Olinka Michael Arrsamquq of Kwethluk who is also popularly referred to as “Matushka Olga”” passed away more than four decades ago, however she is likely to become an international household name for Orthodox Christians across the world. At the recent gathering held by the Orthodox Church in America, she was selected as one of the few female saints to be a saint in North America, and the first Yup’ik saint.
The late Orthodox scholar and missionary Fr. Michael Oleksa played a key part in compiling the stories of holiness, which are essential to the process of Olga’s celebration of her. Oleksa was interviewed by KYUK just prior to his death in the late Nov. 2023.
“She’s the only saint that didn’t embark on a huge missionary voyage, did not publish any theological work, had not been a nun or monastic, nor had she been martyred for her religion,” Oleksa said. “She’s an example that shows in the event that you’re loyal to your Christian mission, and live an honest Christian life, even in the most humble of conditions, which is what we can definitely say that hers were and that’s enough.”
Fr. Oleksa was born 1947 at Allentown, Pennsylvania. He claimed that he first came across Olga along with her husband Fr. Nikolai Michael, when he was a deacon at Kuskokwim, a Kuskokwim River village of Kwethluk in the year 1972.
“I was invited to the village in the home of Uliggaq and Arrsamquq and the two Yup’ik name,” Oleksa said. “And I tried my first taste of akutaq which is known as Eskimo Ice cream, in English.”
Olga is believed to have led a modest career as a midwife, and the wife of a priest. She is which is reflected in her honourific “matushka,” literally meaning “little mother.” Born in 1916 in Kwethluk, Olga gained a reputation throughout her lifetime for compassion in dealing with women who were victims of sexual abuse. After her death in 1979, her reputation was still gaining momentum.
A remarkable account
A decade after releasing details about Olga the Alaskan woman in 1993’s book “Orthodox Alaska,”” Oleksa said that a stranger contacted him and asked for an unusual story.
“I received a letter to a girl who was not Christian was not Orthodox certain, and was and was married to the son of a Hindu in Upstate New York,” Oleksa told me. “And she wrote”I’ve had this idea that I had of a woman that came from a forest of birch and commanded me following to follow her.'”
The woman continued to tell of being led to a room that looked like a hill and was lit inside by oil lamps made of stone. The woman was instructed to lie on a mattress of moss. Despite being unpregnant the woman were treated like she was she were giving birth. She claimed that the trauma of the sexual abuse she endured as a child was absorbed into her body. She was taken outside and northern lights glowed in the sky. She was served a hot beverage that matched the description of tundra tea, more frequently in the United States as Labrador tea.
“And after that, she began to walk back through the forest. This woman yelled at her: ‘Who are you? Who is your real name? She also said something she couldn’t comprehend and was unable to distinguish”Olga,”” Oleska said. “And it was the end of her story and she wrote me about it.”
Oleksa claimed that he was shocked at the portrayal of traditional Yup’ik lifestyles by a person who claimed to have no previous understanding of Alaska. He added that the woman who was from Upstate New York ultimately converted to the Orthodox faith.
“Now this woman has travelled to Alaska and she has painted the first iconography that are of Matushka Olga,” Oleksa stated. “But the miraculous works started multiplying.”
The glory of St. Olga
Through the years, Oleksa said that he collected a number of testimonials of healing that were associated with Olga across the nation that he later delivered the information to the bishop Alexei who is the leader of the Orthodox Church of Alaska.
“There are more stories to tell than the ones I’ve heard however, I’ve compiled a dossier it’s possible to call it that,” Oleksa said.
Oleksa stated that Alexei then presented the documents before the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America and that the vote to canonize Olga was a quick and unanimous decision.
Saint. Olga is expected to be added to the Canon of Orthodox saints in November 2024.
“The sensational news about her miraculous abilities and appearances is actually worldwide at present. When she is officially included in the Canon it will be a plethora of people from all over the world who want to take part in these services,” Oleksa said.
There are no hotels, and there is the limited access to Olga’s isolated hometown village Oleksa pointed out that Kwethluk is not the ideal place to visit for a large number of Orthodox adherents. If Olga is formally crowned the services are likely to be held both in Kwethluk as well as Anchorage.
Oleksa died and was put to rest on December. 5 following two days of funeral services held at St. Innocent’s Cathedral in Anchorage which was in which Alaskans from all over the state gathered to say farewell. In addition to his many accomplishments with the Orthodox clergy as well as being an intercultural communicator, one of his last actions was to play a key role in the canonization of St. Olga.
