View source for Innocent of Alaska

{{Short description|Russian bishop and saint (1797–1879)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]] 
|name=Innocent of Alaska
|birth_date={{OldStyleDate|6 September|1797|26 August}}
|death_date={{OldStyleDate|12 April|1879|31 March}} (aged 81)
|feast_day={{OldStyleDate|13 April (as of the 21st century where the [[Julian calendar]] is in use)||31 March}} (repose)<br />6 October (Glorification)<br /> March 30 (Anglican Communion)
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1591.htm|title=Святитель Иннокентий, митрополит Московский + Православный Церковный календарь}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oca.org/fs/st-innocent-of-alaska|title = St. Innocent of Alaska}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/284047.html|title=Иннокентий, митрополит Московский (Вениаминов) / Персоналии / Патриархия.ru|access-date=2019-06-06|archive-date=2020-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627024128/http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/284047.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[Anglican Communion]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/innocent-alaska-bishop-1879-0 |title=Innocent of Alaska: Bishop, 1879 &#124; Episcopal Church |access-date=2019-06-06 |archive-date=2019-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003454/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/innocent-alaska-bishop-1879-0 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/innocent-alaska-bishop-1879 |title=Innocent of Alaska: Bishop, 1879 &#124; Episcopal Church |access-date=2019-06-06 |archive-date=2019-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003150/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/innocent-alaska-bishop-1879 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary-calendar/2019-03|title = Lectionary Calendar}}</ref>
|image=St Innocent of Alaska.JPG
|imagesize=200px
|caption=
|birth_place=Anginskoye, [[Irkutsk Governorate]], Russian Empire
|death_place=[[Moscow]], [[Russian Empire]]
|titles=Enlightener of Alaska and Siberia
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date={{OldStyleDate|October 6|1977|23 September}}
|canonized_place=[[Moscow]]
|canonized_by=[[Patriarch Pimen I]], [[Russian Orthodox Church]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life6607.htm|title=Святитель Иннокентий, митрополит Московский, апостол Сибири и Америки + Православный Церковный календарь}}</ref>
|attributes=Vested as a bishop, with a moderately long black beard, holding a [[Gospel Book]] or [[scroll]]
|patronage=
|major_shrine=[[Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.russiaeguide.com/trinity-lavra-of-st-sergius.html|title = Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius| date=25 January 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stsl.ru/languages/en/|title = The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra}}</ref>
|suppressed_date=
}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix =
| name =  
| patriarch_of = Metropolitan and archbishop of Moscow
| honorific-suffix =
| image = 
| caption =
| enthroned = 1867
| ended = 1879
| church = [[Russian Orthodox Church]]
| see = Moscow
| predecessor = [[Philaret Drozdov]]
| successor = [[Macarius Bulgakov]]
| other_post = 
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 
| death_date = 
| birth_place = 
| buried = 
| ordination=
| consecration=
| consecrated_by=
| awards =
}}

'''Innocent of Alaska''' ({{langx|ru|Иннокентий}}; August 26, 1797 &ndash; {{OldStyleDate|12 April|1879|March 31}}), also known as '''Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow''', was a [[Russian Orthodox]] [[Mission (Christianity)|missionary]] [[Priest#Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy|priest]], then the first [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Bishop (Orthodox Church)|bishop]] and [[archbishop]] in the Americas, and finally the [[List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow|Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna]]. Remembered for his missionary work, scholarship, and leadership in [[Alaska]] and the [[Russian 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 the [[Bible]] into, several of these languages. His books were published beginning in 1840.

==Early life and education==
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]], in [[Russia]]. His father, Evsey Popov, died when Ivan was six, and Ivan lived with his uncle, the parish deacon, in Anga.<ref name=Ioanna/>

In 1807 at age 10, Ivan entered the [[Irkutsk]] [[Theological Seminary]],<ref name="oca">[https://oca.org/holy-synod/past-primates/innocent-of-alaska "His Grace, Bishop Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska", Orthodox Church in America]</ref> 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 was [[Ordination|ordained]] a [[deacon]] of the Church of the Annunciation in [[Irkutsk]].<ref name="oca" />

After completing his studies in 1818, Veniaminov was appointed a teacher in a [[parochial school|parish 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 Father ''Ioann,'' the religious version of Ivan.

