Alaskan Orthodox texts project celebrates 7th anniversary with its 60th publication
“I will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalms 117:16 - Septuagint)
By God’s mercy, it is with great joy that the Alaskan Orthodox texts project celebrates its 7th year of existence and 60th electronically published text. The Alaskan Orthodox texts project was inaugurated on May 1, 2005, as a volunteer parish project of All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton, ON, Canada, with the blessing of the Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America for Alaska and Canada. Fr. Geoffrey Korz, rector of All Saints of North America parish commented, “We knew that St. Innocent Veniaminov, St. Jacob Netsvetov and many other faithful Orthodox Christians left a rich literary legacy in the Native languages of Alaska, so we were very interested in locating and making available the primary source materials for their biblical, liturgical and educational translations.”
Over the years, the parish’s web development team has managed to locate and electronically publish a total of 60 texts and manuscripts in a diverse collection of Alaskan languages: Unangan-Aleut, Kodiak-Aleut (Alutiiq), Tlingit, Yup’ik, and Russian, dating as far back as 1816. The 60th, and latest, text to have been published is a series of two bilingual Unangan-Aleut/Russian sermons delivered by Fr. Alexander Panteleev (later Bishop Alexei) on Akutan Island in 1910 during one of his many pastoral journeys throughout the Aleutian Islands.
“When this project started 7 years ago, we had merely hoped to publish one text, but here we are at number 60, with about another 20 manuscripts still to go! The extent and richness of the Alaskan Orthodox literary legacy is greater than we could have imagined,” continued Fr. Geoffrey. “It is our hope that through the prayers of All Saints who have shone forth in Alaska and North America, that the Lord Jesus Christ may continue to bless this work, so that the work of the saints may not die but live and declare the works of the Lord!”
The Alaskan Orthodox electronic publications are available for download in PDF format.