ST. INNOCENT/
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14 Years of Service: 1992-2006
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FIREBIRD Videos, Audios & Books Producers of Educational Materials about the Orthodox Faith and Cultures 14 Years of Service: 1992-2006
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LIFE OFST. INNOCENT OF ALASKA
The brilliant future saint and bishop had numerous
gifts in addition to his zeal and love of God. Besides being a scholar, linguist,
scientist and writer, he also had many practical and technical skills. In Alaska he worked
tirelessly on behalf of the people. He learned the Aleut and other native languages and
created written alphabets for them, so he could translate the catechism, liturgical books
and Bible for the natives and teach them to read. His famous book, The Indication of
the Path to the Kingdom of Heaven has gone through countless editions in many
languages(the photo to the right shows an 1899 edition), and
In 1852 Bishop Innocent’s diocese was enlarged
to an archdiocese, to include the northeastern areas of Siberia. When he moved the center
of his activity to Yakutsk in Siberia, he appointed an auxiliary bishop for Alaska. In
spite of his requests to retire due to ill health, in 1869 (just two years after Russia
sold Alaska to the United States), St. Innocent was made Metropolitan
As a result of the missionary work of St. Herman and St. Innocent, many thousands of native Alaskans came to know the Lord, and Orthodoxy was established in America, of which all Orthodox people in America are heirs today.
To the left is a small detail of a full-wall-size icon of five of the American saints, painted/written by Fr. Theodore Jurewicz, of Erie, Pennsylvania, and located in St. Innocent of Irkutsk Orthodox Church in Redford, Michigan.
This article was written by Jane M. deVyver, M.Th., Ph.D., and the
photos are by the author.
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In 1824, 30 years after the
establishment of the Russian Orthodox mission on Kodiak Island, a new phase of mission
work among the Alaskan people commenced. At that time Fr. John Veniaminov, a 27-year old
priest, arrived on the Aleutian Island of Unalaska, Alaska, with his wife and family, thus
beginning the 37 years of missionary work in Alaska of St. Innocent, Apostle to America.
On Unalaska the young Fr. John built the Holy Ascension Church (photo to the right).
Fr. John was born 1n 1797in the small village of
Anga, near Irkutsk, Siberia, seven years before the glorification of St. Innocent of
Irkutsk. After his father reposed, the future saint lived with his uncle, the
parish deacon, in the family house in Anga (photo to the left). Then, for eleven
years he attended the school that St. Innocent had established in Irkutsk. Thus, it was
very appropriate when Fr. John later received his monastic name in honor of St. Innocent
of Irkutsk. 
is an
Orthodox spiritual classic. An original copy of his translation of the Gospel of St.
Matthew into the Aleut language (photo to the left), that includes some of
his own hand-written notes, is still in the Ascension Cathedral in Unalaska. Throughout
his 43-years of missionary work in Alaska and Siberia, the saint traveled extensively,
teaching and preaching to the people, who loved him for his gentleness and compassion. As
Fr. Herman also had done, Fr. John taught the natives practical skills: construction,
carpentry, gardening, animal husbandry, metalworking. He built churches, orphanages and
schools, where trades were taught along with religion and traditional studies. 
While on a trip to Moscow, on behalf of his Alaskan mission work, Fr. John’s wife
died, and in 1840, he was tonsured a monk and consecrated as the first resident Bishop of
Alaska. Bishop Innocent traveled throughout his large, new diocese, preaching and serving
in the native languages, expanding his prior work. His diocesan center was in Sitka, where
he built the St. Michael Cathedral (photo to the left), and established a
seminary to train native clergy. (This work is continued today at the St. Herman Seminary
on Kodiak Island.) The seminary was
located in the Bishop's House (photo
to the right) which St. Innocent built, and where he lived. [The Bishop of Alaska
continued to live in that house until about 1970, when the State of Alaska bought the
historic buillding, restored it, and converted it into a museum. The second floor has been
restored to its appearance when St. Innocent lived there, including the still functioning
Chapel and bishop's quarters, and includes one of the clocks and some of the furniture
that St. Innocent made.] 
of Moscow (the Head of the entire Russian Orthodox Church), from
where he continued to watch over his former mission fields. When St. Innocent reposed in
1879, he was buried at the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Monastery. He was glorified as a
saint in 1977, and now his relics are in a very prominent place, in front of the left
front pillar in the Dormition Cathedral at the Lavra (see photo to the left).
To the right we see a contemporary Russian icon, which includes scenes from the
saint's life.