==Ministry in Alaska==
At the beginning of 1823, Bishop Michael of Irkutsk received instructions to send a priest to the island of [[Unalaska]] in the [[Aleutian 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.<ref name=oca/>

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,<ref name=Ioanna>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stinnocentchurch.com/lifeofstinnocentofalaska.html |title=Sister Ioanna, "Life of St. Innocent of Alaska", St. Innocent of Alaska Monastic Community, Redford, Michigan |access-date=2018-05-07 |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013175536/http://www.stinnocentchurch.com/lifeofstinnocentofalaska.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> which was finished the following July.

[[Image:Innokenty Kamchatsky.jpg|thumb|left|Innocent as [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] of [[Moscow]].]]
Father Ioann's [[parish]] included the island of Unalaska and the neighboring groups of [[Fox Islands (Alaska)|Fox]] and [[Pribilof Islands|Pribilof islands]],<ref>[http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/i-k/innocent-veniaminov-ivan-popov-veniaminov-1797-1879/ Garrett, Paul D., “Innocent, Veniaminov (Ivan Popov-Veniaminov)”, ''Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions'', (ed. Gerald H. Anderson), New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998, p. 320]</ref>  occupied by indigenous people who had been converted to [[Christianity]] before his arrival. They also retained many of their earlier religious beliefs and customs. Father Ioann often traveled between the islands in a [[canoe]], battling the stormy ocean in the [[Gulf 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 using [[Cyrillic]] letters for the most widely used dialect, the Unangan dialect of [[Aleut language|Aleut]]. In 1828, he translated portions of the Bible and other church material into that dialect. In 1829, he journeyed to the [[Bering Sea]] coast of the Alaskan mainland and preached to the people there.

In 1834, Father Ioann was transferred to [[Baranof Island|Sitka Island]], to the town of Novoarkhangelsk, later called [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]]. He devoted himself to the [[Tlingit people]] and studied their [[Tlingit language|language]] and customs. From his studies there, he wrote the scholarly works ''Notes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak Tongues'' and ''Other 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 of [[Russian America]], landing at [[Fort 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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.fortross.org/chapel | title=Fort Ross Chapel }}</ref>

==Kamchatka ministry==
[[File:Innocent of Alaska 4.jpg|thumb|200px|Contemporary portrait of Bishop Innocent.]]
In 1838, Father Ioann journeyed to [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]] (where on Christmas Day 1839 he was promoted to [[Archpriest#Byzantine Christianity|archpriest]]), [[Moscow]] and [[Kiev]] to report on his activities and request an expansion of the Church's activities in [[Russian 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 take [[vows]] as a [[monk]].  Father Ioann at first ignored these suggestions, but, on November 29, 1840, he was [[tonsure]]d a monk with the name ''Innocent'' in honor of [[Innocent of Irkutsk|Saint Innocent, the first bishop of Irkutsk]] (†1731, commemorated on November 26). He was elevated to the rank of [[Archimandrite]].

On December 15, 1840, Archimandrite Innocent was [[consecration|consecrated]] Bishop of [[Kamchatka Oblast|Kamchatka]]  and [[Kuril Islands]] in Russia and the Aleutian Islands in Russian America.  His [[Episcopal see|see]] was located in [[Sitka, Alaska|Novoarkhangelsk]] (Sitka), to which he returned in September 1841. He spent the next nine years administering his [[diocese]] as well as taking several long missionary journeys to its remote areas.

On April 21, 1850, Bishop Innocent was elevated to [[archbishop]]. In 1852 the Yakut area was admitted to the Kamchatka Diocese. In September 1853 Archbishop Innocent took up permanent residence in the town of [[Yakutsk]]. Innocent took frequent trips throughout his enlarged diocese.  He devoted much energy to the translation of the scriptures and service books into the [[Yakut language|Yakut]] (Sakha) language.

In April 1865 Archbishop Innocent was appointed a member of the [[Holy Governing Synod]] of the Russian Orthodox Church.

==Metropolitan of Moscow==
On November 19, 1867, he was appointed the [[Metropolitan of Moscow]], succeeding his friend and mentor, [[Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow|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.

