Saints of North America

I originally posted this on my personal blog. I'm reposting it here with some minor editing. Hope this is of interest!

I used to think that I had a pretty good idea of who the Saints of North America were. Yes, of course I realized that the Saints we glorify are only a fraction of those saved by God, but that aside I was pretty sure I knew all the guys in the icons - Sts. Herman of Alaska, Tikhon of New York, Peter the Aleut New Martyr, et cetera. I never knew about those righteous who are already being venerated (and in several cases, being considered for glorification or already glorified by certain Orthodox jurisdictions) as Saints without the glorification and recognition of the Catholic Church.

It took me a while to find information on many of these Saints of God, both the unrecognized and even the recognized, so I want to put links for the basics of their lives here on my blog. I hope whoever reads their lives will be touched and strengthened by both the reading and the Saints' prayers. If there are any others I have not listed here, please let me know! This is a small work, but I do it in memory of the servant of God Joshua, who fell asleep in the Lord on 21 August 2007. As I come across new-to-me saints I will be sure to include them here!

Alright, here are the links:

Glorified:
St. Alexander (Hotovitsky) of New York
St. Alexis (Toth) of Minneapolis and Wilkes-Barre
St. Anatolius (Kamenskiy) of Sitka and Minneapolis
St. Barnabas (Nastich) of Gary
St. Basil (Martysz) of Afognak and Vostok
St. Brendan the Navigator
St. Elijah (Zotikov) of New York
St. Herman of Alaska
St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska
St. Jacob (Netsvetov) of Alaska
St. John (Kochurov) of Chicago
St. John (Maximovich) the Wonderworker of San Francisco
St. Juvenaly (Hovorukhin) the New Martyr of Alaska
St. Mardarius (Uskokovich) of Libertyville
St. Nicholas (Velimirovich) of Libertyville and South Canaan
St. Peter the Aleut New Martyr
St. Raphael (Hawaweeny) of Brooklyn
St. Sebastian (Dabovich) of Jackson
St. Seraphim (Samoilovich) of Sitka
St. Tikhon (Belavin) of San Francisco and New York

Not Glorified:
St. Jacob (Korchinskiy) of Honolulu
St. Leontius (Turkevich) of Chicago and New York (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
St. Olga (Michael) of Alaska (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
St. Philaret (Voznesensky) the Confessor of New York (St. Philaret's relics have been found to be incorrupt, but so far he has only been glorified by several schisms from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.)
St. Seraphim (Rose) of Platina (Under consideration for glorification by the Serbian Orthodox Church.)

Of Interest:
Archbishop Avercius (Taushev) of Jordanville (It's been a while since I did much reading on Vladyka Averky, but I believe he's been glorified by a schism from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.)
Protopresbyter Alexander (Schmemann) of New York
Abbess Alexandra (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) of Ellwood City
Archbishop Andrew (Rymarenko) of Novo Diveyevo and Rockland
Abbess Ariadna of San Francisco
Archbishop Arsenius (Chahovtsev) of Winnipeg (Under consideration for glorification by the American Orthodox Church.)
Archimandrite Basil (Philippov) of Chicago and South Canaan (More later here. There's nothing online and I only just heard of him through a personal story told me by an Evangelical Protestant acquaintance from South Canaan.)(I'm still looking for more information on Fr. Basil to post here. Anything you know would be welcome!)(An article was recently posted on Pravoslavie, which I've linked to as I believe Archimandrite Basil (Philippov) and Monk Basil are likely the same man. May his memory be eternal!)
Abbess Benedicta (Braga) of Rives Junction
Bishop Cyrus (al-Anba Bishoy) of the Mojave
Archimandrite Gerasim (Schmaltz) of Spruce Island and Alaska
Priest John (Karastamatis) of Santa Cruz (Venerated by some Greek Orthodox Christians.)
Priest Joseph Xanthopoulos
Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes
Mother Michaella Altschul of Kansas City
Priest Nicholas (Yanney) of Kearney
Archimandrite Roman (Braga) of Rives Junction
Archimandrite Theoclitus (Triantafilides) of San Francisco and Galveston

Sunday of All the Saints of North America

Joyous feast! Today we honor all the saints glorified by God in North America, both those clearly revealed to us, as St. Herman was, and those known only to God, as many of our yiayias and babas and whoever else no doubt are. For more links to information on the lives of the North American saints and some of the righteous known to us see my earlier (and still growing) post on the subject. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!

