Archbishop Alexei's Homily during the during the Divine Liturgy for the Glorification of St Olga of Alaska in Kwethluk, Friday June 20, 2025

The following is an unofficial transcription of the audio of Archbishop Alexei's Homily during the during the Divine Liturgy for the Glorification of St Olga of Alaska in Kwethluk, Friday, June 20, 2025 ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0IJxQxOqyY ) (Some of the Yupik terms and parts of the homily that were difficult to hear in the recording may have been missed. Attempt was prayerfully made to capture as closely as possible the words of the homily. If there are any errors the transcribers ask for your forgiveness and prayers) : 


“S’Praznikom!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Church and Alaska joins the choirs of heaven glorifying our beloved Matushka. Yes today heaven rejoices! Today the earth listens! The land does not shout but it listens with a stillness deeper than words it listens. The tundra listens, the rivers pause, even the summer sky grows still for a Saint has appeared. The Holy Spirit put Tanqilria Arrsamquq, not from a distant land, not from another time, but right here and right now in Kwethluk, from the heart of our land, the soul of our people, Saint Olga stands revealed.

The world praises with loud greatness but heaven treasures quiet soft holiness. St Olga claimed no titles, sought no fame, yet her compassion became her crown. Her humble prayer her strength. And now the Church proclaims what many already knew in their hearts,  Arrsamquq from Kwethluk is a saint. Our Saint Olga, Tanqilria Arrsamquq. She lived a quietly but her life still speaks and what does it say? It says that holiness is possible. That God is near and that even in sorrow, even in silence, you too can become a light to this world. 

Her life was not separate from ours. She bore children, she sewed their clothes, she cooked for them, she prayed for them, she hurt with them and she hoped for them. But she lived with a different heart, a heart that listened, a heart that gave, a heart that never gave up, a heart that was full of Christ and this is what made her holy. Not the visions, not the miracles, but mercy, patience and prayer. And then the miracles came and then the visions of mercy came. They came to others because of that patient loving heart. 

She was the one who stayed up late, sewing for children for their clothes but no one saw. The one who wiped tears with the edge of her sleeve, the one who said that it was ok, even when her own heart was breaking. She made others feel safe not because she had no pain, but because she held on to Christ in her pain and to her others felt her strength as well. She did not know the Scriptures as a scholar but she knew them deep in her heart.  She listened in Church in prayer, in humility, and by listening and by doing, she became a living Gospel. The hymns of the church shaped her thoughts. The feast days offered her joys, the fast offered a struggle, the icons offered reverence. The Jesus Prayer became her bread. She drank from the same well offer to each of us, the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mysteries, the life of the Church she drank deeply, she drank often, she drank faithfully making her home into an altar, her prayer into a quiet [...] before the Holy icons. 

Beloved in Christ, This is where we must begin as we want to follow her. We need not change everything all at once but we must begin today. We must say our prayers, we must fast, not only from food, but from anger, from judgment, from laziness, we must make our homes a little bit more like hers, places of warmth, of prayer and of quiet mercy. St Olga fulfilled the words of St Innocent  who said, “to deny oneself means to give up ones bad habits to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world.”

So we ask ourselves what has tied us down? What complaints have become normal in your hearts? Today right now for her sake lay them down. Your angers, let it go.  Your bitterness, release it.  Whisper softly [...] and feel that Christ is here.

Saint Olga lived the words of Saint Herman “from this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all and do his holy will.” Not tomorrow. Tomorrow is too late. Not when life becomes easy, it barely does. Today is all we have. Live Christ now as Saint Olga did, everyday in pain she loved, in need she gave, in silence she prayed, in hiddenness she remained faithful.

This is the path forward, not tomorrow, but today, not sometime but now. Let’s say yes to the path she walked, let’s say it as she would say it. Yes to the Holy Liturgy, yes to the prayer of the heart, yes to the quiet acts of mercy, yes to the repent, yes to the Orthodox life of humility, of forgiveness  and of active love, just as she did from this day, from this hour, from this very moment.

