Saint Herman of Alaska is the first
saint to be canonized by the
Orthodox Church in America.
Herman of
Alaska was a Russian Orthodox
monk, one of the first to bring the
Gospel to the native
Aleuts and Eskimos in the
Aleutian Islands when the
Russians began exploring and trading there. Thus, he marks the first arrival of
Orthodox Christianity in
North America. He built a school for the Aleutians, and often defended them from the injustices and exploitation of the Russian traders. He was known to them as "Apa" which means "Grandfather." He lived most of his life as the sole resident of Spruce Island, a tiny wooded island near
Kodiak Island.