St. Brendan the Navigator

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! St. Brendan may well be the earliest North American saint, though it's hard to know with any certainty at this point. More on his life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

A Life of St. John of Santa Cruz

An interesting account of the life and death of St. John (Karastamatis) of Santa Cruz can be found here. Hat tip to Mystagogy for reminding me of St. John!

Serbian Orthodox Church to Establish New Dioceses, "Bond" Dioceses in Americas Closer to the Old World

The Holy Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church has decided to create new dioceses in the Americas and Europe. Discussions on the division of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren in Kosovo into new dioceses has, however, been postponed.

In Europe the Serbian Orthodox Church in Austria, Switzerland, and Italy is to be separated from the Central European Eparchy of Hildesheim and established as the Eparchy of Vienna, whilst the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Americas is to be reorganized to include a diocese with jurisdiction over Latin America.

The Holy Assembly also discussed designating St. Sava's Monastery and Theological Seminary in Libertyville, Illinois, as stavropeghial institutions as "an an effective way of bonding the Church in America closer to the mother country" (so much for pan-Orthodox unity).

More on the above can be found here.

St. Alexis of Minneapolis

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! St. Alexis Toth of Minneapolis and Wilkes-Barre is one of the better known Orthodox Christian missionaries of the United States, having led a large number of Ruthenians (Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, et cetera) out of the Ruthenian Catholic Church and into the Russian Orthodox Church in North America. Many of his spiritual descendants today form the cores of the independent American Orthodox Church and the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. More on St. Alexis' life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Thrissur Metropolitan Visiting North America

Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Milithios of Thrissur has begun a month-long visit to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in the United States and Canada. More here.

OCA "Strategic Plan" to be Discussed by Holy Synod, Metropolitan Council in May

It has been announced that a new draft of the "Strategic Plan" for the American Orthodox Church will be presented to the Holy Synod and Metropolitan Council for their review this coming May. The Plan is supposed to help the OCA know what it is and where it is going. More here.

"Priests Don't Answer E-mails"

And another hat tip to Byzantine Texas on an excellent post about the need for better communication skills by our clergy and parishes here in North America!

Serbian Orthodox in Midwest Call for Unified Diocese, New Metropolitan

The recent diocesan assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Novo Grachanica and the Midwest has called on the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church to unify the diocese with the Metropolitanate of Libertyville and elect their diocesan bishop, Bishop Longin (Krco), as Metropolitan of Nova Grachanica and First Hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church of North America. More here. Hat tip to Byzantine Texas for posting this!

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!

Jobs: OCF Seeking Executive Director

The national administration of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), an organization under the Episcopal Assembly of North America for Orthodox Christian college and university students, is seeking an executive director. More here.

Antiochian Orthodox Church in North America Recognizes Monasticism as Necessary in the Church

The opening of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America to monasticism continues this month with an article on the necessity of monasticism in the life of the Church in the archdiocesan magazine The Word, a link to which can be found here.

North American Daughter of Milan Synod Recognizes Broken Communion

The North American daughter of the Old Calendrist Milan Synod today recognized that it is no longer in communion with the Milan Synod due to its efforts to unite with the Russian Orthodox Church (more on that here). The North American metropolia remains in communion with the Milan Synod's sister churches in Bulgaria, Greece, and the former USSR. More here.

Converts Versus Cradles?

Whenever I'm reading the crazy comments on websites like OCA News about the supposed clash between "cradles" and converts" I as an adult (or almost adult - whatever high school counts as) convert to Orthodoxy find myself wondering what our children will be in all of this. Will they be "craverts"? "Condles"? Will we make them choose which of these silly camps they join when they come of age?

