The Rev. John Shamiae of Damascus Will Make His Headquarters in This City.

The Rev. John Shamiae, who is know as the Oriental Monk of the Greek Catholic Church, is in this city, and yesterday morning he preached the sermon at the special service in the Russian-Greek cathedral to celebrate the finding of the cross by Constantine Helena.

The Oriental Monk is regarded as a unique personage in the denomination to which he belongs. He is a native of Damascus and when sixteen years of age was sent to Russia by the late Rev. J. Erasim, the Patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church of Syria. After passing the necessary examinations the boy entered the Theological Seminary in Moscow and for three years was a student at that institution. A year's course in the University of Kazan followed his graduation from the seminary. Two years ago he was ordained a priest of the Greek Catholic Church.

The young monk has come to San Francisco to establish here his headquarters. He has become a member of the Consistory, but little of his time will be spent in this city for he has been appointed by Bishop Tikhon as the General Missionary of the United States. He speaks fluently some eight languages, and it is his purpose to visit every Greek Catholic Church and mission in this country. He will begin his work as missionary next week.

The anniversary service yesterday opened with the liturgy, Bishop Tikhon officiating, assisted by the Rev. Anthony Daschkevich of Alaska; the Rev. T. Pashkovsky and the Rev. P. Poppoff. The Rev. Father Shamiae took for the theme of his discourse, "The Mystery of the Cross."

The San Francisco Examiner, September 28, 1900.