Seminary alumnus Fr. John Leonard (M.Div. '72, M.Th. '73) peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in the late afternoon.
"Father John was a great friend and superlative representative of all that is best in our alumni," said Theodore Bazil, senior advisor for Advancement at St. Vladimir's Seminary.
Father John, who hailed from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was a former foreign-service officer for the U.S. government. After receiving his seminary education, he decided to enter the Melkite priesthood. He and his wife, Barbara, made their home for many years at the secluded Convent of the Annunciation-St. John the Baptist, in Israel, which was also home to several semi-cloistered nuns.
Father John's ministry as chaplain to this community of nuns in Nazareth for twenty-three years allowed him to add a rich component of books on Islamic, Jewish, and biblical archeological studies to his private library, which he carefully had collected over a span of 50 years. In 2011, he donated more than 3,000 books to the seminary's Father Georges Florovsky Library.
The collection attested to Fr. John's own mastery of languages, and included a book in the Samaritan language. The collection also was representative of his lifelong interest and reading in Eastern and Western theology, Christian art and literature, and biblical studies, as well as many other subjects—more than 900 titles of his donation to the seminary's library comprised a section on Christian art and architecture.
The entire seminary community offers prayer for Fr. John, and sends loving condolences to his wife, Barbara, and their family. Memory Eternal!
Details of funeral arrangements and a link to Fr. John's obituary are available here.
Read about Fr. John's generous library donation in 2011.
