“Usually in our sorrows and griefs, instead of entering
more deeply into ourselves, we seek distraction in worldly occupations or amusements; and instead of receiving these visitations of God as a great cure and making use of them for the good of our soul, we seek deliverance from them, and sometimes even murmur and lose patience.“
“To deny oneself means: to give up one’s bad habits, to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad desires and thoughts; to quench and suppress bad thoughts; to avoid occasions of sin; not to do or desire anything from self-love, but to do everything out of love for God.”
– St. Innocent of Alaska, Indications of the Way of the Kingdom of Heaven
Life
- https://orthochristian.com/97585.html
- https://www.oca.org/fs/st-innocent-of-alaska
- https://orthodoxwiki.org/Innocent_of_Alaska
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_of_Alaska
Writings
Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven (1833)
Note: This book was first written in Aleut in 1833. and later translated into Russian, and between 1839 and 1855 it was published in forty-six editions.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 4
O Holy Father Innocent / in obedience to the will of God / you accepted dangers and tribulations / bringing many peoples to the knowledge of truth. / You showed us the way, / now by your prayers help lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Troparion — Tone 4
You evangelized the northern people of America and Asia, / proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to the natives in their own tongues. / Holy Hierarch Father Innocent, / enlightener of Alaska and all America, / your ways were ordered by the Lord! / Pray to Him for the salvation of our souls in His heavenly Kingdom!
Kontakion — Tone 2
A true celebration of the providence and grace of God / is your life, O Holy Father Innocent, Apostle to our land. / In hardships and dangers you toiled for the Gospel’s sake / and God delivered and preserved you unharmed. / From obscurity He highly exalted you as an example / that the Lord truly guides a man in the way he should go
Great Vespers commemorating St. Innocent
Feast Day(s)
October 6th
Orthodoxy of the Heart 