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Since
his glorification in August 1970, the Venerable Elder Herman of Alaska has
become known and revered around the globe. He is celebrated in Russia, in Greece,
on the Holy Mountain,
and across the U.S.
In hymns he is praised as a traditional ascetic whose pious and prayerful life
transformed him from a solitary wilderness hermit into a prophetic wonderworker.
Father Herman testified to his own conversation with angels. The Aleuts of the
region recall the miraculous deliverances he prophesied in an encounter with a
tidal wave on one occasion and a forest fire on another.
But the Elder Herman was
not initially honored for his sanctity. To be sure, after his repose in 1837,
miracles multiplied at his grave, and the elder became famous posthumously as a
miracle-worker. But the Aleuts were visiting his burial site much earlier, not
because they expected healings, but because they loved their "Ap'a."
This love derived from his devotion to them, a
devotion that put him into conflict with the civil authorities of his time.
Arriving at Kodiak in September 1794, Elder Herman discovered that conditions
in the Kodiak colony were nothing like what he had been led to expect. There
was no church. There was no rectory. There was no food, no church supplies, and
only a few rotten and ruined service books. Not only did Herman and the other
monks have to move into the common laborers' barracks, but they had to witness
the laborers' immoral and even disgraceful treatment of the local women and
girls. They also witnessed the abuse to which the Natives were subjected by
cruel foremen. They saw Aleuts being forced out to sea to hunt sea otters, not
in order to trade their catch for goods or cash, but to avoid being beaten,
murdered, or robbed.
The conflict between the chief manager, Alexander Baranov, and the monks
intensified over the next several years, until the monks' leader jumped aboard
a ship and returned to Russia
to report to the governing authorities in person. Archimandrite Ioasaph's
complaints and appeals were well received in Siberia,
and he was consecrated Bishop of Kodiak, with authority to put the Alaskan
house in order, even to arrest Baranov if necessary. Tragically, the ship
bringing the first Orthodox bishop appointed to the New
World sank on its voyage back, and Baranov's regime lasted another
twenty years.
Left to their own resources, other monks returned home or died. Before long,
the Elder Herman was left alone. After surviving three attempts to assassinate
him, he moved to quieter and safer ground, four miles from Kodiak to Spruce Island,
which he named New Valaam. From there he continued to report on the injustices
and abuses the company leaders continued to inflict upon his people.
When at last, in 1818, Baranov was retired and returned to Russia, his successor came directly to Spruce Island
to interview Father Herman. Courageously the elder wrote, "Our people cry
not tears but blood!" and begged, "Help us to know what consolation
is!" The new governor asked how the Native people had fared during the
past 24 years. Father Herman explained that the population of Kodiak had been
much reduced by disease, by cruelty, and by the forced removal of many hunters
from their homes and families. Could the elder substantiate these claims? Were
there records of births, deaths, marriages, or burials? No, the humble monastic
replied. The clergy were never provided with sufficient writing materials to
keep such records. Only Father Herman's regular appeals on behalf of the Kodiak
Aleut people provide the record of Baranov's oppressive policies. The company
turned a handsome profit every year of Baranov's rule, but the Native people
paid the real price.
Two centuries later, this tragic chapter in the history of Alaska would be completely undocumented and
unknown were it not for the bold and heroic stance assumed by St. Herman. Only
one brief mention of this aspect of his Christian witness appears in the
liturgical texts. He is called "intercessor and defender of the
oppressed." When the hymn to the newly glorified monastic was translated
into other Native Alaskan languages, however, it was this troparion that became
the popular favorite. The Aleuts knew that the Elder Herman was their
"Ap'a" long before the rest of the world noticed, not because of his
silence or prayer life, not because of his fasting and ascetic labors, but
because of his courage in defending them, even at great personal risk. They
know that he continues to pray for them now and forever in the Kingdom of God, where he now converses and worships
the Lord with the angels.
May God grant us, who venerate the holy memory of the Venerable Herman of
Alaska, the courage also to speak out as he did, whenever and wherever a
helpless and oppressed people require a courageous voice!
Fr. Michael J. Oleksa is a missionary
priest in Alaska, and formerly an adjunct professor at the St. Patriarch
Tikhon's Theological Institute, Moscow.
He is the author of several books, including Alaskan Missionary Spirituality
and Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission.
This article originally appeared in AGAIN Vol. 26 No.3, Fall 2004. It is
reproduced here courtesy of www.conciliarpress.com.
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