Juvenaly of Alaska (russian: Иеромонах Ювена́лий; 1761,
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
– 1796,
Kuinerrak,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
),
Protomartyr
A protomartyr (Koine Greek, ''πρότος'' ''prótos'' "first" + ''μάρτυρας'' ''mártyras'' "martyr") is the first Christian martyr in a country or among a particular group, such as a religious order. Similarly, the phrase the Protom ...
of America, was a Russian
hieromartyr
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr (one who dies for his beliefs) who was a bishop or priest. Analogously, a monk who is a priest is known as a hieromonk.
See also
*New Martyr
The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr ( el ...
and member of the first group of Orthodox
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
who came from the
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
of
Valaam
Valaam (Russian: Валаам or Валаамский архипелаг, also known by the Finnish name Valamo) is an archipelago in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga, lying within the Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation. The total area o ...
and
Konevets
Konevets (russian: Коневец; fi, Konevitsa or ''Kononsaari'') is an approximately 8.5-km² island famous as the site of the Konevsky Monastery. It is located off the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga near the village of Vladimirovka. The i ...
to
evangelize
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...
the native inhabitants of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. He was
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
ed while evangelizing among the
Yupik Yupik may refer to:
* Yupik peoples, a group of indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East
* Yupik languages, a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages
Yupꞌik (with the apostrophe) may refer to:
* Yup'ik people
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg ...
Eskimos on the mainland of Alaska in 1796. His
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is celebrated on July 2, and he is also commemorated with all the saints of Alaska (September 24), and with the first martyrs of the American land (December 12).
Life
He was born in 1761 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and was named Yakov Feodorov Govorukhin. He was the son of smelting master Feodor Govorukhin of the
Nerchinsk
Nerchinsk ( rus, Не́рчинск; bua, Нэршүү, ''Nershüü''; mn, Нэрчүү, ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu; zh, t=涅尔琴斯克(尼布楚), p=Niè'ěrqínsīkè (Níbùchǔ)) is a town and the administrative ce ...
mines. Yakov himself also worked at the Voskresenskiĭ mines in
Kolyvan with the rank of an
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
. In 1791 he left this position of his own will and went to live in the Valaam Monastery as a
novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession
A profession is a field of work that has ...
. In 1793 he was selected for the American mission and was tonsured a
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and ordained a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
. He was given the name Juvenaly in memory of St.
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
, fifth century
Patriarch of Jerusalem.
In 1793, a group of 10 monks and novices were selected from the Valaam and Konevets Monasteries to serve as missionaries in
Russian America
Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...
. This group of missionaries was led by
Archimandrite
The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...
Joasaph Bolotov and was composed of four
hieromonk
A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...
s including Juvenaly and Makary, one
hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon (or deacon who has been tonsured monk). Th ...
and a monk named
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, as well as four novices. Their destination was the Russian settlement on
Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...
in the
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...
, some 8,000 miles away across the length of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
through
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and then the
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...
of the northern
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The group arrived on
Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...
on September 24, 1794, to an unexpected scene. The settlement was primitive beyond what they were told, and violence was commonplace. The promised church was not there, and the promised supplies for three years were absent.
After their arrival, Fathers Juvenaly and Makary went around the island of Kodiak and in two months and baptized the local
Sugpiaq
The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian language, Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut people, Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Esk ...
Eskimo
Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...
s, altogether 6,000 people. In 1795, Fr. Juvenaly left for the mainland, and he baptized
Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) people who speak ...
Eskimos in
Nuchek and
Dena'ina Indians in
Kenai. The following year he continued west, and he proceeded west of
Lake Iliamna
Iliamna Lake or Lake Iliamna (Yup'ik: ''Nanvarpak''; Dena'ina Athabascan: ''Nila Vena'') is a lake in southwest Alaska, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, between Kvichak Bay and Cook Inlet, about west of Seldovia, Alaska. It shares a na ...
"to the northern parts of the continent and far beyond
Alyaska, and the local peoples there, who had not yet been pacified by us, killed him and three promyshlenniki and a few baptized Kenia natives."
Martyrdom
Father Juvenaly died in the village of Kuinerrak at the mouth of the
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth la ...
sometime in 1796.
False accounts of the circumstances of his death became widely known first through the writings of
Ioann Veniaminov and later through the so-called diary of Fr. Juvenaly, which was fabricated by
Ivan Petroff. Veniaminov (1840, II: 155–156/1984: 235) writes:
Petroff's "A daily journal kept by the Rev. Father Juvenal" has been proved by
Lydia T. Black
Lydia T. Black (; December 16, 1925 – March 12, 2007) was an American anthropologist.
