According to the legends, he once held back a flood by placing an icon on the beach and declaring that the waters would not go past it. Another time he thwarted a forest fire by similar means. He lived in a cave, wore a deerskin cassock and slept on a wooden bench with bricks for his pillow. As a missionary, he defended the Aleuts against the traders who exploited them. He ran a school and orphanage for the natives, among whomeven in his own lifetimehe was popularly regarded as a saint. Last week the Orthodox Church in America made it official....
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