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Saint Olga of Alaska: A Village Midwife Who Became Christian Saint Against the Odds | TLTS018 CWP102
Join Jeremy Jeremiah and Cloud of Witnesses Radio to welcome Professor Robert Fortuin to discuss the transformation of a humble midwife from a forgotten Alaskan village into America's newest recognized Orthodox saint! This event represents a profound spiritual moment that defies all conventional expectations. Matushka Olga of Alaska emerges as both the first woman and first Yupik person glorified as a saint in America, her story a powerful testament to how extraordinary holiness can manifest in seemingly ordinary lives.
• Glorification services will be held in Kwethluk (Alaska), Anchorage, and Phoenix to make this historic event accessible to more people
• Matushka Olga was known for her boundless hospitality while her priest husband traveled to remote villages
• She served as a midwife and spiritual support for her community, never turning away anyone with problems
• After her repose, many healings were attributed to her, leading people to make difficult pilgrimages to remote Kwethluk
From her remote home in Kwethluk—a village so isolated that visitors must fly to Bethel and then travel upriver by boat to reach it—Matushka Olga became the spiritual anchor for her community of just 200 people. While her priest husband traveled for weeks through dangerous terrain to minister to other villages, she remained behind, arms perpetually open to anyone in need. As the local midwife without modern medical facilities, she delivered babies in villagers' homes. But her ministry extended far beyond physical care—she became known for her boundless emotional and spiritual hospitality, never turning away anyone with troubles.
What makes her glorification particularly significant is how it challenges our notions of sainthood. Rather than emerging from ecclesiastical prominence or dramatic martyrdom, her sanctity blossomed through consistent, humble acts of love in a place many would consider desolate. After her earthly repose, numerous healings were attributed to her intercession, leading pilgrims to undertake difficult journeys to her remote village. As one icon of her beautifully states, "God can create great beauty from complete desolation."
The glorification ceremonies—scheduled across Kwethluk, Anchorage, and Phoenix—serve a dual purpose: honoring this remarkable woman while also drawing crucial attention to the ongoing needs of Orthodox Christians in remote Alaskan communities. Matushka Olga's story reminds us that divine grace works powerfully through those society might overlook, proving that no place is too remote and no person too humble to become a vessel of transformative love.
If you're interested in Orthodoxy or learning more about St. Olga, please visit oca.org for more information. Come visit an Orthodox parish near you today.
Saint Olga of Alaska, pray to God for us!
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Thank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!
Against all odds, one could say right. I mean a remote village of 200 people, forgotten, if you will. And here we are, we're recognizing a saint, and she is again. She's a humble person, she is known for her simplicity. She was a midwife, again in the village. We're not talking nurses in hospital rooms and all this. This is just people at home. So it's just the simplicity of it. It's just so beautiful and I think we need these kind of saints, if you will, because you know that gives us hope, right. And then we also have this chain, if you will, this connection of the saints and to see more saints on our native soil recognized. I think it's a real treasure to America and to the Orthodox Church in particular.
Speaker 2:So, robert, this is an exciting time in the Orthodox Church. Tell our listeners what is this event? What's coming up?
Speaker 1:Tell our listeners what is this event? What's coming up? Yeah, so the glorification of Matushka Olga is taking place here, or in Kvetluk as well, in Anchorage, and then later in July, mid-July, there will also be services in Phoenix Arizona for her as well.
Speaker 1:Who is Matushka Olga? Yeah, Matushka Olga is a priest's wife, Matushka right, who lived in a tiny little village in Alaska called Kwethluk, and this is where she lived and she is known for her great hospitality and service, her great humility and helping people, while her husband, as a priest, was out for days, sometimes weeks, visiting other villages, very remote, so he would be gone sometimes for days on, you know, just a long time in the winter, dangerous situations, but so she would be at home and she would be with the other villagers and she would take care of the women, of the children, people who were sick, and from all the stories that you hear of children and neighbors and people who knew her that she was always so open and so warm. You could come to her for anything you had problems. She would always be wide open her arms, and so that's really what she's known for as one that would console you in your trouble, and she could never be bothered, you know she could never be like, oh, don't bother me, go away, or something like that. So just a beautiful picture of a very humble person.
Speaker 1:And so this glorification will be happening in three places, like I said earlier, in Kwethluk, Alaska, this village where she's from, and then in Anchorage, because Kwethluk is so remote that for other people to be able, you know the greater amount of people that can then gather at the cathedral, the OCA Cathedral in Anchorage. So there will be liturgies and services there, and then as well in mid-July in Phoenix, Arizona, and this again to make this available to a larger audience, and that will take place then at that time. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2:You know you mentioned larger audiences. You know people being able to come to venerate her, to celebrate what she means to the church and really now, what she will mean to the church for all of eternity. It just so happens that part of her story as well and please correct me or fill this in is that people began to go to visit her. They would make the trek to pilgrimage to go visit her. That's how influential and what a blessing.
