His upbringing (*)

Saint Immaculate was born on the twenty-sixth of August 1797 in the village of Anja, Siberian District, in the Irkutsk Province. He was a son (of Qandalaft) of the Church of the Prophet Elias, and an intercessor was given to him at his birth, John the Merciful, Patriarch of Constantinople. His father was called Eusebius and his mother was called Thecla. As for his uncle, he was an evangelical deacon and a mechanic who worked in making and repairing watches.

The saint learned to read and write in order to serve the church since he was the heir to a family that served the church, according to established customs. He began homeschooling and reading the Psalms when he was five years old.

His father died in August 1803 at the age of forty, leaving behind his pregnant wife, John, and his two sisters. His uncle, the deacon, took John into his charge. He lived with him and continued his academic studies in addition to manual labor. He used to recite “The Message” in the Divine Mass when he was eight years old.

At the age of nine and a half, he left his village for Irkutsk, which was an industrial and commercial center in the region, where he entered the seminary. At the same time, his uncle moved to that city, where he was ordained a priest and continued to care for John. He took lessons in reading, writing, and learning the Slavonic language, which was the church's language of chant and doctrine. As for learning the Latin language, John was a diligent student with grades of (very good), (superior) and (excellent).

In 1814, Archimandrite Paul Nekrasov was appointed director of the school, making many improvements to it... He also changed the names of his students, so John’s name became (Popov) (i.e. like a priest) John Venaminov.

John was an active young man, strong and in good health. He studied well, served in the church, was interested in his craft of making and repairing watches, and read a lot.

In 1817, on the twenty-ninth of April, John married the daughter of a local priest, Katerina.

On the thirteenth of May, he was ordained a deacon and appointed a servant in the Church of the Annunciation in Irkutsk, while he continued to obtain his studies. He graduated in 1818, excelling in Russian grammar, music, history, geography, Latin and Russian poetry, as well as theology, philosophy and theology, in addition to the German and Greek languages. As a result, he was asked to teach music in the parish school. He was ordained a priest on May 18, 1821. He was a very active priest. He established Sunday schools to teach children the Christian religion every Sunday before Mass. He gained the respect and love of his parishioners in a very short time.

He also made watches and small musical instruments.

His travel to America

In 1823, the Holy Synod asked the Metropolitan of Irkutsk to provide a priest to serve the Russian community on Unalaska Island in America. Because Irkutsk was a center for missionary work and was responsible for Christianizing the local tribes and introducing them to and evangelizing the Christian religion. The bishop tried to convince one of his parish priests to go to America, but everyone refused to go to that distant place.

Meanwhile, a merchant named John Kiryukov came to Irkutsk, and he had lived for forty years with the Aleutian people. He asked to be a spiritual son of Father John. Therefore, Father John had the good fortune to listen to strange stories about that distant country and the customs of its people. The merchant tried to persuade Father John to go to that country, several times to no avail... Father John narrated, saying: (I met the merchant once in the bishopric and he was coming to bid farewell to the bishop before his travel, and I was there by chance. In fact, that was the first time he entered the bishop’s room... And the merchant Kiryukov returned and repeated his words about the attachment of the people of that distant country - the Aleutians - to prayer and to hearing the Holy Word, the Word of the Lord... Suddenly my soul was stirred, as if I were hearing these words repeated to me hundreds of times, for the first time. So I looked at him and said: Blessed be the name of the Lord. And I felt eagerness. Great to see that people... To this day I remember my eagerness to wait for the bishop to return so that I could inform him of my intention to go to the Aleutians... How great was his astonishment when I told him, and he said to me with astonishment, “We will see.”

After a while, the bishop accepted Father John's request and allowed him to go. So he ran back to his home and carried his baby son, kissing him and saying: (Do you know what land your feet will tread on?) His family members were not eager to go to that distant country... Father John did not listen to their objections, as his decision was final and he was certain that (the Lord will lead man safely on the path Which he follows, and that any of his servants in the church is nothing but a tool in his hand...). In the spring, John carried the church utensils, his priestly clothing, and the liturgical books onto the back of a ship preparing to take off for America, and he traveled with his mother, wife, and son to that distant country....

He also took with him his nineteen-year-old brother, the cantor, and the bishop handed him two (two anthemancy) ones, one for the Onalaska Church and the other (special) for Father John to use during his travels, which allows him to hold the Divine Mass in any place where there is no church.

After completing many preparations, the long journey began on May 7, 1823.

The first part of the trip was short, as the group went by car to the village of Anga, where they prayed in the Church of the Prophet Elias, asking that their travel be easy and safe, and that God pour His blessings upon them and crown their new life with blessings.

From Anga, they moved to the city of Yakutsk, which is two thousand and four hundred kilometers away. They rode sledges on the largest river in Siberia, the Lena, and the travel was comfortable, but when they arrived in Yakutsk they had to cross vast and very dangerous forests on horseback. They also passed through swamps and snow-covered mountains, covering nearly twelve hundred kilometres. Until they reached the seashore in Okhotsk, on the Pacific Ocean. Akhotsk was a large and comfortable city with a population of approximately one thousand five hundred people.

On the thirtieth of August 1823, the ship sailed toward the Kuril Islands, and on the twentieth of October of the same year, Father John and his companions arrived in Sitka, the capital of the Russian colony there.

He lived in Setak

Since the bad weather did not allow Father John and his companions to continue traveling, they remained in Sitka, and Father John began teaching the children the Bible after the approval of the general director of the Russian-American Company, which was taking care of the community there... He gave the boys two hours on Wednesday and two hours to the girls on Friday at their school. Father John also invited all those who wanted to come to the church an hour before the Divine Liturgy to read the Gospel to them in the Slavonic language and interpret it in the Russian language. He deduced moral positions from the Gospel in his preaching and then opened the way for questions to be asked and answered.

With this work, Father John became the first to establish “Sunday Schools” around the world... During that time, Father John asked to learn the Aleusian language, so the Director General provided him with a teacher who began teaching him that language.

Months later, his wife gave birth to a daughter, whom he named (Katrina), and they remained there for a period before they were able to travel, which Father John occupied, in addition to teaching and learning, by reading the books in the company’s public library, whether philosophical or theological. He also asked those in charge of it to send him some newly published books in Unalaska.

It would be appropriate to record here what Father John wrote to the Director General before he left Sitka for Unalaska about his refusal of the local residents’ gifts of fur:

(I refuse to accept gifts from the Eleusians of money, furs, or anything else, because such gifts... could weaken in the eyes of the local population the power and holiness of the message that I am conveying. I also believe that a simple and honest teaching of the Gospel by a servant of the Lord and the Church would have a greater impact on the souls and hearts New converts to living evangelical Christianity...

On the first of September, Father John and his family boarded a small boat and left Sitka, heading to his new work station in Unalaska.

Arrives in Alaska and begins service

Father John and his family arrived in Iliuluk, the largest colony on the island, in late September. Father John celebrated his first Mass there early. He wrote in his notebook: (For the first time since the birth of Christ, or rather since the creation of the world, the Divine Mass is being held here!).

Father John's first plan to begin his pastoral work contained the following priorities:

– Visit all parishioners.

- Building a center for meeting and hearing the word of the Lord in it.

- Continuing his acquisition of the local language so that he can preach.

Father John obtained from the local authorities a list of the names of all the residents of the surrounding villages, with detailed information about them, who among them had received baptism and who had not yet received it. Some of these villages were far from Iliulyuk and could not be reached before the end of the winter.