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Relics of Saint Innocent of Alaska aka Saint Innocent of Moscow.jpeg|thumb|350px|The relics of Saint Innocent of Alaska (reliquary/coffin at the bottom and his icon on the opened lid at the top) in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150602072400/http://www.musobl.divo.ru/assump_e.html Assumption Cathedral] at the [[Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius|Trinity-Sergius Monastery]] in [[Sergiyev Posad]], Russia]]
Innocent died on March 31, 1879. He was buried on April 5, 1879, at [[Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra]], outside [[Moscow]].

== Sainthood ==
On {{OldStyleDate|October 6|1977|September 23}} the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], acting on the official request of the [[Orthodox Church in America]], [[Glorification#Eastern Orthodox Church|glorified]] ([[canonization|canonized]]) Innocent as a [[Saint#Eastern Orthodoxy|saint]], giving him the title "Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to America."

Innocent's [[feast 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 epithet [[Equal-to-apostles]]<ref>http://oca.org/PDF/Music/March/stinnocentakathist.pdf "The Orthodox Church in America &mdash; The Akathist Hymn to Saint Innocent of Moscow Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of North America", Retrieved 2011-12-27</ref><ref>http://larison.org/archives/000882.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915221829/http://larison.org/archives/000882.php |date=2017-09-15 }} "Mar. 31/Apr. 13: St. Innocent of Moscow, Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of America", Retrieved 2011-12-27</ref>
as the Orthodox apostle of America.<ref>http://www.saintinnocent.net/innocentbio.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512024124/http://www.saintinnocent.net/innocentbio.html |date=2022-05-12 }} "St. Innocent of Moscow Russian Orthodox Church &mdash; Biography of St. Innocent of Moscow", Retrieved 2011-12-27</ref>

On the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)|liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA)]], Innocent is honored with a feast day on March 30.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary-calendar/2020-03|title = Lectionary Calendar}}</ref>

== Works ==
In [[Aleut language]]:
* [http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/indication-of-the-pathway.pdf ''Indication of the Pathway into the Kingdom of Heaven''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404123227/http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/indication-of-the-pathway.pdf |date=2018-04-04 }} Сvнодальная Тvпографiя. Москва &ndash; Synodal Printing Press, Moscow, 1840, 1899, Retrieved 2012-01-31
* [http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/beginnings-christian-teaching.pdf ''Beginnings of Christian Teaching and Short Christian Catechism'' (co-authored with Fr. Jacob Netsvetov)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116101152/http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/beginnings-christian-teaching.pdf |date=2017-11-16 }} Сvнодальная Тvпографiя. СПб. &ndash; Synodal Printing Press, Saint Petersburg, 1840, 1893, Retrieved 2012-01-31
* [http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/two-sermons-atka.pdf ''Two Sermons from Saint Nicholas Church in Atka''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828201049/http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/two-sermons-atka.pdf |date=2017-08-28 }} рукопись, о. Атха &ndash; manuscript from Atka, 1842, Retrieved 2012-01-31
* [http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/gospel-saint-matthew.pdf ''The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew (translation)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410143038/http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/gospel-saint-matthew.pdf |date=2018-04-10 }} Сvнодальная Тvпографiя. СПб. &ndash; Synodal Printing Press, Saint Petersburg, 1840, 1896, Retrieved 2012-01-31
In Russian:
* [http://azbyka.ru/dictionary/22/alyaskinskiy_ukazanie_puti_v_tsarstvo_nebesnoe-all.shtml Указание Пути в Царствие Небесное]
* Записки об островах Уналашкинского отдела. СПб., 1840. Состоит из трёх частей:
** Часть I, географическая
** Часть II, этнографическая. [http://www.slovo.net.ru/books/?book=60029 Замечания об алеутах] М.: ЛИБРОКОМ, 2011. — 336 с.
** Часть III, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130421114256/http://www.bogoslov.ru/en/biblio/text/1412649/index.html Записки об атхинских алеутах и колошах (колюжах, тлинкитах)]. М.: УРСС, 2011. — 160 с.
* [http://slovo.russportal.ru/index.php?id=alphabet.y.innocent03_101 Автобиографическая записка]. М., 1886
* [http://slovo.russportal.ru/index.php?id=alphabet.y.innocent03_002 Речь Архимандрита Иннокентия, по наречении его Епископом Камчатским, Курильским и Алеутским, сказанная 1840 года, Декабря 13 дня]. Христианское чтение. СПб., 1841
* Письма (1823—1878 гг.) собраны И. Барсуковым, 3 т. СПб, 1897, 1901.
* Творения, три книги, собраны И.Барсуковым. М., 1886–1888.
* [http://slovo.russportal.ru/index.php?id=alphabet.y.innocent03_003 Слово при вступлении в управление московской паствою Высокопреосвященного Иннокентия Митрополита Московского, говоренное в большом Успенском соборе, 26-го мая, 1868 года]. Православное обозрение. М., 1868, том 26.
* Указание пути в Царствие небесное. М., 1871, см. также Изв. Казан. еп., 1882, No. 7, стр. 151; 1886, No. 7, стр. 180; 1893, стр. 18.
* [http://slovo.russportal.ru/index.php?id=alphabet.y.innocent03_001 Наставление высокопреосвященного Иннокентия, бывшего архиепископа Камчатского, Курильского и Алеутского, Нушагакскому миссионеру иеромонаху Феофилу]. Церковные ведомости. СПб., 1900
* Русская Церковь и дружба между народами (Ж. М. П., 1959, No. 11, стр. 50).
In English: 
* ''Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven: An Introduction to Christian Life''. Veniaminov, I. Holy Trinity Publications, 2013. {{ISBN|9780884653035}}

