« Bishop Matthew visited Kodiak Island »

On June 20, 2025, as part of an archpastoral visit to North America, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the United States and Canada, arrived on Kodiak Island, located off the southern coast of Alaska.

The first stop on the visit was the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, which is under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America. This is the oldest Orthodox church in North America, built in 1794, during the period when Kodiak Island was part of Russian America. The relics of St. Herman of Alaska rest in the church, and some of the saint's belongings are located there - chains, a kamilavka, and a tonsure cross. Among the relics of the church is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, before which St. Herman prayed on Spruce Island.  The altar of the church contains the chalice and spear used during the Liturgy by the outstanding Orthodox missionary, enlightener of Siberia and Alaska, Saint Innocent, later Metropolitan of Moscow. In the high place is the icon of the Most Holy Mother of God from the cell of Saint Innocent. Among the new relics of the church are part of the coffin and soil from the grave of the newly glorified righteous Olga O'Michael of Alaska (+ 1979). Then Bishop Matthew visited St. Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary, founded on Kodiak Island in 1972. Currently, 13 students are studying there, mostly local residents. After learning about the history of the educational institution and the life of the seminarians, Vladyka prayed in the seminary church in honour of All Saints of Alaska, where the hierarch was met by the Rector of the Church of the Three Saints in Old Harbour, Hegumen Ioasaph (Billy), the only monk on the island.

Then the Archpastor visited the Kodiak History Museum, the former home of Alexander Baranov - the Russian-American Company building, one of the oldest Russian-built buildings in Alaska (between 1794 and 1808). Among the exhibits of the museum are household items of the first Russian colonists, exhibits from the legacy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission on Kodiak Island, founded in 1794 by decree of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Photo gallery