The Life of Saint Jonah, Bishop of Hankow
Whose Memory the Holy Church Celebrates on the 7th of October
“Do not forget the little children... Forgive me for Christ’s sake, but do not forget them in your prayers. Write their names in your Books of Remembrance…” These were the instructions left by His Grace, the ever-memorable Bishop Jonah of Hankow, who, having “fought the good fight” (II Tim. 4: 7), by his profoundly ascetic manner of life and rich spiritual experience won for himself the love and respect of all.
His Grace, Bishop Jonah (Pokrovsky), whose secular name was Vladimir, was born on April 17th, 1888, in the Kozel’sk District of the Province of Kaluga. Having lost his parents, who were of the peasantry, early in life, he was adopted by the village deacon, whose surname was Pokrovsky. After brilliantly completing his seminary studies in Kaluga, the young Vladimir enrolled in the Kazan’ Theological Academy in 1909. During his third year of study there he took the monastic tonsure, receiving the new name Jonah, and repaired to the famous Optina Hermitage, where he availed himself of the guidance of the renowned elders, Saints Joseph and Anatolius.
He returned to the Academy, having been ordained to the rank of hieromonk, and completed his course of study in 1914, after which he began to teach the Sacred Scriptures as a graduate assistant. Yet “as the eye has need of hands and the other parts of the body, so also does faith need active virtue” (Bl. Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrrhus), and Father Jonah, possessing unshakable faith, desired to minister unto those who were defending Faith, Tsar and Fatherland against their enemies during World War I. He therefore became a military chaplain, and in 1916, the senior chaplain of the Army.
In 1918, persecuted by the Bolsheviks who had usurped authority, Father Jonah left Kazan’ and travelled to Perm. There he was beaten and arrested by the ungodly ones who were contending against God, and was dispatched to Tiumen to stand trial; but along the way, in the Province of Tobol’sk, the White Army managed to free him. He left Tobol’sk and followed the River Irtysh down to Omsk, where the Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration elevated him to the rank of abbot and made him chief chaplain of the Southern Army. When the Southern Army was routed, he was forced to leave his much-suffering motherland through Turkestan and the Gobi Desert, shouldering the heavy cross of exile.
By way of western China, Abbot Jonah arrived in Shanghai, and was then assigned to the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking, where he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite. In September of 1922, in Peking he was consecrated Bishop of Tiansin, vicar of the Peking Mission, and was also appointed rector of the Saint Innocent Missionary Cathedral in Manchuria. The hierarchs who took part in his nomination and consecration were Archbishop Innocent of Peking, head of the Mission, and Bishops Meletius of Trans-Baikal and Simon of Shanghai (later Archbishop of Peking). When he arrived in Manchuria on October 19, 1922, the newly-consecrated archpastor began his hierarchal struggle, making an apostolic journey to the people, for the salvation of his flock and those seeking the true Faith.
Bishop Meletius (later Metropolitan) of Harbin describes the first steps of Saint Jonah’s archpastoral activity thus: “…The populace of Manchuria, in that it came from various parts of Russia, had not been properly educated in the religious sense. Relatively few came to pray in the vast new and magnificent church of the Mission, and the preaching in church was very weak. A zealous minister of the Church of God and an excellent preacher, the young and energetic Bishop Jonah first undertook to organize his flock in the religious, moral sense. He brought the services in his church into line with the typicon, organized a beautiful choir, and preached tirelessly; and the church began to fill with the faithful, until finally there was no more room. For the energetic Bishop Jonah, however, this was not enough. At the invitation of the City Council, he taught catechism in the local high school. When the students, who had come to love him, learned that they were not required to be tested on their knowledge of the Law of God, they declared that it was their desire to submit to examination on this subject, and everyone displayed a good knowledge…”
Here His Grace, Bishop Jonah also founded an orphanage, playing an active rôle in the life and upbringing of the children, as Bishop Nestor of Kamchatka testifies in his letter to the children of the orphanage in Manchuria: “Vladyka Jonah is still with us, and especially with you, dear children; for he cared and took thought for you most of all during his lifetime, and has not abandoned you even after his death. Remember his testament, in which he speaks so movingly, so warmly of you, and you alone… Bishop Jonah gave himself over wholly to charity, committed his whole heart to you; and having yearned for God with that love, that loving-kindness, he is calling his dear children to travel the same path. To follow this summons, children, is the only way for us to express our thanks to Bishop Jonah for all he did for you.”
When he wished to rest “among the kids” (thus did His Grace express himself) from his onerous hierarchal activity, Vladyka would go to his beloved orphanage.
Diligently fulfilling the commandment of Christ concerning active love for one’s neighbor, Bishop Jonah became a prominent social activist, caring for the good estate and eternal salvation of the flock entrusted to him by the Chief Shepherd. During the three years of his sojourn on the cathedra of Manchuria, he managed to found:
1) the children’s orphanage, in which there were thirty orphans, aged between five and fourteen years;
2) lower and upper primary schools, where as many as five hundred students were educated without cost;
3) a soup kitchen which provided meals daily for two hundred people;
4) a free medical clinic, which provided medical aid and medicines for the poorest of Manchuria’s populace; and
5) a library for the spiritual enlightenment of the people.