Father John began working in the capital, where all the residents had been baptized by lay people. Therefore he had to anoint them with chrism. He also had to remarry all the couples in the church because they had had a civil marriage because there was no priest. He also listened to everyone's confessions before receiving Communion. Father John spent all the winter months preparing his people to receive these secrets.

It was his custom not to accept anyone to a church secret before explaining to him carefully what the secret was and making sure that he understood it well... This work was necessary in a country where the population was very ignorant... Father John would talk to them about God and introduce him to them in simple and easy terms. He talks to them about sin and the necessity of repentance, confession, and prayer as basic means of reconciliation with God... and this was his daily preaching to those who gathered around him in the small church.

He quickly faced the following three problems:

- There was no school in the city... so he decided to build one so that he could teach the children religious education.

The small church was in a deplorable condition and needed restoration, strengthening, and expansion.

- Seeking the help of one of the Russian men (John Pankov) to teach him the local language.

Characteristics of the Aleutian people

The people of the Aleutian Islands were distinguished by the following characteristics:

- Laziness and complete indifference to the future.

- Cheese.

- Patience to the point of unconsciousness. Father John wrote: (Any situation, no matter how complex or difficult, does not prompt the Aleutian to complain.)

– Generosity and hospitality.

Father John also discovered that if the Aleutian is motivated, he can achieve precision and skill in the most difficult crafts.

- The absence of cheating, stealing, and lying among the people, which are the sins of the lowly world.

- As for their religion, it was ancient and similar to (shamanism), and at that time it was common in all of Siberia and in Kamchatka... as they believed in the existence of a Creator of all things visible and invisible. But they did not offer him any worship. As for their worship and honor, they offered it to every visible power superior to their powers, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars... They did not have any temples for worshiping idols, but they used to offer furs (to the things) that they worshiped, in distant caves on the edge of the mountains. The shaman or priest occupied center stage in their lives and in their society.

As for the ethics of the Aleusian people, it revolved around the following matters:

- Taking care of the family in their old age.

- Benefit from the advice of the sheikhs.

- Helping relatives in hunting and war.

- Helping the poor and providing hospitality.

- Minimize talking.

- Teaching children kindness, love of values, and the necessity of achieving glory in this life.

It was forbidden for them to hit or insult anyone except in times of war.

- Prohibiting theft, lying, and having children outside of marriage, although they were initially allowed to have multiple wives and live with female slaves without marriage. But these customs were not practiced much in the days of Father John for economic reasons.

First pastoral visit

After Easter was celebrated for the first time on the island on the twenty-ninth of March 1825, Father John began preparing to visit the western part of his parish, so he began his journey on the thirteenth of April in “Kayak.” (1) When he had not yet reached the northern side of the island, a large snow storm broke out, and he was forced to return to the beach, where he and his companions spent three days waiting for the storm to subside.

This incident allowed Father John to know and appreciate the patience of the Aleutian people. On the fourth day, he and his companions sailed, but after sailing they returned approximately forty kilometers to the shore. The situation continued like this, between efforts and returns, until Father John became impatient and decided to continue traveling on foot to visit the village of Makushin. Their journey continued for a whole day through rugged mountains covered in snow. After his arrival, the father stayed there for four days (examining) the children, recognizing and communing with everyone and marrying in the church everyone who had a civil marriage due to the absence of the priest... Then he returned with his companions and walked to the shore where they left their boats. So they sailed, and after a full day they arrived at the second village (Kashiva), where they stayed for three days, which Father John spent holding the Divine Masses and preaching... He used to celebrate the Divine Mass in a large tent that his companions would set up for him wherever he went, and they would carry it with them along with other necessary church utensils. His tour continued until he returned on the nineteenth of May, arriving at his village and home on the eve of Pentecost. So he immediately went to church, led a long vigil, and served the Divine Mass and the prayer of prostration that follows the Mass at sunset.

He subsequently wrote to his bishop, saying: “With spiritual joy, I have the honor to inform your Excellency that my words (which are not mine, but the words of the One who sent me) were accepted with joy, respect, and enthusiasm everywhere. This reception strengthened my resolve and I decided to pay a visit to the eastern part of my parish next year.” ).

Urban activity

On the second of September, work began on building the new church. Father John initiated it personally and personally watched over all its details.

Meanwhile, Father John wrote to his bishop: (The income of this church is very large... Therefore, I ask Your Excellency to allow me to use part of this money, which is the property of the church, to help the local school, or some of the poor or sick among the Aleutians)... That letter reached On the thirteenth of September 1826, the bishop gave the following instructions: (The church’s money belongs to the poor. Therefore, God will bless this project... and we allow the priest to use the surplus from the church’s income to help the school and the poor Aleutians).

This approval did not reach Father John until June 1828. Then Father John began using the funds, and after improving the school and giving to the poor in need, he also built a small hospital containing six beds and an orphanage that could accommodate twelve orphan girls.

At the beginning of the following year, that is, in the year 1826, when Father John felt that he had mastered the Aleutian language, he began translating the teaching book and sent it to his teacher, John Bankow, for review and revision, and he finished it before Easter... As for work on the new church, it continued under the supervision of Father John himself, and construction was completed in June. In the same year, the church was consecrated on the twenty-eighth of June 1826.

Second pastoral visit

After consecrating the church, Father John began preparing to visit the eastern part of his parish. On the seventeenth of April 1827, Father John left Yunalaska with his translator and a number of Aleutian auctioneers, on board a ship. After eleven days, they arrived at Onfa Island, which was the farthest point in his flock. As was his custom, he began touring the villages, reading to their residents his translation of the religious education book, and carrying out his other priestly duties. There was so much admiration for the book that everyone asked to own a copy of it. Everyone signed a copy of a letter to the bishop requesting permission to print and distribute the book.

After completing his work on that island, Father John and his companions headed to the Alaska Peninsula. Since men were fishing in the seas, he began his missionary work with women, the elderly, children, and the sick, preaching to everyone and preparing them to receive the holy secrets. And when the people were thanking him for his labor with them and in the service, he would remind them (that you must thank God who allowed me to come to you and reside in this distant land, conveying to you the light of the Holy Gospel. I ask you to pray to God on my behalf so that I can visit you again) .

On the way back to Onfa, Father John and his companions faced severe dangers that brought them close to death several times. There he visited villages that he had not yet visited, then he sailed with his companions back to Unalaska, arriving there on June 12 after an absence of forty-nine days, visiting the eastern region of his parish.

Message to the Bishop

Days after his return, Father John wrote to the bishop a new letter: “During the three years that I spent here, I considered that my primary mission was to convey the word of God to the parish entrusted to me, and I sought to carry out this duty in the best possible way...

But since the Aleutian people live in small communities far from each other, I considered it my duty to do translation as well. Therefore, with God’s help, I translated the huge book of religious education into the Aleutian language - Aluks - and it is an honor for me to present this translation to you. I also humbly ask you to allow me to send it and the Russian text to print so that when it is finished, I can use it in the local school and distribute it among the Aleutian people.

My only concern, while doing this work, was to help the people read and understand religious education in their mother tongue and learn about the secret of managing salvation in their lives and their work in this field.

I do not claim that this translation is free from minor errors. It is the first work in a language that has no written linguistic rules yet. But I can confirm that I sought not to contain any teaching contrary to the straight Orthodox faith and Christian law...

Despite this, I cannot consider this work to be complete, so I submit to you, hoping that you will make the necessary corrections to it.)

Pastoral visit to the Pribilof Islands

Ten days later, on the first of July, Father John left his home again to pay a pastoral visit to the Pribilof Islands, which he had not yet visited. He spent an entire month on that island, preaching as usual, and conducting various church services and mysteries.

