Source: Orthodox Church in America
On November 15-16, 2024, clergy and faithful from across Alaska, the lower 48 states, and from other parts of the world gathered in the village of Kwethluk, AK for the uncovering of the relics of Matushka Olga. Led by His Grace Bishop Alexei of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska, this event marks a significant step toward her upcoming glorification.
On November 16, amid frigid temperatures, the relics were uncovered as the Holy Gospel was read. Matushka Olga was then brought to St. Nicholas Church and her relics were transferred to a new reliquary prepared for her. The weekend culminated in an All-Night Vigil later that night and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy the next morning, presided over by His Grace.
A full account of the event is described below. Holy Matushka Olga pray to God for us!
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The Uncovering of the Relics of Holy Matushka Olga
On November 15, 2024, in preparation for the forthcoming glorification of Tanqilria Arrsamquq, Saint Matushka Olga, clergy and faithful from across the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and Alaska, along with pilgrims from the lower 48 states and around the world, traveled with His Grace Bishop Alexei, to the Yup’ik village of Kwethluk in the Kuskokwim region of Alaska for the uncovering of Saint Olga’s relics.
As His Grace remarked to the faithful, Matushka Olga has shown that she is not dead but living, alive in Christ, always ready to come to the aid of those who call upon her for help. Thus, it was meet and right for her holy relics to be taken from the womb of the earth in which they rested, and brought into the Church, where the faithful may readily come to pour out their hearts before her and to ask for her holy intercessions before our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matushka Olga’s sanctifying presence was felt palpably throughout the weekend’s proceedings. Similar to her burial, in which the tundra thawed, birds from the spring season appeared, and the saint was able to be laid to rest in the thawed ground, the weather for Matushka Olga’s uncovering was likewise guided by the Lord’s hand and her holy prayers, making possible that which would have otherwise been impossible.
The day before the pilgrimage to the village, the weather in the area was an impassable blizzard, raising concern that travel may not be possible for the uncovering. On the day of travel, however, the skies cleared, and dozens of planes were able to fly in with no trouble.
The first group of clergy and faithful to arrive joined Father Vasily Fisher and the faithful of Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Kwethluk to greet His Grace late Friday afternoon. A moleben was served to give thanks to the Lord for the hierarch’s safe arrival, for the grace shown through His Saint Olga, and to entreat the Lord’s blessing upon the work about to begin.
After the moleben, the faithful of Kwethluk demonstrated their Orthodox Christian and Yup’ik hospitality and love, with abundant feasts provided in honor of Tanqilria Arrsamquq for all the faithful gathered for her uncovering. Through the course of Friday and Saturday, dozens of charter planes made their way to Kwethluk to bring in the faithful from the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, all Alaska, and beyond.
On November 16, the day of her uncovering, the temperatures were frigid hovering around 17 degrees Fahrenheit, but in the Lord’s mercy, the sky was covered with clouds, like a warm blanket stretched out by Matushka Olga’s loving hands, bringing as much warmth and insulation to the cold day as possible. The winds were calmed, and the faithful were able to stand in prayer for hours on end as the priests labored with God-given strength to unearth the body of a saint.
Before beginning the work of unearthing her holy relics, Bishop Alexei and the faithful, brought to the Church by trucks, four-wheelers, and snowmachine, processed to Blessed Matushka Olga’s grave where a panikhida was served in order to properly begin the uncovering.
After the panikhida, the labor of uncovering began with breaking through about six inches of frozen ground with ice picks, an axe, and shovels. His Grace presided over the blessed labors of the priests, who completed the work of unearthing the saint.
Throughout the labors, the Holy Gospels were read by Bishop Alexei and the priests, just as they are read at the burial of clergy, in the confection of chrism, and in the completion of other holy mysteries in the Church. Many remarked on being deeply moved during the reading of the Holy Gospels, as each word was so clearly fulfilled in the holy life of thrice-blessed Matushka Olga.
