The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

TVER, RUSSIA: July 1, 2016
A New Russian-Language Book on the Teachings of St John (Maximovich) is Out

A new Russian-language book on the teachings of St John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco the Miracle-worker has been published in Tver, Russia, to mark the 50 th anniversary of his blessed repose.

This book is a collection of the sermons and teachings of St John on topics such as prayer and Holy Communion, and an addendum includes rules and recommendations to altar-servers confirmed by St John.

These teachings on prayer were discovered recently by Protodeacon Alexander Monich of Mukashev Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the archives of a pious ascetic, Archimandrite Vasily (Pronin). It is presumed that these were composed by St John in the Serbian tongue while he was a teacher at the Serbian seminary in Bitol (Ochrid Diocese), and was translated with his blessing by Fr Vasily, his spiritual son.

The works on Holy Communion were compiled by Protopriest Leonid Grilikhes, a venerable professor of ancient languages and Biblical studies at the Moscow Theological Academy and member of the Synodal Biblical-Theological Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, who is now a cleric of the Western European Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. He is the deputy rector of the Church of St Job the Much-Suffering, Memorial Church to St Nicholas II, in Brussels, Belgium.

Reader Mikhail Kotliarevsky, who served as an acolyte (altar boy) under St John, prepared the instructions for hierarchal services.

According to Protopriest Peter Perekrestov, the editor of the book, it will serve as a constant reminder of the essence of Holy Communion, the need for prayer and the importance of maintaining piety and order during divine services.

The limited-edition book is a joint project of Tver’s St John Foundation, the Tver Diocesan Youth Committee and Russky Pastyr of California, and may be purchased at the Cathedral Bookstore in San Francisco: (888) 295-5290; e-mail: nadia@hvcbookstore.com; http://www.hvcbookstore.com.