Charities Calendar  

Mar. 1         Serve lunch to the homeless at “Sunrise Village” Tri-City Homeless Coalition Shelter, 588 Brown Rd. in Fremont, 11 am. – 12:45 pm.

Mar. 8         Parish Workshop, “Where do we go from here?” at Holy Cross Monastery, 10 AM-2 PM.

Mar. 16      Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers, Greek Orthodox Church of the Ascension, Oakland, at 5 PM.  Pan-Orthodox vespers and meal benefiting International Orthodox Christian Charities.

Mar. 30      Special collection in honor of our patron saint, St. Innocent of Alaska (who reposed in the Lord March 31) to benefit St. Herman’s Seminary in Alaska.

Apr. 5         Serve lunch to the homeless at “Sunrise Village” Tri-City Homeless Coalition Shelter, 588 Brown Rd. in Fremont, 11 am. – 12:45 pm. 

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Taking a Look at a Special Organization:

St. Innocent of Alaska Missionary Prayer Society 

            St. Innocent of Alaska, true apostle to America and our own parish’s patron saint, first traveled to North America in 1824, as a young priest.  Journeying throughout the Alaskan territories by ship, kayak, reindeer, and dog sled, St. Innocent spread the Orthodox faith to the Native peoples there, building churches, establishing the first Orthodox seminary in America, founding schools for boys and girls, and teaching skills in carpentry, masonry, and metalworking as well as basic Christianity.  He learned several native languages and developed the first written alphabet for the Aleuts, and translated the Bible and other sacred texts.  In 1836, St. Innocent sailed to California, and visited the padres at Mission San Jose, in order to check on the welfare of the local Indians. In 1840, St. Innocent was ordained Bishop of Alaska and North America.  In 1867, at age seventy, worn with sickness and nearly blind from many years of apostolic labor and hard travel, St. Innocent was elected Metropolitan of Moscow.  He spent the next 13 years building Homes for widows and orphans, working to help needy clergy, and establishing an Orthodox Missionary Society, to support the church in Alaska and North America and other missions.  As the Metropolitan of Moscow and All-Russia, with jurisdiction over the colonies and missionary territories, he was still able to care for his beloved American Church, supervising and guiding the missionary diocese that eventually grew to be the Orthodox Church in America.  St. Innocent passed away on March 31, 1879.

            The St. Innocent of Alaska Missionary Prayer Society was officially inaugurated on Sunday, February 6, 2000—the 130th anniversary of the first meeting of St. Innocent's own missionary society.  The goal of the St. Innocent of Alaska Missionary Prayer Society is to help the Orthodox Church in Alaska and throughout the world grow in numbers and in strength through prayer and mutual encouragement in the love of Jesus Christ. Membership in the Society is open to all Orthodox Christians of all jurisdictions, and the cost of membership is simple: Your PRAYERS!

        Christians who desire to join the St. Innocent of Alaska Missionary Prayer Society make the commitment to pray once a week, either at home or in the church, singing the Akathist to St. Innocent, enlightener of Alaska and Apostle to America, and asking for his intercession before the throne of God.…and they also make a commitment to work in a spirit of unity and love, laboring together and praying together, with all Orthodox Christians of all jurisdictions, for joint missionary work, in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. For more information go to: www.alaskanchurch.org/pages/diocese/programs/Outreach/StInnocentPrayerSociety.htm

On Sunday, March 30, we will have a Special collection in honor of our patron saint, St. Innocent of Alaska, proceeds  going to benefit the seminarians at St. Herman’s Theological Seminary, to help further St. Innocent’s work in Alaska.

 Troparion to St. Innocent

You evangelized the Northern Peoples of Asia and America,
Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to the Natives in their own tongues.
O Holy Hierarch Father Innocent, Enlightener of Alaska and Apostle to America, whose steps were ordered by the Lord.
In His Heavenly Kingdom, Pray to Christ God
For the salvation of our souls.