6 posts tagged “russian”
This was the first sight we saw on dry land.
When we crossed ourselves upon entering the Cathedral,
Just as it was closing, we arrived at the Bishop's House where St. Innocent lived. The Ranger allowed us to tour the ground floor anyway, which is full of artifacts from the historic and lovingly successful Orthodox mission effort to Alaska. I'll post some more pictures in my photo's. I also have a Collection, accessible at the bottom of the sidebar on the right, called Way Out West Vacation, both of which have a slideshow type option again in the right sidebar if you click on a picture. It's chronological if you click on the last photo first.
We didn't have time to go to Yosemite as we had hoped. Instead we decided to take our time in Sequoia as it would have been too stressful to rush through both parks in one day. So we headed down the beloved mountains into California's fertile valley Saturday afternoon and with the aid of gps guidance found a chinese buffet in hot, dry Fresno. Just before sunset, we stopped at a fruit stand on our westerly route on hwy 152 and ate deliciously fresh cherries, grapes and nectarines for dessert. This road became dramatically gorgeous around Gilroy where the golden hills rose again to divide the valley from the ocean. Then the coastal redwoods guarded the best twisty turney, up and down road I've ever driven on. The difference was that the curves were banked so that you didn't feel like you were going to fall over the edges. It was like a nice smooth roller coaster. I strongly recommend this route to California coastal hwy 1. But it would be funner in a low profile sports car. Sadly it was almost dark when we got to the coast, but I could see and hear enough of the moonlit white-tipped waves crashing into the rocky coast, and smell and feel the salty, moist wind on that hilly highway to feel exaltation. The Texas coast is marshy or sandy, but flat. This was quite different.
We made our way to our hotel in southern San Francisco which we
approached along it's southern peninsula. Sunday morning we drove into the beautiful
but crowded city. It was a little nerve-racking navigating on the
one-way, steep, crowded streets and finding a place to park to attend
Liturgy.
Holy Virgin Cathedral was finished by St. John the Wonder-worker, who died a few days before I was born. We missed the English service, but the Church Slavonic was beautiful, and the choir heavenly (click here to another tab to get more of the Russian choral atmosphere). Understanding "Ghospodi pomilui"- "Lord have mercy" and "Slava"- "Glory" helped a lot. Also the Russian attendants were wonderful examples of humble, loving, devoted veneration of the Saints through their icons. Americans are much more timid and self-conscious about it. Some of the parishoners remember St. John in person and their love for him was very evident as they venerated his relics on the right side of the church and in the generous manner of the couple who gave us a tour of his original resting place below the Church. They had both been students in the Russian school surrounding the Church while he was serving there. Not that he still isn't.
This site
from the Library of Congress with it's series of archives in the
continuing pages gives a very moving account of Russian Orthodox
America in Alaska. I can't help but note the contrast between how the
Russian Christians treated the Natives and the way the western
Europeans treated Native peoples. The Alaskan Aleuts and Tlingits were
never forbidden to speak their native language, they were not coerced
into Christianity nor forced into adopting "Christian", much less
European behaviors, and they held high ranking positions in government
and in the church from the outset. The Priests provided the delicate
balance of keeping the church pure from paganism and shamanism, while
maintaining respect for people made in God's image and who possess God
given free will.
I'm only recently learning the history of the Russian influence in America. The Orthodox commemorate Sts. Herman and Innocent of Alaska, and St. Peter the Aleut as being Orthodox missionaries to the Native Alaskan peoples, though the profiteering fur traders were the original pioneers that motivated Russia's interest in this land 4000+ miles from it's capital. According to Wikipedia,
"The area was originally settled by the native Tlingit (Kolosh) Indians. Old Sitka was founded in 1799 by Alexandr Baranov, the governor of Russian America. Baranov arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a "semi-official" colonial trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I. In 1802 a group of Tlingit destroyed the original establishment (an area today called the "Old Harbor") and massacred most of the Russian inhabitants. Baranov was forced to levy 10,000 rubles in ransom for the safe return of the surviving settlers.
Baranov returned to Sitka in 1804 with a large contingent of Russians and Aleuts aboard the Russian warship Neva. The ship bombarded the natives' village, forcing the Tlingits to retreat into the surrounding forest. Following their victory at the Battle of Sitka the Russians established a permanent settlement in the form of a fort, named "Novo-Arkhangelsk" (or "New Archangel," a reference to the largest city in the region where Baranov was born). In 1808, with Baranov still governor, Sitka was designated the capital of Russian America.
Bishop Innokentii (Innocent) of the Russian Orthodox Church lived in Sitka after 1840. The Russian Bishop's House has since been restored by the National Park Service. The steady influx of American settlers eventually caused the predominant religious influence to sway from Russian to Western European."
According to their article on Tlingit Philosophy and Religion,
"Tlingit thought and belief, although never formally codified, was historically a fairly well organized philosophical and religious system whose basic axioms shaped the way all Tlingit people viewed and interacted with the world around them. Between 1886-1895, in the face of their shamans' inability to treat Old World diseases including smallpox, most of the Tlingit people converted to Orthodox Christianity. (Russian Orthodox missionaries had translated their liturgy into the Tlingit language.) After the introduction of Christianity, the Tlingit belief system began to erode.
Today, some young Tlingits look back towards what their ancestors believed, for inspiration, security, and a sense of identity. This causes some friction in Tlingit society, because most modern Tlingit elders are fervent believers in Christianity, and have transferred or equated many Tlingit concepts with Christian ones. Indeed, many elders believe that resurrection of heathen practices of shamanism and spirituality are dangerous, and are better forgotten."
So, hubby George, sons Jordan, Jared, Ben and Jeremy, daughters Rachel and Rebecca Rose and I just got our tickets to fly to Las Vegas through a great deal from Southwest Airlines. There we'll rent two cars and spend a few days touring the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park on our way to San Francisco where our ship takes off, then fly home from San Francisco.
So far I am most looking forward to visiting Sitka,
Alaska, which was the Russian capital until Alaska was sold to the United States, and just as much,the famous Russian Orthodox Cathedral in San Francisco built by St. John, the Wonderworker of
Shanghai & San Francisco and frescoed by iconographer
Archimandrite Kiprian of Jordanville Monastery in upstate New York. Here's a quote from St. John in the above link:
'"Sanctity is not just a virtue. It is an attainment of such spiritual height, that the abundance of God's grace which fills the saint overflows on all who associate with him. Great is the saint's state of bliss in which they dwell contemplating the Glory of God. Being filled with love for God and man, they are responsive to man's needs, interceding before God and helping those who turn to them."
Characterizing with such words the ancient Saints, Vladika John
simultaneously summarized his own spiritual attitude which made him one of the
greatest Saints of our time.'
