Tag: Russian


Primary sources on St. Peter the Aleut


Given the recent discussion about St. Peter the Aleut, I thought it might be worthwhile to publish some of the primary sources we have for his story. As I explained on Monday, there are four main sources: The 1819 transcript from the deposition of Keglii Ivan, the only known eyewitness to St....

Is the St. Peter the Aleut story true?


Well, this has been interesting. Last week, I posted a link to an article Fr. Oliver Herbel wrote, entitled, "St. Peter the Aleut Did Not Exist." As you can imagine, this sparked a very strong response from many readers, who challenged Fr. Oliver on several points. Some took issue with...

St. Alexander Hotovitzky on the New Year


Editor's note: Last year, we reprinted St. Alexander Hotovitzky's 1902 reflection on the New Year. It was originally published in the January 1902 supplement to the Vestnik (Messenger), of which he was the editor. With New Year's Day coming this weekend, we're reprinting the reflection again: Again I stand on the...

Vintage color postcard of Chicago’s Holy Trinity Cathedral


Yesterday, we published a series of photos of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago. These images, taken in 1905, are part of the Library of Congress' online collection of photos from the Chicago Daily News. Over on our Facebook page, a reader named Katja Yurschak posted a link to a wonderful...

1905 photos from Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago


The Library of Congress website has all sorts of great resources, including a collection of old photos from the Chicago Daily News. The following five photos are of the newly-built Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago. -- Matthew Namee

Fr. Irvine & the Orthodox women’s college of Brooklyn


Editor's note: The following article originally appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on November 28, 1915: The Holy Orthodox Russo-Greek Catholic Church has established a college for young women at the corner of Pennsylvania and Glenmore avenues, in the East New York section. About nine years ago Archbishop Platon and...

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine and Isabel Hapgood


Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine and Isabel Florence Hapgood were the two people most responsible for the spread of English in early 20th century American Orthodoxy. Hapgood, a lifelong Episcopalian, was a renowned translator, honored by the Tsar, and she is still remembered today for her landmark 1906 English translation of the Orthodox...

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...

More on Fr. Basil Bouroff of Chicago


Over a year ago, I wrote about Fr. Basil Bouroff, one of the first priests of the Russian church in Chicago (now Holy Trinity OCA Cathedral). While serving as a priest, Bouroff began attending the new University of Chicago. His religious and/or political views put him in hot water with...

Irvine responds to Hapgood on St. Raphael’s funeral


Last week, we reprinted Isabel Hapgood's account of St. Raphael's funeral. The Hapgood article appeared in the New York Tribune on March 8, 1915. Two days later, the paper published the following letter to the editor from Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine: To the Editor of The Tribune. Sir: An unfortunate...