Orthodox Icon of St. Innocent

Saint Innocent of Alaska COPYRIGHTED ART. Do not copy or deep-link to without prior permission from "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art.

October 6th & March 31st
Troparion
You evangelized the Northern Peoples of Asia and America, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to the Natives in their own tongues. O Holy Hierarch Father Innocent, Enlightener of Alaska and Apostle to America, whose steps were ordered by the Lord. In His Heavenly Kingdom, Pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

St. Innocent was born in Siberia on August 26, 1797, and was named John Popov. While in seminary at Irkutsk, he spent so much time with Bishop Benjamin that the dean gave him the name "Veniaminov" (son of Benjamin). He married Catherine Sharina in 1817 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1821. The Russian-America Company had requested the bishop to send a priest to the Aleutian Islands. Fr. John heard of this and volunteered. He enthusiastically worked to establish the Church in America and to evangelize the native peoples. Metropolitan Theodosius, in 1997, characterized St. Innocent as a "renaissance man", as he designed churches, sewed his own vestments, built furniture and his own house, while learning the native languages and cultures. He worked with an Aleut leader to devise a written alphabet and grammar for the local Aleut dialect and translated the Gospel of Matthew and liturgical texts. After his wife died in 1839, he entered monastic life and took the name Innocent. He was elected the first resident bishop of Alaska (1840-58). When Alaska was purchased from Russia, he immediately replaced the Russian in the services with English. In 1868, he was appointed Metropolitan of Moscow and founded the Orthodox Missionary Society, primarily to continue to work to establish an American Orthodox Church. He reposed in Moscow on March 31, 1879 and was canonized on October 6, 1977.

This icon is by the hand of Nicholas Papas. This icon is one of the "cloud of witnesses" at St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Souderton, Pennsylvania.

Order #phn-72