I've seen cradle/convert conflicts at the parish level and was hit most of all by how unnecessary they were. They were not, in fact, about one side being "cradle" Orthodox and the other being "convert" Orthodox. They were about personalities and disobedience. None of the "cradle" Orthodox from the Old World joined in on 'their' side in the conflicts and the conflicts themselves passed relatively quickly as the parish settled into the changes that generally accompany the arrival of a new priest.

It's sad to see us dividing ourselves even more, beyond "Greek" and Russian" to "convert" and "cradle" or "conservative" and "liberal." All of this violates the Tradition and denies our fundamental belonging to the Church. Like it or not, we are together in all of this. It would be appropriate, I think, were we to figure out how to get past our pet peeves and pet causes so that we can love one another. It would certainly save a lot of unnecessary and unhelpful posts online ;-) (much like this one I'm sure!) and might even get us closer to having our own Orthodox Church of the Americas.

Patriarch Irinej on the Episcopal Assemblies

In reference to the Episcopal Assembly of North America, Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech stated in a recent interview that the Serbian Orthodox Church is "doing everything so that [it] survives on this continent." He went on to say that the Serbian Orthodox Church in North America "will exist here as long as there is a national consciousness among the people that they belong to the Serbian family and culture." The full interview can be found here. I fear more and more that our hope here in the West of having our own Local Orthodox Churches is an incredibly blind one...

New Milan Synod Metropolitan

The Milan Synod has elevated one of its North American hierarchs to the rank of metropolitan and will be consecrating two auxiliary bishops to assist him in his pastoral duties despite the rather small size of the Synod's North American flock. More on that here.

The Milan Synod also recently posted a rather confused and confusing statement on one of its news websites saying that it is "not in fraternal relation with any Russian churches ('in the catacombs'), only the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Rus'." How this can be when the Russian Orthodox Church does not have any communion with the Milan Synod is unclear.

Update: According to Milan Synod sources the new metropolitan will head a self-governing/autonomous church with jurisdiction over the British Isles and the Americas. Archimandrite Fanourios (Michael) has already been consecrated auxiliary Bishop of Lincoln. Archimandrite Michael (Acosta) will be consecrated at a later date. More on that here. The newly autonomous church under the Milan Synod in North America lists 31 parishes, missions, and monastic communities on its website.

Status of Bulgarian Orthodox Eparchy in North America Discussed in Moscow

During his visit to Moscow Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church met with Archimandrite Zacchaeus (Wood) of the American Orthodox representation in the city to discuss a possible visit by Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) to Bulgaria as well as the status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's communities in North America. More here.

Takeover of Astoria Monastery Complete

The takeover of what was once a preeminent monastery of the Greek Orthodox Old Calendrist movement in the United States, St. Irene Chrysovolantou's in Astoria, New York, appears complete. In the wake of the sexual scandals involving the Monastery's former abbot, Metropolitan Paisios (Loulourgas) of Tyana, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has appointed mainline Greek Orthodox hierarchs and clergy from outside the Monastery as its abbot and legal trustees.

St. Irene's together with a number of other Old Calendrist communities in the USA were received into the Church of Constantinople in 1998. At the time there was unease in some of the Monastery's dependencies regarding Metropolitan Paisios' submission to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but the Monastery was guaranteed its self-governance under its metropolitan-abbot and the right to remain faithful to the Julian calendar. What the future holds in the aftermath of the recent scandals remains to be seen.

More here.

St. Peter the Aleut New Martyr - True or False?

Fr. Oliver Herbel has posted an article claiming that St. Peter the Aleut did not exist. It can be found here. I don't have particularly strong opinions on this topic, but I find it surprising that Fr. Oliver bases part of his argument on Fr. Michael Oleksa's failure to write about Aleut oral traditions concerning St. Peter in Orthodox Alaska, but also says he couldn't be bothered to write Fr. Michael to ask him about this omission before publishing his article.