Jānis Garklāvs

Archbishop John (secular name Jānis Garklāvs in Latvian or Ivan Yakovlevich Garklav, in Russian; August 25, 1898 – April 11, 1982) was a bishop of the Orthodox Church in America. He served as Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest from 1957 until his retirement in 1978. He is remembered for safeguarding the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of Our God after World War II.

Life He was born in Umurga Parish, in the Kreis Wolmar of the Governorate of Livonia (today in Latvia), on August 25, 1898. His father died when he was two years old, leaving his widowed mother to care for him and his two younger brothers. His mother, a gifted singer, did not remarry.

Abp. John grew up in the small provincial town Limbaži, located about 80 miles from Riga. He attended school in the village and took active part in the Latvian Orthodox Church as an altar boy and then as a . He attended the Riga Theological Seminary, from which he graduated with honors.

On September 20, 1936 metropolitan Augustine (Pētersons) of Riga ordained him a deacon. On September 27 of the same year, Bishop James (Karps) of Jelgava ordained him a priest.

After Bishop Alexander (Vītols), formerly of Madona, died in Riga in 1942, Fr. John was elected Bishop of Riga. He was consecrated in 1943 after spending a period of time in preparation at the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius.