Ioann Bondarchuk
People’s Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
“Man is created by the word, and the word must awaken him
from the earthly dream of remodelling, to show the way, to save for eternity.
It is clear that this word should be special, unusual, golden.”
Petro Soroka
Our memorable father and teacher is Metropolitan Ioann Bodnarchuk. He was a great soul filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ioann Bodnarchuk, like us, is of catacomb origin. He was tonsured a monk by the catacomb bishop of the St. Andrew’s branch, Schema-Metropolitan Gennady Sekach. He was a zealous ascetic, imprisoned in the Soviet Union for preaching.
He didn’t like to remember what he had experienced in the torture chambers of the KGB — his heart was tormented. Once he said only, unable to hold back tears: ‘They beat him so badly that they made a healthy guy disabled …’
The ‘churchman’ was offered to publicly repent to the Soviet authorities and sign some documents, promising in return freedom, a career and a ‘fat’ parish. He only replied: ‘To apologize to you is like meeting a hungry wolf in the steppe, kneeling down and begging: ‘Don’t eat me!’
He endured 10 years of camps and copper mines of Karaganda. In the tenth year, he fell ill with incurable dysentery in the camp. In fact, a fatal disease. He was dying in the barracks, crying, making the sign of the cross and was about to go to a better place, when suddenly the Mother of God appeared to him. The Good Sister of Mercy came to the prisoners of Solovki. So much love, oh-oh! .. It seemed that this love embraced all the evil that surrounded doomed to death prisoner. One look from Her literally healed Ioann.
He fell asleep in bliss, and lo and behold, he woke up a few hours later in the house of an unknown kind old woman. She looks at him with gentle eyes, cries and washes the wounds. ‘Son, my son,’ he kisses his hands and forehead. Ioann weeps with bliss: ‘What is this? Did I die or go crazy? Where am I?’
The old woman replied: The Mother of God appeared to me, passed through the roof and brought you in her arms, my son. She said, ‘Child, receive Ioann. He is my suffering son. Heal him of his wounds, feed him the best food until he is healed.’ Amazed, Ioann realized that the Mother of God had carried him on her hands through the air through the barbed wire of the concentration camp with electric current, and saved his life.
From then on, Ioann felt himself indebted to the Most Holy Mother of God.
And how many people our Mother healed! How many people She came to at the last minute, when they were already deprived of the last hope, when no one could help. Every tear of yours, oh my Mother, every tear of yours is myrrh-streaming!
Ioann recovered, and in a few weeks he felt perfectly well, as if he had been born again. He was ready to serve, thanking the Mother of God for her miraculous protection and healing.
After the healing, the Tsarina brought Ioann to the catacomb Pochaiv skete, to his children, where he had previously preached.
The Mother of God often came to the sorrowful, persecuted saints, the ‘Christos’, as the KGB people mockingly called them. For years, secret ascetics in worldly clothes miraculously hid from KGB officers in civilian clothes, who were hunting for the ‘anti-Soviet element’ and ‘sectarians’.
Ioann goes to the catacomb metropolitan-elder Gennady Sekach who dares to send Ioann to study. The catacomb priests lacked, from their point of view, knowledge of ritual and theology.
Having received a blessing from the elders of the TOC (True Orthodox Church), Ioann entered the Trinity-Sergius Seminary and then graduated from the academy. Patriarch Pimen turned his attention to him. The young ascetic becomes the personal cell attendant of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, Pimen consecrated Ioann as bishop of Zhitomir.
Ioann is incredible! As he came to the Russian Orthodox Church, he left it, with the blessing of the catacomb elders. It was a miracle!
Bodnarchuk was the first to leave the ROC, although according to him, he had more than a hundred robes, five cars and two huge mansions. He went out and was left alone with two faithful assistants. He began to build an independent Ukrainian church.
For six months, he traveled to 500 churches, preached by the Holy Spirit, and ignited the hearts of thousands of people. Weeping, the people said, ‘You are our father, we will die for you!’
All 500 churches recognized him as their archpastor. In fact, Ioann headed the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. For such activities, he survived anathemas and two attempts on life from the enemies of the Russian Orthodox Church.
And how Metropolitan Ioann fell in love with our branch of the Theotokos! He said: ‘I have never read anything in the world better than the word of the Mother of God… This is the voice of the One who came to me in the camp, took me in her hands, carried me through the barbed wire and brought me back to life!’ ‘I saw another branch in you. It is the will of the Heavenly Father that another Church will start from you. Though I lay down my life, I will not give up mine, and I will ordain you to the episcopate. You are of true spirit. I’m not afraid of anything! I have conquered death.’
Ordained… and died as a martyr in November 1994 in a rigged car accident.
His blessing will be heard forever: ‘I have blessed on earth the Seraphim Solovetsky Melchizedek branch. It will abide for a thousand years! Amen.’
The Kingdom of Heaven to you, holy Metropolitan. Eternal rest in the blessed dormition сhamber.
Reviews of famous personalities
The books by John Bogomil can be called a revelation of love. Music is a great key to convey love. It penetrates deep into the soul and gives birth to the full spectrum of heart vibrations.
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It does not matter which of his hundreds of works will be the first to fall into your hands. We have yet to realize that we live in a special time – the era of John Bogomil. The time will come when millions will say, ‘What a great soul has come into the world! What love it brings!’