Father John returned to Unalaska on the first of August to hold a memorial Mass for the first Mass he held in that distant country. He stayed there throughout the winter with his family and flock because it was not possible to travel in those days, as the frost season was approaching.

The story of the shaman

In early April 1828, Father John left his island again and headed to Akon Island, which he had not yet visited. When he and his companions arrived at the beach, all the residents were waiting for him with cheers. He was surprised, and when he asked what the occasion was, he was told: It was to receive him. When he was surprised that they knew he was coming, they said to him: (It is the shaman. He is the one who told us: Wait... a priest will come to you today. He is now on his way to you and will teach you to pray to God... Your description to us is exactly as you appear before us now).

Father John was surprised by these words and asked to meet the shaman. Some of them went to inform the shaman of Father John's desire. When they arrived there, the shaman said to them: (I know that Father John wants to see me. Here I come to him). Before meeting him, Father John's assistant, Bankov, told him about several strange healing incidents that occurred through a shaman called Samir Nikov, as well as predictions.

During his conversation with Samir Nikov, the shaman, Father John noticed that he had extensive knowledge of the Bible and the prayers of the church, which surprised him, because the missionaries who preceded him to that distant country did not master the language of the people of the motherland, so they were content with baptizing people without preaching to them the Christian religion. People still did not know to whom to pray or how to pray.

Father John asked him: How did Samir Nikov (the shaman) have that knowledge? He replied:

From two white men who live in the nearby mountains and visit him frequently. Then he said to Father John: (They told me that in the near future you will go to visit your family overseas and then sail again to visit a great man)... When Father John asked him about the appearance of the two men, he gave him a description that matches the drawing of the Archangel Gabriel in the icon. Then Smirnikov told Father John a story that he conveyed verbatim to his bishop like this: (After Archimandrite Macarius baptized him, first one spirit appeared to him, then two, and no one else could see them... and they told him that they were sent by God to guide him, teach him, and guard him. They remained with him for thirty years, appearing to him. At noon or late in the day, but not at night. They taught him the entirety of Christian theology and all the secrets of the faith. And when he was sick or hungry, they helped him and helped others in response to his request... and they told him that before fulfilling any request, we must ask if it is in accordance with the will of God. And sometimes They would tell him about things that had happened in other places or happened in the future... and they would always stress that what they were doing was by the power of Almighty God and not by their own power.

They also taught him to pray to the Creator of all, not to them, and to pray in spirit and in truth, in the heart. They prayed with him for long periods of time.

They guided him in practicing all Christian virtues and advised him to be faithful and chaste in and outside of marriage.

They also appeared to him when he was coming to meet me and told him not to be afraid. When I asked him how he felt when he saw them... would he be happy or sad? He answered: (I feel remorse, but in other cases he does not feel fear).

At the end of the conversation, Father John asked him if he himself could see the visitors, and Samir Nikov (the shaman) replied: (I will ask them). After returning from a visit to nearby islands, he replied: “They would like to see you, but why do you want to see her when you are teaching the same teachings? Anyway. Come, I will take you to them.”

When he heard these words, a feeling stirred in his soul that he wrote to his bishop: (I was filled with fear and humility and thought in my heart: What if I actually saw these two angels and they told me what the old Samir Nikov (the shaman) told me? How can I go to them?! And I am a sinful man. I do not deserve to talk to them. My arrogance may stem from my arrogance. If I happen to see two real angels, this will push me to arrogance and pretension. With my great faith and my admiration for myself... No, I am not worthy, and it is better for me not to go...).

At the end of his report he wrote to the bishop:

(I was convinced that the spirits that appeared to Samir Nikov (the shaman) - if they actually appeared to him - were not demonic spirits, knowing that demons can appear as angels sometimes, but they do not do so to guide people, but rather to destroy them... Therefore, before obtaining your approval, I dared to answer him : (The spirits that appear to you are not demons... Therefore, listen to their teachings and guidance in a way that does not contradict the teaching that you heard from me at the parish meeting... But if one of the people asks you about the future, do not answer him, but rather tell him to turn towards God, who is the father of all and helps those who pray. To him with faith... I do not forbid you from healing people... But tell those you heal that you are doing so by the power of God and not by your own... And ask them to pray to God constantly and give Him thanks... I do not forbid you to teach others, but direct it only to the very young... Do not prophesy to anyone - what In them I - about the future... I also asked the Aleutian people not to ask him about tomorrow or ask him to prophesy, and not to call him (the shaman), but to pray supplicantly and fervently to God only.

The bishop thanked Father John for reporting this and said to him in his response letter, which we did not receive until three years later, that is, after the death of Samir Nikov: (I also thank God for your sound opinion and wise guidance that you expressed to Samir Nikov and his Aleutian companions... and I tell you with all frankness and sincerity that you are more blessed than Saint Thomas the Apostle, because you did not allow your curiosity to overpower your faith... But I ask you to visit the two angels and speak to them if Samir Nikov is still alive. I ask you to do so so that our straight faith may be glorified... But you must remember to continually pray the Lord’s Prayer while meeting with them, and do not You speak of them only about the fate of your parishioners, these Aleutians who have recently converted to the faith... For their sake, I ask the angels to plead with God for what is best for them.

The Bishop's letter reached Father John three years later, that is, after the death of Samir Nikouf, who had known the hour of his death. He gathered all his family members around him and lit a candle in front of the icon. Then he prayed, bid farewell to them all, lay down on his bed, turned his face to the wall, and delivered his soul to his Creator in peace.

Father John's health deteriorated

With the above-mentioned report, Father John sent a second letter to the bishop requesting that he leave the island of Unalaska: “The service that I began on the twenty-ninth of July 1824 on the island of Unalaska has come to an end for me. I cannot do it after midnight.” The year 1831. This decision is not due to the distance between the islands or any other excuse. I carry out this service with great joy and thanks to God, but my health is weak, which is deteriorating in this climate. I humbly ask that you send another priest who can serve the people better. I ask to return. To Irkutsk with my family after arriving).

Father John sent this letter in 1828, knowing that it would not be possible to quickly appoint a priest to succeed him in that distant country. Thus, he continued his movements and service with great activity and love, and completed his visits. He met some nomadic Aleutians who had not yet converted to Christianity. He wrote in his memoirs after the first Divine Mass he held for them on one of the islands: (In response to my invitation, five indigenous people attended the service, and showed great attention. After that, I told them, through the translator, that we were offering, in a spirit of thanksgiving and humility, the bloodless sacrifice to the true God. (Creator of heaven, earth, and all humanity. They listened to my words with complete attention)... In the evening, seven more arrived. On the second of July, when Father John was certain that no others would come, he decided to invite them to his house, and there he said to them: (There is only one God, and He is the One to whom we offer... worship... Who is this God? What did He create? What pleases Him and what displeases Him... And man? He was created not only for this earthly life but for eternal life...). He told them what must be done in order to obtain eternal happiness... Then he asked them how they felt after hearing his words. They replied that they believed what he told them.

So one of them asked him: (How do I think and do what I do not want to think or do)... Father John answered him: (All humans are like this... Therefore, a person must strive to conquer himself and ask for God’s help in that struggle. And that grace does not come except through prayer, constant prayer, and constant struggle. .

Then Father John asked them if they would like to enter this religion and believe in the one true God... They all accepted except one. After he asked them to think about the matter carefully, they answered him in the affirmative, so he set up a tent and baptized them. Then he dressed them in their old clothes - so that white clothes would not lead to baptism without faith - and hung a small lead cross around the neck of each one, a symbol of the new life they had entered.