His Grace, Bishop Jonah also published leaflets containing spiritual and moral instruction and himself delivered lectures in Harbin’s theological-philosophical courses. By his education, spiritual character, charitable activity and cordiality Vladyka attracted people of all ages, levels of society and education. Yet despite all of this, he was remarkably humble-minded and modest, as I. Krupenin relates of him: “How simply Vladyka Jonah lived! It was hard to believe that this was a ‘Prince of the Church’, a Lord and Master. He had neither cooks nor a kitchen. He ate very modestly and simply. His favorite food was fried potatoes and dark rye bread. Vladyka’s clothing and footwear were even more modest. Patches were the usual adornment of both. Tailors and cobblers would often refuse to repair them: the patches were what was holding them together! Yet if Vladyka was modest during his lifetime, after death he has shown his greatness and the height of his spirit.”
A man’s spiritual value is determined not only by his way of life and his activity, but also by his death, i.e. by how he surrenders his soul “into the hands of God”. And the most merciful Lord, “Who loveth the righteous”, desiring to summon the holy hierarch to His heavenly habitation, of which it is written “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” (I Cor. 2: 9), entered the name of the bishop in the Book of Life, giving him a “good end”.
Archbishop (later Metropolitan) Methodius of Harbin was a witness to his final moments: “Bidding farewell to the sick man, I insistently told him several times that he needed to make his confession, that I would come to him the next day with the chalice and the Holy Gifts. A doctor was standing by the sick-bed, it being his turn to watch over the patient, and he made a confirmatory sign at my suggestion. Seeing this, Vladyka understood that his final moment was drawing nigh, and he asked the physician: ‘Is my end really arriving so quickly?’ When he received an affirmative reply, the sick man began to prepare for confession and Holy Communion. [Vladyka had developed a blood infection and angina.] Putting on his mantia, he said: ‘It’s time to gather everyone together.’ He made his confession and received the Holy Mysteries. When he had removed his vestments, he sat down and typed out his final testament… Having set out his last will, he arose, took the Book of Needs in hand, and himself read the Canon at the Departure of the Soul. I stood to one side and prayed with him, the doctor supporting him lightly on the other side. When he finished the canon, he began to bid farewell to those present, who were standing beyond the light curtain which served to partition off the adjoining room. Asking their forgiveness, he bowed down before everyone’s feet, and those present, for their part, bowed down before his feet with tears in their eyes, asking forgiveness; and approaching him one by one, they asked his blessing… Bestowing his archpastoral blessing upon them all, he sat on his bed, ordered them to take his shoes off, and then lay down on his bed and said: ‘I am dying.’ They placed a cross and candle in his hands… I began to read the prayers at the departure of the soul. The dying man recited along with me. And when I had read the kontakion ‘O my soul’ and began to read the ikos, tears suddenly flooded my eyes, and at that moment the dying man uttered his final groan and reposed…”
It is interesting to note that before his repose, having made his confession to his confessor, Father Alexis, and received Communion and written his will, Vladyka told the clergy who surrounded him to vest him in the epitrachelion and cuffs of Saint Ambrose of Optina, and ordered them to bury him in the white vestments and miter he had received from his Manchurian flock. He wanted to be buried beyond the sanctuary, next to Father Micah, the founder of the Mission’s metochion, whom he had buried several days previously. He asked Archbishop Methodius to serve for him the funeral of a monk and to place the gold pectoral cross of the recently reposed Hieromonk Micah on Father Paul Shilyaev, who was famous in China as a composer and the choir-master of the Saint Innocent Cathedral. At that time, services of supplication for Vladyka’s health were being served in the cathedral, in which a great number of the faithful participated, as well as the orphans, whom Vladyka Jonah had mentioned many times when saying farewell to his flock, saying: “Do not abandon the children; take care of them.” They held up before Vladyka icons of Saint John the Evangelist and the Mother of God (a blessing from Metropolitan Anthony), which he asked them to place on his coffin. And so, firmly holding the holy cross in his right hand, Vladyka spoke his final words: “Forgive and pray for me”, and peacefully departed this fleeting life for blessed and everlasting life with God. After this, Vladyka Methodius approached the newly departed bishop and finished the reading of the canon at the departure of the soul.
Archbishop Methodius of Harbin and many clergymen celebrated the funeral service in the presence of 8,000 people. With profound sorrow and abundant tears his flock, with the clergy and children of his beloved orphanage, accompanied him on the “path which all the world must take”. During one of the panikhidas for Bishop Jonah in the cathedral, A. T. Gantimurov, who had been deeply upset by Vladyka’s unexpected death, suddenly passed away of a heart attack. On the eve of the ninth day, the parastasis was celebrated, and on the ninth day itself, the liturgy, after which a gathering was held in memory of Vladyka, which opened with the serving of a litia for the repose of his soul.
