"The biggest surprise, however, came during the procession around the church with the blessing of the water. When he would sprinkle the holy water, he would aim mostly at his altar boys, dousing them. The boys felt themselves to be the center of attention, and were elated to be thus sanctified by their beloved archpastor."

“Many were aware that it was not necessary to ask Vladika to visit someone. The Lord Himself inspired him where and to whom to go.”

“We Altar Attendants really liked going to other churches when they had their church’s holiday... Typically, the hosts never thought of sitting us. When Vladika was urged to take his place, he would ask the person in charge of the banquet ‘Where are my Altar Attendants sitting?’ Typically they would be slightly embarrassed and say something ‘Oh, we’ll find them a place in the kitchen’ or more often than not, just say ‘We don’t have a place for them’. At that time, Vladika would say that he is not sitting down until his Altar Attendants are seated. Then a slight panic would ensue, as people scrambled for an extra table and some chairs. We loved that scene, and very much appreciated Vladika’s loyalty and concern.”

“Sanctity is not just a virtue. It is an attainment of such spiritual height, that the abundance of God’s grace which fills the saint overflows on all who associate with him. Great is the saint’s state of bliss in which they dwell contemplating the Glory of God. Being filled with love for God and man, they are responsive to man’s needs, interceding before God and helping those who turn to them.”

“While being unconcerned with matters of jurisdictions, Archbishop John was ruthless and intolerant towards Clergy who were lax and indifferent in matters of spiritual integrity. For this he was hated to such an extent that there was even an attempt to poison him during Pascha, and he barely survived. This intolerance towards Archbishop John stemmed mostly from envy and jealousy.”

“The chapter of St. Tikhon's Orphanage has never been written. The amazing way in which Blessed John gathered and fed the children requires an able writer to capture it for posterity. The children would be underfed, abused and frightened, until Archbishop John would come and very often take them personally into his orphanage and school. Each child and there were over three thousand who went through the orphanage had a traumatic story.”

“If he was in his room and you wanted to see him, you didn’t just knock and wait for him to respond. What you did was knock and say “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us”, and when he responded with an “Amen”, you walked in.”