Melitopol, Ukraine: March 29, 2018
Image of St. John of San Francisco appears on glass of icon case in Ukraine

His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye has confirmed a miracle that occurred with an icon of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco in the Monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified in Melitopol, 415 miles southeast of Kiev.

As first noticed by Hieromonk Antipy and confirmed by the bishop, the face of St. John the Wonderworker has miraculously appeared on the glass of the case that was covering his icon, reports the site of the Zaporozhye Diocese.

On the monastery’s feast day, December 18, in 2012 the abbot of the community of St. John of Shanghai in the village of Kalinov Most in the Poltava Province Igumen Serapion (Medvedev) brought a piece of the relics of the holy wonderworker and an icon to be venerated by the faithful at St. Sava’s Monastery. Fr. Serapion also presented the monastery abbot with a small icon depicting the saint, which has held an honorable place in the church since then.

After six years, it was decided to make a new case for the icon. When it was already ready, Hieromonk Antipy began to disassemble the previous case and noticed with surprise that the image of the saint was completely imprinted on the glass. This occurred on March 5.

The icon and glass were shown to the monastery rector Met. Luke during the All-Night Vigil on March 17, who confirmed it as a miracle.

A new riza is currently being prepared for the miraculously-appearing icon.