St. German came to America as part of the Russian Orthodox mission to Alaska in 1794. He lived there until his death and for more than four decades taught the natives and the Russians living in Alaska with word and deed.
In 1793, a group of ten monks from the Valaam Monastery was formed to preach the word of God to the natives in northwestern America. Among the members of the mission was Father German. The monk German was born into a merchant family in the city of Serpukov, Moscow diocese. It is not known what his real name was, nor what his last name was. From childhood he showed great zeal for a pious life and became a monk at the age of 16. He first lived in the Trinity-Sergius cell, which was part of the Sergius Lavra. While he was living in the Trinity-Sergius cell, a large boil appeared on his neck under his chin. The pain was terrible. The swelling grew rapidly and disfigured his entire face. It was difficult for him to swallow, and an unbearable smell spread from the boil. Father German did not turn to an earthly doctor, but locked himself in his cell and with fervent prayer and tears in his eyes he turned to the icon of the Queen of Heaven, begging Her for healing. He prayed all night, then took a wet cloth, wiped the icon of the Holy Mother of God with it, and then tied it around his neck. He continued to pray until he collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep on the floor. Then he dreamed that the Most Holy Virgin had healed him. In the morning he woke up and, to his greatest amazement, saw that he was completely healthy. The swelling had disappeared, there was only a small lump that resembled the boil.
Father German lived in the Trinity-Sergius cell for about 5-6 years. Then he entered the Valaam monastery, where he came under the guidance of Abbot Nazarius. At Valaam he underwent various obediences. He was often sent to the town of Serdobol to oversee the marble quarry there. The brothers loved Father German and eagerly awaited his return from Serdobol every day. After testing the zeal of the young ascetic, Elder Nazarius blessed him to live alone in the wilderness. The wilderness was located in a dense forest about a kilometer and a half from the monastery. To this day, this place is called “German’s field.”
After the Russians discovered the Aleutian Islands, they realized the need to preach the Gospel to the local inhabitants. With the blessing of the Synod, Metropolitan Gabriel charged Elder Nazarius with the task of selecting capable men from the Valaam brotherhood. One of them was Father German. After arriving in Alaska, the enlighteners quickly spread the gospel light among these newest sons and daughters of Russia. Several thousand people accepted Christianity. A school was founded to educate the newly converted children. A church was built. However, by God’s providence, the success of the mission did not last long. The leader of the mission, Archimandrite Joasaph, who had been elevated to the rank of bishop of Alaska, drowned on the way from Russia to Alaska with all his companions. Even before that, Hieromonk Juvenalius was crowned with a martyr’s crown after being killed by the locals. Some of the remaining monks died, and others returned to Russia. Only Father German remained. By God’s providence, he would enlighten the Aleuts the longest of his brethren.
During his first years in Alaska, Father German lived on Kodiak Island and worked in the bakery. One summer, he took a group of local children to Father Spruce Island to conduct a “gardening experiment.” To this day, St. German is considered the father of gardening in Alaska, because no one had cultivated the land before. He moved to Spruce Island and lived there for several years in complete idyll. The island is not large and is completely covered with forest. A small stream flows through the middle of the island and flows into the sea. Father German chose this picturesque island to retire to. He dug a cave in the ground with his bare hands and spent the entire first summer in it. When winter began, the Russian-American trading company built him a cell near the cave. He lived in this cell until his death and asked to be buried in the cave. Not far from his cell, a wooden chapel, a wooden building for a school and for receiving visitors were built. In his garden, Father German planted potatoes, cabbage, peas, carrots, garlic and turnips. One visitor recalled that he peeled potatoes, let them dry on his Russian stove, then grated them and made bread from the flour. To fertilize the soil, he carried kelp from the shore in a large basket. It was so huge that the locals wondered how he could lift it when it was full of kelp.
His clothing was the same in summer and winter. He wore no shirt. Instead, he wore something like a deerskin vest. Over it he wore a cassock, a mantle, and a “klobuk”—his monk’s hat. He went everywhere dressed like this—in rain, in snow, in winter storms, and in dog-cold weather.
His bed was a medium-sized bench covered with a deerskin that had worn out with time. His pillow was two bricks. He had no blanket. He would put a wide board on the stove to warm himself and then “wrap himself” in it. He called this board “my blanket” and wanted it to be placed over him when he died.
The elder ate very little. When he went to visit, he barely touched the food. In his cell, he ate a little fish and vegetables.
