Sonkajanranta, Finland, July 15, 2019
On November 29,
the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople announced its
decision to glorify among the saints the holy Martyr and
Confessor John of Sonkajanranta (1884-1918) at the proposal of the
Finnish Orthodox Church, an autonomous body within the
Patriarchate.
Johannes Vasilinpoika Karhapää was an Orthodox missionary who was
killed by the White Guards during the Finnish civil war. Schema-Abbot
John of Valaam was canonized on the same day, which was liturgically
celebrated on June 1.
The liturgical proclamation of this glorification was celebrated on
Saturday at the Church of the Holy Prophetess of God Anna in
Sonkajanranta in southeastern Finland by His Eminence Archbishop Leo
of Helsinki and All Finland, with the concelebration of several other
hierarchs from the Finnish Church, reports the Finnish Church.
A large number of clergy and faithful from throughout Finland,
including relatives of the newly-canonized saint, were present for the
festal Divine Liturgy. The small church was filled to overflowing,
with many faithful watching a broadcast of the service in the
courtyard.
Abp. Leo
addressed the gathered faithful with a sermon about the labors of the
holy Martyr John and Protodeacon Juha Pessie read out the life of the
new saint. Following the Divine Liturgy, a solemn procession was held
with the icon of the saint to a memorial cross erected in his honor
in the 1980s, where a moleben was served.
Following the moleben to St. John, all the guests were treated to a
festive lunch. The official celebrations then finished with the
chanting of an akathist to St. John at the memorial cross. All present
were blessed with the gift of a memorial icon of St. John.
St. John was
born in 1884 in the Sonkajanranta village in Ilomantsi. He married and
had two children, and was married a second time after his wife died
in 1910.
He developed a strong and active Orthodox faith in his childhood. In
response to fervent Lutheran missionary work, St. John founded an
Orthodox school and association as a subdivision of the Sts. Sergius
and Herman Brotherhood that actively countered the Protestant
propaganda.
St. John also worked as a traveling catechist in Ilomantsi, and in
1914, he was appointed as a teacher of religion for the entire Kuopio
Province. His great activity also earned him a number of enemies who
called him a henchman of the tsarist regime and even accused him of
being a spy.
In 1915, the Church of St. Anna, where the glorification of St.
John was celebrated, was built for the school he had founded. St. John
received a number of distinctions for his zealous teaching and
missionary work, though he was also hated as a propagator of the
“Russian faith.” Accusations against him intensified following the
Russian revolution in 1917 and he was also accused of being a
Bolshevik. St. John never responded to any of the heinous accusations.
Eventually he was slandered among the Orthodox faithful as well, and
it was demanded that he be removed from his Church positions. Having
lost the support of the local archbishop as well, St. John was seen as
a criminal in the turmoil of the Finnish civil war.
St. John and his brother were arrested in March 1918 after a small
icon was found in his pocket. They were locked up in the basement of
the Joensuu town hall with other prisoners. He was later shot by a
group of rowdy White Guards. The exact date of his execution is
unclear.
His wife was able to obtain his body only months later, and he was
buried in Ilomantsi with a large group of Orthodox and Lutherans
attending.
***
Troparion, Tone 2
Thy martyr John, O Lord / rejoices crowned as a saint in Heaven /
as the first-begotten of our people, / for spurred on by Thee, he
served for the good of the true faith even unto death. // By his
prayers have mercy upon our souls.
Troparion, Tone 5
The faithful bow to thee today, John, / Instructor of the word of
God, / for difficult was thy path, of fervent faith and Divine
inspiration, / and as an innocent victim brutally murdered / thou dost
abide in the joy of the Heavenly Kingdom. // Therefore we honor thee
as a martyr.
Source and thanks to: http://orthochristian.com
