St. Olga, a Yup'ik woman who died in 1979 at age 63, was a midwife, a mother of 13 and the wife of an Orthodox Christian priest, honored as a spiritual mother by the title of “matushka.” ...

Last month, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized a new saint: Olga Michael, who lived in the small ton of Kwethluk, Alaska, until her death in 1979. St. Olga is the first Yup’ik to be canonized in ...

St. Olga of Kwethluk, Matushka of All Alaska,” as she is officially known, was canonized on June 19 as the first female Orthodox saint from North America.

The Orthodox Church in America has its first female saint from North America. Hundreds of pilgrims joined several bishops in an elaborate ceremony to canonize St. Olga Michael in her remote home ...

Worshippers fill St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Kwethluk, Alaska, on June 19, 2025, for the canonization ceremony of St. Olga, the first female Orthodox saint in North America.

Several Orthodox monks and martyrs with ties to Alaska have already been canonized in the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent offspring of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox Church in America has its first female saint from North America.

The Orthodox Church of America said in the press release that “Every state, including Washington, honors the clergy-penitent privilege.” In fact, Washington joins seven other states — New ...