Before leaving that island, he baptized some of the children and performed a prayer of thanksgiving to God on board the ship for giving him the opportunity to see during that trip: (the first fruits of the words of God that his unworthy hands planted in that very difficult but very fertile land).

His family life and household chores

After visiting other islands, Father John returned to Unalaska on July 31, 1829, to find that God had blessed him with a second daughter during his absence. So he decided to baptize her on the Feast of the Transfiguration and named her (Olga). Olga was the fifth of his children... the eldest of whom was Enocandius, who was six years old and enrolled in the village school... then Katerina, who was five years old, then Gabriel, who was three years old, and Alexander, who was one year old... and they were with the other children of the village. They get a lot of their father's free time. He would take them to the mountains, guide them to the secrets of nature, and recite various stories to them after they finished the lessons they were taking in school, including religious education, the history of the Holy Old Testament, the rules of the Russian language, arithmetic, and learning to read and write.

Father John spent all his nights reviewing and reading all the letters, requests, and proposals sent to him from Sitka or Irkutsk. He worked in the carpentry during the architectural workshops for the church, school, or other urban projects that he carried out. He also made small musical instruments and watches, and he sought to involve his children in learning all these crafts, just as the children made candles for the church. In the absence of their father, they continued to monitor and record weather conditions, including weather temperature, humidity, cloud movement, rain conditions, tides, and air speed, and recorded them on the monitoring machines that he had made and placed in his house, which he used to record along with the nature of the storms known by the names (Fura) and (Fama).

It happened that in the summer of 1828, the geographer and sailor Theodor Lutke (1797-1882) passed by, and he met Father John, and they had a strong friendship. Theodor later became an “agent” for Father John in the capital, Petersburg, meaning that he was writing down and publishing all this scientific information and geographical observations.

Translation of the Gospels

In September 1828, after great difficulties faced by Father John and his companions, they visited the island of Akon, where, with the help of John Pankov, he began translating the Bible into the Aleutian language. After continuous work for two weeks, they completed the translation of the Gospel of Matthew, and they also translated passages from the other Gospels related to the Passion of the Lord... and they continued this work on their island (Unalaska) in the fall and winter of 1830. In December of that year, they finished the entire translation and began reading it to some people with the aim of receiving it. Their opinion and revision.

Leaving Unalaska

With the coming of the spring of 1831, Father John began preparing for his departure from Unalaska. He had obtained the bishop's approval. But he waited a little while until he finished digging the iconostasis of the Church of the Ascension and ensured the launch of the orphan school that he had opened in the month of March. He also wanted to celebrate the last Easter with his flock... and that feast was historic because for the first time the Gospel was read in the Slavonic and Russian languages and in the Fox-Aleutian language. According to the translation he had finished.

As he was preparing to travel, he received news of the death of Bishop Michael. Father John remained in Unalaska until the new bishop was elected. But his brother and his family had preceded them to Russia, accompanied by the father's two sons, John Enocandius and Gabriel, and their grandmother.

At that time, he convinced the new general director of the Russian-American company, Father John, to go to Sitka and serve there. He wrote to his new bishop requesting permission to transfer him there, but the answer did not reach him until after two years, which Father John spent in Unalaska with patience, service, and activity.

When his successor arrived in July 1834, Father John handed over all his responsibilities to him and informed him of the progress of work. On the twelfth of August, Father John celebrated the last Divine Mass. After sunset, the Feast of the Dormition of Our Lady on the fourteenth of August, he participated in the Bermon holiday service and delivered a farewell sermon. Then he and his family boarded the ship immediately after the service and departed after staying in Unalaska for ten years and seventeen days... He arrived in that distant country on the twenty-ninth of July 1824 and left on the fifteenth of August 1834.

His stay and service in Sitka

The population of Sitka, including Russians and Creoles, was approximately one thousand and eighty people, living within the city walls surrounded by villages inhabited by Indians who were known for their brutality and rough living.

From the first day of his arrival in Sitka, Father John decided to work to Christianize these people, but for various reasons he was not able to begin before the year 1837. He had begun studying their language one year before that so that he could communicate with them, gain their trust, and learn about the components of their religion... and after a period of diligent work. Through contact with these savage tribes, Father John was able to baptize some of them and remove the spirit of hostility between them and the Russian population that had been raging before his arrival in Sitka.

He was also setting off from Sitka to visit some of the advanced Russian centers in American territory and to care for their residents.

Also, in 18345, he organized the scientific information and notes that he had collected in Unalaska about the geology, weather, and geography of the Aleutian Islands into a book he called, (Notes on the Islands in the Unalaska Region), and sent it to (Theodor Lulk) for the latter to present to the Academy of Sciences in Petersburg. He also created a dictionary meaning one thousand and two hundred Russian-Aleutian words. He also completed writing a book on (Language Grammar, Fox - Aleutian).

Finally, on November 8, 1838, he and his family left Sitka after obtaining permission from his bishop and headed towards Petersburg, arriving there on June 25, 1839.

Father John in Moscow

After staying for a few days in Petersburg, where he submitted a detailed report on his work to the office of the Russian Holy Synod, he went to Moscow and stayed there for five months in the Archbishopric House. At that time, the famous Metropolitan of Moscow was Bishop Filaret.

While he was in Moscow, Father John met many Russian figures who were very excited to hear him talk about America and his apostolic work there. He was also given the opportunity to publish a number of scientific publications on the traditions and landmarks of the Aleutian islands and their people.

In November 1839, he was invited to appear before the Holy Synod. He went again to Petersburg and presented an oral report before the rabbis of the church. His report was well received by the council, and in appreciation of his efforts, he was granted the title (High Priest).

In subsequent synod sessions, the bishops considered Father John’s request to print his theological books in the Aleutian language, and they agreed to it, noting in particular the value of his book (The Path to the Kingdom of Heaven), which he recommended to be printed, not only in the Aleutian language, but also in the Russian and Slavonic languages, in order to spread the benefit of benefit. from him (2).

Death of Father John's wife

In the midst of these happy events, Father John from Irkutsk received news of the death of his wife Katerina a few months ago. He asked Bishop Veladet for permission to go there to take care of his children. In his absence, the Holy Synod issued a decision regarding the report submitted to it by Father John. It accepted the requests included in the report and began implementing some of them in practice, which are:

1) That St. Michael’s Church in Sitka become a cathedral, served by two priests with a deacon and three assistants, and that a religious education school be attached to it.

2) That the priest of this parish be responsible for all the churches and all the clergy present - or who will be appointed - in America.

3) Asking Father John to submit a report containing the necessary instructions and guidance that must be given to all priests working in America.

Father John fulfilled the council’s request and wrote a booklet that included the required instructions. The Council studied that booklet in November 1840 and approved it. It became a guide for priests and those who wish to engage in missionary work in all of Russia. The title of the booklet was: (Guidelines for priests charged with Christianizing non-Orthodox, and bringing new converts to the Christian faith).

Father John's promotion and visit by the Tsar

After the death of his wife, Bishop Philaret asked Father John to become a monk, but he hesitated for several reasons, including his concern for his children. However, after the Bishop’s insistence, Father John fulfilled his request and became a monk on the twenty-seventh of November. The next day, he was promoted to the rank of archimandrite, and was named Ennocandius.

After a few days, Emperor Nicholas I requested a meeting with him... During the meeting, the Tsar told him that he had agreed to establish a new diocese in (Kamchaka), then asked him: Who should be appointed bishop for that diocese?... Archimandrite Inocandius answered him: (It must be the spirit Jerusalem will inspire you to choose a good man.) But Emperor Nicholas I replied: I want you to be Bishop of Kamchaka.