==See also==
* [[List of American Eastern Orthodox saints]]
* [[Russian colonization of the Americas]]
* [[Jacob Netsvetov]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited sources ==
* Paul Garrett, ''Saint Innocent, Apostle to America'', Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press; Crestwood New York, 1979
*[https://archive.today/20130730162529/http://54.243.93.232/3487768/_Ruling_Siberia_the_imperial_power_the_Orthodox_Church_and_the_Native_people_ Oleg Kobtzeff, "Ruling Siberia: The Imperial Power, the Orthodox Church and the Native People"], ''Siberica'', British Siberian Studies Seminar, Cambridge, vol. II, 1984, pp.&nbsp; 6–15.

==External links==
{{commons category|Innocent of Alaska}}
*[http://www.asna.ca/alaska Alaskan Orthodox Christian texts (Aleut, Tlingit)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508014050/http://www.asna.ca/alaska |date=2015-05-08 }} by St. Innocent (Veniaminov)
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100954 Repose of St Innocent the Metropolitan of Moscow the Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to the Americas] (Orthodox [[icon]] and [[synaxarion]] for the March 31 feast)
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102884 Glorification of St Innocent the Metropolitan of Moscow and Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to the Americas] (October 6 feast)
*[[World Digital Library]] presentation of [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/94/ ''Evangelie ot Matfeia''or ''Gospel of St. Matthew'', in Innocent's Aleut script, 1840.] [[National Library of Russia]].  Primary source book with summary description, 288 images with enhanced view and zoom features, text to speech capability. Russian, Aleut.  Links to related to content.  Content available as TIF, PDF.  This book is Veniaminov's translation of the Gospel of Matthew from Russian into the Aleut-Fox language.

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|eo}}
{{succession box | before=[[Joasaph (Bolotov)]] | title=[[List of primates of the Orthodox Church in America|Primate of the Orthodox Church in America]] | years=1840–68|after=Peter (Ekaterinovsky)}}
{{succession box | before= [[Philaret Drozdov|St. Filaret]]| title=[[List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow#Metropolitans and archbishops of Moscow .281721.E2.80.931917.29|Metropolitan and archbishop of Moscow]] | years=1868–79|after=[[Macarius Bulgakov|Macarius I]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Russian America}}
{{Primates of the Orthodox Church in America}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1797 births]]
[[Category:1879 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American clergy]]
[[Category:19th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:19th-century translators from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century writers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:American saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Demidov Prize laureates]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox missionaries]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodoxy in Alaska]]
[[Category:Linguists from Russia]]
[[Category:Linguists of Eskaleut languages]]
[[Category:Metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]
[[Category:People from Irkutsk Governorate]]
[[Category:People from Russian America]]
[[Category:Primates of the Orthodox Church in America]]
[[Category:Religious leaders from Alaska]]
[[Category:Russian missionaries]]
[[Category:Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into indigenous languages of the Americas]]