On his body, exhausted by hard work, fasting and vigils, hung chains weighing seven kilograms. These chains have been preserved to this day.
Describing the ascetic labors of Fr. German, his disciple, the Aleut Ignatius Alyaga, says: “Yes, the life he led was hard; no one can imitate him.” Bishop Peter, vicar of the Kamchatka diocese at that time, says: “Most of his labors were carried out in the solitude of his cell, where no one could see him; outside of it people saw him singing and serving according to the monastic rule.” The elder was once asked: “How come you live in the forest alone? Don’t you get bored?” To the question, he answered like this: “No, I am not alone in the forest! God is with me, God is everywhere! The holy angels are with me! How can a person be bored with them? Who is more pleasant to talk to – with angels or with people? With angels, of course!”
He always interceded for the offenders before the authorities, defended the injured and helped the needy in any way he could. The Aleuts and their children often visited him. Some came for advice, others came to complain that violence was being committed against them, and still others sought protection or help from the elder. He listened to their pain and tried to restore peace and harmony in the families. If he could not reconcile the man and the woman, he separated them for a while. He explained the need for such measures as follows: “It is better to let them live separately, without quarreling and fighting. Believe me, living together can sometimes be very terrifying. In some cases, the man killed the woman or the woman drove the man crazy!” Father German was especially fond of children. He baked saltine crackers and gave them to them when they visited him.
A ship coming from the United States brought a deadly infectious disease that caused open sores. The disease first spread to Sitka Island, and then to Kodiak Island. The victims of the disease died after three days. The illness lasted a month. The mortality rate was so high that there was no one to dig the graves, and dead people lay everywhere. Father German tirelessly visited the sick and begged them to be patient, to pray, to repent of their sins, and to prepare for death.
Father German was an educator of the Aleuts. He established a school for orphaned Aleut children. There he taught them the Law of God and church singing. He gathered the Aleuts for prayer in the chapel near his cell on holidays and Sundays. His students read the Hours and other prayers, the elder read the Epistles and the Gospel, and the girls from the school sang. The Aleuts loved to listen to the teachings of Father German: they were very interesting and had an extraordinary impact on them.
Yanovsky, the governor of Alaska at that time, testified to many cases when St. German preached not only to the locals, but also to the Russians. He visited them on Kodiak Island and sometimes taught them until late at night, but he never stayed there overnight, but returned to Spruce Island. Governor Yanovsky himself was converted to the faith by the Elder. He was a freethinker, a highly educated man, and a superficial Christian before he met Father German. Here is what he says about the Elder: “We talked every day until midnight, and sometimes even later. We talked about God’s love, eternity, the salvation of the soul, and the Christian life. Sweet words flowed from his mouth like an unceasing stream… Through these regular conversations and through the prayers of the holy elder, God guided me on the path of Truth, and I became a true Christian. For all this I am indebted to Father German. He is my benefactor.”
“A few years ago,” continues Yanovsky, “Father German converted a sea captain who was a Lutheran to Orthodoxy. This captain was educated. In addition to knowing many sciences, he spoke Russian, German, Italian, English, and a little Spanish. But he could not resist the arguments and evidence that Father German presented to him, changed his beliefs, and was received into the Church by chrismation.”
Once Father German was talking to Russian sailors and asked them if they loved God. When they all casually affirmed that they loved God, he replied: “And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for 40 years and I cannot say that I love Him perfectly.” Then he added: “Let us at least make a solemn promise to ourselves that from this day, from this hour, from this very moment, we will strive above all to love God and to do His holy will.”
Here is how in his memoirs about St. German, Governor Yanovsky mentions St. Peter the Aleut: “Another time I told him how the Spaniards captured 14 Aleuts and handed them over to the Jesuits, who forced them to accept the Catholic faith. The Aleuts categorically refused to do this. They said “We are Christians!”, to which the Jesuits replied “That is not true! You are heretics and schismatics, and if you do not recant and accept our faith, we will torture you all to death.” Then they divided the Aleuts in the prison into cells of two. The Jesuits came to the prison in the evening with lamps and lighted candles and again tried to convince the Aleuts to accept Catholicism. After they refused, the Jesuits began to torture one of the Aleuts in the first room, while the other had to watch as they tortured him. They cut off one joint from the Aleut’s leg, and then another. Then they tore off two joints from his hands. Then they cut off his feet and wrists. Blood flowed, but the martyr endured and resolutely repeated the same thing: “I am a Christian.” In such suffering, he died of blood loss. The next day, the Jesuits promised to torture his friend in the same way, but in the evening they received an order from Monterey to send all the captured Aleuts under convoy there. In the morning, everyone was sent there, except for the deceased Aleut. This was told to me by an Aleut witness, a friend of the martyr who had escaped the torture. Then I told about what happened in St. Petersburg. When I finished my story, Father German asked me: “What was the Aleut’s name?” I answered him: “Peter, but I do not remember his last name.” Then the Elder got up, went to the icon, crossed himself with reverence and uttered the following words: “Holy New Martyr Peter, pray to God for us!”
