St. Herman Studios icon of St Herman of Alaska was a Russian monk who along with 10 other monks left Valaam Monastery in Russia and were sent to Alaska as missionaries to bring orthodoxy to America. They left in 1794 and traveled by foot and horse all the way to the Bering Strait where they got on a boat and crossed the sea into Alaska. They then traveled all the way to Kodiak Island, let that sink in!
St Herman fought against the abuse and slavery of the native Aleutian people by the traders on Kodiak Island and instantly became a hero of the Aleutian people. After many attempts on his life by the trading company he would eventually leave Kodiak Island in 1817 and moved to neighboring Spruce Island where he would spend the remaining of his life there as a hermit, reposing on November 15th, 1836. He would receive many visitors on Spruce and was attributed as a wonderworker. St Herman is the patron Saint of our home parish and we dedicated St Herman Studios to him. He is credited as the founder of orthodoxy in America and we love him dearly!