She won an American Book Award for ''Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 And 1804''. She also received a Historian of the Year award ...
beyond all doubt to be a fabrication:
[Black 1981: 33–58.] "This mildly uninspiring document, which contradicts both Church and Native traditions about the saint's activities, was summarized in Bancroft's influential History of Alaska and accepted for a century as a major primary source. However, it is now very strongly suspected of being a forgery written by one of Bancroft's assistants."
Hymns
From the September 24 Feast Day
Troparion
A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas.
The wi ...
br>
(Tone 4)
Today Alaska rejoices and America celebrates,
For the new world has been sanctified by martyrdom.
Kodiak echoes with songs of thanksgiving,
Iliamna and Kenai observe the festival of faith.
The Apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
and martyr Juvenaly is glorified,
And Peter the Aleut
Cungagnaq ( rus, Чукагнак, Chukagnak; date of birth unknown - d. 1815) is venerated as a martyr and saint (as Peter the Aleut; rus, Пётр Алеу́т, Pyotr Aleút) by some jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was allegedl ...
is exalted by his voluntary sacrifice,
In their devotion and love for the Lord
They willingly endured persecution and death for the Truth,
Now in the Kingdom of Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
they intercede for our souls!
Kontakion
The kontakion (Greek , plural , ''kontakia'') is a form of hymn performed in the Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic liturgical traditions.
The kontakion originated in the Byzantine Empire around the 6th century and is closely associated with Sain ...
(Tone 4)
Today Valaam joins Alaska
In celebrating this joyous feast,
As her spiritual son Juvenaly
Embraces the new martyr Peter with love.
Together they suffered for the Lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...
in America
And united the old world with the new by their voluntary sacrifice.
Now forever they stand before the King of glory and intercede for our souls.
External links
Links on Orthodox missions in Alaska at Saint Pachomius Libraryfrom ''Orthodox America'' Issue 7, Vol. 1, No. 8. February, 1981.
from the website of the All Saints of North America Russian Orthodox Church in Middlebrook, VA (
ROCOR
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...
)
Martyr Juvenal of Alaskafrom the
OCA website
* Audio lectures by Fr.
Michael Oleksa
Michael Oleksa is a Russian Orthodox missionary who spent 35 years travelling and speaking about culture and race in Alaska.
Early life and education
Michael Oleksa was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. As an adult, after spending a time at St. V ...
:
*
''The Monastic Mission to Kodiak and the First Fruits of the Harvest: St. Herman, St. Peter the Aleut, and others'' – Tape 1*
''The Monastic Mission to Kodiak and the First Fruits of the Harvest: St. Herman, St. Peter the Aleut, and others'' – Tape 2St. Juvenaly Orthodox Mission(
Kailua Kona
Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
)
Sources
* Black, Lydia T., "The Daily Journal of Reverend Father Juvenal: A Cautionary Tale," ''Ethnohistory'' 28(1)33, 1981.
*L'vov, Apollinariĭ Nikolayevič, 1894: "Краткiя историческiя свѣдѣнiя объ учрежденiи въ Сѣверной Америкѣ православной миссiй, объ основанiи Кадьякской епархiи и о дѣятельности тамъ первыхъ миссiонеровъ." (Къ столѣнему юбилею православiя въ Америкѣ.) Прибавленiя къ Церковнымъ вѣдомостямъ, № 38–39, 17 и 24 сентября, стр. 1317–1326, 1361–1370.
*Oleksa, Michael, 1983: "The oral tradition about the death of Fr Juvenaly among the native peoples of southwestern Alaska", ''St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly'' 27:2 (1983), pp. 133–137.
*Oleksa, Michael, 1986: "The Death of Hieromonk Juvenaly", ''St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly'' 30:3 (1986), pp. 231–268.
* Onufriĭ, hierodeacon (Makhanov, Oleg Harisovich), 2005: ''Причал молитв уедининных.'' Царское дело, Санкт-Петербург.
*Passek, Vadim, 1842: ''Очерки Россіи,'' издавлемые Вадимомъ Пассекомъ, книга V: «Распространеніе православной вѣры въ Америкѣ.» Москва.
* Veniaminov, Ioann, 1840: ''Записки объ островахъ Уналашкинскаго отдѣла.'' Санктпетегбургъ.
* Veniaminov, Ioann, 1984: ''Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District.'' Alaska History no. 27.
The Limestone Press
The Limestone Press is a one-man publishing house, established in 1972 by historian Richard Pierce (1918–2004). Pierce lived and worked at that time in Kingston, Ontario, and he chose the name from the nickname of Kingston, the “Limestone Cit ...
. Kingston, Ontario.
References
{{authority control
1761 births
1796 deaths
18th-century Christian saints
18th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs
American saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Christian missionaries in Alaska
People of Russian America
Russian Orthodox monks
Eastern Orthodox priests from the Russian Empire
Eastern Orthodox missionaries
Eastern Orthodoxy in Alaska
Russian America
Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
18th-century Christian monks
Monks from the Russian Empire