The North Star
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THE nORTH sTAR IN THIS iSSUE A PRAYERFUL VISION OF GROWTH & EXPECTATION Published three times a year with the RAYERFUL ISION OF ROWTH XPECTATION blessing of His Grace, the Right Reverend † A P V G & e An open letter to my Dear and Faithful Children of the God-protected Diocese of Alaska NIKOLAI A LETTER FROM hIS GRACE THE rIGHT rEVEREND niKOLAI BISHOP OF sITKA, ANCHORAGE AND ALASKA Bishop of Sitka, Anchorage and Alaska The following address was delivered by His Grace Bishop NIKOLAI † mIRACLES ABOUND! 6 at the opening of the 2006 Diocesan Assembly on Monday, November 13th. Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska ocmc TEAMS EXPERIENCE LIFE-CHANGING MISSIONS IN ALASKA P.O. Box 210569 Anchorage, AK 99521-0569 † 5TH ANNIVERSARY IN THE dIOCESE OF ALASKA 8 Office: (907) 279-0025 CLERGY & fAITHFUL GATHER TO cELEBRATE hIS GRACE’S 5TH ANNIVERSARY Dearly Beloved in Christ—Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Matushki, Delegates, Fax: (907) 279-9748 † From Florida to Spruce Island 10 Observers and the Faithful of this God Protected Diocese of Alaska ONE PILGRIM’S JOURNAL ON AN 18,000 mILE PILGRIMAGE NEW WEB ADDRESS Glory be to Jesus Christ! † Pokrov Chapel Consecration 12 www.dioceseofalaska.org BE A PART OF THE BEAUTIFICATION OF sT. iNNOCENT cATHEDRAL Five years ago today, November 13, 2001 Bishop TIKHON of the West and I were sitting together in the IHOP (International House † OISM at Saint Herman Seminary of Pancakes) restaurant in Syosset. It was the night before the special session of the Holy Synod convened to elect a ruling bishop for Publisher 1 Alaska. I had been in Alaska for nearly four months and had visited most of the regions in our Diocese. Some of those places were Seminarians from the Orthodox Inter-Seminarian Movement come to Kodiak His Grace, Bishop NIKOLAI dusty, some were muddy, some had no running water and most had mosquitoes big enough to suck your last drop of blood! Bishop † The Blessing of the Bells 14 TIKHON looked at me seriously and said, “You know, Alaska is the place that gives dignity to The Orthodox Church in America.” Editor-in-Chief Two new Bell Towers are constructed and blessed My first reaction was to laugh. But, by the look on his face, I paused, realizing, he wasn’t thinking about dusty streets and hungry Priest Innocent Dresdow mosquitoes, but about history and legacy. During the past five years I have come to recognize the truth in his observation. Alaska EACON OF OPE † A B h 16 is our Mother Diocese. She represents the beginnings of Orthodoxy in North America for every Orthodox Christian. We have the THE cROSS ON sPRUCE iSLAND Editor awesome responsibility of maintaining Her integrity to be what God intended. This responsibility is in our hands and we will do it, Subdeacon Irenaios Anderson God help us! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more of our own people in America made pilgrimages to Alaska and venerated the relics of Ordinations our St. Herman? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the knowledge of life here in this Diocese—the largest church in the State—was better Editorial Staff Priest Leonty Johnson known? Where else in America can it be said that the Orthodox Church is the largest church? But let us not forget that history and size Archpriest Chad Hatfield To the Holy Diaconate August 1, 2006 mean nothing without continual hard work and sacrifice. This is the commitment our Lord calls us to make. Mrs. Anna Jarlson To the Holy Priesthood August 2, 2006 I want to thank a few people in particular. One is my Chancellor, Archimandrite Isidore who represents me on the line with all of Questions or comments? Send to: Hierodeacon Panteleimon you and who hardly needs any accolades or would want them, Minadora Jacobs, my assistant whose tireless efforts on my behalf and To the Holy Diaconate November 12, 2006 [email protected] daily in the running of A Street, the Archpriest Chad Hatfield for his tireless leadership and dedication to the training of our students Mitered Priest and integrity he brings to the Seminary, the deans in showing example by their leadership, the clergy who strive to be obedient in His Grace Bishop NIKOLAI, and the Archimandrite Isidore November 12, 2006 doing God’s will in a secular world and our faithful who follow the Lord’s direction through example and love. editorial staff of The North Star wish to express their gratitude for the continued Double Orarion What does hard work and sacrifice mean for us today, more than 200 years since those first missionaries arrived in Kodiak? We support of this publication. If you would Deacon John Larson August 20, 2006 know that in order to accomplish