Section 01: Foundations

The foundational section of the St. John of Shanghai compendium, covering his origins as Mikhail Maximovitch in Kharkov province, his emigration to Serbia, and his formation in Belgrade — theological studies, monastic tonsure, ordination, the Bitola seminary years, and his consecration as Bishop of Shanghai in 1934. These files supply the biographical groundwork for the Shanghai, Tubabao, European, and San Francisco periods that follow.

Tradition: ROCOR (glorified 1994; Moscow Patriarchate veneration affirmed 2008)

Section Contents

• Early Life and Family — Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch, born June 4, 1896, in Adamovka, Kharkov province; the Maximovitch noble family and its kinship with St. John of Tobolsk; childhood piety; the Poltava Cadet Corps; the Kharkov law degree (1918); the formative influence of Archbishop Antony (Khrapovitsky); and the 1921 emigration to Belgrade during the Civil War.
• Belgrade and Tonsure — the Belgrade theology degree (1925); the 1926 monastic tonsure by Metropolitan Antony at Milkovo Monastery, taking the name John after his ancestor-saint; ordination; teaching at the Bitola seminary (1929–1934) under St. Nikolai Velimirovich; his already-evident asceticism; and his consecration as Bishop of Shanghai on May 28, 1934 — the last consecration in which Metropolitan Antony took part.

How to Use

• Start with Early Life and Family for his origins, family, and formation in Russia and the route into exile.
• Read Belgrade and Tonsure for his theological education, entry into monasticism, the seminary years that first revealed his sanctity, and the call to the episcopate.
• From here the chronology continues in Section 02 — Shanghai.

See Also

• Bishop of Shanghai — the see to which his 1934 consecration appointed him
• Orthodoxy Guide — ROCOR Formation and Karlovci — the Russian Church Abroad and Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky), under whom he was formed
• Orthodoxy Guide — St. John of Shanghai (summary) — the verified summary entry that points here

References

• Mileant, Bishop Alexander. The Life and Miracles of St. John (Maximovitch). orthochristian.com/54575.html.
• Rose, Fr. Seraphim, and Abbot Herman (Podmoshensky). Blessed John the Wonderworker. 3rd rev. ed. Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1987.
• Perekrestov, Archpriest Peter (ed.). Man of God: Saint John of Shanghai & San Francisco. San Francisco: Holy Virgin Cathedral / Nikodemos, 1994/2015.
• Orthodox Church in America. “Saint John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco.” oca.org.