Tag: Herman of Alaska


Herman, A Wilderness Saint: From Sarov, Russia to Kodiak, Alaska


The following is a book review from our friend and colleague Nicholas Chapman: Herman, A Wilderness Saint: From Sarov, Russia to Kodiak, Alaska is a new book that I think will be of interest to many readers of this web site. It has been translated from Russian and contains material not...

St. Herman and Fr. Alexander


Today, December 13, is the New Calendar feast day of St. Herman of Alaska. A year ago on this feast, we reprinted a life of St. Herman written by Vera Johnston and published in 1919. To read (or re-read) that biography, click here. Today is also the 28th anniversary of...

The Kodiak Bell should be returned to Alaska


  On February 4, I wrote an article on an 18th century Russian bell that currently hangs in an old Roman Catholic mission in California. Thanks to Mr. Clifford Argue, I have since learned a great deal more about the Kodiak Bell, and I am convinced that this bell needs...

Vera Johnston: “Herman — Russian Missionary to America”


  Editor's note: We first published this article nearly a year ago, but today is St. Herman's feast day on the New Calendar, and it seemed appropriate to reprint this early Life. The author, Vera Vladimirovna Johnston, was born in the Russian Empire, married an Englishman, and eventually moved to...

The first biography of St. Innocent, part 2


Editor's note: Last week, we presented the first part of the first biography of St. Innocent, written by the Episcopalian clergyman Charles R. Hale. What follows is Part 2, which details the introduction of Orthodoxy to Alaska and the priestly ministry of Fr. John Veniaminoff, the future St. Innocent. Tomorrow,...

A Life of St. Herman from 1919


  Vera Vladimirovna Johnston was born in the Russian Empire, married an Englishman, and eventually moved to New York. Her own story is extremely fascinating, and we will discuss it in detail in the future. Today, however, I am reprinting an article she wrote in 1919, entitled, "Herman -- Russian...