On the 20th of October, 1996 simultaneously in two American cities - San Francisco and Chicago - Bishop Jonah of Manchuria was numbered among the choir of the saints.
Bishop Jonah was born in 1888. He received a theological education at the Kazan Theological Academy, while he mastered the fundamentals of the Orthodox Church's ascetical life at the renowned Optina Hermitage. After ordination to the priestly rank, he became an instructor of Sacred Scripture and discharged the duties of a military chaplain. In 1922, he was ordained a bishop with a charge to care for the needs of the Russian refugees in Manchuria, who had fled there from the communist yoke.
Bishop Jonah gave himself over fully to the service of his impoverished flock, caring not only for its spiritual, but also for its material needs. He devoted special attention to the children. Exhausting service to people undermined his health, and sickness brought him to an early death, which followed on the 20th of October 1925.
In his spiritual testament, he left his flock this command: "Love one another. This is my main commandment to you. Do not abandon the children. Forgive me, for the sake of Christ, and do not forget me in your holy prayers. And so, until we meet in eternity, when we shall all stand before the Dread Judgment Seat."
The Chief Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Vitaly, headed the solemnity of the canonization of Bishop Jonah of Manchuria in San Francisco, while Archbishop Alipy of Chicago and Detroit did so in Chicago.