St. Herman of Alaska

Herman was a monk of Valaam who came to Alaska with the mission of 1794. He settled on Spruce Island, which he called New Valaam, and lived there as a hermit, keeping a garden, running a school and orphanage, and nursing the sick through epidemics. He defended the native Alaskans against the abuses of the Russian-American Company. He reposed in 1837, and in 1970 he became the first saint glorified in America.

• Feast: December 13 (New Calendar)
• Lived: 1756–1837
• Place: Spruce Island, Alaska
• Relics today: Holy Resurrection Church, Kodiak