The Stories of the Saints of North America
By clicking on each of the individual saints above, you will be able to read his story.
St. Peter the Aleut
St. Peter the Aleut was a native of Kodiak Island, who became the third martyr for the Orthodox Faith in America. He was a fur-hunter, baptized into the Faith by Russian missionaries.
Spain was in possession of California in those days, and was deeply suspicious of Russian encroachment from the North. In 1815, the Spanish governor ordered an immediate halt to Russian trading and trapping in the region, and the arrest of nearly one hundred Russians and Aleuts who had not yet left the area.
The prisoners were treated as slaves, and some, notably Peter, were tortured in order to try to force them to accept the Roman Catholic faith, even though he confessed the Holy Orthodox Christian Faith. An eyewitness account stated that a Spanish priest ordered that Peter’s fingers be cut off, one joint at a time, eventually cutting his hands completely off, and then that he be disemboweled. Peter died of his torture, without ever renouncing the Orthodox Faith.
Holy St. Peter the Aleut, pray to God for us.
St. Peter the Aleut (with St. Juvenaly) is commemorated in the Synaxis of the First Martyrs of the American Land, Dec. 12 on the calendar of the ancient Church (December 25 on the New Style calendar).
Thy martyr, O Lord, St. Peter the Aleut, through his suffering, an incorruptible crown did obtain from Thee, our God; for, rejoicing in Thy strength, he laid low his tormentors and did beat off impotent affronts of the demons also; at his intercessions save our souls.
For more reading on the life of St. Peter the Aleut:
Martyr Peter the Aleut of Alaska, America, and San Francisco
America’s New Saints - Protomartyrs Juvenal and Peter the Aleut
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