Speaker 1:She was, yes, absolutely, and she became known after her repose for answering prayers and healings have been attributed to her. So, yes, people then became drawn to her, even going to Bethelok, again, as a very remote place. You can't even fly into it. I mean you've got to go to Bethel and then you've got to take a boat up the river to Bethelok. So it just shows you how remote that is.
Speaker 1:But people make that trek, people go there and you know, to venerate her and and so, um, it's just a beautiful thing to see that she is the first, not only the first woman, but the first yupik person to be, uh, to be, a saint here in america. So this is very exciting. I mean, it's a first in many ways. It's incredible, and what I am personally very excited about is that the people in Alaska, especially the villagers and the native people, are in great need Christians, orthodox Christians, in particular. There's just a great amount of neglect going on there because they are so remote, their needs are not known to the larger body of Christians in America. So what I'm so excited about is that this event and her glorification is an occasion to draw attention to the. You know the plight of the people there, and so it's just a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:Amen. In fact we will link in this video, we'll link down below, because I know there's some beautiful talks that have been given by the bishop on that point in ways that we can help our. Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters in Alaska.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2:I think this story is so amazing, robert. I love how you emphasized how remote this little town was that she was part of, because we often, you know, I think it might be a common misunderstanding of sainthood in the Orthodox Church that you think, well, that person was probably a bishop, he was probably a metropolitan, he was probably very important and very high up in the hierarchy of the church. You know, certainly we've had those types of saints in the church, or they were martyred. You know, in some way that was grand. You know, you think of St Ignatius, et cetera. Right, but this Matusko Olga is an example of that.
Speaker 1:Someone from the middle of nowhere. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 2:Her faith and God's grace, working through people for years and years and years. Right, it becomes this epicenter.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Of the gospel, this epicenter of the church Right, and for the church to recognize that so true, so true, really amazing, Against all odds, one could say, right.
Speaker 1:I mean a remote village of 200 people, forgotten, if you will. And here we are, we're recognizing a saint, and she is again. She's a humble person, she is known for her simplicity. She was a midwife, again in the village. We're not, you know, we're not talking nurses in hospital rooms and all this. This is just, you know, people at home. So it's just the simplicity of it. It's just so beautiful and I think we need these kind of saints, if you will, because you know that gives us hope, right, and then we also have this chain, if you will, this connection of the saints and to see more saints on our native soil, recognized. I think it's a real treasure to America and to the Orthodox Church in particular, and I can really recommend people who are interested in this. Go to ocaorg. There's lots of information. Look up St Olga or Matushka Olga. You can find all kinds of information about the events and videos and things like that. It's very worthwhile, it's just a beautiful thing, Amen.
Speaker 2:I will note that Nick, your son, Nick of Cloud, Witnesses Radio he's there, isn't he? He's there right now and probably has his camera going and getting some recording this amazing historic event. What a blessing that is for him and his family. Robert, are you able to comment at all? I have heard that someone from your family, or maybe your family in general, had known an ancestor of Matushka Olga or even knew her. Yes, can you talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1:So Matushka Olga's children I think two of her daughters are maybe correct I may be wrong on that, but at least one of her daughters is still alive and so through my family, we're connected through that. So, yes, people know the family and visiting the Kvetlok village frequently and so, yeah, there's a real connection there. It's just beautiful. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1:I just ran across an icon of Matushka Olga, st Olga, which is just a beautiful one and I hadn't seen that one before, and she holds a scroll in her hand and it says such a beautiful thing. It says God can create great beauty from complete desolation, and I think you know this really describes her life. You know, imagine a village forgotten in, you know, in the backwoods if you will, where desolation and despair is a real thing. But she was there to console people, to help people, and what a beautiful picture that is. This is what we need, what the world needs, and so I just love that icon. It's so beautiful. I also like to read the new troparion that was created for her. I'll read this here God has chosen a humble mother from Alaska to be an example for all the servants of God. He has given us St Olga as a helper in afflictions and as a guide to leading a life of sacrificial love. Therefore we entreat thee, o Holy Mother Olga, pray that we, thy sinful children. Pray to God for us, yes, amen.
Speaker 2:Robert, thank you very much for sharing that. You're welcome. We greatly appreciate it. If you're interested in Orthodoxy or learning more about how someone like this can come to this place, please visit ocaorg and you'll find a ton of information. Come visit an Orthodox parish near you today.