KWETHLUK, Alaska — “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. Orthodoxy ...

Her island, too, had been home to a saint: Saint Jacob Netsvetov, one of Alaska’s five other Orthodox saints. Marii Swetzof, of Atka, gets a ride on the Kuskokwim River toward Kwethluk on June 19.

Now, after an elaborate ceremony in her village of about 800 people in southwestern Alaska, she is the first female Orthodox saint from North America, officially known as “St. Olga of Kwethluk ...

Now, after an elaborate ceremony in her village of about 800 people in southwestern Alaska, she is the first female Orthodox saint from North America, officially known as “St. Olga of Kwethluk ...

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

Now, after an elaborate ceremony in her village of about 800 people in southwestern Alaska, she is the first female Orthodox saint from North America, officially known as “St. Olga of Kwethluk ...

Now, after an elaborate ceremony in her village of about 800 people in southwestern Alaska, she is the first female Orthodox saint from North America, officially known as “St. Olga of Kwethluk ...