On Wed. Dec. 13 we remember the death of the Elder Herman of Alaska. Herman was a simple monk who lived in the region of Russia near what is today the Finnish border. He was sent from his monastery (Valaamo) to Alaska as a missionary in 1794. When he arrived in Alaska he visited the native peoples (Aleut Indians) and loved them. He took care of the children and tended to the needs of the widows. He defended the local people from the cruelty of the Russian merchants who were working in the Russian-American Trading company. Herman was not an ordained priest, neither was he a theologian or a scholar, but a simple Christian who tried to live according to the gospel. During his He had very little possessions and gave everything he had to those in need. He constantly prayed for those in need.

According to the ways of this world Herman was a failure. He was not controlled by profit, power, and possessions. His feast stands as a witness in this Advent season, for each one of us, that these things are not the way of our Lord Jesus who was born on that first Christmas Day. Our life is not about accumulating power, profit, and possessions, but living the life of Christ. St. Herman lived the gospel message fully and simply, trying to discern God’s will in his life.

Herman was cannonized on August 9, 1970 the first saint in the Orthodox Church in America. Through the prayers of St. Herman may the Lord have mercy on us and save us!