Unalaska Cathedral Vandalized

It is being reported that Unalaska's historic Cathedral of the Ascension has been desecrated by vandals who spray-painted "Dutch" and "Duncha" on the outside of the Alaskan Orthodox house of worship. Local Alaskan authorities have pledged to catch the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crime, which is both a federal offense (as the cathedral is a historic landmark) and possibly a hate crime. More here.

St. Herman of Alaska

Joyous feast! С праздником! Today is one of the few fixed feast days that share the same day on both the Julian and Gregorian calendars as we commemorate the simultaneous glorification of St. Herman of Alaska by the American Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which took place on this day 41 years ago. A full account of St. Herman's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Today is a special day for me as it's the day I became a catechumen in 2002. I coincidentally noticed St. Herman's icon in the local parish bookstore and bought it shortly before I was made a catechumen and have felt a connection with him since, though unfortunately not strong enough of one for me to have been baptized as Herman or Germanus. (I get enough weird looks from my family as it is ;-).) St. Herman is truly the father of every Orthodox Christian in North America - I hope his blessings are with you in a special way today!

"O Blessed Father Herman of Alaska, North Star of Christ's Holy Church! The light of your holy life and great deeds guides those who follow the Orthodox Way! Together we lift high the holy cross you planted firmly in the Americas! Let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ, singing His Holy Resurrection!

St. Jacob of Atka

Joyous feast! St. Jacob (Netsvetov) of Atka, better known as St. Jacob of Alaska and also known as St. Yakov of Alaska, was born in the early 1800s on Russian Alaska's Atka Island to a Russian father, Yegor, and a local Aleut woman, Maria. St. Jacob loved the Church from his youth and when his family moved to Siberia he entered the Irkutsk Theological Seminary at the age of twenty-one.

In 1826 St. Jacob graduated from the Seminary, married, and was ordained to the deaconate and assigned to a parish in Irkutsk. Two years later Archbishop Michael of Tobolsk ordained the Saint to the priesthood and gave him two antimensia, one to be placed in a church he charged St. Jacob to build on Atka in memory of St. Nicholas and the other to be used during missionary travels.

That same year, 1828, St. Jacob left with his family for Atka, there serving a parish encompassing a number of islands covering some 2,000 miles of territory. Despite the vast size of his parish St. Jacob traveled frequently to preach the Gospel and visit his scattered faithful, doing a great deal through his teaching and way of life to strengthen the area in the Orthodox Faith, while also overseeing the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas on Atka and instructing the island's children in both the Aleut and Russian languages.

While living on Atka St. Jacob maintained an active correspondence with St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Sitka, labored to translate the Bible and divine services into Aleut, and collected specimens for museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to providing for his family and serving his parish. In 1836 St. Jacob lost both his wife and his father, who had served St. Nicholas' as a reader, and petitioned the Church to be transferred to Irkutsk to enter a monastery there.

Although permission was granted for the transfer in 1837 St. Innocent persuaded St. Jacob to remain in Alaska. In Alaska St. Jacob continued to serve on Atka for another seven years before moving to the mainland to evangelize the nations of the Yukon. His subsequent years in southwestern Alaska were spent preaching and baptizing, building new churches, and bringing an end to the conflicts that had divided the local peoples.

In 1863 St. Jacob traveled to Sitka to appear in a case falsely brought against him by a former worker in his mission, after which he was assigned to serve a local Tlingit-speaking parish as his health had deteriorated too much to allow him to return to the Yukon. On 26 July 1864 St. Jacob fell asleep in Sitka and was buried at the entrance to the church he had served there, being glorified one hundred thirty years later by the American Orthodox Church that had grown out of his and others' missionary labors in Alaska.

More on St. Jacob's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Sitka Icon of the Mother of God

Joyous feast! The Sitka Icon of the Mother of God is one of the oldest of North America's wonderworking icons. The Icon was painted in the style of the Kazan Icon by Vladimir Borovikovskiy in the 18th or early 19th century, with a portrayal of God the Father blessing included above the Mother of God and the Christ Child. In 1850 the employees of the Russian-America Company purchased the Sitka Icon and donated it to the newly completed Cathedral of St. Michael in Sitka, Alaska.

Since its arrival in North America the Sitka Icon has had numerous healings and miracles attributed to it by the local Orthodox faithful. The Mother of God is portrayed especially peacefully in the Icon, but the artistic elements of the Sitka Icon aside faithful entering churches where the Icon has rested have been immediately struck by the imminence of the Mother of God, of her peace-giving presence amongst those coming to venerate her image. This peacefulness is apparent even to some Evangelical Protestants, who have been known to keep a copy of the Sitka Icon despite their rejection of the veneration of the saints and images.

Although originally placed on the iconostas of St. Michael's Cathedral the Sitka Icon is now enshrined in another part of the cathedral and regularly visits the faithful in Alaska and other parts of the United States. More on the Sitka Icon's history can be found here. May the Mother of God's protection and intercessions be with us all!

St. Juvenaly of Alaska

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Juvenaly, the Protomartyr of the Americas, was born in the late 1700s in Siberia and trained as an engineer before entering a monastery in St. Petersburg following the death of his wife. Three years after his tonsuring in 1791 he traveled to Alaska to serve as a missionary there. In Alaska the Saint traveled extensively, preaching the Gospel and baptizing many of the local peoples.

It was during one of his missionary journeys, in 1796, that St. Juvenaly came across a hunting party and was murdered by them. Although why the hunting party killed the Saint is unknown, it was later reported to St. Innocent, then Bishop of Sitka, that St. Juvenaly did not try to escape or defend himself, instead begging the band not to attack the newly baptized faithful nearby. Although left for dead, St. Juvenaly rose up and followed his attackers, urging them to repent. After several instances of this happening the hunters hacked St. Juvenaly to pieces to ensure that he would not follow them again.

More on St. Juvenaly's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Innocent of Sitka

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Innocent was one of the great lights of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century and certainly an even greater light in Alaskan and American Orthodoxy. An account of his life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!