The clergy and faithful spent six hours, which felt like but a moment, standing and laboring on the cold Kwethluk day, warmed by their love for God and our beloved saint, and strengthened by her holy prayers. The priests tirelessly took turns breaking ground, digging, and reading the Holy Gospels, while the deacons censed, the altar servers tended to any and all needs, and the faithful supported all with prayer and other necessities.
As the priests reached more than six feet below the earth, the Lord’s Triumphal Entry was read in the Gospel of Matthew. In God’s Providence, just as the words, “Hosana in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” were read, Matushka Olga’s coffin revealed itself. With awe-struck joy, the priests began to labor very carefully and slowly, and the Gospels continued to be read.
Earth was dug out from around the coffin, and ropes were tied to the handrails so that her coffin could be lifted out by the priests. As these final preparations were made, the Gospel reading had just reached the account of the Lord’s Transfiguration in the Gospel of Mark. In this providential moment, Matushka Olga was revealed to us even as our Lord was revealed before James, Peter, and John, before the Prophets Moses and Elijah, for she too was a bearer of the uncreated glory of God and we in that sacred tent could all say, “it is good to be in this place.”
As the account of the Lord’s Transfiguration ended, so too did the preparations for bringing up Saint Olga. The final rope was tied, and the priests began to labor to bring up the saint. The coffin was brought up, and all the faithful and priest began singing solemnly “Gospodi pomilui,” (Lord have mercy). When she had been lifted from grave, His Grace led the solemn procession back to Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church with the gospel at the forefront followed by the censing deacons and the laboring priests as all sang “Svyati Bozhe, Svyati Krepki, Svyati Besmertni pomilui nas” (Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us).
Once at the Church, Saint Olga was brought into the nave, where the doors were shut, in the same manner that the curtain of the Royal Doors is drawn, and the Holy Gifts are prepared by the hands of the priest behind the iconostas. The faithful waited with prayerful anticipation and the singing of hymns behind the closed doors in the narthex began, while His Grace worked with the priests in the nave to transfer Matushka Olga’s holy relics from the coffin into the newly-fashioned reliquary. The holy relics were carefully and lovingly moved into the beautiful casket made by the nuns from Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga California. On the casket is carved an image of the saint with the inscription, “Tanqilria Arrsamquq, Saint Olga, Matushka of All Alaska.”
After Blessed Matushka Olga was resting and covered in the new reliquary, His Grace went to greet the faithful in the narthex to announce with joy that, by Saintly Matushka Olga’s holy prayers, the work had been completed. The faithful then processed into the nave with tears of joy to come and offer their prayers and thanks to God and His newly uncovered saint.
Although the coffin had collected rain water, submersing her holy relics for years, there was no odor or smell of decay. It was noted by the deacon medical doctor present that the absence of an odor was itself miraculous. Although the garments she was wearing had decomposed, her head covering remained, sanctified by her prayers and deep Orthodox piety. Her medal of Saint Herman of Alaska was also present along with her baptismal cross.
The day’s joyful labors were followed by a glorious All-Night Vigil that evening and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy the following morning. The hymns were sung with palpable joy in Yup’ik, Slavonic, and English. Many commented that the joy felt could only be described as “just like Pascha.”
Following the Divine Liturgy, another extravagant feast was offered by the village, with all gathered in the commons of the Ket’acik & Apaalluk Memorial School in Kwethluk. The festivities were brought to completion through yuraq (traditional song and dance) provided by a Yup’ik dance group.
Truly, “God is wonderful in His saints” (Ps. 67:35). As through her holy, Christ-filled life, and in her unceasing labors of love for those in need after her repose, so also in the work of her uncovering, Tanqilria Arrsamquq, Saint Matushka Olga, showed that she is truly Yup’ik, a ‘real person’, in the image and likeness of Christ, whose heart holds within it the whole world. She, like the Most Pure Theotokos, is a true mother: to all the children of Kwethluk, to all the children of Alaska, to all persons in all the world.
Holy Matushka Olga, pray to God for us!