Saint
Innocent of Alaska (1797-1879)
Saint Innocent
Métropolite de
Moscou (+ 1879)
Il naquit dans un petit
village près d'Irkoutsk en Sibérie. Il se montra très brillant dans ses études
et très habile pour les travaux manuels de menuiserie aussi bien que
d'horlogerie. Il continua ainsi jusqu'à ses derniers jours à travailler de ses
mains. Elevé au sacerdoce peu après son mariage, il lui fut demandé de devenir
missionnaire en Alaska. Après un voyage de 14 mois, il entreprit de convertir
les Aléouts dont il apprit la langue et pour lesquels il traduisit les textes
liturgiques et les Evangiles, composant ainsi la première grammaire de leur
langue. Il eut fort à faire devant l'opposition des chamanes. Il construisait
lui-même ses églises. Il fonda des écoles, fournissant aux élèves des manuels
en russe et en langue tinglit, rédigés par lui. Venu à Moscou pour le Saint
Synode, il apprit à ce moment la nouvelle de la mort de son épouse. Il confia
ses six enfants à l'Eglise et fut consacré évêque pour le Kamtchatka et
l'Alaska. Il parcourut son nouveau diocèse partageant la vie des indigènes dans
des tentes en écorces de bouleau. Il apprit le yakoute et continua ses voyages
au cœur du désert sibérien malgré le blizzard et la neige. Il obtint d'abord
deux évêques pour le seconder, puis, il fut appelé à devenir métropolite de
Moscou et primat de l'Eglise russe. Il organisa la Société Russe des Missions,
allégea les formalités bureaucratiques de l'Eglise. Bien que devenu aveugle à
cause des journées passées sur la neige, il continua à célébrer de mémoire la
Sainte Liturgie, remettant son âme à Dieu quelques instants avant l'office de
Pâques.
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6442/Saint-Innocent.html et http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/actualites-et-evenements/agenda/saint-du-jour.html
St. Innocent of Alaska
Equal to the Apostles and
Enlightener of North America
Included in this section
are the historical accounts of those Saints who labored for the Church here in
North America. Icons with scenes from their lives are also available.
Born: August 26, 1797 (Anginskoye, Irkutsk)
Died: March 31, 1879 (Moscow, Russia)
Glorification Date: October 6, 1977
Commemoration Dates: October 6 (glorification) & March 31 (repose)
Icon
of St. Innocent with scenes from his life
Life icon of St. Innocent scenes explained
SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/fs/st-innocent-of-alaska
Repose of Saint Innocent,
Metropolitan of Moscow, Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to the Americas
Commemorated on March 31
Saint Innocent
(Veniaminov), Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomensk (August 26, 1797—March 31,
1879), was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church on October 6, 1977. He was
born in the village of Anginsk in the Irkutsk diocese. The Apostle of America
and Siberia proclaimed the Gospel “even to the ends of the earth”: in the
Aleutian islands (from 1823), in the six dialects of the local tribes on the
island of Sitka (from 1834), among the Kolosh (Tlingit); in the remotest
settlements of the extensive Kamchatka diocese (from 1853); among the Koryak,
Chukchei, Tungus in the Yakutsk region (from 1853) and North America (in 1857);
in the Amur and the Usuriisk region (from 1860).
Having spent a large part
of his life in journeys, Saint Innocent translated a Catechism and the Gospel
into the Aleut language. In 1833, he wrote in this language one of the finest
works of Orthodox missionary activity INDICATION OF THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN.
In 1859, the Yakut first
heard the Word of God and divine services in their native language. Twice (in
1860 and 1861) Saint Innocent met with Saint Nicholas the Apostle to Japan
(February 3), sharing with him his spiritual experience.
A remarkable preacher,
Saint Innocent said, “Whoever abounds in faith and love, can have mouth and
wisdom, and the heart cannot resist their serving it.”
Having begun his
apostolic work as a parish priest, Saint Innocent completed it as Metropolitan
of Moscow (January 5, 1868—March 31, 1879). He obeyed the will of God all his
life, and he left behind a theme for the sermon to be preached at his funeral:
“The steps of a man are rightly ordered by the Lord” (Ps 36/37:23).
Saint Innocent is also
commemorated on October 5 (Synaxis of the Moscow Hierarchs) and on October 6
(his glorification).
St. Innocent of Alaska
(1797–1879)
by Jenny Schroedel
St. Innocent (John) was
born on August 26, 1797 in Russia. His father was a church server, and died
when John was only six years old. John attended seminary, married and was
ordained a priest in 1821.
Two years later, when he
was twenty-five years old, he volunteered to take his family to the rugged
Alaskan island of Unalaska. He traveled 2,200 miles over the course of a year
with his mother, his wife, infant son Innocent, and brother Stefan. They
finally arrived at Unalaska — a volcanic, windswept island — on July 29, 1824.
There, he and his family
dug an underground hut for the family to live in, similar to the ones the
natives inhabited. Fr. John also created a school for the locals were he
integrated his growing knowledge of the local culture and customs into his
lessons about Christianity. He also began work on a church and a pine home with
wood from Sitka and trained members of his parish in carpentry so that they
could assist him. Over the years, he built furniture for his home, as well as
clocks and musical instruments for friends and family.
For the next ten years,
he traveled by kayak, dogsled, reindeer, and ship to serve more than a thousand
Russians and native Alaskans spread over ten different settlements. Out of his
devotion for the local people, he translated many hymns and services into their
native tongues, as well as creating an alphabet and translating portions of the
Bible. He also wrote the first book in Aleutian: An Indication of the Pathway
into the Kingdom of Heaven.
In 1838, when Fr. John
was visiting St. Petersburg and Moscow to consult with church authorities about
his work in Alaska, he received word that his wife had died. He wanted to
return to his children immediately, but was persuaded to become a monk by
Church authorities. As a monk, he took the name Innocent.
In 1940 he became a
bishop and continued his missionary work. He continued to devote himself to the
local people, traveling between the islands and working on translations of the
services and scriptures into the local Yakut language. On November 19, 1867 he
was appointed the Metropolitan of Moscow. He continued to care for the Church
in Russia and America. He suggested that the Russian Church in America be based
in San Francisco instead of Sitka, and he expressed his desire that the
services would be translated into English, that the clergy would speak English,
and that Americans would be encouraged to become priests. His prayerful desire
and tireless efforts helped seed what is now known as The Orthdox Church in
America.
He died on March 31,
1879. He was canonized on October 6, 1977. He is commemorated on October 6 and
March 31.
To read more about
Eastern Orthodox saints in America, try Portraits of American Saints, compiled
and edited by George A. Gray and Jan Bear (from Diocese Council and Department
of Missions Diocese of the West Orthodox Church in America, Los Angeles,
California, 1994). This unique, readable book offers vivid profiles of
contemporary American Eastern Orthodox saints and provided valuable source
material for this chapter.
SOURCE : http://www.netplaces.com/saints/american-saints/st-innocent-of-alaska-17971879.htm
Innocent
as Metropolitan of Moscow.
Biography of Saint
Innocent of Alaska
Memory celebrated March
31 and September 23 “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the
end of the world Amen” (Matt. 28:18-20)
Following God’s call
(Matt. 28:18-20), the Russian Orthodox Church has tirelessly performed its
lofty and salvific ministry of preaching the Word of God throughout its
millennium-long existence. Soon after the Baptism of Russia took place, many
peoples who grew in the cradle of the Russian State were enlightened with the
Gospel’s Truth through the zealous efforts of archpastors and pastors and
especially monks from our ancient monasteries. In the 18th and 19th centuries
the Russian Church carried out its salvific mission in the vast lands of Europe
and Asia reaching the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian Mountains in the west, the
Black Sea and the Pamir in the south, and the Amur River and the Pacific in the
east. At the turn of the 19th century, the Russian Orthodox mission, following
the “Russian Columbus, Gregory Shelikhov (1744-95), spread to the remote North
American continent where missionary monks from Valamo sowed the first seeds of
orthodox faith. It was in heretofore unknown Alaska and the Aleutian and
Commander Islands, dispersed in the vast waters of the Pacific, that the
all-holy name of God was glorified through the apostolic ministry of a yet
little-known priest from Irkutsk by name of Ioann Veniaminov. Fr. Ioann was to
become Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna in succession to luminaries Peter,
Alexis, Jonas, Macarius, Philip, Job and Philaret.
With the Message we now
begin to mark in 1997 the 200th anniversary of St. Innocent, Metropolitan of
Moscow and Kolomna whose life to the last breath was devoted to the sacrificial
service of the Holy Church. Looking at his great apostolic feat, we praise and
worship God the Saviour Who is wondrous in His saints.
St. Innocent was born on
26 August 1797 at the remote village of Anginskoye, Irkutsk Province, to the
poor family of the local church’s sexton. He was named Ioann at baptism. His
modest origin and inconspicuous place of birth did not betoken the high social
position and fame he was to be granted later by Lord for his ascetic life. He
lost his father at the age of six to experience the bitter life of an orphan.
In 1806 nine year-old Ioann was assigned to the seminary in Irkutsk.
Significantly, not long before he came to Irkutsk in 1806, there were found, in
the city’s Monastery of the Ascension, the relics of St. Innocent of Irkutsk
whose name and apostolic ministry he was to inherit as the enlightener of
America and Siberia. During his eleven years at the seminary in Irkutsk, young
Ioann showed brilliant abilities in assimilating the basics of theology,
rhetoric, philology, which allowed him later to achieve a truly outstanding
success in his educational work. In this seminary the future great enlightener
was given the same fundamental academic training as his glorious predecessors
in missionary work, such as St. Cyril Equal to the Apostles, the enlightener of
the Slaves (+869), St. Stephen of Perm (+1369). He trained in the traditions of
classical Greek education in St. Gregory’s Monastery in Rostov, St. Innocent of
Irkutsk (+1731) who graduated from the Theological Academy in Kiev and worked
as prefect of the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy in Moscow. During his life in
the seminary, the future luminary showed such Christian virtues as humbleness,
natural kindness and exceptional industry. His extraordinary achievements and
exemplary behaviour compelled the rector of the seminary in 1814 to give him
the family name of Veniaminov after the late Bishop Veniamin (Bagriansiky) of
Irkutsk who was much loved by the faithful.
In 1817 Ioann Veniaminov
graduated from the seminary and was ordained deacon. In May 1821, he was
ordained presbyter at the Church of the Annunciation in Irkutsk where he spent
the first years of his pastoral service. Since the first years of his
priesthood, Father Ioann enjoyed general favour and love for his “pastorship
unprecedented in Irkutsk”, which included Sunday talks with children on the
interpretation of the Holy Gospel. The Irkutsk period set an indelible stamp on
the saint’s memory. Later, performing his pastoral ministry, he never forgot
about the church service he carried out in his native land. Later he dedicated
the first church, in the Unalashka Islands, to the Ascension of the Lord and in
memory of St. Innocent’s Monastery of the Ascension in Irkutsk. He also renamed
the Ust-Zeiskaya Cossack village on the Amur as the town of Blagoveschensk
(Annunciation) after the Church of the Annunciation in Irkutsk in which he was
ordained.
Yet, it was in such
remote lands as the Russian America that God’s selected-one had to carry out
his educational ministry in the apostolic field. Monks from several northern
Russian monasteries began this work in 1794 in the Kodyak Island of the
Aleutian Archipelago. In 1822, the Holy Governing Synod decided to send the
missionary priest to the Aleutian Islands. Motivated by the apostolic zeal,
Father Ioann Veniaminov approached the Right Reverend Mikhail (Burdukov),
Bishop of Irkutsk, and declared his willingness to assume this service. Already
in May 1823, the 26 year-old missionary together with his family set off for a
very hard and dangerous journey. In June of the following year, the travellers
arrived in Unalashka, the main island of the Aleutian Archipelago.
Father Ioann s primary
concern was to learn the language of the local people and to build a church
dedicated to the Holy Ascension. He built it with his own hands together with
islanders, while teaching them various skills. The church was consecrated in
July 1826 and became the center of Christian education for the Aleutians in
Unalashka and the surrounding islands. Exposed to various dangers and
deprivations, the pastor went in wretched boats from island to island,
preaching the Word of God to local people. The zealous missionary managed to
learn quickly six local tribal dialects and composed a Cyrillic alphabet for
the prevailing Aleutian language and translated the Gospel from St. Matthew
into it, as well as the catechises and the most popular prayers and church
hymns. Using a simple and accessible language, he wrote an Aleutian brief
course of Orthodox dogmatics and morality entitled “A Guideline to the Kingdom
of God”. Considered one of the best catechetical courses and educational aids
for children and youth, this course has been reprinted many times since. Father
Ioann Veniaminov organized schools in which some 600 boys were taught to read
and write, built a hospital and an orphanage, fought with hard drinking and
polygamy widely practiced by local people and managed to overcome these vices
almost completely.
After ten years on the
Unalashka Island, Father Ioann baptized all the people in the archipelago. With
the blessing of Bishop Mikhail of Irkutsk, he made a trip in 1829 to Nushegak
in the American continent and preached the Word of God to people who lived on
the Bering Sea coast and baptized those who came to believe. In 1834, Father
Ioann was transferred to New Archangel in the Sitka Island, the center of the
Russian possessions in North America, to serve in the Cathedral Church of
Archangel Michael. During his four years in the island, he brought into the
fold of the Church of Christ many local heathen Indians who had been known,
before he came, for their commitment to paganism and cruel practices. In spite
of all the hardships, he encountered in his missionary work, the great
enlightener, throughout his 14 years in the Russian America, found time and
energy to engage himself in a fundamental study of the life, culture, languages
and customs of the local population. He also studied the local climate, flora
and fauna and left capital ethnographic, geographical and linguistic works for
which he was later elected an honorary member of the Russian Geographical
Society and Moscow Royal University.
The acute need to draw
the attention of the Holy Governing Synod to the urgent needs of missionary and
parish work in Russian America compelled Father Ioann Veniaminov to make a trip
to St. Petersburg. He arrived in the city in June 1829 and met with a lively
response of the Synod members whom he managed to convince of the need to
establish a permanent Orthodox Mission in the north of the American continent.
In acknowledgment of his missionary service on behalf of the Russian Orthodox
Church, Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow elevated Father Ioann to the
rank of archpriest. It was in St. Petersburg in November 1840 that Father Ioann
received sad news about the death of his wife in Irktitsk. After a pilgrimage
to St. Sergius Monastery of the Holy Trinity and to the shrines in Kiev,
Archpriest Ioann, on the advice of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, took
monastic vows on November 29. He took the name of Innocent, after Bishop
Innocent of Irktitsk, and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite on the
following day. In December 1840, the Holy Governing Synod established a new
diocese of Kamachatka-Kurils and the Aleutian islands based in the city of New
Archangel. Bishop Innocent (Veniaminov) was consecrated bishop on 15 December
1840 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in St. Petersburg and became the
first archpastor of the new diocese, New Archangel remained Bishop Innocent’s
See for eleven years. It was the time when his archpastoral gift blossomed.
The bishop undertook many
hard trips through Kamchatka and eastern Siberia, nourishing his flock, taking
efforts to train clergymen from among local people in Alaska and Siberia and to
set up new Orthodox missions. With his paternal kindness gaining him favour
among the Koryaks, Chukcha and Tungus, he succeeded in spreading the Word of
God among them. Wherever Bishop Innocent performed his Episcopal service,
Orthodoxy invariably grew and gathered strength. Bishop Innocent was elevated
to the rank of archbishop in April 1850. Two years later his diocese extended
to include the vast region of Yakutsk, In September 1853 he arrived in the city
of Yakutsk. During his service there he translated scriptural books into the
Yaktitian and Tungus languages, built churches, arranges parish life and set up
orphanages. In April 1859, divine services in the Trinity Cathedral in Yakutsk
began to be conducted in the Yakutian languages. In 1857, Archbishop Innocent
made a trip through Yakutia and North America to inspect his farther parishes.
He was summoned to St. Petersburg twice (in 1860 and 1861), as the Holy Synod
was to approve his proposal for transferring the See from Yakutsk to Amur and
to establish vicarages in New Archangel, on the Sitka Island and Yakutsk. The
bishop made archpastoral and missionary trips along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers.
In September 1861, the apostle of America and Siberia met in Tokyo with
hieromonk Nicholas (Kasatkin), the future apostle of Japan. In April 1865,
Archbishop Innocent became a member of the Holy Governing Synod after the death
of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. Archbishop Innocent was appointed on 5
January 1868 to the See of the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. He was to
occupy it for eleven years.
Soon after his
appointment to the See of the old Russian capital, Metropolitan Innocent
established an Orthodox Missionary Society and guided it for nine years. “The
Lord is pleased”, he wrote. “that here too, in the centre of Russia and in an
advanced age, I should not stay alien to the missionary work to which by Divine
Providence my life was devoted since I was a youth working in the remote parts
of my homeland”. Through the efforts of Metropolitan Innocent the missionary
work of the Russian Orthodox Church extended considerably as the church people
learnt to believe it their sacred duty to help spread and affirm the Orthodox
faith among the heathens. Serving at the old Moscow See, Metropolitan Innocent
showed a profound archpastoral wisdom and knowledge of life. He took the needs
of the Moscow clergy close to heart and sought to alleviate them. He was concerned
for arranging the work of theological schools in his diocese, opened a school
for icon-painting and other arts for poor children and orphans, transformed
Philaret’s college into a school for daughters of the clergy who did not
receive any pensions or allowances, founded the large Ostrovsky alms-house, and
wrote educational aids for the clergy of the staff list, as well as their
widows and orphans. As the Holy Archimandrite of St. Sergius’ Monastery of the
Trinity, Metropolitan Innocent devoted much of his energy to improving it and
ensured the development of its charitable ministry. With his blessing, the
monastery began to publish “The Trinity Sheets” which were very popular among
believers. He raised before the Holy Synod the question of spiritual improvement
of monastic life in monasteries. He built a church dedicated to the
‘Intercession’ at the Moscow Theological Academy.
Throughout his
archpastoral activity, the Metropolitan gained the love of the clergy and
faithful by his kindness, accessibility, and sincerity in human relations. At
the same time, the great enlightener continued his concern for the Russian
Orthodox Church in North America. It was on his initiative that the Holy
Governing Synod chose San Francisco as the bishop’s See. Metropolitan Innocent
also emphasized the need for the clergy to know English and for the Church to
train priests from among local Americans as a necessary condition for
strengthening Orthodoxy in the American continent. Feeling his death
approaching, Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow and Kolomna asked on the Great
Tuesday, 27 March 1879, that the Sacrament of Extreme Unction be administered
to him. On the Great Thursday, 29 March, he Communed. At 2.45 on the Great
Saturday, March 31, the Metropolitan equal to the apostles passed away in the
Lord. On 5 April 1879 Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow and Kolomna of the
blessed memory was buried at St., Sergius’ Monastery of the Trinity. Two
inscriptions were made at his tomb: “May the Lord remember your archpastoral
service in his Kingdom always, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.” and “0
Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us through the prayers of Metropolitan
Innocent”.
The apostolic preaching
of Metropolitan Innocent spread to a vast territory including Alaska and Chukotka,
the Aleutian, Kurils and Commander Islands, eastern Siberia, the Amur region,
Kamchatka and the Far East. Metropolitan Innocent brought the light of
Christian faith to the Aleutians, Koloshes, Kurils, Eskimo, Kenai, Chugaches,
Kamchadals, Oliutores, Negidales, Mongols, Samogirs, Golds, Gulyaks, Koryaks,
Tungus, Chukcha, Yakutians, and Kitians. The preaching of the gospel was the
primary achievement in the life of Metropolitan Innocent and occupied a special
place in his apostolic service. The metropolitan had a great homiletic gift and
was a remarkable preacher. He never missed an opportunity to preach and talk to
people and tirelessly instructed his clergy to do the same: “Woe to him who is
called but fails to preach”. He wrote, “Interpreting matters of faith, one must
speak after careful consideration, clearly, distinctly, as briefly as possible,
otherwise your preaching will be of little success… One must say that the whole
teaching of Christ is that we should repent believe in Him and have a selfless
and pure love for Him and all people… In order to influence the heart, one must
speak from the heart, for it is from the abundant heart that the mouth speaks.
Therefore, only he who is filled with faith and love can have the mouth and
wisdom which the hearts of listeners find hard to resist. This is how the
personality of the Metropolitan of Moscow was described by one of his
contemporaries: “The Most Reverend Innocent appears majestically distinct and
original among our Orthodox bishops both old and new. As one who was raised and
then worked for seventy years amidst ingenious and simple nature and among as
simple children of nature, he himself was open, gentle and affable,
straightforward and impartial. He did not like smart artificiality in anything,
he did not like to show off his knowledge or his merits, but always behaved
simply and humbly. He enriched his powerful natural intelligence with a vast
and manifold knowledge that only few can boast His heart was free from envy and
craftiness, ambition and conceit, greed and luxury. Having faced severe nature,
needs and deprivation since his early age, he trained himself to be patient and
industrious, courageous and steadfast self-possessed and resourceful, temperate
and content with little, and to be absolutely obedient to the sacred will of
God in all circumstances. His name became famed and honoured both in his
country and in foreign lands.
Not only every Russian
who is devoted to the honour and glory of his country, but also every educated
person who only respects science and humanity respectfully bow before the great
personality of our apostle of Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands. The fact that
many Orthodox Christians, both in Russia and in the American continent,
cherished the memory of Metropolitan Innocent of blessed memory and venerated
him in their hearts led the Russian Orthodox Church to consider his
canonization as an ardent apostle of Orthodoxy, selfless pastor filled with a
profound humbleness and devoted love for God and people and zealous servant of
the Church. After a thorough consideration of this matter by the Synodal
Commission for Christian Unity the Holy Synod, having praised our Lord the
Saviour and Guardian of the world Who shows inexhaustible mercy for His Church,
resolved that Metropolitan Innocent of blessed memory, Bishop of Moscow and
Apostle of America and Siberia, be ranked among the saints glorified by God’s
grace. The Holy Synod resolved that the memory of our St. Father Innocent,
Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, be celebrated twice a year, namely, on the
day of his blessed demise, 31 March (13 April according to the new calendar)
and on the day of his glorification, 23 September (6 October according to the
new calendar), and that his name be included in the Church calendar. On 13
October 1994, the eve of the Feast of the Protecting Veil of the Most Holy
Mother of God, the Orthodox people were honoured with God’s great grace as the
honourable relics of St. Innocent were found at St. Sergius’ Monastery of the
Trinity. The year 1997 is marked with the 200th anniversary of Metropolitan
Innocent of Moscow and Kolomna. The land of Irkutsk, which cultivated this
great preacher of the Holy Gospel, is rejoicing. Orthodox America also
rejoices, glorifying its Apostle and Luminary. Rejoicing is also the Siberian
land, which has St. Innocent as its heavenly patron. The glorious city of
Moscow, too, stands out vividly, lit up with the heavenly light of the star,
which came from the cast. Rejoicing also is the ancient monastery of St. Sergius,
having under its protection the treasure, which are the holy relics of St.
Innocent.
The Saviour’s parable of
a sower who sowed some of his seed into good ground and it brought forth fruit
a hundredfold (Mt. 13:3-8) was embodied in the apostolic feat of St. Innocent.
The seeds of faith he sowed in the hearts of dozens of thousands of children of
God from many tribes and peoples in Alaska and northern islands of the Pacific,
eastern Siberia and the Far East continue to sprout to this day. Nine dioceses
in Siberia and the Far East cover today a vast territory whose indigenous
peoples heard the Word of God from St. Innocent equal to the apostles… At a
time when we seek ways for reviving mission in the Russian Orthodox Church, the
image of St. Innocent stands before us as an example of a man who was “the
minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles” (Rom 15:16); a true apostle who
devoted his life to the proclamation of Christ and the gospel. The experience
of this great apostolic enlightener shows convincingly that the church mission
can be successful only if it is based on respect for every nation and its
culture and for every person. The Church’s witness should never be interrupted
during shifts in social formations or radical social changes, but should call
all to harmony and reconciliation, Apostolic zeal, profound humbleness, ardent
love of people, boundless commitment to the task of preaching the gospel and
faithfulness to the Orthodox Church. These are the qualities that are
characteristic of St. Innocent. Every one of us should seek to acquire them, if
the mission of our Church in the world today is to be successful. The preaching
of Christianity is “not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor 2:4). The missionary and
archpastoral feast of St. Innocent shows us how profound and powerful should be
the faith of a preacher. St. Innocent himself used to say, “human steps are
corrected by the Lord”, and we all serve as tools of God’s grace. We believe
that the words of Christ the Saviour are addressed to every person, wherever he
may live and whatever nation he may belong to. His words are about one thing,
that is, the heavenly kingdom, repentance and the way to this kingdom. St.
Innocent wrote to the Tunguses: “Do not be afraid of following the Lord Jesus
Christ, He is a powerful Supporter; follow Him, hurry up, go, as long as the
door to the heavenly Kingdom is open for you, and your Heavenly Father will
meet you early on this way, kiss you, clothe you in the first garments and
introduce you in His house”. These words written in the last century by the
light of an oil-lamp in an Eskimo shack can be addressed to any audience at any
time.
From The Orthodox
Messenger, vol 8(11/12) & 9(1/2), 1997-8 published bi-monthly by the SA
Central Youth. PO Box 269, GLENELG SA 5045 AUSTRALIA
SOURCE : https://saintinnocent.net/resources/biography-of-saint-innocent-of-moscow/
His Grace, Bishop
Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska
Equal to the Apostles of
North America
(1797-1879)
Saint Innocent (secular
name: John Evseyevich Popov-Veniaminov) was born into the family of a church
server on August 26, 1797 in the village of Anginskoye, Verkholensk District,
Irkutsk province. In his fifth year he was already receiving instruction in reading
and writing from his ailing father, who died in August 1803.
In 1807 the future bishop
entered the Irkutsk theological seminary, subsisting on a meager state grant.
In 1817, a year before completing his studies at the seminary, he married, and
on May 18 of that year was ordained deacon of the Church of the Annunciation in
Irkutsk. Upon graduation from the seminary in 1818, Deacon John Veniaminov was
appointed a teacher in a parish school, and on May 18, 1821 he was ordained
priest to serve in the Church of the Annunciation.
Father John Veniaminov
served only two years in that parish, but in this short time was able to win
the deepest respect of his parishioners by the purity of his life, his
conscientious celebration of divine services, and his pastoral zeal.
But the Lord did not
intend Father John Veniaminov to fulfill God’s call in Irkutsk. Divine
Providence led him onto the path of apostolic service in the distant Aleutian
Islands.
At the beginning of 1823,
Bishop Michael of Irkutsk received instructions from the Holy Synod to send a
priest to the island of Unalaska in the Aleutians. However, no member of the
Irkutsk clergy was prepared to volunteer for this arduous mission. Then Father
John Veniaminov announced his willingness to devote himself to pastoral service
on these distant islands.
In later life Saint
Innocent would recall how after an inner struggle he had said: “Blessed be the
name of the Lord!” and was consumed by a burning desire to devote himself to
the service of people ignorant of Christ, but, according to eyewitnesses, eager
to hear the teachings of the Gospel.
On May 7, 1823 Father
John Veniaminov departed from Irkutsk for his new home accompanied by his aging
mother, his wife, his infant son Innocent, and his brother Stefan. Their
journey was long and exceptionally difficult. It took them more than a year to
travel from Irkutsk to the island of Unalaska, which they finally reached on
July 29, 1824.
It was from this point in
time and place that the man who in his own lifetime became known as “the apostle
of America” began his indefatigable apostolic mission, a mission that was to
last almost half a century. His apostolic feats were achieved in the severest
climatic conditions constantly fraught with mortal danger.
After he and his family
had made their home in a wretched earthen hut, Father John Veniaminov undertook
as his first task the construction of a church on the island, and set about
studying the local languages and dialects. He trained some of the islanders to
be carpenters, metalworkers, blacksmiths, bricklayers and stonemasons, and with
their assistance in July 1825, he undertook the construction of a church, which
was consecrated in honor of the Ascension the following July.
Father John Veniaminov’s
parish included not only the island of Unalaska, but also the neighboring Fox
Islands and Pribilof Islands, whose inhabitants had been converted to
Christianity before his arrival, but retained many of their pagan ways and
customs. Their new spiritual father often had to travel from one island to the
other, battling through the stormy ocean waves on a fragile canoe, at enormous
risk to his own life and limb.
His travels over the
islands greatly enhanced Father John Veniaminov’s familiarity with the local
dialects. In a short time he had mastered six local dialects, and selecting the
most widespread of these, he devised for it an alphabet of Cyrillic letters,
and translated into that dialect the Gospel according to St. Matthew, as well
as the most frequently used prayers and hymns. These were so successfully
adopted by the local populace that they soon displaced the shamanic chants. The
zealous missionary waged a vigorous campaign against the vicious practices of
the natives, and soon succeeded in eliminating them.
Father John Veniaminov’s
first translations, the Catechism and the Gospel According to St. Matthew,
appeared in Aleut(Fox Island dialect) in 1828. He also wrote an article in this
language, The Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven and compiled a
grammar for this Aleut dialect. Father John Veniaminov’s zeal was not confined
to the propagation and affirmation of Orthodoxy amongst the Aleutians, and so
in 1829, with the blessing of Bishop Michael of Irkutsk, he undertook a journey
to the American mainland, to Nushagak, where he brought the word of Christ to
the inhabitants of the Bering seacoast, and baptized those who believed.
In November 1834, Father
John Veniaminov was transferred to Sitka Island, to the town of
Novoarkhangelsk. This opened up to him a new and broader field of missionary
activity amongst the Tlingits (or Kolushchans), who had not previously been
missionized, due to their firm allegiance to pagan ways.
In Sitka, Father John
Veniaminov devoted himself body and soul to the illumination of the Tlingit
people, having first assiduously studied their dialect, mores and customs. His
linguistic labors were crowned with great successes here too, and bore fruit in
the composition of a scholarly work, Notes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak Tongues
as well as Other Dialects of the Russo-American Territories, with a
Russian-Kolushchan Glossary, the publication of which was greeted as a great
event in the scholarly world.
In contemporary
descriptions of Father John Veniaminov’s fifteen-year missionary service on the
islands of Unalaska and Sitka, he was likened to St. Stephen of Perm. His sound
judgment and common sense earned him access to the coarse, but simple and good
hearts of the local people. The truths of Christ’s teaching were conveyed to
them in accordance with their mental development: they were instructed in an
atmosphere of total freedom of belief, and the truths were not forced upon
them. Father John Veniaminov patiently waited until people manifested a desire
to be baptized. A school was built for the local children, and he provided it
with readers and textbooks that he composed and translated by his own hand into
the local dialects, and he was their teacher. After leading them into the light
of the Gospel, he instructed them in various crafts and trades, he even taught
the Tlingits how to vaccinate. This approach won him the trust of the stubborn
pagans. Father John Veniaminov’s contemporaries record that the natives loved
their teacher and illuminator like a real father, since he was indeed both
benefactor and father, teacher and patron to his spiritual children that he had
saved for Christ.
In his fifteen years of
missionary activity in the Aleutian Islands, Father John Veniaminov was led by
his increasing familiarity with the problems of missionary work to the
conclusion that a successful development of missionary service in these areas
demanded, first and foremost, the construction of many new churches, the
founding of a permanent mission in the American north, the appointment of
clergyman and missionaries, and the establishment of a deanery under a diocesan
bishop.
This article is adapted
from the English translation of the Act ot the Holy Synod of the Russian
Orthodox Church published in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, English
Edition, Issue 1, 1978.
SOURCE : http://oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/innocent-of-alaska
Innocent of Alaska
Innocent of Alaska,
Enlightener of North America and Apostle to Alaska, was a Russian Orthodox
priest and bishop. He is known for his missionary zeal, his great abilities as
a scholar and linguist, and his leadership and administration of the Church in
Alaska and the Russian Far East in the nineteenth century. He was elevated to
archbishop in Alaska and was later appointed Metropolitan of Moscow and all
Russia, an office that he held until his death in 1879.