Bishop Enocendius

On December 15, 1840, Enocandius was ordained Bishop of Kamchaka after the Holy Synod elected him to this position. From the speech he delivered on the day of his election to the bishops: (What can I say at this important moment in my life? Do I express to you my gratitude for your election of me, the undeserving one? Do I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for accepting this election, which will give me greater scope to serve my church and my country? But gratitude must be expressed in action and not in words... So what can I say to you now?... I can find nothing better than to confess to you all the kindness that God’s wondrous will has shown in my life, and all of that for the glory of His holy name... Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His rewards. ...). Then he told how God called him to go to the Aleutian Islands and how He helped him endure the hardships of serving there. He continued: (And now in this invisible election, I also see the hand of God who made me travel around the world to reach this city, who moved your Holiness to care about my humble service, and who arranged All my problems in a way that allows me to continue serving. As unexpected as all these things seem, I am certain that God was behind them all... May God’s will always be done in me and in everything!... I believe and confess that God, who has guided me up to this time in His wondrous ways, and who is now granting me this More service through the blessing of your holiness. When you call upon me the blessing of the One who made the fishermen apostles and who, with His grace, perfects the deficient and heals the crippled, I believe that He alone will give me new strength to complete the new service to which He has called me.

His travel to his new diocese

Following his ordination, Bishop Enocandius began preparing to join his diocese in that distant country, and upon completion, he left Moscow on the thirtieth of January, heading to Siberia. When he arrived in Irkutsk, the bells of all the churches rang and the streets were crowded with people welcoming the return of the son of their diocese as bishop, who had served in Irkutsk as a deacon and then a priest. When his teacher in the seminary, one of the elder priests, prostrated before him, Bishop Enocandius raised him up, saying to him: (You must not kneel before me, but I must kneel before you, because you are the one who released me into the world). He knelt before him.

Bishop Enocandius stayed for one month in Irkutsk, hosted by its bishop, completing preparations, collecting donations, and convincing young people, through his sermons and spiritual evenings, to join the missionary work in his new diocese. As God opened the hearts of some young people, Bishop Ennocandius left Irkutsk, taking with him three deacons, a student from the Theological Institute, novices, and five laymen ready to serve the church.

On their way to Yakutsk, they passed through the village of Anja, the birthplace of Enocandius, so he visited his house and the cemetery where his parents and wife were buried. He took care of some matters related to his children and sent them to Petersburg, where he arranged for them to continue their educational attainment.

Then he and his companion resumed travelling. On the first of July, he reached the borders of his diocese, and on the fifteenth of the same month he reached the ocean shore in (Akhhotsk), where he and his company rested before they left by ship on Sitka on the twentieth of August, which they reached on the twenty-sixth of that month.

His pastoral work in his diocese

As soon as he arrived in America, Bishop Enocandius returned to his previous lifestyle: travels, pastoral visits, dangers and the good news of Christianity, and inviting people to accept the sacrament of baptism and live with good Christian behavior and fraternal service.

He treated his priests with kindness, love, and discretion, but with determination and precision in implementing the laws and carrying out their mission well.

We will not go into here the details and achievements of the bishop after his return to that distant country, nor will we mention the projects he achieved, including building churches, schools, homes for social service, seminaries, and monasteries, nor will we return to describing his long travels. Rather, in order to give a clear picture of that stage in the life of our saint, we will suffice with selecting some passages from his diaries and letters, which will guide us to his spiritual development and struggle.

* On the twenty-eighth of September 1841, that is, immediately after his arrival in his diocese, he wrote: (Here I have arrived in America in good health. God has missed this people of His who had remained in spiritual and intellectual darkness for a long time and sent us to guide them to the light of true knowledge. And now I can say This people is in our hands. But can we do anything for them with our weak strength? Especially if we look at our laziness, without which we would have worn the strength of the apostles themselves. Because everything is possible for whoever prays. But laziness does not allow all of us to pray...

Each one of us is an instrument in God's hands. And if God Almighty wills, the bell ringer can persuade people’s hearts to pray simply by ringing the bell... Apparently, grace has been effected in many around me through my words... Oh! If only God would bless me more and allow me to realize all my ideas.)

* In his first report to the Holy Synod after he became bishop, in the spring of 1842, he wrote: “In order for my pastoral work to include all the people of this diocese entrusted to me, I must have accurate information about the situation of all the churches and clergy and their needs... Therefore, I considered it my duty to establish A survey of the entire diocese at the earliest possible opportunity... This requires a year or sixteen months, and this long time is necessary not only because of the distances, but especially because of the difficulty of transportation and mobility.

* Bishop left Sitka to make his first pastoral visit, but he was confronted by a terrible storm that almost sank their ship. He subsequently wrote: “We remained in the midst of a terrible storm for twenty-eight days... We all faced the danger of death due to the lack of drinking water. So I said to myself: Father Herman (this was a monk who preached in America and led a holy life), if you had May God be pleased, I ask you to calm the storm, and this is what actually happened after a quarter of an hour of my prayer... After that, I performed a funeral for the soul of the monk Saint Herman.

As for his contacts with the Aleutian people on the islands, he says: (I could write many pages describing their reception of me... How they met me, and received me as a father whom they remembered well. I will not say more... And I met them as children, as brothers, and as true friends. I loved them sincerely. What pleased me was that they were still praying and reading. My translations).

* In a letter to Metropolitan Philaret on the first of August of the same year, he wrote to him: (Knowing that my parish is not large in number and its people are only eighteen thousand and five hundred people, it is not small in good deeds... The more I know about these savages, the more my love for them increases, and the more convinced I am that... We, who claim science and knowledge, have moved away, without noticing, from the path of perfection, and that many of those whom we call (savages) are morally better than us.

* Upon his return to Sitka from his first visit on September 6, 1843, he wrote: “…I am happy, ready, and willing with all my strength to serve God and people, as long as I can, and even to die among them here, because the whole world belongs to God.”

* Upon his return from a second pastoral visit, which led him to the Ayan region in Asia, which was added to his diocese by decision of the Holy Synod in 1843, he wrote, saying: (Glory and thanks be to the Lord my God! Despite the length and difficulty of my travels, which took place in different seasons and in different places) And among different peoples, using different means of transportation, and under different weather conditions, despite all these difficulties and obstacles, I can confirm that I am still in good, even excellent health, and so are all those with me... The external appearance of churches and cathedrals has greatly improved, compared to what the situation was like. On my first visit... We now have fifteen churches, and we are missing two priests and six assistants... The spiritual life of the parishioners has improved in general... There are only a very small minority who are not performing their Christian religious duties... My orders not to allow Communion to those who live in one house and are not married have yielded results... Even for those who take women other than their wives... The Yakut people are progressing significantly, as we no longer hear at all about them practicing their former pagan worship, and some are requesting that Christian church services and prayers be held for them... But the Koryak people are still deaf to the gospel of the Kingdom, and far from The Word of God, as only one of them accepted baptism during the last four years).

* On the first of May 1850, he wrote a final report to the Holy Synod, on the occasion of the anniversary of his ten-year tenure in the diocese, in which he said: (Despite the expansion of the diocese and the difficulty of transportation in it, visits to all parts of the diocese were carried out by the bishop or his assistants... and despite the lack of income. Among other difficulties, the number of churches is constantly increasing (3). The clergy constantly strive to fulfill their pastoral duties... In addition to Christian education, many priests teach reading and writing to the children of their parishioners...

