I Remember How, in 1934, on the Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, Vladika John arrived in Shanghai from Yugoslavia. We had waited a long time. When, in 1933, our Shanghai hierarch, Archbishop Simon, died, the head of the church mission, Archbishop Victor, had written a request to the Synod to send us a new bishop. A reply came from the Synod that they would send us the same kind of prayerful individual as Vladika Simon had been. We waited a long time for this new hierarch. The day of his arrival was occasion for a great celebration. All the clergy, community organizations and school children gathered at the cathedral to greet Vladika John. After a short moleben there was a reception. At the trapeza I remember how Vladika John smiled on seeing some sugar: "So much sugar?" "Yes," we replied. 'In Yugoslavia," he said, "if s unavailable; there isn't any!"
One of the first good works Vladika John did there in Shanghai was to found an orphanage. He gathered children off the city streets. First, he found four children, then more were gathered. One rich man donated a large house for the orphanage. The smallest of the orphans was four years old. Vladika was very affectionate with children.
Vladika John served Liturgy every day, all year round. Different priests would assist him in rotation. The services were very long. With his arrival, Vespers took place in the evening together with Compline. During Compline, at the very beginning of the service, there were always readings from one of the three canons to the saints. At six o'clock in the morning was the Midnight Office, followed by Matins and Liturgy. Vladika John did not have much of a musical ear, but he insisted that all verses appointed to be sung, be sung and not read. At Vespers and Matins he stood with the clergy on the cliros. He was very strict with the clergy. The polyeleos was always sung in full (i.e., the whole Psalm). Many people didn't like the fact that the services lasted so long.
The children from the orphanage assisted Vladika during the daily Liturgies. The orphanage was located thirty minutes away by foot from the cathedral. When it rained, the children came to church barefoot and served barefoot. Vladika John served in sandals. He never slept lying down. He was very clean: every morning at four o'clock he took a cold bath, even in winter.
Vladika particularly revered the days on which martyrs were commemorated. For some reason it sticks in my mind that he had a special love for Martyr Tryphon.
In 1938 Vladika traveled to Yugoslavia to attend the All-Church Council. Before he left, his flock entrusted him with numerous communications. At this Council, Vladika John was the secretary, and among the communications were some complaints against him, which he read aloud just as calmly as if they did not refer to him at all.
After World War II, many Russian emigres in Shanghai, including some clergy, took Soviet passports. The head of the mission, Archbishop Victor, was among those who did so, as was the senior rector of our cathedral, Protopresbyter Michael Rogozhin. We, together with Vladika John, did not follow this example. I remember that Vladika John received an announcement from the Soviet consulate that Archbishop Victor was coming to Shanghai. Vladika John gathered together all of the clergy and announced that he would not meet with Vladika Victor. We supported him in this.
When Archbishop Victor arrived in Shanghai from Beijing, eight Komsomol youth accompanied him as he walked toward the cathedral, where Father Michael had just finished a moleben. We watched these events from the church house. The next day, it happened I had to meet with Archbishop Victor. He called us "Johnites." "Yes, and do you know why we favor Vladika John?" I asked him. "If you want to know, I will tell you. Who brought Vladika John here? You brought him to us. After Vladika John's arrival you yourself came here many times and said to him: 'Vladika John, I respect you, I recognize your high standards in life, and you are a good leader. Continue in this way. And if the clergy don't listen to you, don't hesitate to chastise them/ Vladika, didn't you say these things?" "Yes, I did," admitted Vladika Victor. "That's why we listen to him. And now you are against Vladika John. You are now a Soviet citizen, and it is impossible to have any interaction with you. I am Chinese; our clergy remained White, but you are Soviet [Red]. Do as you like…"
After the evacuation of Russians from Shanghai, Vladika John traveled through Hong Kong to the Philippines. Then he was transferred to Belgium. In Shanghai, Hieromonk Modest (he died as abbot in the Holy Land) was a close soul-companion of Vladika John's, and in San Francisco, Archimandrite Mitrofan was very devoted to him.
Because Vladika John was very busy from morning till night, he was almost always late to services. He ran about all day long, visiting hospitals and homes. He had no concept of time; he didn't even wear a watch. He himself always delivered a homily during the Liturgy, but it was difficult to understand him. Before the sermon all the acolytes would go out to the center of the church to listen to him.
Vladika John loved services and their order. In Shanghai there were pastoral meetings every Thursday. If someone was absent, he demanded a full explanation. At these meetings, most of the time was spent on questions of how to serve. Vladika would ask the priests about certain unique aspects of some of the upcoming services, testing their knowledge.
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Vladika John was altogether uninterested in food. People prepared food for him, but never knew when he would actually eat. He loved tea, he never drank alcohol.
Vladika John never discussed worldly matters with me, only spiritual matters. Even when there was the unpleasantness in San Francisco in connection with the building of the cathedral, Vladika did not share his sufferings with anyone. In San Francisco, the congregation loved him; he had saved all the Shanghai refugees.
Protopresbyter Elias Wen