The Archbishop and Mr Liu St John Maximovitch (1896-1966) is a recently canonized Saint of our Church, who served as Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church variously in Shanghai, Paris and San Francisco. A remarkable incident which occurred during St John's time in San Francisco testifies to several aspects of his holiness: his spiritual boldness based on absolute faith, his ability to overcome the bounds of space and time by spiritual sight, and the power of his prayer which beyond all doubt worked miracles. A certain Mr Liu was involved in a car accident in San Francisco in 1963 and [...]

Gospel Reading April 12th (John 11: 1-45) Lazarus Saturday This Gospel passage narrates the circumstances in which Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. Coming only two days before Holy Week, Lazarus Saturday is a powerful reminder to Orthodox faithful of one of the key purposes of Christ’s approaching Passion and suffering – that we might learn that He has complete power over death. It is the ‘tremor’ which precedes the coming ‘earthquake’ of the Resurrection. St John Chrysostom’s homily on this passage focuses our attention on why Christ, despite being informed of Lazarus’s illness, nevertheless lets him die. He could [...]