Dear all,
I am sorry, with all of the cutting, saving and rushing I repeated some stuff in my last post by accident. Here is a cleaner version of my last post.
Paradosis wrote:I wondered when I first saw this if anyone would vote for someone other than St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. So far, other than my wife and I, no one has, hehe. Does this mean that Saint John was such a monumental figure that he just naturally attracts everyone's attention (something very possible!), or is it that we aren't really familiar with the other saints? (I'll admit that I myself probably couldn't say very much about half of them, I'm not trying to get down on anyone! 
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I would say he is that monumental a figure!
It is probably not a good idea to pick favorites with saints or say that one is greater than another (though on the other hand some saints are viewed by the Church as greater, such as St. John the Baptist, St. Nicholas of Myrra, St. John the Theologian, and some seem to be viewed as, shall we say, not as great, Blessed Augustine etc). I would have to say that St. John is probably as important as he is for a number of reasons. He is a saint on so many levels, a Holy Heirarch, feeder of the poor, Fool for Christ, Missionary, Wonder Worker, Theologian etc... I think it is partly because of this originality that separates him from so many other saints and makes his as poplular and well loved as he is. He also greatly affected the Orthodoxy on at least THREE continents, which also is hard to compare with, not only with American saints, but with any saint of any country.
I feel very close to saint John because I have felt that he is very close at hand in my life's problems. Also, two priests I am very close with (one my former parish priest for some years, now reposed) grew up with St. John in Shangai and I have heard many stories that have made me apreciate him to a high degree. So that is why my vote would be with St. John
Who is it that you venerate the most of the American Saints? Do you know something about them or want to share something about them?
I would like to share two stories about St. John, one I heard from a priest that knew him and one from my own life.
- There is a story that is not well known concerning St. John which I heard that I think is very significant. When St. John died in Seattle, several people heard the crash of him falling down from a room below. After, they rushed up to see what happened and found him having convultions. When he finally passed on they had several strong able bodied young men try to lift him up and carry him onto the bed. But when they attempted, the frail and small body seemed to weigh like a ton and for all of their efforts, they could not budge it an inch. Not understanding what was going on they continued to try and lift the holy body, but again and again to no avail. Suddenly, the men (three or four, I don't remember how many) all had the same thought at the same time, that St. John was carrying the sins of many, many people which is why his body was so heavy. As soon as they had this thought the body became light as a feather and they could move it.
- The following story took place four years ago on the night before St. John's feast after the vigil service. I and my father attended the vigil at the parish of the Protection of the Mother of God in Nyack, New York where St. John is especially venerated and the Archpriest there, Fr. George Larin, was St. John's alter boy in Shanghai. The neighborhood used to be Russian once upon an time, but now is mostly Jamaican and Hatian immigrants with only several Russian families still living near the church. Anyway, as soon as you go down a block from the church, the neighborhood gets very rough, where groups of yough men are gathering, selling crack and doing all the other things that you can imagine. After the vigil my father and I decided to get some Chinese food down in that area. After we ate, it was pretty late at night and we waited on the street corner for my Godson to go get the car and pick us up. As we stood there on the side walk, facing the street and our backs to the buildings, I saw in the corner of my eye an ornery looking man walking towards us from up the street. At this moment I had the thought ''KNIFE'' shout in my head and I took a step back so as to protect my back and have myself positioned in a way I could defend myself; this way the man had to walk inbetween me and my father rather than having both of our backs expossed to him. The man seeing this, became a little confused and stopped, as if his plans were foiled, then angrily continued walking past us. After my Godson arrived with the car and we were well on our way, my father asked my why I had stepped back when I saw that man. I answered that the word ''KNIFE'' immediately came into my mind when I saw him and became alarmed. My father was amazed because the same thought, ''KNIFE'' entered his mind in that same instant. Anyway the most amazing part of the story is that the next day we read in the newspaper that on the same exact street corner, a little after we left, a man was mugged at knifepoint and during the struggle he was badly injured, being slashed up and even having his finger cut off.
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I am conviced that St. John protected us, putting the word ''KNIFE'' into our minds at that time so that we could defend ourselves, it being his feast day and coming to that church specifically for his sake. God is Glorified in his saints!
In Christ,
Nicholas