anything worthwhile, we must have the necessary tools. For us, as Orthodox Christians, that means like to contribute please send donations to Deacon James Gust October 21, 2006 the spiritual tools, which the Church provides. We have gathered here at this Assembly as representatives of the God Protected the Chancery (address above) and mark Hierodeacon Panteleimon November 12, 2006 Diocese of Alaska. We give thanks to Almighty God for His protection and for the intercession of His Holy Mother and all the saints your donation North Star. Thank you for who watch over our people. your generous support that allows us to Tonsured continue to publish and distribute The Monk Panteleimon November 7, 2006 One of the spiritual tools most readily available to each of us is our Christian name. As your Bishop, I ask you to remain firm in North Star throughout the world. your resolve to use the names you and your children were given at Holy Baptism. Why would we ask the saint whose name we bear Memory Eternal to hear us only once a week in Church when we can call on them daily to intercede for us? Let us strive to dispense with the secular Matushka Sophia Gust March 13, 2006 names and rely on our saints to guide us each and every day. Remember my dear ones, the evil one works 24/7 and we need this protection. St. Innocent wrote that there were some things that he felt had not been accomplished during his time in Alaska. He said that alcoholism and those living together outside Holy Matrimony were his foremost concerns. My dear faithful these are still problems and we have begun to address them. Our partnership with South Central Foundation has been a start and may that relationship grow and become even stronger for the well–being and health of our people and communities. Our In the Life of the Church the of Life the In seminarians are getting the proper training and certification in substance abuse counseling to help in the communities they will On the cover: serve. As our church life becomes our focus and the center of our Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary ~ Kenai, Alaska . Estab- lives we will render these obstacles less powerful, day-by-day. lished in the early 1840’s, the first church was built in 1849. I am so grateful for the number of requests I receive continually The current structure was completed in 1895 and is listed as from couples wanting to have their unions blessed. We are making Newly ordained Priest Leonty, Matushka Katherine & a National Historic Landmark. their daughter with His Grace in Kasigaluk www.dioceseofalaska.org 2006 • WINTER And yesterday he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate. Monasticism is what brought Orthodoxy here and it is that mission of a a difference but we have to persevere in His direction. We would never deny a child the hermitage on Spruce Island that we pray in the Akathist every week. With this in mind a plan for the Hermitage that we pray to build sacrament of Baptism because their parents are not married. But we want every on Spruce Island has been drawn up. child to have a proper home in the eyes of God, struggling right along with the rest of us toward salvation. We hope to bless the ground for the new monastic building at Eklutna this coming May 22nd on the Feast for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas. The structure is inspired by plans that I saw while visiting Serbia last year. My friend Bishop Grigorije and I Another spiritual tool is arriving in a timely manner to visited the site where this building was in progress. I asked him whether it would have nuns or monks and he looked at me and said, the Church services. It is important that we take the time “Whatever God blesses.” May He bless our efforts in Eklutna. to reverently venerate the icons of our saints before the service begins. It is equally important to be present the moment We intend to transform our modest Russian Orthodox Museum in downtown Anchorage (6th and A St.) into a prominent center the priest intones, “Blessed is the Kingdom…” One theologian for the Diocese. Inspired by the Old Russian Bishop’s House in Sitka, this building will allow us to expand our museum, the gift shop likened that announcement to the beginning of a train journey and Cupola Coffee shop. The Diocesan archives will be transferred here so that scholars may access them more readily and where a when the watchman calls out, “All Aboard!” But we can relate to full-time staff will care for them. The Diocesan offices will also be in this complex as well as a chapel. It is important that everyone that even better when we are traveling in a village or in the cities at sees that we are a Church that is alive and that our Church is at the center of our lives.