BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261111T133732Z UID:10-1016088@holyhermits.tithelysetup2.com DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261115 CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20250926T122335 DESCRIPTION:St Herman’s Life\nSt Herman was born in Voronezh\, Russia\, i n 1751 as Yegor Ivanovich Popov. At a young age he spent time with Father Varlaam\, an elder and ascetic from the Sarov Monastery. By the age of twe lve he was spending time in the wilderness\, both with Father Varlaam and alone.\nAt the age of seventeen\, Yegor was conscripted into military serv ice\, where he mostly worked in clerical duties. As a young man he develop ed a cancerous growth on his neck which grew to cover his whole face. He p rayed unceasingly and fell before an icon of the Virgin Mary. After a nigh t of prayer and tears\, he wiped the face of the icon with a towel\, and t hen wrapped the towel around his own face and fell asleep. During his slee p\, he dreamt that he had been healed\, and he woke to find this to be tru e. His disfigurement was completely gone.\nIn 1777 Yegor was released from the army and entered the Sarov monastery as a novice. In 1782\, he receiv ed the name Herman when he was tonsured at the Valaam Monastery on Valiant Island\, a place where he often withdrew into the wilderness to pray for days at a time. St Herman came from the Valaam Monastery to Alaska in 1794 . He was one of a group of monks who had been requested by the Metropolita n Gabriel to travel to Alaska to bring the Gospel to the native Aleut peop le. At this time Alaska was in the possession of Russia.\nInitially he sta yed at Kodiak\, administering the mission and establishing a school\, but the monks came into conflict with the Russian authorities’ treatment of the natives. About 15 years later\, St Herman moved to a small\, densely w ooded island off the coast called Spruce Island\, where he lived a more he rmit-like life. He built a church and a cell\, planted a garden\, started an orphanage and a school for people on the island\, and lived in obedienc e to his monastic spiritual formation and Orthodox tradition\, chanting th e church services\, contemplating Scripture\, and pursuing an intense life of interior prayer.\nSt Herman died on Spruce Island in 1836\, his face r adiant with light. At the time of his death\, inhabitants nearby saw a pil lar of light rising above his hermitage. His last wish was to be buried on Spruce Island\, but some of his disciples attempted to bury his remains a t the church in Kodiak. A storm rose up and continued unabated until they abandoned the plan and buried him on Spruce Island. He became the first Am erican saint and was canonized in 1970.\nSt Herman’s Teachings\n“From this day\, from this hour\, from this minute\, let us strive to love God a bove all\, and fulfill His holy will.”\nHe was once asked\, “How do yo u live alone in the forest\, Fr. Herman\, don’t you become bored and lon ely?” He replied\, “No! I am not alone here. God is here\, as God is e verywhere. Holy angels are here. Can one become bored with them? With whom is converse better and more pleasant\, with men or with angels? Of course \, with angels!”\n“A true Christian is made by faith and love toward C hrist. Our sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity\, according to the word of the Saviour Himself. He deigned to say: not the righteous hav e I come to call\, but sinners to salvation\; there is more joy in heaven over one who repents than over ninety righteous ones. Likewise concerning the sinful woman who touched His feet\, He deigned to say to the Pharisee Simon: to one who has love\, a great debt is forgiven\, but from one who h as no love\, even a small debt will be demanded. From these judgments a Ch ristian should bring himself to hope and joy\, and not in the least accept an inflicted despair. Here one needs the shield of faith.” ― Letters of St. Herman of Alaska\nYou can read more about St Herman from these sour ces:\n\nGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of America\nSt. Herman of Alaska Orthod ox Church in Port Townsend\nSt Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church a parish o f the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in Virginia \nSt Herman acco rding to the Serbian Orthodox Church\nA detailed article at OrthoChristian site\nA PDF from the Orthodox Church in America\n\nHere is a video of Pil grimage by the Orthodox Church to Spruce Island in Alaska where St Herman is buried and venerated. \nHere is a fabulous video for kids where St Her mans life is drawn and his story told.\nHere is a writing from one of St H erman's letters:\n"Without exalting myself to the rank of teacher\, noneth eless\, fulfilling my duty and obligation as an obedient servant for the b enefit of my neighbor\, I will speak my mind\, founded on the commandments of Holy Scripture\, to those who thirst and seek for their eternal heaven ly homeland. \nA true Christian is made by faith and love of Christ. Our s ins do not in the least hinder our Christianity\, according to the word of the Savior Himself. He said: I am not come to call the righteous\, but si nners to repentance\; there is more joy in heaven over one who repents tha n over ninety and nine just ones. \nLikewise concerning the sinful woman w ho touched His feet\, He said to the Pharisee Simon: to one who has love\, a great debt is forgiven\, but from one who has no love\, even a small de bt will be demanded. From these judgements a Christian should bring himsel f to hope and joy\, and not in the least accept the torment of despair. He re one needs the shield of faith. \n Sin\, to one who loves God\, is nothi ng other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a w arrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his h eavenly homeland. \nAccording to the word of the Apostle\, our homeland is in heaven\; and about the warrior he says: we wrestle not against flesh a nd blood\, but against principalities\, against powers\, against the ruler s of the darkness of this world\, against spiritual wickedness in high pla ces (Eph.6: 12)]. \nThe vain desires of this world separate us from our ho meland\; love of them and habit clothe our soul as if in a hideous garment . This is called by the Apostles the outward man. We\, traveling on the jo urney of this life and calling on God to help us\, ought to be divesting o urselves of this hideous garment and clothing ourselves in new desires\, i n a new love of the age to come\, and thereby to receive knowledge of how near or how far we are from our heavenly homeland. But it is not possible to do this quickly\; rather one must follow the example of sick people\, w ho\, wishing the desired health\, do not leave off seeking means to cure t hemselves." \n-St Herman in a Letter of June 20\, 1820  LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T122335 LOCATION:Remember SUMMARY:Holy Hermit St Herman of Alaska URL;VALUE=URI:https://holyhermits.tithelysetup2.com/events/holy-hermit-st-h erman-of-alaska/2026-11-15 ATTACH;FILENAME=Herman.jpg;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfr ont.net/2021/08/07/19/56/46/effeaa24-c77f-4c50-bac8-56d4164ca0c8/Herman.jp g END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR