Have you met...
St. Herman of Alaska?
This 18th century monk missionary loved children, loved the Alaskan people, and loved God.
The reflection below can help you start your own traditions to remember this holy man.
There are so many stories about St. Herman that I could not pick only one to write about. Instead, here are a few glimpses into what makes him special to me:
When requested by the Church, he left his monastery home in Valaam to travel to a new land to serve God. On Spruce Island in Alaska, he lived off the land, growing his own potatoes and peas and preserving mushrooms. Do you know where he got the salt to preserve food? He carried baskets of seaweed across the island to harvest the salt from them. All this must have taken hours, but that wasn't his main job.
His main job was praying for the world, and he approached it with the seriousness and intensity of an Olympic athlete in training.
And all that prayer transformed him.
Wild animals approached this holy man like friend.
Even with all his prayer, sometimes the monk Herman grew intensely homesick, and angels comforted him.
Often he showed his love for the children on the island in a tangible way, making cookies and pretzels for them, and they adored him.
One year, my husband and son and I were so inspired by the story of this man that we decided to remember him with intention. We chose a date and invited a few families, cleared away the clutter from our living room, and set the table.
We planned to pile all the children on the couch and read a children’s book about St. Herman aloud. His icon stood ready on the table, along with candles and sheet music to sing the hymn remembering him.
Onion and garlic sizzled in the kitchen, for a feast that included Alaskan Salmon Patties, Pea Pies, Sweet Pretzels, and Spruce Island Cookies.
Then the phone rang. And rang again.
One by one, families called with news of sick kids. My husband and I put our own lonesome, crestfallen, sick kid to bed and ate salmon patties by ourselves.
Our party failed.
What had inspired us to plan this unusual party?
We got the idea of serving special foods from reading Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works.* Hieromonk Damascene explains, "The monastery also had its own local traditions regarding festive foods. On the feasts of St. Herman, the monks would make sweet pretzels, which St. Herman used to serve his orphans, and also "pea-pie," since it is known that St. Herman grew peas on Spruce Island... Sometimes the brothers were also fortunate enough to have Alaskan salmon on St. Herman's day" (pg601).
We had the menu, so what else could we do?
Eat. Read. Sing. Pray. Repeat next year.
You can order the book here
Reading about St. Herman would set before us a model of a life dedicated to God. The fact that he is an "American" saint might encourage us that we too can be saintly. Repeating this meal every year could help our children receive his story more and more deeply. Family traditions fill us with important things, as the truth enters not just our brains but also our hearts.
Of course, all of our ideals that first year ended with the flu.
That night, as I lay in bed comforting my whimpering, sick little one, I thought about St. Herman caring for the poor. Perhaps God gave me an opportunity in that moment to live out the virtue of St. Herman instead of merely reading about it.
That was fifteen years ago, and we have been blessed to remember St. Herman many times since.
With our various attempts at tradition in mind, I want to give you your own starter kit for remembering St. Herman of Alaska.
St. Herman of Alaska “Starter Kit”
The first step is to look at your local Church calendar and see if you can attend a liturgy on August 9, November 15, or December 13.
In the Olsen home, Spruce Island cookies are our favorite treat to make each year. A Presbytera friend gave me this recipe years ago, and I taped it into the back cover of my parish cookbook. It's traditional to make green tree shapes for Spruce Island, and yellow stars, since St. Herman is called the North Star of Christ's holy Church in his troparion. In an attempt to avoid food dyes this year, we added 1/4 tsp turmeric to the recipe to make yellow stars. But you can also frost them or use yellow sprinkles. Here’s a copy of the recipe for you!
Everything you would like to know about St. Herman’s life and ministry
Alaskan Salmon Patties recipe. This also works really well as a filling in a double pie crust! The kids can shape the scraps into crosses or fish to decorate the top.
Fire in the Snow - a fascinating account from a unique pov by Paul Kingsnorth
Dr. Pat’s Sunday School Lesson about St. Herman, with coloring page - great for little ones
St. Herman greeting cards from St. Herman Press - beautiful black ink drawings of Alaska & St. Herman.
Our favorite children’s book about St. Herman is out of print, but I know many families who love this one.*
The illustration at the beginning of this email comes from this amazing story of St. Herman, who still works miracles today.
*If you want to explore this book, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases 😊 You may also buy it directly from St. Vladimir Seminary Press.