Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! My name is sister Anastasia. And on the feast day of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco we are sending you from Saint Elisabeth Сonvent our best wishes. On this day I wanted to share with you a miracle from my life that Saint John of Shanghai did for another person. That is why this miracle is especially dear to my heart, because Saint John considered me worthy to use me to do a wonderful work for another person.
This miracle happened about two years ago in May on a Monday morning in Detroit, Michigan. Another sister and I were supposed to have a meeting at a catholic cathedral downtown in Detroit. I was not looking forward to this meeting because as you know Detroit is not the safest place especially downtown. So I was going there with a kind of a heavy heart. But St. John and God made this day a truly memorable day in my life.
When we came to the Cathedral for morning mass we saw about 20 people, most of them black. But after the mass which lasted thirty minutes people started to come to us talking, communicating, conversing with us. We saw that they were very nice and loving people, very hospitable and very interested in our services that we are doing in our Convent.
Convent workers serving in the orphanage for children with disabilities
So communicating with these people I was very surprised because the majority of them had no idea what the Orthodox Church was. All the time from the beginning, answering everyone’s question, we had to repeat again and again what Orthodox means.
People come from the church one by one and ask the same questions: where are you from, what order are you and what does Orthodox mean. We kept telling people and the pastor was waiting with us because this is downtown so they close the door as soon as the last person leaves the church, because it’s really dangerous to leave it open. We were trying to pack very quickly so the pastor didn’t have to wait long.
And then another person comes out of the church. And this is a black man, and I think he has a physical illness because he walked with difficulty and his head was turned to the left as far as I remember, and he was moving very slowly and from afar he started talking to me:
- Where are you from?
So I replied:
- We are from Minsk, the country called Belarus.
- And what order are you?
- We are Russian Orthodox who belong to the Russian Patriarchate,- I answered and opened my mouth again, ready to explain what Orthodox means. But to my surprise this person named Denis told me:
- Oh, Russian Orthodox! And I really honour the Russian Orthodox saint, the Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco – St. John.
Mosaic of St. John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco at St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk
I was surprised. In the church no one knew what Orthodox is, this person actually knows my favourite saint – St. John. I was very surprised, I was very happy. So when he came to me I asked him:
-How do you know St. John?
But he did not listen to my question and continued to tell his story. He said:
- Whatever I ask Saint John, he gives it to me. And about a week ago I called the Orthodox monastery in California - the monastery of St. John of Shanghai.
And while he was talking I opened my purse and got a bottle of oil and an icon of St. John because I am doing him a little service – I´m taking his oil and icons from San Francisco and distributing them to other people all around the world. To those who love and honour him and have no possibility to get the oil and icons, or those who do not know him, but whenever I tell about him I feel that these people are really interested and will use the oil to anoint themselves and their loved ones.
Thus speaking, I took the oil and the icon and gave it to him. You should have seen Denis! His eyes were big and he was very happy. He was very slow, but suddenly he became excited and said:
-Oh, my God!
He began to kiss the oil and the icon and started to say to me:
- That’s what I am telling you. A week ago I called the monastery, no one answered, I continued to call the next day but again no one answered the phone.
And he didn’t know that he shouldn't be calling St. John`s Orthodox Monastery OCA but actually the Rocor Cathedral Joy of All Who Sorrow, a new cathedral in San Francisco – they’re distributing the oil.
The Rocor Cathedral Joy of All Who Sorrow in San Francisco
So he was calling there to ask them to send him some oil because he really needed it. But no one answered. He was very upset. And he said to me:
- Five days ago, before you came here, I prayed to Saint John asking him to send me his oil. And you sisters come from Belarus to bring me the oil from St. John of San Francisco!
He couldn’t believe it. I laughed with him. I wanted to hug him. He was coming to all those who were near us and they were very surprised as they had no idea who Saint John was. He came with the oil and the icon to everyone and said:
-Can you imagine what Saint John did to me – he sent the sisters from Belarus to give me his oil.
So I was the happiest person after meeting this person. I doubt if he has a house. I think he's homeless because of the way he looks. The only thing he had was a hat.
He put the icon and the oil in his hat. And when we said goodbye, I gave him our email address asking him to write to us to tell his story of how he came to know this saint. But unfortunately we did not hear from him. Maybe he doesn’t even have a computer. But I still hope that one day we will hear from Denis.
And St.John helps us no matter where we are in San Francisco, in Detroit or in Minsk. Even here in our Convent we have a beautiful church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, who came to the psychiatric hospital which is around the corner and he comes to help all people.
Saint John, pray for us!
In 2019, we constructed and consecrated a church in honour of St. John, welcoming him in our Convent. Now, the individuals receiving care in our mental health centre find themselves under the prayerful protection of this venerable modern healer and wonderworker.
Inspired by the example of St. John of Shanghai, we strive to extend compassionate aid to the sick and suffering within the various medical institutions of our city.
We kindly request your generous support for our hospital ministry in the National Mental Health Center, Tuberculosis Dispensary, City Clinical Hospital #2, and the Orphanage for children with disabilities and special needs. If you would like to contribute, please follow the link
https://obitel-minsk.org/donate-st-elisabeth-convent
