Many Alaska Natives have devoutly practiced the Orthodox Faith since missionaries first arrived from Russia in the eighteenth century, and now they can venerate one more of their own. The Orthodox Church in America canonized St. Olga of Kwethluk this June, making her the first female Alaska-born Orthodox saint.
St. Olga was born in 1916 in the Yup’ik village of Kwethluk. She married and had thirteen children, of whom eight survived to adulthood. She worked as a midwife and nurse, serving hundreds of pregnant women. She was especially known for caring for victims of abuse, particularly sexual abuse. She lived as a mother to her community until she died of cancer in 1979. She lived an ordinary life with great devotion and love, a reminder that holiness is for all of us.
For her canonization, a cavalcade of Orthodox bishops traveled to St. Olga’s hometown of Kwethluk. Yup’ik Alaskans flocked to the celebration, including many of St. Olga’s own children and grandchildren. Her daughter Helen Larson, said at the ceremony, “This is not just my mom anymore.”
