This Sunday June 18, 2023 is an especially important occasion for us at St. Herman’s Church, in that today is the nationwide commemoration of the many Saints of North America, including America’s first Saint, Herman of Alaska, our heavenly patron who was canonized in 1970.
Years ago before the Tomos of Autocephaly was granted to the Orthodox Church in America, several renowned theologians and Canon Law Scholars stated that one of the most important prerequisites for true Autocephaly or Canonical independence, was that the Local Church would include saints indigenous to the territorial region, in this case North America. This idea, or should I say requirement, was advocated by Professor Alexander Bogolepov, the late famed professor of Canon Law at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., in his monumental work, “Towards an American Orthodox Church” and also touched upon by Father Archimandrite Seraphim Surrency in his work, “The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity” from the Moscow Patriarchal Exarchate in America.
For many years, especially in the late 19th century, there was a call within the clergy and parishes in America to research and publish all information and data relating to the Valaam Mission that arrived in 1794 in Alaska and especially its last surviving member, Herman of Alaska. Numerous translations of diaries and eye witness accounts were published in the hope that one day Father Herman of Alaska would be added to the diptych of Saints of the Universal Orthodox Church.
With the unfortunate onset of the First World War, the Russian Revolutions, the Civil War and the collapse of the Russian Empire, the fledgling Church in America lost its most important means of support, catapulting its very existence in the New world into chaos and disunity. While this was the condition of the Church in the 1920’s to the 1930’s, many clergyman, the majority of whom were American born and educated, began advocating for renewed interest in the life and works of St. Herman, since he embodied the true missionary zeal of Orthodoxy in a new land. During the late 1930’s, many new articles and stories were being written in both Russian and in English about his work among the native peoples of America.
Therefore, as we continued our journey to an autonomous and eventually autocephalous Church, there was a concerted effort among us as Americans, to chart our own course towards an American Church made up of not only indigenous peoples, but descendants of immigrants, joined by countless converts to Orthodoxy from within this fertile land. So one of the first acts as the newest autocephalous Church was to proclaim before the world the canonization of America’s first saint, Herman of Alaska, who is our heavenly patron.
Over 50 years have passed since this historical and spiritual decision of the Church was proclaimed, and today numerous other men and women from the historical annals of our land have joined the ranks of Saints in America, including, St. Innocent of Alaska, St. Tikhon of Moscow, St. Peter the Aleut, St. Juvenaly the Hieromonk, St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre, St. Vasily of Old Forge, St. Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn, St. Nicholas of South Canaan, St. Sebastian Dabovich of California, St. Mardarije of Libertyville, St. John Maximovich of San Francisco, St. Alexander Hotovitsky of New York, St. John Kochurov of Chicago and countless future blessed martyrs and pioneers such as Matushka Olga of Alaska, Leonty the Visionary and others from throughout the farthest reaches of our continent.
So as we celebrate this Sunday in the liturgical cycle of our Church, let us rejoice that the seed planted by our own heavenly patron, Herman of Alaska, has not only sprouted but is bearing fruit of which, we their spiritual inheritance is forever grateful.
