Alaska Native becomes first female Orthodox North American saint

(26 Jun 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4586033

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
1. People awaiting the arrival of church officials including Metropolitan Tikhon and Archibishop Alexei

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anchorage, Alaska - 4 June 2025
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Archbishop Alexei, Diocese of Alaska:
“We are going to be having the glorification services or canonization service for the first Native American Orthodox saint, a Yup’ik woman who is the wife of a priest known as Matushka Olga.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
3. Church officials including Metropolitan Tikhon and Archibishop Alexei arriving by boat in Kwethluk, Alaska
4. Medium shot of Metropolitan Tikhon arriving at Kwethluk

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 18 June 2025
5. Various of people worshipping at St. Olga’s former gravesite in the old church’s courtyard, collecting soil that was beneath her casket

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anchorage, Alaska - 4 June 2025
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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Archbishop Alexei, Diocese of Alaska:
“She was a woman of great kindness. Of great self-sacrifice. Of great love for the community around her. During her lifetime, her presence would bring peace. Her love could easily be felt and would be healing to the people of the region. And following her death, she would appear throughout North America and in Alaska, continuing to bring healing. And so her veneration has just spread very much throughout Alaska, throughout North America, even to other parts of the world.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
7. Various of church officials moving Olga’s remains to the old church’s courtyard for a ceremony performed by Metropolitan Tikhon

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 18 June 2025
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8. SOUNDBITE (English) Wiz Ruppert, St. Olga’s granddaughter:
“And I'm one of those people that she helped. After I got married, we tried to conceive with no luck, so I gave up and that night that I gave up, she came to me in a dream.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
9. Metropolitan Tikhon and church officials performing a ceremony over St. Olga’s remains

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 18 June 2025
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Wiz Ruppert, St. Olga’s granddaughter:
“And then she said, ‘You will have a baby. You're going to get pregnant, and you will have a girl. You will name her after me.’”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
11. Worshippers venerating at Olga’s casket ahead of canonization

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 18 June 2025
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12. SOUNDBITE (English) Wiz Ruppert, St. Olga’s granddaughter:
“I became pregnant and I told myself if I know, if I find out if it's a girl then I know that it really is from my grandmother. So a few months after that we had the ultrasound and we found out that it was a girl, and I was streaming tears and I was like, it is real, it's real.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 19 June 2025
13. Wide of worshippers lining out the door and onto the sidewalk to venerate St. Olga
14. Worshippers venerating at Olga’s casket ahead of canonization
15. Medium of worshippers in the church during the veneration of St. Olga
16. Medium shot of Metropolitan Tikhon leading canonization service
17. Medium of new icons of St. Olga being sold as souvenirs outside the church in Kwethluk
18. Various of worshippers in the church during the veneration of St. Olga

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwethluk, Alaska - 18 June 2025
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