St. Innocent of Alaska

Fr. John Veniaminov volunteered in 1823 to serve the Aleuts of Unalaska, a remote island in the Aleutians. He learned the Unangan language, created an alphabet for it, translated the Gospel, and built a church with his own hands, travelling between the islands by kayak. After his wife died he became Bishop Innocent of Kamchatka, the Kurils and the Aleutians, with his seat in Sitka. In 1868 he became Metropolitan of Moscow and founded the Orthodox Missionary Society.

• Feast: March 31 (New Calendar)
• Lived: 1797–1879
• Place: Sitka, Alaska