1. The Righteous Priest Jacob Enlightener of the Alaskan People
The First Native-Born
Saint of North America
St. Jacob of Alaska, Enlightener of the Native peoples of Alaska. Born: 1802, Atka Island, Alaska Died: July 26, 1864, Sitka, Alaska Glorification Date: October Commemoration Date: July 26 (repose)

2. Life of St. Jacob 6 10
St. Jacob of Alaska, Enlightener of the Native peoples of Alaska. Born: 1802, Atka Island, Alaska Died: July 26, 1864, Sitka, Alaska Glorification Date: October Commemoration Date: July 26 (repose)

3. 1 St. Jacob was born in 1802 on Atka Island, Alaska into a pious Orthodox family. His father Yegor Netsvetov was a Russian from Tobolsk, and his mother Maria was an Aleut from Atka Island, AK.
Saint Jacob Netsvetov was born on Atka Island, Alaska in His mother was an Aleut native of the island, and his father was Russian. Though poor, they made sure their four children were well-educated [1].

4. 2 The Netsvetov family moved to Irkutsk in Siberia in 1823, and St
2 The Netsvetov family moved to Irkutsk in Siberia in 1823, and St. Jacob decided not to follow his two brothers into the St. Petersburg Naval Academy. Instead, he enrolled in the Irkutsk Theological seminary.
In 1823, he and his family moved to Siberia. His siblings would all become professionally successful. But Jacob longed for a different kind of success. Declining to follow his two brothers to the Saint Petersburg Naval Academy, he enrolled in the Irkutsk Theological Academy

5. 3 After serving for sixteen months as a deacon, St
3 After serving for sixteen months as a deacon, St. Jacob was ordained to the holy priesthood at Holy Trinity-St. Peter church in Irkutsk by Arbp Michael on March 4, 1828
In 1825, he married Anna Simeonovna and was tonsured to the order of subdeacon. One year later, he graduated from the seminary and was assigned to serve at Holy Trinity-Saint Peter Church in Irkutsk. In March 1828, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Michael, who had also ordained Saint Innocent [3].

6. 4 Father Jacob’s deepest desire was to serve in Alaska
4 Father Jacob’s deepest desire was to serve in Alaska. In the spring of 1828, his wife and father joined him on the arduous 13-month journey to his island birthplace
Father Jacob’s deepest desire was to serve in Alaska. In the spring of 1828, his wife and father joined him on the arduous 13-month journey to his island birthplace [4].

7. 5 Since there was no church building in Atka when he arrived, St
5 Since there was no church building in Atka when he arrived, St. Jacob conducted services in a tent which he constructed with his own hands. He took this tent with him on his missionary journeys.
Immediately upon his arrival on Atka, he began plans to build a church. In the meantime, he celebrated services in a large tent, which he often took with him on his missionary journeys [5].

8. 6 St. Jacob's Atka parish comprised a territory of more than 2,000 miles, but this did not deter him from fulfilling his ministry. He traveled to remote villages and settlements, enduring great hardships in his missionary labors.
These journeys took him across his huge “parish” – a vast area stretching some 2,000 miles. Exhaustion and violent weather did not deter him from visiting remote villages and settlements [6].

9. 7 After building the church of St. Nicholas in Atka, St
7 After building the church of St. Nicholas in Atka, St. Jacob also built a school to educate the Aleut children. Many who studied there became leaders of the Aleut communities in the next generation.
After construction of the Church of Saint Nicholas was completed, Father Jacob turned to overseeing the building of a school. Several of its graduates would become leaders of the Aleut communities in the next generation [7].

10. 8 St. Jacob often consulted St
8 St. Jacob often consulted St. Innocent on matters of linguistics and translation. He also labored to create an Unangan-Aleut alphabet, translating Holy Scripture and other texts into Native Alaskan languages.
Father Jacob had varied interests. He prepared many specimens of fish and marine animals for natural history museums in Russia. At the same time, he consulted with Saint Innocent on translation issues while devising an Unangan-Aleut alphabet. He then translated the Scriptures and important Church texts [8].

11. 9 Following the deaths of his wife and father in 1836/7, a sorrowful St. Jacob requested to become a monk. Joining St. Innocent on board a ship bound for Kamchatka, the holy bishop comforted him, dissuaded him from the monastic life and encouraged him to continue his mission.
Soon personal tragedy struck. In 1836, his beloved wife Anna died, and a year later he lost his father. In deep sorrow, he asked for permission to return to Irkutsk and become a monk. While his request was granted, he remained in Alaska because no replacement had been assigned. It was at this crucial time that Saint Innocent invited Father Jacob on a sea voyage to Kamchatka. As they sailed, Saint Innocent comforted the grieving priest, dissuaded him from entering the monastic life, and convinced him that he should continue his ministry in Alaska

12. 10 In 1844, St. Jacob was assigned to Ikogmiute (Russian mission) and labored tirelessly there, and also traveled throughout the Yukon/Kuskokwim region to preach to the Yupiks, bringing the light of Christ to the Yukon
With renewed zeal, Father Jacob carried on until 1844, when Saint (Bishop) Innocent appointed him to oversee a new mission in the Yukon. He began traveling to hundreds of settlements on the Yukon River, preaching the Gospel to the Yup’ik people [10].

13. 11 In 1845, he converted and baptized the local shaman (leader) in the village of Kalskag after encourntering some initial resistance. The entire village followed the example of their leader. This was typical of St. Jacob's missionary labors
While Father Jacob was visiting a village in 1845, the local chief or shaman angrily told him that the villagers wanted no part of his preaching. But after several hours of spiritual conversation, Father Jacob brought him and the whole village to faith in Christ [11].

14. 12 St. Jacob's last assignment was to serve at a chapel in Sitka, where his flock was largely composed of Tlingets. St. Jacob fell asleep in the Lord on July 26, 1864, his funeral was at St. Michael's Cathedral
In later years, Father Jacob faced false charges which were eventually dropped, although they further impaired his declining health. He spent his final year serving a Tlingit chapel in Sitka, Alaska, where he died in While his funeral was celebrated at Sitka’s Archangel Michael Cathedral, the location of his grave remains unknown [12].

15. 13 St. Jacob was proclaimed a saint by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America in March In October, glorification services of the newly-glorified saint were held in Anchorage, Alaska, presided by Metropolitan Theodosius
In March 1994, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America proclaimed Father Jacob a saint – the first to have been born in America [13].

16. 14 St. Jacob is venerated by the entire Orthodox Church in America (represented here by Metropolitan Theodosius and the Diocese of Alaska (represented here by Bishop Gregory).
His glorification was celebrated later that year at Saint Innocent Cathedral, Anchorage, Alaska [14].

17. Building Bridges
Father Jacob’s preaching often brought together in the Holy Faith tribes who were traditional enemies. One example from his journal reads:
“Beginning in the morning, upon my invitation, all the Kol’chane and Ingalit from the Yukon and the local ones gathered at my place and I preached the word of God, concluding at noon. Everyone listened to the preaching with attention and without discussion or dissent, and in the end they all expressed faith and their wish to accept Holy Baptism, both the Kol’chane and the Ingatit (formerly traditional enemies). I made a count by families and in groups, and then in the afternoon began the baptismal service. First I baptized 50 Kol’chane and Ingalit men, the latter from the Yukon and Innoko. It was already evening when I completed the service. March 21, 1853.”