WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. My

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dear friends, you probably thought you would

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never get too much sun by coming to the Divine

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Liturgy. But here we are, enlightened in more

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ways than one. We have a great blessing today,

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my dear friends in Christ. We have an opportunity

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to open our hearts, to be inspired, to be nourished,

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and maybe to be renewed in our soul by the life

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of the first saint glorified in America, Saint

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Herman of Alaska. It was August 9th. 1970, exactly

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50 years ago today, that hierarchs and priests

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and monks and faithful came together to celebrate

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the many vigils, muyebbins, liturgies before

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the grave on Kodiak Island of the humble and

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assuming but bright, very bright star of the

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church, Father Herman. It was so important, not

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only for Alaska, not only for the church, not

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only for the church in the whole world, but even

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the country. His life was submitted to the congressional

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record in Washington with a resolution to recognize

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this day the glorification of St. Herman. Times

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have changed, obviously. You can read about the

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life of St. Herman on your own. So I'm not going

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to give you much detail about that now. Let me

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just tell you this. Some recent research about

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St. Hermit tells us what his name was before

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monasticism. Before this research, we had no

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idea. It was Igor, George. We had no idea that

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he had been married, and at 19 years of age,

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he had a son. We had no idea that the son...

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and the wife died in an epidemic. One can imagine

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the young man's sorrow, 19 years of age. And

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he became a monk in a difficult time when Tsar

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Peter the Great made it very difficult for someone

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to join a monastery. He eventually came to the

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great and ancient monastery of Valam on Lake

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Latika. I had the blessing to go there in 19...

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And he became a hermit. While I was there, I

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saw the field they call Herman's Field, where

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he had a hut. And he lived there until the call

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from the church, from missionaries to come to

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Alaska to evangelize. And he volunteered with

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some nine or so others. After a year's travel

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across Russia, it took a year to travel to get

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to Alaska, they arrived in September of 1794,

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not to find a church built, not to find a place

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to stay, but to find a Russian -American company

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that was abusing the local native population.

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And their work was cut out for them. Forty years

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of labor, and most of that alone, because the

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others that came with him, two or three drowned

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at sea, some returned, some were killed. And

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here's where your own reading is going to need

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to fill in the rest of the story. I want to...

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focus our attention on six things that he did

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that we also can do as Christians and that we

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are invited by the Lord to do. He was an ascetic

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and he was a monk. He took up the cross. He denied

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Christ. He took up the cross, denied himself.

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And he followed Christ. He took up that invitation

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from the Lord to be with him. That's what we've

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all done. And he wore a 16 -pound cross around

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his neck inside of his shirt. He was a true ascetic.

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He gave himself entirely to the Lord to care

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for the people, to teach them the faith, and

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they... Loved him. He didn't worry about what

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he wore. He wore the same clothes. Year in, year

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out, icy cold, terrible heat. Same clothes. And

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most of the time he was barefoot, even in the

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snow. He was an equal of the Desert Fathers in

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every way. He humbly prayed the services of the

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church. He taught others to sing. He prayed all

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night the Jesus Prayer. He slept very little,

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and he had the gift of pure prayer of the heart,

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and he was an enlightened man. This is why people

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wanted to be with him. He was an evangelist.

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Because people came to him, he could share the

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good news of the resurrection of Christ. of the

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overcoming of death, of the forgiveness of sins.

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He was a nurse to the suffering, having lived

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through two, not just one epidemic. He buried

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hundreds who died. He stayed with the sick during

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the epidemic. He tended them. He prayed for them.

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Some of them were healed. He comforted them,

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and he prepared many. to die. He was a man who

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cultivated paradise. What do I mean by that?

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Because the Garden of Eden, the kingdom of God,

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was in his heart, so he was in harmony with nature,

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stopping a tsunami from destroying the village,

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stopping a fire from destroying a village. He

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had a spring with healing water coming out of

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it. Around him and within him, because of his

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heart, was paradise. He had friends of wild animals

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and bears that would come to him. He had a productive

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garden, and he made food for all the people there.

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He was a defender of the oppressed. He spoke

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the truth, but he spoke the truth in love, and

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he spoke the truth from a heart that was transfigured

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by the knowledge of the resurrection. He was

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a defender of the oppressed against the Russian

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-American company who was oppressing the native

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population. And attempts were made many times

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on his life. to kill him, to get him out of the

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way, because he was a troublemaker for them.

