St Herman of Alaska : Wonderworker of North America

He is considered by many Orthodox Christians as the patron saint of North America. He is a well beloved saint and is known for his gentle approach and ascetic life as a monastic. During his time in Alaska, he cared for the people he was entrusted to and performed many miracles. You can read more about his life in my August Saint Feast Day Guide, which includes other activity ideas and book recommendations, including these yummy Spruce Island Cookies Recipe.

One of the most famous stories of St Herman is how he saved his Island from an approaching tidal wave. The natives recognized the holiness of St Herman and turned to him for help, seeing in him an intercessor before God. As the tidal wave approached Spruce Island, the people came to St Herman for help. He took an Icon of the Theotokos, placed it on the beach and said, “Have no fear. The water will not go any higher than the place where this holy icon stands” and it did not.

To remember this story, we created a fun sensory bottle representing the ocean tidal wave that threatened Spruce Island. We added a small icon by Emilia’s Post (which you can purchase here - your purchase helps support an Orthodox Artist/Orthodox mom) which was the perfect addition to the St Herman Sensory Bottle, to help us remember the icon of the Theotokos that St Herman placed on the beach. It’s a reminder of the great love and protection Christ offers us as we face the howling winds and crashing waves of the world. We are safe under the shelter of His wings, no matter the storm that rages around us. I just love our faith and all the miraculous stories that help grow us in gratitude, faith and bravery. With God on our side, whom shall we fear?

How to Create Your Own Sensory Bottle

Your supplies will vary depending on what type of bottle you choose to make, but here are the basics that you need to get started on a homemade sensory bottle:

A clean, empty plastic water bottle with a lid and the label removed
Superglue (or a hot glue gun)
Warm water
Glitter
Blue & Green Food coloring
A funnel
Vegetable Oil (or any other oils you have on hand)
Printed Icon of the Theotokos - we used this one by Emilia’s Post (which you can purchase here for $1.99 - your purchase helps support an Orthodox Artist/Orthodox mom)

Watch this instructional video on how to make it:

Instructions:

Put a funnel in the mouth of an empty water bottle and fill it about halfway with water. Fill the rest of the bottle with oil, leaving a small gap at the top. This gives the contents room to move around and get mixed up. Add a few drops of blue and green food coloring. Then add glitter and/or glitter glue (we used both). Secure the lid and SHAKE. This will make it so the food coloring mixes with the water.

Secure the lid with superglue or hot glue. Lastly, we added the icon of the Theotokos by printing it, laminating it, and hot glueing it to the bottle. Your child can put the bottle on its side to see the waves or shake it to see the oil and water separate.

Read the story together about how St Herman saved his Island from a tidal wave in the children’s book North Star: Saint Herman of Alaska by Dorrie Papademetriou. If you don’t own a copy, you can listen to it read aloud through here Readings from Under the Grapevine on Ancient Faith

When is St Herman’s Feast Day, and why does he have so many feasts!?

According to Wikipedia: There are several feast days throughout the year on which Saint Herman of Alaska is commemorated. Since there are two different calendars currently in use among various Orthodox churches, two dates are listed: the first date is the date on the traditional Julian Calendar, the second date, after the slash, is the same day on the modern Gregorian Calendar:

July 27/August 9—Glorification: This is the anniversary of the joint-glorification (canonization) of Herman of Alaska as a saint in 1970.
November 15/28—Repose: This is the anniversary of the actual death of Herman.
December 13/26—Repose: Due to an error in record keeping, this was originally thought to be the day of Herman's death, and because of the long-established tradition of celebrating his memory on this day, it has remained a feast day. It is more likely that this is the day he was buried. For those Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian Calendar, this day falls on December 25 of the Gregorian Calendar.
Second Sunday after Pentecost:, as one of the saints commemorated on the Synaxis of the Saints of North America—this is a moveable feast of the ecclesiastical year, and the date of its observance will change from year to year.