Luckily once you get to the pier in Sitka, the town is all within walking distance.
This was the first sight we saw on dry land.
When we crossed ourselves upon entering the Cathedral,
the lady who receives $3 a tourist, said we could get in for free since we were Orthodox. While we were venerating the icons, a Reader named Philip approached us, asked us if we were Orthodox and then asked if he could give us a tour! He took us behind the cordoned area so that we could venerate the Our Lady of Sitka icon. It was more beautiful than I remembered from when it was at St. Seraphim's Cathedral in Dallas on tour a couple of years ago.
He also brought out from behind the altar St. Innocent's Blessing Cross! He had hand carved it out of ivory, and we were told it has a piece of the actual cross inside it. We are very blessed to have been able to venerate it.
Just as it was closing, we arrived at the Bishop's House where St. Innocent lived. The Ranger allowed us to tour the ground floor anyway, which is full of artifacts from the historic and lovingly successful Orthodox mission effort to Alaska. I'll post some more pictures in my photo's. I also have a Collection, accessible at the bottom of the sidebar on the right, called Way Out West Vacation, both of which have a slideshow type option again in the right sidebar if you click on a picture. It's chronological if you click on the last photo first.
Sitka was such a nice town. I don't think I have ever seen not only a religion centered town, but an Orthodox centered town! It was certainly nice to see all the different Orthodox crosses everywhere. Made me feel a little more comfortable with the town than with a city such as, for example, San Francisco. St. Michael's was especially something to remember. Two years back or so, the Alaskan Orthodox brought the Sitka Icon of the Theotokos down to Dallas. I remember Father Micheal Oleska explaining not only the icon, but Alaskan culture.
ReplyDeleteBen, I believe, will talk about the fire that occurred in the church and how the chandelier was saved. That, in fact, was mentioned by Dean Paige on the ship at one point.
Much of it was built by St. Innocent himself. It was interesting seeing the old wood make up the walls of the church. It reminded me of our grandparent's house in Pennsylvania, though in an Orthodox format. Several of the icons were obviously painted with Russian influence, the way they looked in the church at San Francisco-you know, having the more realistic facial features (I love those icons!).
Then we were shown, by generous Readers, the actual Sitka Icon of the Mother of God! You know what, we actually got to venerate it when nobody else could-Ha, we were special. Anyway, we also got to see, incredibly, a blessing cross that St. Innocent himself carved. Realizing a piece of the actual cross was in there was almost unbearable (in a good sense of course).
Another "adventure" was the tour of the Bishop's house. No, the Bishop did not have a personal mansion, it also served as a theological school. The details of which escape me. It was so neat to see inside the place. Goodness, I had to duck through the doorways. What would St. Innocent have to do, considering, in his boots he was 6' 3''.
Sadly, the bookstore in the area was closed and we were in a time bind, we had to get back to the ship. Luckily, as you can see, we got some really nice pictures, mental and physical (ok, electronic). Ben wants to fill everyone else on the details I missed. Lovely city. . .
[this is good] The story of the fire is really amazing. The fire was started by a furnace in a nearby store, which then spread to many of the surrounding buildings, including St. Michaels. The fire would not have caused nearly as much damage in the summer, because during the winter the fire hydrant pipes froze. Seeing that the fire could not be put out, many people ran inside the burning church to save as many of the Icons as they could, including the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God. All in all, I believe only one Icon could not be saved, the Icon of the Lord's Last Supper, as it was plastered above the Royal Doors so that no one could reach it and pry it off. The most amazing thing that took place, though, was the recovery of the 300 pound chandelier. One man, I repeat, one man, stacked enough pews on top of each other to reach hook of the chandelier, and single handedly lifted it off of the chain and handed it down to six men to carry out. This thing weighs 300 pounds, and he lifts it by himself. It took six other men to carry it. The reader who gave us the tour says he, and many other parishioners, believe it was the perfect balance between adrenaline and angelic assistance. Crazy.
ReplyDelete