Fake Spiritual Daughter of St John Maximovitch ?

[Barbara]

Postphoning Philip yet again [!], I want to point out the striking similarity between the tale told by ex-Rocor Nun Theodosia and the emphasis in today's Rocor-MP on this exact same theme : children giving up things for children in unfortunate circumstances. This points all the more to the fact that the original remembrances of Nun Theodosia were either amplified with the politically correct slant, or stories such as the Stuffed Animal Enforced Giving were manufactured to suit the agenda.

Surprise, surprise: the backdrop for such a scene is none other than ... the very same St Elizabeth Convent in Minsk mentioned earlier. Regarding a visit to allow the nuns there to venerate the hand of Grand Duchess Elizabeth normally kept in the Synod in New York, the Protopriest leading the group of youth from the US on the trip to Belarus explained :

"Firstly, we will visit an orphanage operated by St Elizabeth Convent. During Great Lent, for the third year now, we ran a wonderful event called “Project Piggy Bank,” in which kids in parish schools of three dioceses of ROCOR brought their own savings to help the orphanage. I am happy to report that we raised a good bit of money from the children of North America. This is the most cherished thing for us to see: children helping other children. They joyfully handed over their own money for the sick children, thereby personally sensing what sacrifice and help for one’s neighbor means."

http://synod.com/synod/engdocuments/ena ... abeth.html

[Barbara]

Back to the subject of Nun Theodosia's portrait of St John-as-a-scary-person-for-children, her view is proven to be jaundiced and perhaps motivated by other things than a wish to convey the most accurate truth about this great Wonderworker.

In the life story of another Rocor White Russian émigré, Nicholas Lukianov, a former starosta of the San Francisco Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral, we find this assertion :

"He attracted people, especially children, with his warmth and love."
https://pravoslavie.ru/113508.html

This sentence rings completely true, whereas Nun Theodosia's version sounds like a deliberate attempt to puncture the rosy images held of St John.

After all, Nicholas Lukianov was himself growing up on the other side of the globe, in Shanghai, when he interacted with the Saint. His family remained in close contact with St John up to a telephone call to Nicholas' wife from Seattle on the very eve of the Saint's repose ! Not too many people can claim such a lengthy and consistent association with St John.
Certainly not Nun Theodosia, who never saw the Archbishop after he left France for San Francisco. Thus, Nicholas Lukianov is a reliable source, particularly since he provides unique and factual stories of St John's life and its aftermath.

On the contrary, Nun Theodosia [ or the ghostwriter who penned her interview ] seems to be dispensing as much disinformation as her overseers calculated could be accepted by the majority of today's readers, few of whom were able to meet St John during his life.