KODIAK — A film crew from Russia is retracing the life of St. Herman on Kodiak Island.
The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports all members of the four-man crew are from the Ryazan territory of Russia, where St. Herman was born about 1750.
St. Herman was part of the Russian mission that came to Kodiak in 1794. He helped convert the Native population to Christianity, but eventually came into conflict with the Russians about their treatment of the Native people. As a sort of exile, he moved to Spruce Island where he lived a monastic life in the early 1800s.
St. Herman was canonized in 1970 and is buried in Kodiak. He was the first Orthodox saint in North America.
The documentarians left Sunday, and the first stop was Spruce Island. They also plan to visit Ouzinkie, Karluk, Akhiok and Old Harbor before returning Saturday.
