Kodiak Diary
(continued from page 2)
Once a tidal wave approached
the Elovoi Ostrov. The inhabit
ants ran to the old man in fear
and trembling. He took an image
of the Blessed Virgin from the
house of one of his wards, brought
it to beach and placed it above
the high water mark and then
knelt down to pray. After the
ouuri prayer ne rurnea to me as
sembled people and said: “Do
not be afraid, the water will not
rise beyond the spot where his
holy image standsThe words
of the old man came true.
“I am sorry for you, my dear
kum,” said Father Herman to
manager Kashevaroff for whose
eon he once stood sponsor, “I am
sorry your transfer from Kodiak
will be unpleasant.” Two years
later during the exchange of
Managers Kashevaroff was tak
en to Sitka in bonds.
Once the forest on Spruce Is
land caught fire. The old man
with his disciple Ignatius worked
hard in the depths of the forest
The old man made a line of the
torn up moss all the way along
After accomplishing this hard
task he said: “Becalm, the fire
will not go over this line.” The
next day, according to the state
ment of Ignatius, there did not
appear any hope of stemming
the fire. The flames with mad
force reached the line of the torn
up moss, ran along in a parallel
direction and stopped, did not
scorch the trees on the opposite
side of the line.
A year before the news reached
Kodiak of the death of a Metro
politan in Russia, (which one not
known) Father Herman told the
Aleuts that their great Spiritual
Father died. Very often rhe old
man said that America will have
its own prelate, that was long
before anyone thought of this
and there did not seem to be any
hope of such a possibility, but
this statement came to pass in
good time.
“Many years will pass after
my death,” said Father Herman
to his scholars, “but I will not be
forgotten, and the spot, where I
live will not be empty. A monk
like me, who will leave behind
him the emptiness and vanities
of this world will come to live on
Spruce Island and this place will
not be unpopulated.”
“My dear,” asked Father Her
man of little twelve year old
creole Constantine, “Do you
think that this little chapel that
they are building is going up in
vain?” “I do not know, Appa,”
said Constantine. “I do not un
derstand the question at the
time,” says Constantine, “but
the words are very strongly im
pressed on my mind.” After a
moments silence the old man
continued, “remember, my child,
some day a monastery will rise
on this spot.”
“Thirty years will pass after
my death, all those now living
will have died, you alone will re
main living, you will be old and
poor, and then you will recall
me,” said Father Herman to his
disciple, Ignatius Aligiaga. Sure
enough, after thirty years had
passed people began to gather
statistical items and all the
known data for the compilation
of the life of this saintly man.
“It is remarkable,” exclaimed
Ignatius at the time, “how a
man similar to us in all respects
could have known all these
things so far ahead. However he
was not an ordinary man. He
knew our thoughts and influenc
ed us to such a degree that we
unwillingly uncovered to him our
thoughts and desires and always
profited by it.”
“When I die,” said the old
man to his scholars, “bury me
by the side of Father Joasaph.
You will bury me by yourselves
as you will not wait long enough
for a priest to come here. Do not
wash my body, lay it out on a
board, fold my hands across my
chest cover me with my mantle
and cover my face with the ends
of it, then put the cowl on my
head. If any one will wish to of
fer me his last respects let him
kiss the crucifix, do not let any
one see my face.”
The old man’s span of life was
coming to an end. One day he
ordered his disciple Gerasim to
light up the candles before the
holy images and read the Acts of
the Apostles. In a little while his
face was lighted up by a smile
and he said in a loud voice,
“Glory to Thee, 0 Lord”. Then
he commanded the reading stop
ped and announced that God
willed to prolong his life for an
other week. A week later, again
the candles were lit in obedience
to his desire, the reading of Acts
of the Apostles resumed. Quiet’y
the old man inclined his head
upon the breast of Gerasim, his
face lit up as in happiness and
Father Herman was no more. In
this manner he died the death of
a saint on the 81st year of his
arduous life. The date vas the
13th day of December the year
1837.
The messenger that was sent
to Kodiak with this sad intelli
gence on his return to Elovoi
said that the Manager of the
Colony Kashevaroff forbids them
to bury the old man until his ar
rival that he had ordered a new
casket made and he would bring
a priest to say the funeral service
over the remains. Shortly after a
Btrong wind sprang up, heavy
rain came down in torrents and a
frightful storm raged that lasted
For a whole month The distance
From Elovoi to Kodiak is but two
hours ride in a row boat, but no
one dared venture out in the rag
ing storm. During this whole
month the remains of Fat.he
Herman lay in the hut unburied,
yet there was no evidence of de
composition. Finally the casket
was brought over by an experi
enced mariner, Kosma Uchilis
chef. The body of the old man
was interred by the natives with
no one present from Kodiak. So
the prophetic words of the old
man came true.
"After seeing the honorable
life of Father Herman, having
witnessed his miraculous acts,
after witnessing the fulfillment
of his prophesies and finally be
holding his glorious end it is not
surprising that the local inhabit
ants have such high regard and
respect for him. They regard him
as a saintly ascetic and are con
(continued on page 7)
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