Saint Peter the Aleut was canonized in 1980, and his memory is celebrated on September 24.
Saint German did not want anything for himself in this life. He refused to be ordained a hieromonk or an archimandrite and forever remained simply a monk. Father German worked for God with all his zeal, without any fear of those in power. He paid no attention to who was of what rank, but condemned many for their intemperate life, their disrespectful behavior, and their exploitation of the Aleuts. The anger of these people against him created all kinds of difficulties for him. The slanders against Father German were so skillful that they often could not be recognized. According to one of the accusations, Father German secretly accumulated wealth in his cell. A priest from Spruce Island, the governor of the colony, and workers from the Russian-American company came to search Father German’s cell, expecting to find valuables in it. When he did not Having found nothing of value, the worker Ponomarkov, apparently with the permission of his superiors, began to break the boards of the floor with an ax. “Dear friend,” Father German told him, “You took this ax in vain today, but it is this tool that will ruin your life.” Later, Ponomarkov was transferred to the Kenai Peninsula, where the locals cut off his head while he was sleeping.
Saint German was tormented by demons. He discovered this to his disciple Gerasim, who once entered his cell without saying the usual prayer and, having asked the monk a question, received no answer. The next day, he asked the Elder why he had been silent the previous day. Then Father German answered him: “When I came to the island and settled in this wilderness, demons came in the form of people and animals. I suffered a lot from them – tortures and temptations. That is why I no longer speak to anyone in my cell unless they have said a prayer upon entering.”
Father German received many supernatural gifts from God. He fed the birds around his cell with dried fish, and they nested en masse around it. Under his cell lived a Siberian marten, which one day gave birth to young. These animals are fiercely protective of their young, but Father German could feed them with his bare hands. His disciple Ignatius Alyaga wrote the following in connection with this incident and in connection with some other things: “Isn’t the feeding of the Siberian marten a miracle? Father German was seen feeding bears as well. After the old man died, both the birds and the animals disappeared. And no matter how much we looked after his garden, it bore no fruit.” This shows that St. Germanus had attained deification – union with God, which is the goal of all of us. When a person attains deification here on earth, he is in a state similar to that of Adam and Eve before the Fall, when man was in harmony with all animals. There are many examples of saints who were friends with animals, such as St. Seraphim of Sarov, for example, who also fed a bear.
Once on Spruce Island there was a flood. The locals came running to the elder. Then he took an icon of the Mother of God from the house where the students lived, placed it on a shallow bank and began to pray. Then he turned to those who were with him and said to them: “Do not be afraid, the water will not pass the place where the icon stands.” According to his prophecy, the water did not pass the place where the icon was placed. He ordered his student Sofia Vlasova to place this icon of the Holy Mother of God on the shore in case of danger of flooding and promised the locals that the Mother of God would always protect them. This icon is still kept on Spruce Island.
Once Father German asked Baron F. P. Wrangel to write a letter on his behalf to a metropolitan in Russia. When they finished writing the letter, the elder congratulated the baron on receiving the rank of admiral. The baron was amazed. The news was confirmed much later, when the baron was in St. Petersburg.
Once the forest on the island of Spruce caught fire. The elder and his disciple Ignatius cleared the forest undergrowth at the foot of a hill and turned the moss over on the ground. Then the elder said to Ignatius: “Don’t worry. The fire will not cross this line.” The next day there was no hope of salvation, and the fire approached the moss turned over by the elder. But when the flames reached the cleared place, they stopped and did not cross to the other side of the line.
Many prophecies are also known that the elder made during his lifetime. Father German said: “After my death there will be an epidemic and many people will die from it – both Russians and Aleuts.” And indeed, six months after his death, a smallpox epidemic broke out in Alaska, which killed so many people that in some villages only a few remained alive. This forced the colonial authorities to gather the scattered Aleuts together: so out of 20 villages, only 7 remained.
