St. Jacob of Alaska

The Icon

Feast Day - July 26th

The icon shows St. Jacob in Archpriest Vestments, Komilavka, and jeweled cross. In his hand he is holding an open Gospel with the words from St. Matthew: "go and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." The words are written in Church Slavonic and English. His facial features reveal his Creole racial mix.

Around the outside of the Icon are events from his life.
1. His birth to native Alaskan and Russian parents
2. His seminary education in Irkutsk
3. His ordination by Archbishop Michael who had earlier ordained Father John Veniaminov (St. Innocent)
4. His journey back to Alaska with , his father, Yegor, (now tonsured as reader for the Atka Church), and his Matushka, Anna.
5. In Atka baptizing 16, chrismating 442, marrying 53 couples, and burying 8.
6. Father Jacob building a school in which the children would learn to read and write both Russian and Unangan Aleut.
7. Bishop Innocent and Father Jacob on a voyage by ship to Kamchatka.
8. Father Jacob in the wilderness of Alaska.
9. Learning new languages, embracing new peoples and cultures, devising another alphabet, for southwestern Alaska.
10. His death on July 26, 1864 at the age of 60 and his burial at the entry of the chapel he built in a Tlinkit village.
11. During his final missionary travels in the Kuskokwim/Yukon delta region, he had baptized 1,320 people - distinguishing himself as the evangelizer of the Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabascan Indian peoples.
12. His canonization and Glorification by the Orthodox Church in America.

Troparion in tone 4

O righteous Father Jacob,
Adornment of Atka and the Yukon Delta,
You offered yourself as a living sacrifice
To bring light to a searching people.
Offspring of Russian America,
Flower of brotherly unity,
Healer of sickness and terror of demons:
O Holy Father Jacob,
Pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion in tone 3

O Holy Father Jacob,
Teacher of the knowledge of God,
You revealed your love for your people,
Taking up your cross and following Christ,
Enduring hardships like the Apostle Paul.
Pray on our behalf to Christ our God
To grant us great mercy.

To view the Life of St. Jacob of Alaska, please click here