Category: evangelism

St. Jacob of Alaska was also an astute observer of the native people: their habits, their customs, and sometimes even their disposition towards the gospel. Every once in a while, his journals have an aside to explain points of interest—the dangers of navigation and shipping in Alaskan waters, the entryway of native houses in different regions, and such—in some of which, he speaks about the people’s receptivity to the gospel:

“In matters of religion, I found the Kuriles to be devout or, as one may say, ready to be devout. However, presumably because of very rare approaches to them on behalf of the Christian Religion, they have no proper understanding either of the Christian faith or of their obligations as Christians.”

Continue reading “Most Importantly: St. Jacob Understands the People”

Importance of Family — Our town or region may not compare to 1800s Alaska, but there are plenty of lessons to be learned from St. Jacob that can be applied to any situation. Though little is made of it, St. Jacob’s relationship with his family seems to be key. He sailed to his first parish in Atka, his own mother’s villiage, with his wife and father. This simple fact challenges our modern, individualistic and independent thinking.

Continue reading “How is St. Jacob an example for us today?”

A decade later, in 1849, after faithful service in the Yukon region, St. Jacob asked for an assistant. As Fr. Michael Oleksa says it, he was sent an “unhappy misfit”, Hieromonk Filaret, sent against his will to Alaska. He ended up attacking St. Jacob with a pistol and later an ax, and needing to be bound hand and foot and locked up.

The next assistant arrived two years later, and was even worse, if that can be imagined. Hieromonk Gavriil was quite literally insane and leveled accusations against St. Jacob. “The new bishop from European Russia took Gabriel’s accusations against Saint Jacob and his coworker Lukin seriously, knowing neither the Creole missionaries and their careers or the insane source of the reports.” “In Sitka, the bishop immediately recognized the venerable missionary and scholar to be incapable of the crimes the crazy Gabriel, now deceased, had accused him of committing.”

It should make sense, but even a saint is not immune to accusation. “In this world you will have trouble, but I give you my peace.”

One struggle I was looking for in the journals of St. Jacob is racism. St. Jacob was half Russian, half Alaskan native. And in much of the world’s history during this colonial era, racism is thoroughly embedded. I did find one reference of such an issue from Governor Chistiakov in Sitka, when St. Jacob, his wife, and father first arrived, the governor being described by Archpriest Michael Oleksa as “racist, opposing, and attempting to prohibit Russian-native marriages”. Even then, mentioned in the same source, this governor was known to be anti-clerical. Meaning: he already did not like this priest coming around in the first place, much less his native lineage.

Continue reading “Russian Alaska and a Creole Priest”

St. Jacob followed in the footsteps of many who came before him, not only the big names like St. Herman, St. Juvenaly, and St. Innocent, but more than that, the faithful, everyday folks who worked for the Russian-American Company and lived a faithful witness among the Alaskan peoples. What we find all over St. Jacob’s journals is mentions of locals who had been baptized by laymen and just did not have access to a priest. “It remained for me only to establish them in the faith and chrismate them.”

Continue reading “St. Jacob’s Greatest Gifts to the Church”