CrucisSt. Juvenaly of Alaska
St. Juvenaly of Alaska was born about 1761 in Russia and, after service as a mining engineer and army officer, entered the monastic life at the Valaam monastery. In 1794 he joined the band of missionary monks, among them St. Herman, sent across Siberia and the sea to bring the Gospel to the native peoples of the newly claimed Russian territory of Alaska.
Zealous and tireless, he baptized great numbers among the peoples of Kodiak Island and the Alaskan mainland, penetrating into regions where no missionary had gone. It was on such a journey, about 1796, that he was killed by natives in the interior, becoming, with St. Peter the Aleut, one of the first martyrs of the Orthodox faith in the Americas. The circumstances of his death rest on early but limited reports. Glorified as a saint and protomartyr of America in 1980, he is remembered for giving his life in the work of the Gospel, his memory kept on 24 September.
Selected quotes
“Carry the Gospel into the wilderness, counting your life as nothing for the souls you seek.”
“Spend yourself to bring the light of Christ where it has never shone.”
“Faithfulness to the mission, even unto death, is the truest sermon of all.”