Posted by from the Alaska Diocese
on 7/25/2009, 1:19 pm
ORTHODOX ALASKA TO WELCOME PRIMATE IN AUGUST
TO: ALASKA MEDIA
FROM: ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF ALASKA
RE: METROPOLITAN JONAH TO VISIT
KUSKOKWIM, ANCHORAGE, KODIAK, SITKA
DATE: JULY 14, 2009
CONTACT: V.REV. MICHAEL OLEKSA, CHANCELLOR, DIOCESE OF ALASKA – 646-4086 or frmjoleksa@yahoo.com
The primate of the Orthodox Church in America will make his first visit to Alaska this summer. His Beatitude Metropolitan JONAH, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, will visit Alaska during the first part of August. He will be at the Kuskokwim Conference July 30 through Aug. 2; in Anchorage Aug. 3-6; the St. Herman Pilgrimage in Kodiak Aug. 7-9; and in Sitka Aug. 10-12. Metropolitan Jonah will be traveling with His Grace Bishop BENJAMIN, Bishop of San Francisco and the West, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Alaska.
The four destinations – Kodiak, Sitka, the Bethel area and Anchorage – represent a historic pilgrimage to strongholds of the Alaska Orthodox Christian faith. Alaska’s first Christian missionaries were Russian Orthodox monks from Valaam on the border of Finland and Russia, who arrived at Kodiak Island in 1794. One was the monk Herman, who was canonized in 1970 and is the subject of the annual St. Herman Pilgrimage to Spruce Island, enjoyed by hundreds of people each year. Sitka is the historic see of the Alaska Orthodox Christian Church, and the communities along the Kuskokwim River were evangelized St. Jacob Netsvetov, the first Aleut priest, 1844-1860. The Faith has grown to have a strong presence in Anchorage, where there are four OCA parishes.
Plans are being made for the hierarchs' Anchorage visit. Highlights include:
* Aug. 3: Alaska Native Heritage Center and St. Tikhon Church.
* Aug. 5: St. Nicholas, Eklutna and Vespers at St. John (Antiochian) Orthodox Church in Eagle River.
* Aug. 6: Divine Liturgy for the Transfiguration (New Calendar), 9 a.m. at St. Innocent Cathedral; Akathist, 6 p.m. at St. Alexis Church, followed by “Meet the Metropolitan” dinner at Coast International Inn. (Call 764-9027 for ticket information.)
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