March 10, 2025. Anchorage, AK– On June 19-22, 2025, the Orthodox Christian world will canonize Blessed Matushka Olga Michael of Kwethluk, Alaska, into sainthood. The glorification will occur in her home village of Kwethluk, AK.

Matushka Olga will be the first Yupik woman and the third Alaska Native to achieve the extreme rarity of Orthodox Christian sainthood. Blessed Olga will join five other Alaskan saints, including St. Peter the Aleut, the Proto-martyr of America, as well as St. Juvenaly and his companion, St. Herman the Wonderworker, St. Innocent of Alaska, the Enlightener of North America, and St. Yakov Netsvetov, the Enlightener of Alaska.

In addition to clergy from the Diocese of Alaska, representatives from other Orthodox churches, bishops from the Orthodox Church in America including Metropolitan Tikhon, and His Grace Bishop Alexei will join Orthodox pilgrims from across Alaska and around the world as Blessed Matushka Olga Michael is elevated to sainthood.

Matushka Olga was born on February 3, 1916, in Kwethluk, Alaska, a remote Yupik village along the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska. Olga married Nicolai Michael, who later entered the Orthodox priesthood in 1963 under Bishop Amvrossy in Sitka, AK. Matushka Olga was known for her compassion and care for women suffering from domestic violence. She served as a midwife in her village. She was generous and nurturing to all who knew her. According to one Kwethluk resident who remembered her fondly from his childhood, “She never raised her voice in anger. She was always kind to us children.”

Matushka Olga passed away on an early winter day, November 8, 1979, in Kwethluk, AK. It is said that many in nearby villages could only attend her funeral after an unusual thaw opened the river, allowing safe travel for a brief period. She has appeared in the dreams of abused women suffering from PTSD due to their trauma. In one dream, she is noted for saying, “God can create great beauty from complete desolation.”

For more information on the glorification of Matushka Olga as a saint, as well as details on registering to attend services in Kwethluk and Anchorage or purchasing tickets for the Glorification Banquet in Anchorage (location and time TBD), please click the following link to the Diocese of Alaska: