ST. HERMAN OF ALASKA (DEC. 13TH)
The Message of St. Herman of Alaska for 21st Century America by Father Thomas Hopko (1939-2015) The elder Herman of Alaska (1751-1837), missionary monk of Spruce Island near Kodiak, died on the 13th of December in 1837. What is it that Almighty God wants us to see and hear in the life and work of Saint Herman of Alaska? Why has He chosen, of all people, exactly this person to be, as the hymn honoring his memory says, the "joyful North Star of the Church of Christ," called to guide us in America to God's heavenly kingdom? The young monk Herman was a hermit in the monastery of Valaamo in 18th century Russian Finland. He was chosen to be a member of the first missionary team being sent to the Russian lands in Alaska. Of the members of that first missionary team, he alone survived, living for many years as a simple monk on Spruce Island. He taught the Gospel to the native peoples he encountered. The native Alaskans to whom he preached the Gospel and served were humble, simple...
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