The spiritual situation of the parishioners, who are new converts to Christianity, brings me great consolation. There are five thousand and eight hundred and twenty of Russian origin, and the total is forty-three thousand one hundred and thirty believers. For example, I mention the following:

1) Last year, two hundred and twenty-six people did not apply for recognition from the entire group, including one hundred and twenty-six Russians, seventy-three Kamchatka residents, and twenty-seven members of other peoples.

2) Crimes stopped completely...

3) There are religious education meetings and classes held in seventeen parishes, and we also teach reading to fourteen other parishes.

Finally, I can say that, with God’s grace, we are gradually approaching, according to our capabilities, the main goals for which the Diocese of Kamchaka was established... in the line of Christianizing non-believers and helping them live the Christian life. If we rely on human calculations, we can say that if we had greater capabilities, we would have met with greater success in our work. But if God had allowed all the pagans in these regions to be Christianized, He would have sent workers for that purpose and would have given them the possibilities to work and stay there. Our primary goal in this work is to strengthen existing missions and establish new missions according to our capabilities...).

At the end of his report, Bishop Enocandius drew the attention of the Holy Synod to the necessity of encouraging missionary work, not only in America but also in all regions of Northern Siberia... This proposal had a significant impact on the decision of the Synod, which was taken to move the main center of the Diocese of Kamchaka towards Asia... and this What made Bishop Enocandius leave the land of America to take up a new headquarters in the Monastery of the Savior in Yakutsk on the first of September 1853.

Missionary work in Northern Siberia

The Yakut people in Siberia had known Christianity for nearly two hundred years. But his conversion to Christianity was limited to accepting the sacrament of baptism only, in order to obtain the material privileges that were granted to converts. The people were nominally Christian and most of the time maintained their ancient pagan customs.

Bishop Enocandius faced this situation with vigor, energy and determination, as usual. He began visiting the entire region, covering nearly five thousand kilometers in six weeks, exploring the needs of the people and delving deeper into their study.

From what he noticed, the church’s dire need for priests, as he had one priest caring for approximately six thousand people, so he asked the Holy Synod to send more numbers of them to help him and the people.

In 1855, war was approaching, with French and English alliances against Russia. When he arrived on his wanderings to the outskirts of the city of Ayan, he learned that it had fallen into the hands of the enemies, so he entered it, cared for the refugees and residents, and decided to stay with them under the occupation. When the English army learned of his presence there, they came to arrest him, and he said to them: (You do not need me, I am not a soldier who carries weapons, and I will not be of use to you. All you will discover is that you will have to feed me)... After he talked with them for a long time, they were convinced to keep him free... and after I left The occupying armies of that region, the bishop returned to Yakutsk in early August 1855, without being able to visit the Amur region to which he was heading.

On February 8, that is, in the beginning of the year 1856, he left Yakutsk again or headed towards Irkutsk, where he convinced a priest, two deacons, and three lay assistants to go with him to the Amur region and carry out missionary work among its Chinese-origin residents. They arrived in the city of Kabyakhf on the fifth of April, where they celebrated Easter. Then they continued their travel on the Amur River until they reached the borders of China... This trip was appropriate for Bishop Enocandius to get to know the region and the needs of its people... It also seems that that trip made him appreciate the necessity of having bishops who were assistants to him, one in (Yakutsk) and the second in (Sitka). He wrote at that time: “The diocese cannot remain as it is now (organizationally). There must be a radical change.” Likewise, in this letter that he sent to the Holy Synod on the fifth of February, he also wrote: (An independent diocese must be established in the Yakutia region).

Summoned to Petersburg

In January of 1858, while Bishop Eucandius was preparing to make another pastoral visit to his diocese, he received a letter from the Holy Synod summoning him to go to Petersburg and participate in the synod’s meeting. He did so and arrived in Petersburg in August.

In Petersburg, he found that the religious atmosphere was low and even the level of teaching in the theological institutes was low... He wrote, saying: “The bishop is no longer there (the rule, the example, the teacher), but a person (who must be present in the cities for the sake of luxurious services and nothing else...). He also touched The bishops had become isolated from their people, who were being divided by various atheistic intellectual trends. The source of the decadence lay in the Holy Synod and in the failure of its members to seek to correct the distortion. Metropolitan Philaret was at that time in disagreement with the Holy Synod and had no longer participated in its sessions since May 1842... Bishop Enocandius wrote to Philaret asking him to return and lead the repair workshop.

In the midst of this atmosphere of complacency, danger, and decadence, Bishop Enocandius sought to convince the members of the Holy Synod about the necessity of establishing a new diocese in Yakutia, but he did not succeed and met with strong opposition from the Archbishop of Yaroslav, Bishop Nilos (who was previously the Metropolitan of Irkutsk).

Before leaving Petersburg, he wrote to his friend Metropolitan Filaret, explaining to him the dispute that had arisen between him and Metropolitan Nilus, and also telling him of his conviction of the necessity of having assistant agents to the Metropolitan and bishops, so that by their presence he could ensure permanent contact with the parishes in order to serve them and the people. He writes: (This is necessary not only to convince those who have left the Church - and only God can bring them back - but in order for us to preserve, through the bishop, his gospel, and the lived Word of God, the Orthodoxy of the children of the Church. This task requires the bishop to make regular visits to all his subjects and to be fully prepared to travel constantly to inspect his people and wherever they are. need arises).

Appointment of an auxiliary bishop in CITC

After his return to his diocese, Bishop Enocandius kept insisting on requesting the Holy Synod to send him an assistant bishop. In early 1859 approval arrived. The new bishop was ordained by Enocandius, assisted by a number of bishops, on the twenty-ninth of March. After that, he traveled directly to America, where he took over the duties of the American section of the diocese. As for Bishop Enocandius, he returned to Yakutsk to pursue his interests in spreading Christianity in the Chinese lands around the Amur River, which had been annexed to the Russian Empire as a result of a Russian-Chinese agreement signed on May 16, 1858.

Translation of the text of the liturgy and the Gospel into the Yakut language:

After annexing the Yakutia region to his diocese in 1857, Bishop Enocandius assigned a committee to translate the Gospel and the basic liturgical texts into the Yakut language. He supervised the revision of these translations, devoting two evenings a week to this work, which he completed in the summer of 1859. On the nineteenth of July, In the same year, the Divine Liturgy was held in the Yakut language for the first time.

This achievement was one of the most important to convince the Yakutian people of the Christian religion and embrace it in their hearts and daily lives.

Appointment of another auxiliary bishop

On February 10, 1860, the Holy Synod approved the appointment of an auxiliary bishop for Ennocandius in the Yakutia region. His ordination was on the sixth of March, and a week after the bishop was informed of the situation of the people and the country he was going to, the bishop left for Yakutsk and assumed his new duties.

Paying attention to the southern regions of his diocese

After he succeeded in securing good care for the northern and eastern parts of his vast diocese, Bishop Enocandius had more time to care for the southern regions, that is, the Lamur region and the Kamchaka region itself.

After preparing to make a pastoral visit to that area, he fell ill, so his visit was postponed until the end of April. He went to inspect the Amur region to study the needs of its people, and then he stayed for two months in the city of Blagunishkensk, where he had begun building a cathedral with a house for the bishop and a monastery according to the designs that Bishop Enocandius had drawn up for them.

From there, he intended to travel to Kamchaka, but the weather and storms prevented him from reaching there, after the ship was wrecked by the ship and the storm. A few days later, a military ship was found heading to Japan on the ninth of September. Bishop Enocandius and his companions boarded it, and they arrived in Japan on the ninth of September, where he was a guest of the Russian consul in Japan, while his companions lived in the house of Father Nicholas Kasatkin. (4) Head of the Russian missionary mission to Japan.

