His Grace, the Right Rev. Benjamin (Peterson) of San Francisco, Abbot Gerasim (Eliel) and other officials of the *Orthodox Church in America are in Alaska January 18-20, 2011 to celebrate the Rite of the Great Blessing of Water*, reaffirming the Church's belief that the natural world is sacred and needs to be treated with care and reverence.
In October 2009, the Orthodox Church in America's Diocese of Alaska passed a unanimous resolution at its annual statewide gathering, invoking God's blessing on any and all "development" that would enhance the quality of life in villages, but withholding any such blessing from "development" that seriously threatened to poison or pollute the lakes and rivers, which the Church and its largely Alaska Native membership considers holy and sacred.
Citing Biblical passes from both the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, the Church affirms that the natural world, as created by God in the Beginning, is inherently blessed and must be treated with appropriate care and reverence. During the holy day of Theophany – which celebrates the beginning of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry at His Baptism in the Jordan River -- the Orthodox traditionally go to lakes and rivers to invoke God's blessing on the ecosystem in which they live. In rural Alaska, this means that all the major rivers south of the Arctic Circle are re-confirmed as holy and sacred each January 18-20.
This year, His Grace Bishop Benjamin of San Francisco. Abbot Gerasim Eliel, the vetted candidate to becoming the next Orthodox bishop of Alaska, and the Acting Chancellor of the Alaskan Diocese, Father Michael Oleksa, are doing this special tour to perform the *Great Blessing of Water throughout the area that would be affected by Pebble Mine.
On Theophany, Jan. 19, the party flew in a two-engine Navajo bush plane through Lake Clark Pass to the Tanaina Athabaskan (Indian) village of Nondalton after celebrating Divine Liturgy at St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska, to celebrate the Great Blessing of Water on the shores of the village lake. Nondalton is situated on the eastern boundary of a square mile area (three times the size of Manhatten Island) targeted by the Northern Dynasty/Anglo-American corporations to become the world's largest open pit copper and gold mine, threatening the world's largest salmon fishery. The Orthodox villages of Newhalen, Igiugig, Levelock, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Ekwok, Portage Creek, Naknek, South Naknek and the city of Dillingham are all threatened by the opening of the Pebble Mine, which would become the world's largest consumer of deadly cyanide as it processes and separates the ores. An earthen dam, 740 feet high, five times larger than the one that recently collapsed in Hungary, poisoning the Danube River in Eastern Europe, would contain tons of pollutants and poisons, in an earthquake zone.
Through the Diocese of Alaska’s 2009 resolution, hundreds of Orthodox Alaskans voiced their concern about the Pebble Project – in a movement to save their culture, their way of life, their commitment to the land that has sustained them and their ancestors for the last 12,000 years.
The Theophany tour itinerary originally included* Lake Clark at the village of Nondalton (January 18) Lake Iliamna at Newhalen, Alaska, and the source of the Kvichak River at the village of Igiugig, (January 19) and Koliganek at the Nushagak River and finally Dillingham to perform the same rite on the shores of Wood River, (January 20).
The group performed the first Great Blessing of the Water at Nondalton on Wednesday, before being delayed by weather (please see revised itinerary below). The service was celebrated on the shores of Six Mile Lake, which connects Lake Ilimana with Lake Clark. The Faithful and clergy invoked God's blessing upon "these waters" asking that they become a "fountain of holiness," "sanctifying those who drink it, anoint themselves with it," and "take it for the sanctification of their homes." Maintaining the quality and protecting the purity of these rivers and lakes becomes a sacred duty for all Orthodox believers, not only in the region but throughout the world.**
While the local churches regularly perform the Great Blessing of Water every year, this January will mark the first time a bishop of the Church has come to lead the celebrations. Mr. Bob Gillam is providing the clergy and their assistants with both housing and air transport on one of his personal planes.
The Orthodox Faith came to Alaska via Siberia in the 18th century, and the Church's nearly 100 parishes are concentrated in the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay and the Kuskokwim-Yukon Delta, with other congregations in the interior and Southeast.
The Orthodox Communion is the second-largest Christian Tradition in the world, with more than 250 million adherents, mostly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
