The Stories of the Saints of North America By clicking on each
of the individual saints above, you will be able to read his
story. St. Innocent was born in 1797 to a poor family in a
remote village in a rural area of Irkutsk Province in Russia,
and named Ioann (John). He was orphaned at the age of six, and
assigned to the seminary at Irkutsk at nine. Shortly after he
arrived, the relics of St. Innocent of Irkutsk were found, whose
name and apostolic ministry young Ioann later would inherit. He
was a hard working and outstanding student, who also was seen as
humble and kind, and for these qualities he was given the name
of Veniaminov after the late Bishop Veniamin of Irkutsk who was
beloved by the faithful. After he was ordained to the
priesthood, he spent a year as a parish priest in Irkutsk, and
then volunteered to go into missionary work in Alaska, though
many other clergy were afraid to do so, because they had heard
it was a wild country filled with dangerous savages. His wife
broke into tears when she hea