Customarily, after the celebration of the memory of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Miracle-worker, his relics are returned from the center of San Francisco’s Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” to its usual place on the right side of the church. But this year, the 50th anniversary of the saint’s blessed repose, we decided to leave St John’s reliquary in the middle of the cathedral until Sunday, beside the icon of All Russian Saints, since St John is certainly counted among them.
For various reasons, it wasn’t possible to return the reliquary to its usual place for the next few days. This proved providential: in 1966, the body of Vladyka John remained in the church until his funeral on July 7, and now, on the 50th anniversary, his relics remained in the center of the cathedral all week, reminding us again and again of his repose and burial.
We share the following photographs of the week’s celebrations below.