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And he was a prophet. He spoke the truth. He

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spoke of things to come, including the day of

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his own repose. Much, much more. He was many,

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many more things. He was a man, let us just say,

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whose very presence revealed the kingdom of God,

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the goodness, the mercy, the love and embrace

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that God has for all. That was his life. Exactly

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as St. Paul says, the grace of God was not in

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vain. Through patience, endurance, in stripes,

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in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings.

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by pureness, by knowledge, by long -suffering,

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by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, as sorrowful,

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yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many

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rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing all

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things. That was St. Herman. And the physical

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hardships he endured, the sorrows of his life.

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the personal attacks against him by the authorities,

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the care of so many souls, right up until his

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repose in November of 1837, just a few years

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after the repose of St. Seraphim. All that he

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did seems impossible to us, and it is heroic,

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which is why... We place him where we do, and

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we write hymns about him, and we sing, and we

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pray to him that he would intercede for us. Despite

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all these troubles, but along suffering, imprisonments,

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tumults, great endurance, sleepinesses, fastings,

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he was not shaken. He did not sink. Like Peter,

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who should not have gotten out of the boat in

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the first place, who became just like his name.

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What happens to a stone, a rock, when you throw

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it in the water? It sinks. Peter the rock should

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not have gotten out. St. Herman did not sink.

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The storms. It's not the storms outside the boat

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that we need to worry about. Yes, sometimes we

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need to do something about them, but it's not

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the storms outside the boat that we need to worry

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about. Do you follow what I'm saying, my dear

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friends? It's not the storms outside the boat,

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the church, that we need to worry about. It's

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the storm within us that will sink us. Christ

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doesn't save us from the storm. Here we are.

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He saves us in the midst of the storm. He comes

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walking, and when we sink, we cry out, save me,

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O Lord, and he reaches his hand out to us, and

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he pulls us up. Dear friends, we don't need to

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complain. We don't need to curse what's around

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us. All we need to say is, save me, O Lord. St.

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Herman's gaze and trust, unlike St. Peter's,

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who at that point was not illumined by the Holy

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Spirit yet. St. Herman, his gaze, his trust was

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always on and in the Lord Jesus Christ. How?

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How can we follow that same way? Yes, by prayer,

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reaching out our hands to Christ. When we are

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in turmoil, We reach out our hands to Christ.

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When the sea of life is scaring us, we reach

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out our hands, save me, O Lord. When we feel

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alone and anxious, without resources to cope,

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when we think it's someone else's fault, we say,

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by God's grace, save me, O Christ. And then the

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time comes, indeed, finally it will come, when

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we finally admit that we are ruled not by the

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Lord, the master and king of all creation, but

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by the turmoil within us, by our thoughts and

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fears and desires. And when we realize that,

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this is good news, then by God's grace, we can

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grasp our Savior's hand. And through the prayers

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of St. Herman, we understand. that it's not the

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storm outside the boat. We need to come to the

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peaceful harbor first before we can fix things

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out there. And then we start believing in God

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as St. Herman would describe it. Listen to these

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simple, basic words. If we love someone, he said,

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we always remember that person. We try to please

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that person. Day and night, our heart is concerned

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with the subject of that person. Is that the

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way we love God? Do you turn to him often, says

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Venerable Father? Do you always remember him?

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Do you always pray to him? Do you always fulfill

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his holy commandments? Why was St. Herman successful?

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Why were the missionaries in Alaska successful?

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Why within the first few years were 7 ,000 people

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baptized? It wasn't just because they defended

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them against the oppressors. No, it was because

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they brought good news of the peace and the joy

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of the kingdom of God and the life eternal now.

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The legacy of St. Herman, his work, His life

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as an icon of our Savior is our model of orthodoxy

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in this land. He is the first saint canonized

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in this country. And that's true for the Catholics,

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too. He's the first one. Can we accept his work,

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his legacy, as our own? If we don't, then as

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St. Paul says, is the Holy Spirit given in vain?

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He prays for us, this saint. His relics are before

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us, and they contain holiness of God. Let's receive

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the benefit of his prayer. Let's receive the

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benefit of the grace of the relics. Let us shake

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off our spiritual slumber, be awakened, or else

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the Orthodox Church in this country will be irrelevant

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if we don't embrace the legacy for life. the

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acts of St. Hermit, because it's just the Christian

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life. That's all. He lived it in a way that is

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magnificent and beautiful and intense, but we're

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also invited to share in the same good news and

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peace and love of Christ, to be renewed in our

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conversion to the Lord in whatever humble way

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is appropriate to us. To our Lord be glory. And

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may God bless us through the prayers of our venerable

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Father Herman of Alaska.