Innocent was born Ivan
(John) Evseyevich Popov-Veniaminov in 1797, into the family of a church server
in the village of Anginskoye in the Verkholensk District of Irkutsk, in the Far
East of the Russian Empire. His father died when he was six years old. In 1807,
John entered the Irkutsk Theological Seminary, completing his formal studies in
1818. He married in 1817, and later that year he was ordained to the diaconate.
On the completion of his studies he was appointed a teacher in a parish school,
and in 1821 he was ordained priest.
In 1823, Bishop Michael
of Irkutsk received instructions to send a priest to the island of Unalaska, in
the Aleutian archipelago. John volunteered for the mission and set off with his
wife, his infant son, his aging mother, and his brother Stefan. After an
arduous journey of a year’s duration, they arrived in Unalaska in 1824. He
immediately set about his study study of local languages and dialects and began
his work of evangelisation that would last for fifty years and would lead to
his becoming known as “the Apostle to Alaska”. Living at first in an earthen
hut, he trained the local people as carpenters, blacksmiths, and bricklayers,
and with their help he built a church for them.
His parish included not
only Unalaska, but the neighboring Fox Islands and Pribilof Islands, whose
inhabitants had converted to Christianity before his arrival, but who had
retained many of their pre-Christian practices. Father John traveled between
the islands by canoe, braving the sometimes stormy waters of the Gulf of Alaska.
His travels between the islands acquainted him with many of the local dialects.
Choosing the most widespread of these, the Aleut dialect of the Fox Islands,
John devised a Cyrillic alphabet for it and, using this alphabet, translated
the Gospel of Matthew and many hymns and prayers, which were published in 1840
with the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 1829, with the
blessing of the Bishop of Irkutsk, he traveled to the Bering Sea coast of the
Alaskan mainland and preached to the people there. By 1836, his missionary
journeys extended as far south as the (Russian) Ross Colony north of San
Francisco, where he conducted services in its small, wooden chapel. In 1834,
John was transferred to Sitka Island, where he devoted himself to the Tlingit
people and studied their language and customs. Despite their adherence to their
own customs and traditions, he converted many of them to Christ. His studies at
Sitka produced his scholarly works, Notes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak
Tongues and Other Dialects of the Russo-American Territories, with a
Russian-Kolushchan Glossary.
In 1838, Father John
traveled to St Petersburg, Moscow, and Kiev to report on his activities and to
request an expansion of the Church’s activities in Russian America. While
there, he received word that his wife had died, whereupon he requested
permission to return to Sitka. Instead, church authorities suggested that he
take vows as a monk. At first he ignored these suggestions, but in 1840 he made
his vows, choosing the religious name Innocent in honor of Bishop Innocent of
Irkutsk. On December 15, 1840, Archimandrite Innocent was consecrated Bishop of
Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands (in Russia) and the Aleutian Islands, with his
see located in Novoarkhangelsk. He spent the next nine years in the
administration of his diocese as well as in missionary work, undertaking
several long journeys to remote areas. In 1850 he was elevated to archbishop,
and in 1852 the Yakut area was added to his diocese, leading to his taking up residence
in the town of Yakutsk in 1853. Innocent traveled frequently throughout his
much enlarged diocese and devoted himself to the translation of the Scriptures
and liturgical materials into the Yakut (Sakha) language.
In 1865, Archbishop
Innocent was appointed a member of the Holy Governing Synod of the Russian
Church, and in 1867 he was appointed Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia,
succeeding his friend and mentor, Filaret. As Metropolitan, he undertook
revisions of the Church’s texts to remove errors, raised funds to improve the
living of priests, and established a retirement home for priests.
He died on March 31,
1879, and was buried at Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. In 1977, the Russian Orthodox
Church, acting on the formal request of the Orthodox Church in America,
declared Innocent a saint. His relics were discovered during at excavation of
the cemetery near the Church of the Holy Ghost at Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in
1994 and are now venerated by the Orthodox faithful both in Russia and in
America.
In one troparion for his
commemoration, the faithful proclaim
You evangelized the
northern people of America and Asia,
Proclaiming the Gospel of
Christ to the natives in their own tongues.
O holy hierarch Father
Innocent,
Enlightener of Alaska and
all America, whose ways were ordered by the Lord,
Pray to Him for the
salvation of our souls in His Heavenly Kingdom!
(prepared from various
sources)
The Collect
Holy and immortal God and
Father, you blessed your people by calling Innocent from leading your Church in
Russia to be an apostle and light to the people of Alaska, and to proclaim the
dispensation and grace of God: Guide our steps, that as he labored humbly in
danger and hardship, we may witness to the Gospel of Christ wherever we are
led, and serve you as gladly in privation as in power; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, to the ages
of ages. Amen.
SOURCE : http://forallsaints.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/innocent-of-alaska-bishop-and-metropolitan-1879-2/
