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Innocent of Alaska | |
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 | |
| Enlightener of Alaska and Siberia | |
| Born | 6 September [O.S. 26 August] 1797 Anginskoye,Irkutsk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 12 April [O.S. 31 March] 1879 (aged 81) Moscow,Russian Empire |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church[1][2][3] Anglican Communion[4][5][6] |
| Canonized | October 6 [O.S. 23 September] 1977,Moscow byPatriarch Pimen I,Russian Orthodox Church[7] |
| Majorshrine | Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra[8][9] |
| Feast | 13 April (as of the 21st century where theJulian calendar is in use) [O.S. 31 March] (repose) 6 October (Glorification) March 30 (Anglican Communion) |
| Attributes | Vested as a bishop, with a moderately long black beard, holding aGospel Book orscroll |
Innocent of Alaska | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan and archbishop of Moscow | |
| Church | Russian Orthodox Church |
| See | Moscow |
| Installed | 1867 |
| Term ended | 1879 |
| Predecessor | Philaret Drozdov |
| Successor | Macarius Bulgakov |
Innocent of Alaska (Russian:Иннокентий; August 26, 1797 – 12 April [O.S. March 31] 1879), also known asInnocent Metropolitan of Moscow, was aRussian Orthodoxmissionarypriest, then the firstOrthodoxbishop andarchbishop in the Americas, and finally theMetropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. Remembered for his missionary work, scholarship, and leadership inAlaska and theRussian Far East during the 19th century, he is known for his abilities as a scholar,linguist, and administrator, as well as his great zeal for his work.
As a missionary priest he took his wife and family with him. In these territories he learned several languages and dialects of the indigenous peoples. He wrote many of the earliest scholarly works about the native peoples of Alaska, including dictionaries and grammars for their languages for which he devised writing systems; also, he wrote religious works in, and translated parts of theBible into, several of these languages. His books were published beginning in 1840.
Innocent was born Ivan Evseyevich Popov (Иван Евсеевич Попов) on August 26, 1797, into the family of a church server in the village of Anginskoye, Verkholensk District,Irkutsk Governorate, inRussia. His father, Evsey Popov, died when Ivan was six, and Ivan lived with his uncle, the parish deacon, in Anga.[10]
In 1807 at age 10, Ivan entered theIrkutskTheological Seminary,[11] where the rector renamed him Veniaminov in honor of the recently deceased Bishop Veniamin of Irkutsk.
In 1817 he married a local priest's daughter named Catherine. On May 18 that year Ivan Veniaminov wasordained adeacon of the Church of the Annunciation inIrkutsk.[11]
After completing his studies in 1818, Veniaminov was appointed a teacher in aparish school. On May 18, 1821 he was ordained a priest to serve in the Church of the Annunciation in Irkutsk. In Russian he was known as FatherIoann, the religious version of Ivan.
At the beginning of 1823, Bishop Michael of Irkutsk received instructions to send a priest to the island ofUnalaska in theAleutian Islands of Alaska. Father Ioann Veniaminov volunteered to go and on May 7, 1823, he departed from Irkutsk, accompanied by his aging mother, his brother Stefan, his wife, and their son, Innocent, an infant. After a difficult yearlong journey by land and water, they arrived at Unalaska on July 29, 1824.[11]
After Father Ioann and his family built and moved into an earthen hut, he set about studying the local languages and dialects. He trained some of his new parishioners in Russian building techniques. With them he undertook the construction of Holy Ascension Church,[10] which was finished the following July.
Father Ioann'sparish included the island of Unalaska and the neighboring groups ofFox andPribilof islands,[12] occupied by indigenous people who had been converted toChristianity before his arrival. They also retained many of their earlier religious beliefs and customs. Father Ioann often traveled between the islands in acanoe, battling the stormy ocean in theGulf of Alaska.
By his travels through the islands, Father Ioann Veniaminov became familiar with the local dialects. In a short time he mastered six of the dialects. He devised an alphabet usingCyrillic letters for the most widely used dialect, the Unangan dialect ofAleut. In 1828, he translated portions of the Bible and other church material into that dialect. In 1829, he journeyed to theBering Sea coast of the Alaskan mainland and preached to the people there.
In 1834, Father Ioann was transferred toSitka Island, to the town of Novoarkhangelsk, later calledSitka. He devoted himself to theTlingit people and studied theirlanguage and customs. From his studies there, he wrote the scholarly worksNotes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak Tongues andOther Dialects of the Russo-American Territories, with a Russian-Kolushchan Glossary.
In 1836, Father Veniaminov made the journey south on a pastoral tour of the southernmost extent ofRussian America, landing atFort Ross in Northern California. While there he conducted a census and performed the sacraments of marriage and baptism for the Russian population and local natives.[13]
In 1838, Father Ioann journeyed toSt. Petersburg (where on Christmas Day 1839 he was promoted toarchpriest),Moscow andKiev to report on his activities and request an expansion of the Church's activities inRussian America. While he was there, he received notice that his wife had died during her visit to Irkutsk. He requested permission to return to his hometown. Instead, church officials suggested that he takevows as amonk. Father Ioann at first ignored these suggestions, but, on November 29, 1840, he wastonsured a monk with the nameInnocent in honor ofSaint Innocent, the first bishop of Irkutsk (†1731, commemorated on November 26). He was elevated to the rank ofArchimandrite.
On December 15, 1840, Archimandrite Innocent wasconsecrated Bishop ofKamchatka andKuril Islands in Russia and the Aleutian Islands in Russian America. Hissee was located inNovoarkhangelsk (Sitka), to which he returned in September 1841. He spent the next nine years administering hisdiocese as well as taking several long missionary journeys to its remote areas.
On April 21, 1850, Bishop Innocent was elevated toarchbishop. In 1852 the Yakut area was admitted to the Kamchatka Diocese. In September 1853 Archbishop Innocent took up permanent residence in the town ofYakutsk. Innocent took frequent trips throughout his enlarged diocese. He devoted much energy to the translation of the scriptures and service books into theYakut (Sakha) language.
In April 1865 Archbishop Innocent was appointed a member of theHoly Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On November 19, 1867, he was appointed theMetropolitan of Moscow, succeeding his friend and mentor,Filaret, who had died. As metropolitan, he undertook revisions of many church texts that contained errors, raised funds to improve the living conditions of impoverished priests, and established a retirement home for clergy.
Innocent died on March 31, 1879. He was buried on April 5, 1879, atTrinity-St. Sergius Lavra, outsideMoscow.
On October 6 [O.S. September 23] 1977 theRussian Orthodox Church, acting on the official request of theOrthodox Church in America,glorified (canonized) Innocent as asaint, giving him the title "Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to America."
Innocent'sfeast day is celebrated by the Orthodox Church three times a year: March 31, the date of his repose according to the Julian Calendar (April 13 N.S.); October 6, the anniversary of his canonization (September 23 O.S.); and October 18, the Synaxis of the Moscow Hierarchs (October 5 O.S.).
Innocent is widely venerated with the epithetEqual-to-apostles[14][15]as the Orthodox apostle of America.[16]
On theliturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA), Innocent is honored with a feast day on March 30.[17]
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| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Primate of the Orthodox Church in America 1840–68 | Succeeded by Peter (Ekaterinovsky) |
| Preceded by | Metropolitan and archbishop of Moscow 1868–79 | Succeeded by |
| Diocese of North America |
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| Bishops of North America |
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| Archbishops of North America |
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| Orthodox Church in America |
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