Here is another prophecy of the elder German. He liked to tell his followers: “Although a lot of time will pass after my death, my memory will not be forgotten and the place where I lived will not remain uninhabited. A monk, like me and fleeing from human glory, will come to live on Spruce Island. The island will never remain uninhabited.” In fulfillment of this prophecy, in 1935, the Russian hieromonk Gerasim (Shmaltz), who was later ordained as an archimandrite, settled on Spruce Island. He lived in a wooden cell, which has been preserved in its original form to this day. In it, he lived in solitude, praying for the world and for his suffering homeland, which at that time was subjected to an atheistic regime. He died in 1969 and was buried on Spruce Island.
In a conversation with the young Konstantin Larionov, Father German predicted the future of monastic life on the island. Once the elder asked 12-year-old Konstantin: “My child, do you think that the chapel that is now being built will be abandoned?” The boy replied: “I don’t know, apa [“apa” means grandfather, old man in the Aleut language – note by transl.].” Konstantin later recalled: “And I really didn’t understand his question then, although the conversation is clearly imprinted in my memory.” The elder was silent for a while, and then said: “My child, remember that in time there will be a monastery in this place.” And indeed, in our days, Fr. There is a small male monastery on Spruce Island – the “St. Archangel Michael” Skete. In the immediate vicinity of Spruce Island is St. Nile, which was named after the 15th century Russian ascetic St. Nile Sorsky. Today, this island is home to the female skete “St. Nile Sorsky”. Both monastic communities belong to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In both skete, the daily cycle of services is performed. Simplicity is the guiding principle in their daily lives. The monks and nuns try to follow the example of St. German and make a living from the land. This includes catching enough salmon for the winter, maintaining large vegetable gardens, and gathering berries, mushrooms, and edible plants. In the summer, they use the long Alaskan days to work outdoors, while the winter gives them more opportunities for reading and needlework. In all seasons, however, their main goal is to wage a focused struggle against the passions in the traditions of Orthodox monasticism.
Elder German gave detailed instructions for his burial and foretold some of the circumstances surrounding it. He told his followers: “When I die, bury me next to Father Joasaph. Kill my ox immediately. He has served me well enough. Bury me yourselves and do not announce my death in the harbor. The people of the harbor (Kodiak) will not see my face. Do not call for a priest and do not wait for him to come, for you will wait in vain! Do not wash my body, but place it in the coffin. Fold my arms on my chest, wrap me in my mantle and cover my face with its edges. And put a hood on my head. If anyone wants to say goodbye to me, let him kiss the cross in my hands. Do not show my face to anyone. After you lower me into the ground, cover me with my blanket.” As mentioned earlier, this blanket was a board that was always in his cell and with which he “wrapped himself” at night.
The time of his repose in God was approaching. One day he called his disciple Gerasim to his cell and told him to light candles before the icons and begin to read the Acts of the Apostles. After a while his face shone and he said: “Glory to You, O Lord!” Then he told Gerasim that it pleased God to prolong his life by a week. After a week he again ordered candles to be lit and the Acts of the Apostles to be read. The elder quietly leaned his head on Gerasim’s chest and died. Then a fragrance filled the room. He died at the age of 81 on December 13, 1837.
That evening in the village of Katari on Afognak Island, an unusual pillar of fire was seen rising from Spruce Island to the sky. Amazed by this phenomenon, the elderly man Gerasim Vologdin said to his wife Anna: “Surely Father German has left us.” And he began to pray. Later they learned that it was at this moment that Father German died. This pillar of fire was also seen by other people in other places at the same time.
Against the will of Father German, his disciples decided to announce his death in Kodiak, because the Aleuts were afraid of the Russians. The governor of the colony, Kashevarov, forbade them to bury him before he came for the funeral. But these instructions were contrary to the will of the elder. A terrible wind blew, it began to rain, and a terrible storm arose. The journey by water from Kodiak Island to Spruce Island is only two hours, but no one dared to cross the short distance in such weather. The bad weather lasted for a month. All this time, the body of St. German lay in the house of his disciples. His face did not change in the slightest, and his body did not begin to decompose. Finally, the coffin brought by Kozma Uchilishev arrived. No one from the harbor came. The inhabitants of Spruce Island themselves laid the old man in the ground. Thus the Old Man’s last will was fulfilled. After he was buried, the winds died down and the sea surface became smooth as glass.
