Interview with Petr and Lydia Ionin (continued…)

Continued…

— How did Vladika manage to achieve his objectives in Washington to get American visas for the orphans?

L.N.: Bishop John was fluent in French, but he only knew a few words in English. He had an acquaintance in Washington, an American general, who helped him with his case—we got American visas that way. But even with no English, he would make sure that all of us got in without too long a wait. That same general told him that, during the war, he had given the order to bomb Shanghai, but the pilots passed it without ever deploying a single bomb. After meeting Bishop John he said: “Now I know why they never dropped the bombs. There was a man of prayer in that place.”
— What details do you remember about Vladyka’s life in San Francisco?

L.N.: I remember the lawsuit. We were very sorry that people were treating Vladyka that way.… Generally speaking, Vladyka was often treated poorly, but he endured all of it with a smile. He would say that this was from the devil and never judged anyone or held any grudges. All the people who were suing him later became gravely ill, and he would visit them in the hospital. And then they would repent and ask his forgiveness. I also remember that when Vladyka would serve communion in the Old Cathedral, hundreds of people would come for the Sacrament, and it would go on for two, three hours. I would drive to the Home of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk late in the evening, after putting the children to sleep, so that I could make Vladyka something to eat. People would be sitting on the steps, on the floor, on the couches—waiting to speak with Vladyka. He wouldn’t be free until after midnight. I would tell them: “Folks, you’ve already eaten and had tea three times over, and Vladyka hasn’t had a bite to eat. If he doesn’t eat now, he won’t have a meal at all.” And people gathered like that every evening.

Vladyka didn’t sleep in a bed, since it was covered in books and letters. He would nap for a little bit when he was praying on the floor of his room. He was a person of hearty health. It bothers me when they write that Bishop John was feeble and lame—no! He had very strong arms from doing prostrations, and he always walked and ran briskly. With age, his legs began to swell, so we bought him a couch so that he could stretch them out. But in all else he was sturdy and strong. And [what they say] about foolishness is also untrue. He might wash his hair and not bother to comb it, but does that make it foolishness? He might stutter sometimes, especially when he was tired, but I could always understand him well.

P.I.: As for me, I sometimes had trouble understanding him…

L.N.: Vladyka was often sent on different trips, and when he left, we would cry. He was often late, and one time he missed his flight. Later we found out that plane had crashed.

— How was Bishop John with your children?

L.N.: Our children often came to visit Vladyka in his room. He always greeted them with a smile. They couldn’t pronounce the word prosforka correctly and always said “fofovka” instead. Right away Vladyka would ask them: “Well now, would you like a fofovka?”

— What do you remember of Vladyka’s last days?

L.N.: I remember how, before his departure for Seattle, Vladyka asked me to come to church at six in the morning. I came with Maria Aleksandrovna Shakhmatova. Vladyka started serving the Liturgy: he’s walking around barefoot, swinging the censеr, reading, reciting the petitions.… Then two sisters came—Olga and Elena Lukianov—and then someone else, and he put on his sandals (with us he walked around barefoot). When the service was over, he said goodbye and went downstairs. There was a car waiting for him—Bishop Nektary was supposed to drive him to Seattle. Suddenly Vladyka ran back into the church—and stood there, looking at the icons. He took one of the icons and placed it onto the analoi, then went and got a second, placed it on the analoi as well, and walked out. Before he left he blessed Maria Aleksandrovna and myself and gave such a great farewell smile! When he left, I asked Maria Aleksandrovna: “Why did he put those icons there?” (they weren’t supposed to be there). And she said to me:
“Oh, he’s probably tired.” Well, one of the icons is of the Holy Apostle Jude, who is commemorated on the day that Bishop John died, and the second is that of the Mother of God, who is honored on the day that Vladyka was buried.

— Did you attend Vladyka’s funeral?