During his time in Japan, Bishop Ennocandios gave Father Nicholas a lot of advice and guidance on how to deal with those peoples, based on his extensive evangelistic experience in that region, and he greatly encouraged him to learn the Japanese language. This advice, which Father Nicholas acted upon, had a great impact on the success of his missionary work and on the translation he later completed of the Bible and liturgical books.

Bishop Enocandius loved Father Nicholas very much, as he later wrote to one of his friends: (If you go to Japan, you will see for yourself that the Church there is growing and receiving God’s direct help... since God has chosen people to care for it after His heart).

On the fifth of October, Bishop Innocandius arrived at the port of Petropavlovsk, and from there he visited that remote part of his diocese. Then he returned to Blagonishkensk in the fall of 1862.

Appointment of Ennocandius as a member of the Holy Synod

On April 4, 1865, Bishop Innocandius was appointed a member of the Holy Russian Synod, which does not include all the bishops of the dioceses, but rather some of them.

But his health was deteriorating during that period, and he wrote to Metropolitan Filaret the following: (Thank God, my health is still good despite my age. I have now reached sixty-nine years of age, and for some time now my vision has become blurry and I can no longer focus well in my left eye, and I do not know How will the situation develop? I also feel a weakness in my memory... Also, with all sincerity, I must admit that I can no longer carry out any service except at the headquarters of my diocese... Therefore, my appointment as a member of the Holy Synod worries me. Therefore, I ask Your Holiness to intercede with the officials so that I will not be appointed to the post. Which center)…

In December of 1866, Bishop Enocandius repeated the matter and wrote to Metropolitan Philaret asking him to help him find a headquarters for him to retire in Moscow... The answer came like this: (We will find a headquarters for you in one of the monasteries of Moscow. But I do not want your people to lose you... Watch your eyes. May the Lord of Light protect your eyes!... But if your ability to see is weak, God can enlighten many through you, through your words, guidance, and administrative experiences... I pray that God will inspire you to do what pleases Him and benefits His Church. Pray for me...).

Inocandius Metropolitan of Moscow

On November 19, 1867, Metropolitan Philaret died. On the nineteenth of January 1868, Bishop Enocandius was appointed as his successor. On the fifteenth of February, he began his travel to Moscow, which he arrived on the twenty-fifth of May.

From one of the sermons he delivered at one of his receptions, we excerpt the following: (Who am I that I dare to accept the succession of those who came before me?...I am still a student, after this age, I have served in faraway lands. I am nothing but a humble servant in the master’s small fields, a teacher of children and infants. In faith... How can I, the vile one, dare to work in a large, glorious, and ancient “bowl” for Christ, like this one that has been entrusted to me?!…

Who is my predecessor, Metropolitan Philaret, and who am I?... It is not possible to compare... But who am I to stand against the will of God, the heavenly Almighty, without whose will not a hair falls from our heads?... Or who am I to go against the decision of our earthly king who has placed his heart in God’s hands? ?...No!...So I said to myself. Let it be God's will, and as the Master wanted. I will go where I am called. So you see me now here with you... Bless me, Lord, so that I can begin my work... O Lord and Master, I am yours and I want to be yours always and everywhere!... Make of me what you want in this life and in the life to come. I wish I were only a tool in your hands on this earth!…).

Despite the deterioration of his health and the weakness of his eyesight, he would wake up every day at four o’clock to participate in the Divine Liturgy, and then begin work at nine... With the exception of a few hours, which he devoted to rest after lunch, he would work all day, until nine o’clock in the evening, when he would perform bedtime prayers. He goes to bed at ten o'clock every evening.

His agents would send him weekly reports on the conditions of their parishes so that he would stay informed of all the conditions and needs of the people... He would receive at his headquarters in Moscow approximately three hundred people a week... He would listen to their problems, console them, and would often fulfill their requests and help those in need from his own money, and he would also use funds The church is for this purpose as well. While he was in that high position, the Metropolitan maintained his gentleness, simplicity, and sense of humor. Thus, everyone loved him and rallied around him and the church.

But the glaucoma increased, and he could not see in one of his eyes. The doctors asked him - but to no avail - to refrain from office work and reading.

On May 10, 1872, surgery was performed on him in one of his eyes, but it was not successful, and he was unable to see in one eye. As for the second eye, his vision was very weak... Fearing that this situation would lead to him not fulfilling his pastoral duties to the fullest extent, he asked to be relieved of his responsibilities, but the Emperor was not satisfied. He complied and continued serving.

Despite his health condition, the period of his tenure in the Moscow Archdiocese was a blessed and fruitful period in his work. He also played an important role in the work of the Holy Synod, as he called for reform in many fields in the life of the Church, its seminaries, its theological institutes, and its openness to the world... He also presided over a renaissance. To preserve the artistic heritage of the Russian Church, and finally he worked to establish the Orthodox Missionary Society, which was established by imperial decree on the twenty-first of November 1869.

Orthodox Evangelization Society

Metropolitan Ennocandius wrote the following about the founding of the Society: (God was pleased that I should remain close to missionary work even while I was in Moscow, in central Russia, and at the end of my life, this missionary work to which, by God’s will, I devoted almost my entire life...).

On the twenty-fifth of January 1970, Enocandius presided over the Divine Liturgy that was held in the Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady in the Kremlin in Moscow to celebrate the founding of the Society and symbolize the beginning of its work. The mass was wonderful, as one of its participants wrote:

(It was an occasion of deep joy for all the participants... so thanks be to God!... We were waiting for this day when the laity as a whole would participate in great brotherhood with the church authorities, in joint projects for the good of the Orthodox faith and the Church. The time has come for us to return to adopting the correct Orthodox outlook, where all the brothers from the clergy come together And the laity in the one and shared life of faith in the church... and to abandon what we have been influenced by from a Western trend that has kept the laity away from serving with the clergy, as priests are the only servants of the church and the people.

Therefore, matters of faith are the responsibility and concern of clergy and laity alike. And in such unity lies the true strength of the Orthodox Church...).

The first meeting of the association began after the Divine Liturgy, in the presence of more than one hundred and fifty people, including senior seminarians, judges, soldiers, employees, representatives, university professors, and representatives of multiple organizations. After everyone sang Pentecost hymns, Metropolitan Enocandius delivered a sermon in which he said:

(My brothers, you have heard that the goal of our association lies in Christianizing those who do not believe in Christ as Savior and Redeemer... This is truly important, holy, and apostolic work. In order for our work to have the success that we hope for - even in our simplest projects - we must secure (in addition to financial capabilities), understanding Knowledge, experience, skill, work, and activity. When we secure all of these, we will have hope for success.

But all of these things mentioned will not be enough to be the sure way to get us to our goal. Why?... Because guiding man to the path of faith and truth depends entirely on God... The Lord said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44).

So, what should we do?! And how do we begin?...Knowing that the harvest is great in our country... (so pray to the Lord of the harvest)... This is how Jesus teaches us in his Gospel (Matthew 9:38), so, first and foremost, we must pray... Prayer remains in matters of good news and conversion, the valid tool And the basic ones... because without them, no one can expect success, even if they have the best methods of success...

Prayer is not limited to missionaries and workers only, but we must all pray. We must continue their work, help them, and support them with prayer. What should we pray for?... First, that the Lord sends His work for the harvest. Secondly, to open the hearts of those who listen to the Gospel. Thirdly, the number of members of our association increases more and more. Fourthly and finally, that the Lord God strengthen us and steadfast us in this pursuit and in this determination until we reach our goal...).

