Alaska russian orthodox biography
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He made all Aleuts of the Islands and nearby places Christians and educated them.
Although the initial confrontation of Russians and Alaskans was sometimes bloody, with the coming of the Orthodox priests relations generally became more harmonious and mutually beneficial. Being of the Orthodox faith, Russians taught the natives, Christian doctrine and the truth of their Orthodox Church.
She would invite them into the privacy of the traditional Yupik steam bath and there, with the women’s bruises and scars apparent, she extended her gentle kindness and empathy. Ten women from the same parish all experienced miscarriages one summer. In the summer he traveled by boat and in the winter either by snowmobile or dog sled.
Her family, like most of the people of the Yupik tribe, were Orthodox, her ancestors received the faith from the missionary work of the priest St. Jacob Netsvetov (1802-1864). Her family lived a life of subsistence: living off the land, fishing, hunting, gathering food.
He was to them a priest, teacher, doctor, nurse and mechanic. Conversion was encouraged by the Tsar, as head of the Church, and by the hierarchy. They had 13 children, five of whom died in childhood, a tragically familiar occurrence at a time when epidemics were common.
Matushka, from the Russian for mother, is a term of respect for Orthodox priest’s wives.
He opened a Seminary here, organized Ecclesiastical Consistory, and wrote very valuable rules and books that have not lost their value up to these days, and especially the one entitled "The Way to the Kingdom of Heaven." In 1855 Bishop Innokenty (this was Father Veniaminoff's name since he became a monk) was transferred to Blagovieschensk, Siberia, and from there to Moscow where he served as a Metropolitan of that great city till his death in 1879.
But many U.S. churches now have members of varied ancestries, and cooperate through the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops.
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Olga Arrsamquq Michael 1916-1979
Alaska is one of the best places in the United States to view a spectacular, dazzling natural phenomenon known as the northern lights or aurora borealis.
Olga prayed continually for his conversion and eventually he began to return to the practice of his Orthodox Faith. She is remembered today as “Tabitha of the North” a reference to the story of Tabitha of Joppa in Acts 9:36, an early Christian known for her works of charity. Inside the house, lit by stone bowl lamps, the woman lay down on a bed of moss, and the mystery woman began to gently touch her as if she were about to give birth, though she wasn’t pregnant.
In 1963 Nicholai was ordained as a priest for their village and the marriage of Olga and Nicolai changed dramatically. The village Orthodox Church was the center of their lives and by her teen years, Olga knew many of the church prayers and hymns from memory in both Church Slavonic and Yupik.
Marriage
As was the village practice, she entered into an arranged marriage with a village man – Nicolai Michael who later established a general store in the village and became its postmaster.
Even the dirt in the cemetery softened to enable a grave to be dug.