Publications
Beacon from the Bay
On July 9, 1863, as the American Civil War waged on, a small seed planted in San Francisco blossomed and would become a bright beacon of the Orthodox Church which would shine from the Bay throughout the United States of American and Europe. Saint Sebastian Dabovich was born to Serbian immigrants to California and would notably be ordained as the first Orthodox priest who was born in the United States in the year 1892.
As the founder of many churches in America, including the Church of St. Sava in Jackson, California, where his relics are interned today, he spread the light of Orthodoxy throughout the United States. He served as a missionary priest up and down the West Coast of America, from Alaska, Washington, California, and even as far south as to Arizona. Saint Sebastian’s tireless work led to his friend Saint Nikolai Velimirovich to describe him as the “greatest Serbian missionary of modern times.”
In addition to his missionary work, Saint Sebastian was a prolific writer as well, penning several books on the Orthodox faith along with a multitude of other articles and sermons, which would find their place in religious journals and even the local San Francisco newspaper.
Yet, despite playing such a prominent role in the foundation of Orthodox Christianity in the United States of America, and with the rise of interest in the Church in the country, Saint Sebastian’s writings are seemingly forgotten, out-of-print, or not readily accessible. Especially with the return of his relics to America and his glorification as a saint in 2015, the Orthodox faithful in America deserve to once again have the light of his writings shine into their hearts.
Included in this collection are: The Holy Orthodox Church, A History of the Orthodox Church in California, The Lives of the Saints, Preaching in the Russian Church, The Position of the Orthodox Eastern Church, along with several of his articles and sermons only ever published in journals or newspapers. In addition to his own writings, contemporary newspaper articles mentioning the saint have been included to demonstrate his impact in addition to a peek into American opinion of the Church in the early 20th century.
Whether as an introduction to the faith for inquirers into Orthodoxy or Orthodox Christians who wish to delve deeper into their faith, Beacon from the Bay will be a great addition to any library of the writings of the saints from the first-born son and self-described “native American.”