Celebrations in Kodiak, Spruce Island, Alaska Mark Feast of Saint Herman

Pilgrims from across North America will gather at Holy Resurrection Cathedral here on Thursday, August 9, 2001 for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy marking the Feast of Saint Herman Alaska.

One of eight Orthodox missionaries who arrived in Kodiak, AK in 1794, Saint Herman was canonized by the Orthodox Church in America in 1970, shortly after the Church received autocephalous status from the Russian Orthodox Church.

His Grace, Bishop Nikolai, Auxiliary to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, will preside at the Divine Liturgy at the cathedral, in which the relics of Saint Herman are located. Since his arrival in Alaska, Bishop Nikolai has maintained a hectic schedule of parish and regional visitations in an effort to meet the numerous faithful throughout the state and to assess the ongoing needs of the Diocese of Alaska, the oldest in the Orthodox Church in America.

The annual Pilgrimage honoring Saint Herman will also include the singing of the Akathistos Hymn to Saint Herman at the cathedral on Tuesday evening, August 7. On Wednesday morning, August 8, the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the chapel on Spruce Island which marks the original resting place of Saint Herman. Later that evening, the All-Night Vigil service will be celebrated at Holy Resurrection Cathedral.

In addition to Bishop Nikolai, who arrived in Alaska on June 21, 2001 to oversee the life of some 90 OCA communities across the state, other dignitaries slated to participate in the celebration include Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA Chancellor; the Very Rev. Eugene Vansuch, Bethlehem, PA; and the Very Rev. David Brum, Secretary to Metropolitan Theodosius.

During their visit to Alaska, Fathers Kondratick, Vansuch and Brum will join Bishop Nikolai in meeting with the Board of Trustees of Saint Herman’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, also located in Kodiak.