any book, **"Tsk-tsk'ed" disapprovingly, and from memory recited everything the reader had skipped. This lesson served the man for the rest of his life.
Once a visiting priest came to us (we did not yet have our own at that time) and served the All-night Vigil. The Vigil lasted only forty-five minutes. We were scandalized. So much had been omitted that we decided to report it to Vladika, in hopes that he would chastise the priest into proper observance of the church rubrics. But Vladika only smiled and said, "Well, there's no way to satisfy you! I serve too long (on Holy Saturday, services began at 9 A.M. and by 4 P.M. they hadn't yet reached Communion; after that Vladika shortened the service), and the other serves too short!" We felt so ashamed that we had judged the priest, and even Vladika. To judge anyone is terrible, but especially clergy. And how kindly and humbly Vladika gave us this lesson!
E. G. Chertkov