Today,
July 26th, is the feast day of St. Yakov/Jacob Netsvetov, the Enlightener and
Baptizer of the Native Peoples of Alaska. His story is inspiring. His Journals
are amazing. He is a magnificent example of priestly, missionary zeal,
spiritual warfare and love for the lost souls. Holy Father Yakov, pray unto God
for us!
Our
righteous Father Jacob Netsvetov, Enlightener of Alaska, was a native of the
Aleutian Islands who became a priest of the Orthodox Church and continued the
missionary work of St. Innocent among his and other Alaskan people. His feast
day is celebrated on the day of his repose, July 26.
Father
Jacob was born in 1802 on Atka Island, part of the Aleutian Island chain in
Alaska. His father, Yegor Vasil’evich Netsvetov, was Russian from Tobolsk,
Russia, and his mother, Maria Alekscevna, was an Aleut from Atka Island. Jacob
was the eldest of four children who survived infancy. The others were Osip
(Joseph), Elena, and Antony. Although not well off, Yegor and Maria did all
they could to provide for their children and prepare them to live their lives.
Osip and Antony were able to study at the St. Petersburg Naval Academy and then
were able to become a naval officer and ship builder, respectively. Elena
married a respected clerk with the Russian-American Company. Jacob chose a life
with the Church and enrolled in the Irkutsk Theological Seminary.
On
October 1, 1825, Jacob was tonsured a sub-deacon. He married Anna Simeonovna, a
Russian woman perhaps of a Creole background as was he, and then in 1826 he
graduated from the seminary with certificates in history and theology. With
graduation he was ordained a deacon on October 31, 1826 and assigned to the
Holy Trinity-St. Peter Church in Irkutsk. Two years later, Archbishop Michael
ordained Jacob to the holy priesthood on March 4, 1828. Archbishop Michael had
earlier ordained John Veniaminov (St. Innocent) to the priesthood. With his
elevation to the priesthood, Father Jacob began to yearn to return to his
native Alaska to preach the Word of God.
Upon
departing, Archbishop Michael gave Father Jacob two antimensia, one for use in
the new church that Father Jacob planned to built on Atka, and the other for
use in Father Jacob’s missionary travels. After a molieben, Father Jacob and
his party set off for Alaska on May 1, 1828. The travelers included Father
Jacob, Anna his wife, and his father Yegor who had been tonsured reader for the
new Atka Church. This journey, which was always hard, took over year to
complete, which was completed on June 15, 1829.
Father
Jacob’s new parish was a challenge. The Atka “parish” covered most of the
islands and land surrounding the Bering Sea: Amchitka, Attu, Copper, Bering,
and Kurile Islands. But, he was to meet the challenge as clothed in his
priestly garments, he actively pursued his sacred ministry. To his
parishioners, his love for God and them was evident in everything he did as he
made his appearances while enduring the harsh weather, illness, hunger, and
exhaustion. For him life was Christ.
Being
bi-lingual and bi-cultural, Father Jacob was uniquely able to care for the
souls of his community.
Since St.
Nicholas Church was not yet available, Father Jacob built a large tent in which
to hold his services, and after the church was completed he took the tent with
him on his missionary travels. By the end of 1829, six months after arriving at
Akta Father Jacob had recorded 16 baptisms, 442 chrismations, 53 marriages, and
eight funerals.
With the
completion of the church on Atka, Father Jacob turned to education of the
children, teaching them to read and write both Russian and Unangan Aleut.
Initially the Russian-American Company helped support the school, but in 1841
the school was re-organized as a parish school. Many of his students would
prove to be distinguished Aleut leaders. While living in the north areas was
difficult, Father Jacob was active in the intellectual life as well; in
addition to his own subsistence needs, he was active in collecting and
preparing fish and marine animal specimens for the museums in Moscow and St.
Petersburg. He corresponded with St Innocent on linguistics and translation
matters. He worked on an adequate Unangan-Aleut alphabet and translations of of
the Holy Scriptures and other church publications. In addition to praises from
St. Innocent he began to receive awards for his services. In time he was
elevated to Archpriest and received the Order of St. Anna.
Father
Jacob’s life was not without its personal sufferings. 1836 and 1837 were to
bring successively the death of his beloved wife Anna in March 1836, the
destruction by fire of his home in July 1836, and the death of his father,
Yegor, in 1837. After considering the message of these misfortunes, he
petitioned his bishop to return to Irkutsk so that he could enter a monastic
life. A year later he request was granted contingent on the arrival of his
replacement. But none came. Soon Bishop Innocent arrived and invited Father
Jacob to accompany him on a trip to Kamchatka. During the voyage Bishop
Innocent seemed to have accomplished three things with Father Jacob: with the
healing salve of the Holy Spirit provided words of comfort, dissuaded Father
Jacob from entering a monastery, and revealed to the saintly priest the
Savior’s true plan for his life that was for him to preach Christ to those deep
in the Alaskan interior.
On
December 30, 1844, St. Innocent appointed him head of the new Kvikhpak Mission
to bring the light of Christ to the people along the Yukon River. With two
young Creole assistants, Innokentii Shayashnikov and Konstantin Lukin, and his
nephew Vasili Netsvetov, Father Jacob established his headquarters in the
Yup’ik Eskimo village of Ikogmiute. From there, now known as Russian Mission,
he traveled to the settlements for hundreds of miles along the Yukon and
Kuskokwim Rivers, visiting the inhabitants of settlements along the way. For
the next twenty years he learned new languages, met new people and cultures,
invented another alphabet, and built more churches and communities. At the
invitation of the native leaders he traveled as far as the Innoko River
baptizing hundreds from many, and often formerly hostile, tribes. He continued
even as his health deteriorated.
Yet the
devil’s presence came to stir up spurious and slanderous charges against him in
1863. To clear the air his Bishop Peter called him to Sitka where he was
cleared of all the charges. As his health worsened he remained in Sitka serving
at the Tlingit chapel until his death on July 26, 1864. He was 60 years old.
During
his last missionary travels in the Kuskokwim/Yukon delta region he is
remembered for baptizing 1,320 people and for distinguishing himself as the evangelizer
of the Yup’k Eskimo and Athabascan peoples.
Source: https://goodguyswearblack.org/2011/07/26/st-jacob-yakov-netsvetov/
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