December 13
A
courageous Russian monk with the highly improbable Anglicized name of
Herman (from the Greek Germanos and Slavonic German) is the first
Orthodox saint canonized in the New World for his dedicated and heroic
efforts in bringing the faith of Jesus Christ to the half-civilized
natives of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. The frigid wastes of the
bleak islands, as well as Alaska, were inhabited by the descendants of
the nomadic tribes that had crossed the Bering Sea, many of them
presumed to be from the Siberian area of Russia. For that reason, the
Aleuts had a sense of kinship with the Russian missionaries.
The man who was to become St. Herman of Alaska was born in 1756, in the
city of Serpukhov, which was within the diocese of Moscow and was,
therefore, influenced by the great prelates of the Russian capital.
From childhood, Herman showed a predilection for the church and while
yet in his early youth was admitted to the Monastery of Trinity-Sergius
near the Gulf of Finland, about ten miles from St. Petersburg. While
serving his novitiate, he had an experience that was to inspire him to
a lifetime of intense devotion to the word of Jesus Christ. He became
seriously ill and when it seemed he could not survive, he resigned
himself to an untimely end; however, as he prayed for deliverance, the
Virgin Mary appeared to him in a vision, after which he was completely
cured. The miraculous event was a constant inspiration throughout a
lifetime of rugged frontier service to the Lord.
While in the Lord's service at the Monastery of Valaam, on Lake Ladoga,
he was selected with nine other monks by the Church of Russia to serve
in the remote outposts of the Aleutian Islands, the outermost reaches
of the sprawling country of Russia which exceed even the stark Siberia
in desolation and rigor. The missionary work of these hardy monks had
been made more difficult by privateers who had preceded them and had
exploited the harmless seal hunters, most of whom considered all
strangers in their midst to be intruders bent on their own selfish
manipulation. The natives soon found that Herman and his company were
men of good will whose spiritual trading posts brought them nourishment
for the soul.
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 America. Let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ, singing His Holy
Resurrection!
A monastic center was formed on Spruce Island of the Aleutian chain and
was named New Valaam by Herman out of respect for the cloister whose
relative comfort and security he had left for the harshness of this
isolated strand. It was from this spiritual center that Herman served
the people of Alaska, as well as the islands, for forty years, during
which time his fellow monks dwindled in number until the sole survivor
was the venerable Herman. His work for the good of the Aleuts and
Alaskans was carried on alone until it was augmented by replacements
from Mother Russia. Under the direction of Herman, the natives were
taught how to make the most of the tillable land that their short
summer season would allow.
Each passing day saw Herman converting to Orthodox Christianity a
people who, after eighteen centuries, still had not heard the name of
Jesus Christ. Seemingly abandoned by the rest of the world, these hardy
souls came to know the meaning of faith, with churches in which they
could worship and schools in which their children could be educated.
Even the traders and mariners who had once considered this desolate
land a stopping place where they could replenish their supplies, now
remained for a time to visit with an enlightened colony. Herman and his
monastery were visited because of his reputation for piety and
hospitality as well.
The
church wanted to move the relics of St. Herman from Spruce Island but
the seas were so rough, that they were forced to call in the Coast
Guard to help them transport the relics.
Herman acquired with the years a nearness to the Divine which gave him powers of healing, but this served to
make him all the more humble and seek complete isolation for meditation
and prayer. He was denied this eremitic asceticism by the clamor of
scores who sought not only his healing but also his counsel. He managed
to divide his time between the service to these people in churches and
hospitals and the serenity of his monastic cell, to which he would
retire ever mindful of the vision he had received in his youth.
A monk in the purest sense to the last, Herman never returned to his
native Russia. He died miles away from his homeland, and, in accordance
with his last wish, was buried on Spruce Island. He was canonized as a
saint 9 August 1970.
Taken from Orthodox Saints by George Poulos, c1990, Holy Cross Orthodox Press, Brookline, MA, pp.101-102
Because of his great love for God's creation, St. Herman was chosen to
be the patron for the camp's Nature Center. St. Herman's relics are
enshrined in St. Ignatius Chapel at the Antiochian Village.