L.N.: I remember touching the deceased Vladyka’s hand, and it was so lifelike. His body remained incorrupt despite the heat, which was so terrible that the candles were melting. The burial service went on for a very long time, and I had three little ones with me, so I had to leave. Petya stayed until the end and brought me flowers from Vladyka’s casket, which I put beside an icon. Right next to them I had some other flowers standing in some water. When Iona’s godfather, Father Vladimir from Jordanville, came over a week later and suggested serving a moleben, I noticed that the flowers that had been standing in water had wilted, while the flowers that Petya had brought me, which weren’t in water, looked as though they were alive. And here I had been fretting the whole time that I hadn’t been able to stay until the end of Vladyka’s burial service! When I saw those flowers, I felt that Vladyka was not upset with me.

When Vladyka died, America was going through an airline boycott, and it was practically impossible to get a flight to San Francisco. But one woman from New York really wanted to attend Vladyka’s funeral and by some miracle got on a plane and made the flight. She drove to the cathedral straight from the airport. Maria Aleksandrovna Shakhmatova knew her and, after the funeral, invited her to St. Tikhon’s House. When they got there, they saw Goolya the pigeon squawking like crazy and running up and down the hallway in front of Vladyka John’s room. He could feel that Vladyka had been buried.

P.I.: As I recall, all of the pallbearers at Vladyka’s funeral had been boys from the orphanage.

— What was the purpose of establishing the St. John Fund?

L.N.: The purpose of the fund is to help the poor. It was established by Georgiy Aleksandrovich Skariatin and his wife, and Bishop John gave it his blessing. Vladyka said that those who were first appointed to the board would remaincmembers for life. And so we’ve been working [with the fund] for many years. We’re old now, and we’re trying to pass on our knowledge and experience to those younger. Requests for aid are coming in from all over the world: the typhoon in the Philippines, a church burned down, someone needs money for surgery and so on.

— Tell us a little bit about the church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.

P.I.: This was the home church of the orphanage. And then everyone grew up, got an education and moved away. Gradually, the orphanage ceased to exist.

L.N.: Vladyka really wanted for all the children in the orphanage to get an education. When we had just arrived, the ladies who ran the orphanage suggested that the girls might earn a little money cleaning houses. But Vladyka said: “My girls won’t be doing that.” Eventually everyone finished their schooling and got good jobs, while many of the boys joined the army—Petya served in Germany.

P.I.: When we moved to America, the government paid a subsidy for each child—around $60 a month. But after reaching eighteen years of age, the subsidy was stopped, and the orphanage simply couldn’t support all of us. So all of our boys, except those who were ill, joined the army, which allowed them to continue their education with the help of the GI Bill. [a law providing benefits to returning servicemen. —Ed.]

L.N.: Vladyka really wanted our church to go on, even after we all moved away. His room is there, and he really loved that place. After Maria Aleksandrovna Shakhmatova passed away, Vera Sergeyevna Katel, who used her own money to support the parish, became starosta. When she and our priest, Father Mitrofan, became ill, Peter and I supported the parish with donations from former wards. But money for the parish started to run out—what to do? The house itself legally belonged to us, since Bishop John had given a down payment of $5,000 for it himself. But at a meeting we unanimously agreed that we would turn it over to the diocese in order to save it—under the condition that the church and Vladyka John’s room would remain ours.

— What role did Vladyka play in your lives?

L.N.: He showed us so much in life through his example—what the Orthodox faith is, how to live within the Church, how to treat other people, how to love, how to forgive. We’re trying. We pray to him. And if I turn to Vladyka for anything, he immediately helps me. I purposely keep his icon on a small cabinet so that my grandchildren always see it.

— What was the source of Vladyka’s remarkable inner strength?

L.N.: It seems to me that he was born that way. There was grace in him from the very beginning. He liked to pray since childhood. And people always loved him and wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“Spiritual Spring” Journal Vol. 2  2014, interview by Julia Godzikovskaya