Saint Olga was fully Russian Orthodox and fully Yupik. She prayed with her people’s breath, she walked with their steps, she wept with their pain. She deeply respected her elders, listening humbly and then becoming an elder herself in quiet faith and gentle strength. 

Saint Olga embodied the Yupik truth that a real person is one who stands firm even in silence, and who’s quiet actions speak louder than words. In her nothing was lost, everything was offered, and in Christ, everything was made holy. 

In her, Orthodox Christianity did not silence Human Traditions, it sang through them,  transfigured and holy. 

She lived in the church's life with a Yupik soul praying with the rhythm of the seasons, showing mercy with the strength of the Tundra, clothing the suffering with the tenderness of a mother. This is the legacy she offers us, not that we must leave behind what we are, but that who we are can become holy. The Orthodox faith, we live deeply, does not ask us to become someone else, it calls us to become who we truly are in Christ. 

Tanqilria Arrsamquq, she knew sorrows. She buried children. She witnessed suffering she could not mend. She waited for help that never came, but through it all she did not grow bitter. She became a flame that gave warmth to others, even as her own soul felt the chill of sorrow. She shows that the Orthodox priest is not only for priests, not only for Bishops, but it is also for mothers and for grandmothers, for hunters, for fishermen, for you and for me. 

Her life tells us, you do not need to be famous to be holy. You need to be faithful. You need to be kind. You need to pray and keep praying even when your heart is tired. Saint Olga's fire was not bright and blazing that the world loves to see, it was quiet, it was hidden but it never went out. It warmed those who were cold. It soothed those who were hurting, and now that light has become a beacon for all of Alaska and beyond. 

Today, she stands before the throne of Christ her hands lifted in prayer not for herself but rather for her people, for mothers and children, for those burdened by hidden pain, for all who feel forgotten, she remembers us and she calls us to remember her, not only with words, but with our deeds. 

If she could speak to us now she would not use many words. Maybe she'd whisper gently, “Mothers hold your children tighter. Fathers, guard your families with more courage. Elders speak the truth more clearly, remind your people who have forgotten about what is right? Young ones listen carefully, avoid what brings ruin, alcohol will deceive you, faithlessness will empty you, and carelessness can endanger you. Trust in Christ and you will find peace.” With that holy whisper we would all fell warm and safe like a child in a mother's arms.  

Faithful from Kwethluk, from Yukon, pilgrims from far lands I have one final word, “Do not let today fade like a sunset behind the river. Let it burn within you quietly, like a lamp that never goes out. Let it be the beginning of something truly miraculous in your life because you were here when the Church declared what Heaven already knew that Matukshka Olga is among the Saints. 

Go home and pray as she prayed. Hold your child like she held hers. Forgive as she forgave. Whisper “Lord have mercy” continually, softly, deeply in your hearts. Let your life shine like a vigil lamp, steady in ferver, humble in love and unwavering in prayer. That Saint Olga’s glorification ignite a quiet revolution within you, transforming your hearts, renewing your families, sanctifying your home. 

Let's pray, “O Saint Olga our dear mother, healer of sorrows, protectoress of the land, jewel of the humble of heart, remember thy children. Stand before Christ unashamed and plead for us and may thy hidden flame now burn brightly in us, a light in our path, a warmth in our struggle, a quiet strength in our weakness, leading us to Christ by joy and ours.  Dear mother we’re still learning, still trying, we fall yet we rise, we forget yet we long for Christ, we are weak yet through thy prayers strength is given. Teach us to love, like thee with quiet mercy. Teach us to live as thou did live with faithfulness in all things. Teach us to pray like thee, not loudly but from the heart. Help us to walk like thee with courage and sorrow and hope in Christ. For with thy prayers, all things are possible, and so with grateful hearts we cry...
Through the prayers of our newly glorified mother, the righteous Olga, Matushka of all Alaska, may Christ our God have mercy on us and save us for He is good and loves mankind. Amen”.

+ Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska, Homily during the Divine Liturgy for the Glorification of St Olga of Alaska in Kwethluk, Friday, June 20, 2025