Anga, Irkutsk Province, Russia, September 9, 2021
museum-irkutsk.com
St. Innocent of Alaska is one of the first and greatest saints to have served in the American land, later becoming the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia.
Every year on September 8, the Holy Hierarch’s birthday is honored in his native region at the Irkutsk Province Museum of Local History, and this year, the celebration was joined by a delegation from America that traveled to Russia to open an exhibition in honor of St. Innocent and his legacy at Fort Ross in California, the Museum reports.
The day began with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at St. Innocent Church in the saint’s native village of Anga. The American delegation includes both ROCOR and OCA clergy who served together with His Eminence Metropolitan Maximilian of Irkutsk.
museum-irkutsk.com
After the service, the “St. Innocent and Fort Ross” exhibition was opened at the village’s St. Innocent Cultural-Educational Center.
museum-irkutsk.com
The exhibition was the result of several years of cooperation between historians, volunteers, clergy from America, and employees of the Irkutsk museum. The exhibition is supplemented with drawings from Orthodox children in California and Russia.
museum-irkutsk.com
The project was headed by Robin Joy Wellman, a former employee of the Fort Ross State Historical Park, who was highly impressed by the Anga center dedicated to St. Innocent when she visited in 2019. She then had the idea to supplement the center with information and items from the saint’s time in California, as most of the museum exposition was dedicated to his mission in Alaska, reports ogirk.ru.
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Among the items from the American delegation is a copy of the Gospel of Matthew used by St. Innocent.
After the opening, the guests took part in the annual planting of cedar seedlings outside the Center. The celebration ended with a concert performed by local folk ensembles.
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