After that start, the work of the association expanded and expanded rapidly, and it received overwhelming encouragement from all the Russian people in all the dioceses.

Enocandius's relationship with his family:

When Enocandius's wife died in 1839, the seven children remained in Irkutsk. However, after the intervention of Metropolitan Filaret and the assistance of the royal family, they were transferred to Petersburg. The boys were placed in a seminary school and the girls in a girls' school.

* His eldest son (Enocandius) was his cross. He was the fourth child after the first three who died when they were young. In 1845, he left school and announced his unwillingness to continue on the clerical path... Bishop Enocandius wrote about him, saying: Enocendius is the fourth of my children, and as for those born before him, they died at a young age, and he almost died as well, but I forcibly rescued him from the hands of death. (Or the hands of God, since both are the same) And God, in His compassion for me, kept him safe for me. But at the same time, he used it to discipline me. And I accept this discipline, and even this cross, with all humility. If I had let him die, he would now be in heaven's school with my other children and brothers and I would have forgotten about him. But now only God knows what will happen to him... May God’s will be done!

The bishop sought several times to know the fate of his son after he left school. So he sent him assurances through friends that he still loved him. He wrote to the head of the seminary:

(Wherever he is and whatever he becomes - even if he becomes a source of shame for me - he will remain my son and I will continue to call him my son, and I will always be ready to take care of him if the need arises. Please, for God’s sake, do not leave him... and if he needs anything, give it to him, and I hope you provide him with food. On my account and I will pay him everything.

In 1846, he learned that his son Enocandius had joined the army, and two years later he got married. His father, the bishop, received news in 1852 that he had been sentenced to two years in prison.

* As for his second son, Gabriel, he was a consolation to his father, as he became a deacon and was ordained a priest after he got married. He served in his father’s diocese in (Ayan) from 1851 until he accompanied his father, the bishop, to Moscow and served him in his last days.

* As for his eldest daughter, Katerina, she married in 1839 and became the wife of a priest. He served in the diocese of his uncle, Bishop Enocandius, in Sitka, and then in the Amur region.

* As for his second daughter, Olga, she married in Petersburg the son of a famous clerical family. But her husband and she also died in 1853, leaving a daughter.

* As for his other daughter, Thekla, she also married in Petersburg and became the wife of a priest.

* The fourth daughter, Paraskevia, chose monastic life, which greatly rejoiced the heart of her father, Saint Enocandius, and he encouraged her and directed her on this path with a number of letters, from which we extract some excerpts.

In a question to her father to teach her what salvation is, he wrote: (My dear... I began learning the path of salvation a long time ago, but I am still at the beginning of the path. I spell the alphabet... and only God knows if and when I will reach the stage of reading... but I will convey to you with all I am happy about what I know, or rather what I remember from people’s advice to me, and what I see about salvation.

You say, you have no humility or obedience and that you are lazy in prayer. True humility is a blessing and a gift from God, my dear, so you cannot get it just by wanting it. You have to deserve it. This will only happen if you completely deny yourself and do not consider yourself superior to any human being, in any place or on any subject.

Also, you should not dare to judge others, or get angry at anyone, or think that you are innocent and have the right before others.

My daughter, you should consider yourself like ashes and therefore anyone can trample on you... If you reach this level of humility, you will naturally reach obedience.

You say that you are lazy in prayer, fight yourself and your laziness. Do not despair if laziness overtakes you from time to time... but beware of surrendering to it... use all your strength to combat it. The Lord will see your fervent desire to confront Him and will help you so that you will be strong in Him... My daughter, do not ever think that on this earth you will be able to reach a state where you will not have to fight yourself and the spirit of evil that resides in each of us... No! The earth is not the expected paradise... and there is no eternal rest... here we live in a battlefield and in a school...).

In one of his last letters to his daughter, he wrote: “My daughter, I cannot teach you monastic life because I have never been a (natural) monk... I do not know from (lived) experience what this life means from its beginnings. Someone who has lived from the beginning of his life in a monastery can He knows what monastic life is... What should I tell you?!... Read the Bible and the Gospels and pray... That’s all... May God forgive us all and have mercy on us... And may God be with you forever and ever. Amen...).

Death of Metropolitan Enocandius

Death was not an obstacle, an obsession, or even a concern for Enocandius. All he asked of those around him was to wear humble, poor, and non-black clothes when the hour came... Rather, he lived without any fear of death. He wrote about some pagan peoples:

(They are not afraid of death! Why?... Because they do not know what happens behind death. Likewise, the Christian martyrs did not fear death. But for another reason, because they knew and felt, what would happen to them after death. Therefore, those who do not know and those who know, that is, feel They feel what will happen after death, but they do not fear it. As for us who only know, but without achieving the certainty of the things we hope for, we cannot help but fear death.)

As the days passed, he became paralyzed by illness, but he continued to ask about the conditions of the people and the progress of affairs in his diocese, requesting organized reports on the progress of work... Four days before his death, when he was paralyzed and unable to get out of bed, he asked his representative: (Is there any new work that I should do?) ?), and when he answered him: (Sir, do not think about work, just rest), Enocandius said to him: (But I feel bored from the lack of work).

On the twenty-sixth of March, which was Great Monday, he asked his spiritual father to listen to his confession... On the twenty-seventh, he asked to be given the sacrament of holy oil, and after the end of the service, he asked for forgiveness from all those present, and gave them his blessing... On the twenty-eighth in the evening, he asked One of his assistants asked him to begin the service of the Holy Thursday Mass very early, so that he could receive Communion... So they began the service at two in the morning, and before Communion, Enocandius of the Eucharist repeated the Eucharist in a loud voice and received the honorable body and blood with great joy, saying: (Now no one will say that they commune with me after my death).

On the thirty-first of the month of March, that is, the Great and Holy Saturday, he surrendered his soul at the age of eighty-two... The funeral service took place on Wednesday of the new week amid solemn celebrations and very large popular gatherings. He was buried on Thursday, the sixth of April, in the Church of Saint Philaret the Merciful in Moscow. His grave was inscribed with the following inscription: (May the Lord God remember your high priesthood in His Kingdom, now and at all times, and to the ages of ages. Through the prayers of our father, Metropolitan Enocandius, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us, Amen).

Declaration of His Holiness

The Holy Synod of the Russian Church canonized Metropolitan Innocandius on October 6, 1977, and he was called, Saint Inocandius, (Evangelist of the Aleutians and Apostle of America).

 

 

---

(*) Professor Raymond Rizk quoted the biography of Saint Enocandius mentioned in the first section of this book from a book

Paul D. Garrett, St. Innocent, Apostle to America

St. Vladimir's Seminay Press

Crestwood, NY 10707

Hoda Zakka reviewed the translation, drafted it, and adjusted its language.

[This is the first section of the book “Enocindius Carzo Alaska”. No. 10 in the “Saints” series of Al-Nour publications, and the second section, which is the content of the Gospel of Saint Enocandius, entitled “The Path to the Kingdom of Heaven,” can be found at this link. here… (the network)]

(1) A kayak is a small boat like a shakhtoura.

(2) See its text in the second section of this book (publisher)

(3) There were twenty-four churches and thirty-seven houses of prayer at that time, in addition to three churches that were under construction and four whose foundations were in place. They were also building nineteen new houses of prayer.

(4) Father Nicholas later became a bishop, and died in 1912 as archbishop. The Russian Church canonized him in 1970 (as the Apostle of Japan)... [See his biography in the Lives of the Saints in Al-Shabaka... (Al-Shabaka)]