ALASKA - Part 1
Early Sunday morning, I picked up the car rental and headed to St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska. I had never been to a Russian Orthodox church and was a little apprehensive considering it was a Sunday and services would be in progress.
As I was approaching the front door of the church, I noticed a man who was headed toward a side entrance. He looked like he knew what he was doing so I flagged him down. I explained that I was a visitor and would like to see the church but did not want to interrupt their services. He was very inviting and offered to escort me inside. As we talked about me being Catholic and the differences to Orthodoxy, he clearly stated that “Orthodoxy came first” and that “Catholicism was an offshoot of Orthodoxy.” I almost stopped dead in my tracks. I never heard that before, but I had to admit, I knew very little about Orthodoxy. I was only interested in the beauty of the building but now there seems to be a challenge to learn more.
I truly enjoy researching and may take up this challenge to learn the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy and which came first. God only knows where this will take me!
As I entered this beautiful structure, the service was already in progress. I was blown away by the beauty of the candles and icons. I did know about the Orthodox altars being separated from the congregation and that only priests and their assistances were privileged to this area.
Many people were standing or sitting in regular chairs. There were no pews anywhere! Although, they did have beautiful benches. (You may remember my previous blog on lack of pews in European churches and where they came from. Click here to read more.)
There was beautiful music throughout the service and all the words were in English. I was able to follow along and recognized some of the words from the Catholic Mass.
This Orthodox service was a two-to-three-hour event. People were very respectful in standing or sitting. They prayed; they made the sign of the cross many times although it was in the opposite direction of the Catholic sign of the cross. Despite children of all ages involved in the service, it was not chaotic or noisy. Children were free to sit on the floor, or on chairs, or stand with their parents.
At a certain part of the service, the curtain separating the altar from the congregation was drawn closed and people started lining up near the altar. I knew that Communion was about to begin and decided to stay to see how all of this would play out.
Suddenly, the curtain was opened, and two priests emerged with very large chalices. I wasn’t close enough to see exactly what was going on, but it did not look like the people were drinking directly from the chalice. They were, however, receiving the liquid through some kind of device used by the priest. What I did notice clearly was that after they received the liquid from the chalice, the priest raised the chalice, and the person would kiss the bottom of it.
I am assuming that the liquid was either wine or grape juice but was now being presented as the blood of Christ. I am not sure if the Orthodox believe in consecration and the presence of Jesus as Catholics do in the Eucharist. It certainly looked that way.
I was unable to stay any longer because I did not want to be late for Mass at the Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Anchorage.
The Catholic cathedral was beautiful, but not quite as ornate as the Orthodox church. It was interesting to note that attendance was quite good for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. That is always a good sign. It is heartwarming to know that people make this commitment to worship God. I am also grateful to live in a country where we are free to worship Him as we choose.
After Mass, I met a woman at the Gift Shop that told me about St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church. I stopped by for a quick visit and then headed south to the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge in Cooper Landing, Alaska.
The drive to this lodge was breathtaking.
The hotel was everything I had hoped it would be with a wood burning stove in each lodge room and beautiful hiking trails leading to the Kenai River. I had dinner on the deck overlooking the river with gratitude for a beautiful first day of exploring.
Day Two of my trip was spent exploring Seward, Alaska beginning with the Exit Glacier.
This glacier is the only part of the Kenai National Park accessible by car. The remainder of the National Park must be seen by plane or boat. I chose to see the remainder of the park by boat and will embark on that adventure in the morning.
As I hiked on the path toward the Exit Glacier, there were numbers indicating the dates where the foot of the glacier was during that year. The oldest date was 1815. The most recent marker was 2010. According to park rangers, this glacier has been retreating roughly three feet per year. The glacier actually looked bigger from the parking lot then it did from the 2005 marker. It was still a beautiful site to see, and I highly recommend it, especially if you are visiting any time soon. The hike to the 2005 viewpoint was two miles round trip.
The Harding Icefield Trail is near Exit Glacier and is a 8.2-mile round trip hike. Although the pictures and videos looked beautiful, I decided against this 8.2-mile trek. Instead, I headed to downtown Seward, had lunch at Zudy’s Café and then walked the first mile of the Iditarod National Historic Trail along the shore in Seward, Alaska.
The Kenai Fjords Boat Tour was one of the highlights of this trip.
Dressing in layers is key to boating in Alaska even in the month of August. We got close to several glaciers, fjords, sea lions, bald eagles, and puffins. Shortly before the day long trip was to end, the orcas made their debut.
This was more spectacular than any cathedral I had ever seen. God creates beauty all around us. He creates us and then we create beautiful things like Cathedrals to honor and worship Him. It is a beautiful cycle of love!
One of the places I researched when planning this trip was the beach town of Homer, Alaska. Coming from Florida, I was curious to see Alaska’s version of a beach town.
Homer Spit is a geographical landmark. This 4 ½ mile piece of land located in Homer, Alaska is the longest road into ocean water in the world. I had the best clam chowder at Captain Pattie’s Fish House on Homer Spit. I then was on the hunt for ice cream!
It was a cold, rainy day, but there is something about being at the beach that made me crave ice cream. By the time I finished my ice cream, the rain stopped, and I had the opportunity to walk the beach in Alaska.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this great Alaska Adventure! The best is yet to come!
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