For us Vladyka’s repose was glorious, victorious and instructive! Teaching us the most sublime lesson of Christian life and death, Bishop Jonah reminded us of the edifying words of Saint Ephraim the Syrian: “The time for repentance is short; the kingdom of heaven has no end!” Despite his youth, Vladyka always prepared himself for death and the life of the age to come, bringing to fulfillment the spiritually beneficial words of The Prologue in Instructions: “Our present life is a field in which we must sow seeds, i.e. good works for the life to come. Let us sow, so that our seeds will grow, and bear fruit, and we will enjoy these fruits, i.e. the results of our good works, in the mansions of the heavenly Father. If we do not sow anything good here, we will not see anything good in the age to come” (22 November).
While he departed this world, which “lieth in evil”, Vladyka did not cease to love his children, which is borne witness by the miracle of the healing of a certain ten-year old boy who was suffering from pain in his legs. At the hour of the bishop’s blessed repose, this child saw him in a dream. The bishop said to him: “Here, take my legs; I have no more need of them. And you give me yours!” The late Archpriest Nicholas Kiklovich, a clergyman of the Harbin Diocese, tells the story of the boy who was healed: “This love and feeling of respect for [Bishop Jonah] did not cease with his death. On the contrary, they began to love and honor him all the more, yet not as an ordinary mortal man, but as one of God’s favored ones. This is particularly evident after Vladyka’s healing of the sick boy Nicholas, who was beyond the help of medicine. (The boy was treated at the onset of his condition by Dr. V. V. Lyapustin, who also treated Vladyka. The Doctor subsequently provided details of the case to the obstetrician Byelovaya.) At the very moment when human aid was shown to be unable to help the suffering child, and his family despaired of their son’s future, the power of God, in the person of the newly-reposed Vladyka Jonah, then appeared to help the suffering boy. A month ago, this young Nicholas—now twenty-seven years old, self-employed, married, with two little daughters and his own home—came to the writer of these lines and told him in detail of his healing. After the miraculous vision of the newly-reposed Vladyka Jonah, Nicholas awoke and rose from his bed, completely restored to health. He cast away his crutches and, even though it was midnight, began to walk around his room.”
In the summer of 1994, in the city of Kurgan, Nicholas Dergachev reposed in old age. He had lived for a time in Kustanay, where in 1989 he was visited by A. Baksheev, a devotee of the saint and a former resident of Harbin who now lives in Australia: “…I sought this man out He was living in an apartment. I had a conversation with him. It proved to be like a fairy tale or a miracle. When we were living in China, we read this brochure about Vladyka, but it never entered our mind that we would meet the boy himself. He gave me a portrait of Bishop Jonah… It is in a frame and hangs near our icons. I pray to him as to a saint.”
Several years after the blessed repose of Bishop Jonah a special anthology was published, describing various cases of the gracious aid which show the miraculous power of God made manifest through the intercession and help of the holy hierarch, which was poured forth in abundance upon those who with faith and love have recourse to his prayerful mediation before the throne of the Lord of glory.
Many who were at one time residents in Vladyka’s orphanage and his spiritual children desired to uncover his most precious remains and to effect their transferal to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, that they might become the object of reverent veneration by all who fervently honor the memory of the holy hierarch and wonder-worker with oneness of mind. In February of 1994, V. I. Ufaev, at the behest of the Society of Former Manchurians, journeyed to China, where he obtained the permission of the authorities to remove the precious remains; and in July, on the feast of the holy Great Prince Vladimir (Vladyka’s secular name), he set about excavating the site of the burial by the wall of the sanctuary of the St. Innocent Cathedral, which had been demolished in 1964. Unfortunately, the relics were not found. They had apparently been destroyed when the church was dynamited, the stones of which were carried away by the populace. On 12/23 November 1994, at its second session, the Sacred Council of Bishops of our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, having listened with great attention to the report of Archbishop Anthony of Western America & San Francisco concerning the attempts of the Society of Former Manchurians, who reside now in San Francisco, to find the remains of Bishop Jonah, resolved: “To give the Manchurians the blessing of the Council of Bishops, to praise their zeal and loyalty to the memory of the holy hierarch Jonah, and to bless them for their efforts to find his remains.” At the most recent Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, in September of this year, they resolved to perform Bishop Jonah’s ecclesiastical glorification on 7/20, 1996.
I will conclude this account with the words of Metropolitan Meletius of Harbin: “His Grace, Bishop Jonah fulfilled the most important commandment of Christ: he fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, took the wanderer in, clothed the naked, and visited the sick, doing all this for his brethren in need. And through them he did what is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose sweet voice may he hear, saying: ‘O good and faithful servant, come and inherit the habitation with My Father, which is prepared for thee!”
Through his supplications may the Lord, Who is wondrous in His saints, help us to fulfill the principal commandment of the newly-glorified hierarch—to love one another. Then we will be worthy to be called his devotees, for, as the divine Chrysostom once said, “the true veneration of a saint is his emulation.”
Let us send up glory, thanksgiving and worship to our God Who is worshipped in Trinity, and Who has given us a new mediator before His throne, unto the ages of ages. Amen.