Also, for some unknown reason, his disciples did not kill Father German’s ox. But the day after his death, he apparently began to feel such grief for his master that he hit his head on a tree, fell to the ground and died.
After burying the Elder in the cave he had dug himself many decades earlier, his followers erected a wooden monument over it. In 1894, a wooden chapel dedicated to St. Sergius and St. German of Valaam was built over the graves of Fr. German and Fr. Joasaph (one of the ten monks who came to Alaska from Valaam). At the time the chapel was built, St. German of Alaska had not yet been canonized, so the chapel was dedicated to the saints he considered his patrons during his lifetime – St. Sergius and German, the founders of the Valaam Monastery. The chapel contains an icon of these saints along with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra, which is located on the south wall. It was painted in the late 19th century at the Valaam Monastery and brought to Spruce Island. On the opposite side is an icon of the Mother of God, which was on the island since the time of Saint German.
Saint German was canonized on August 9, 1970, simultaneously by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Today, most of his relics are in the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection on Kodiak Island. Every year on August 9, several hundred pilgrims from all over America and elsewhere come to Kodiak Island and Spruce Island to celebrate the anniversary of the proclamation of Saint German as a saint. The celebrations last for three days. Pilgrims gather early in the morning at the small port of Kodiak Island, where they board fishing boats to go to the Monastic Lagoon on Spruce Island. An episcopal liturgy is celebrated in the Church of St. Sergius and German. Then a memorial service is held at the grave of Archimandrite Gerasim Shmaltz. After that, the pilgrims gather for lunch on the beach and return by boat to Kodiak Island, where Vespers is celebrated in the evening. During the three-day celebrations, a procession is also held on foot and by boat from Spruce Island to Kodiak Island. The procession is led by the local clergy, who carry the ancient icon of the Mother of God from the church of St. Sergius and German, followed by pilgrims. In the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection on Kodiak Island, the Holy Liturgy is also celebrated and the Akathist of St. German of Alaska is read before the coffin with his relics.
In 1993, the late Russian Patriarch Alexy II visited Kodiak to venerate the relics of St. German. He left as a gift a richly decorated lamp, which burns continuously on the coffin with the relics of the saint. Pilgrims from all over the world are anointed with the holy oil from this lamp.
The majority of the relics of the saint are in the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection in Kodiak. However, many believers take soil from the ground around the church of St. St. Sergius and German on Spruce Island, where the saint is buried. There is also a spring from which pilgrims pour water for blessing. Part of his relics are in the chapel of St. Ignatius in Pennsylvania, where the Archdiocese of North America of the Antiochian Orthodox Church is located.
In 1963, with the blessing of St. John Maksimovich, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, a monastery was founded in the name of St. German of Alaska (http://orthodoxwiki.org/Monastery_of_St._Herman_of_Alaska_(Platina,_California)). The monastery is located in Platina, California, and since 1965 one of its missions has been to publish Orthodox literature in English. Since then, the St. German publishing house has published over 100 titles in English and Russian (http://www.stherman.com/). It also publishes the bimonthly magazine Orthodox Word. One of the founders of the publishing house is Fr. Seraphim Rose.
The Kodiak Orthodox Theological Seminary is also named after St. German of Alaska (http://www.sthermanseminary.org/), as are many parish churches in the United States and around the world.
PRAYER TO OUR HOLY AND GOD-BEARING FATHER GERMAN OF ALASKA
Having lived in fasting on earth and passed into the heavenly dwellings, where joy is unceasing, O holy Father German, you showed yourself a vigilant and obedient settler in a foreign land: remembering in your heart the beautiful Valaam and your native Russia, you spread the Orthodox faith with apostolic zeal, and in order to reap the fruits of your labors, you filled your heart with abundant love for the Aleuts and the inhabitants of Alaska, caring for them and teaching them the Gospel teachings. Hear now us, who pray to you from the land of your exploits, hear also the groans of the land of your fathers, receive and the supplications of those who pray to you from every corner of God’s creation. May we receive, through your intercession, the softening of our hardened souls, pray that we may understand the will of God; and although we have done nothing good before God, let us make a good beginning. For as you said, oh humble preacher, from this day and hour let us strive to love God above all things. For our God is truly a lover of mankind and to Him be glory forever, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Illustration: Orthodox icon of St. Peter the Aleut
