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Line 82: − − ===The Irish=== − − Maps of Columbus’s time often included an island called St. Brendan’s Isle that was placed in the western Atlantic ocean. Map makers of the time had no idea of it’s exact position but did believe it existed some where west of Europe. It was mentioned in a Latin text dating from the ninth century titled Navigatio Santi Brendani Abatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot). It described the voyage as having taken place in the sixth century. Several copies of this text have survived in monasteries throughout Europe. − − Historians relate that Brendan was born about 484 near Tralee in County Kerry. He was ordained by Bishop Erc and sailed about northwest [[Europe]] spreading the Orthodox Christian faith and founding monasteries, the largest at Clonfert, County Galway, where he was buried in 577 at the age of 93. − − The account of Brendan’s voyage contains a detailed description of the construction of his boat and the voyage. The boat was very much like the currachs still made in County Kerry today. And some of the place names match known and current place names, such as the Isle of Sheep in Faeroes Islands (between the Shetland Islands and Iceland). But several passages in the legend seem incredible— they “passed by crystals that rose up to the sky” (icebergs?), and were “pelted with flaming, foul smelling rocks by the inhabitants of a large island on their route” (lava and ash from the active volcanoes on Iceland?). They finally arrived at the beautiful land they called “Promised Land of the Saints.” They explored until they came to a great river (the Mississippi?) that divided the land. This doesn’t seem like very reliable information. − − More conclusive evidence of Orthodox Christian exploration of North America has come to the fore in West Virginia. There, stone carvings have been discovered that have been dated between 500 and 1000. Analysis by archaeologist Dr. Robert Pyle and a leading language expert Dr. Barry Fell indicate that they are written in Old Irish using the Ogham alphabet. According to Dr. Fell, the “West Virginia Ogham texts are the oldest Ogham inscriptions from anywhere in the world.” Like all scholarly matters, there is a dispute concerning these inscriptions. See the website ( [http://cwva.org/index.html] ) of the Council of West Virginia Archeology for articles both supporting and attacking Drs. Bell and Pyle. − − ===The Vikings=== − − In 994 AD the leader of the Norwegian Vikings, Olaf Tryggvason, laid siege to [[London]]. But God conquered Olaf, and he was baptized and chrismated by Alphege, Bishop of Winchester. When Olaf left England in 995, a new man, he took with him Orthodox Christian clergy, including a Bishop Grimkell, an Englishman of Danish origin. It was this mission which was to lead to the spreading of Christianity in Norway. In time, the Christian influence of Olaf Tryggvason spread to all future Norwegians, and outside Norway as well. − − In 999, Leif Ericsson, "most excellent to look at, and in addition wise and moderate in everything as well as highly respected," set out from Greenland and went to Norway. According to the sagas, King Olaf received Leif with much honor and, as a Christian ruler, converted him to Christianity. According to the Saga of Olaf, "it was easy to baptize Leif," and Olaf assigned to him the task of converting the Greenlanders to Christianity. − − The next spring, in the year 1000, Leif set out as a missionary to return to [[Greenland]]. He took with him a priest, as well as "other holy men to baptize the people there and teach them the right faith." The Saga of Eric the Red records that on Leif's arrival at Brattahlid, his mother, Thjodhild, was baptized, and here they built the first church in Greenland. Leif and the priest soon baptized most of the Greenlanders, and this first church was followed by some sixteen others, including a cruciform cathedral and also a monastery and a nunnery. − − In Greenland in 1001, Leif Ericsson first heard of Bjarni Herjolfsson's discovery of new lands to the southwest. (Bjarni had only seen them from the sea.) This story moved him to buy a ship from Bjarni, with the idea of discovering for himself these new lands. What Leif's exact motives were we cannot say, but since Leif had been entrusted with bringing Christianity to Greenland, which he had done with the aid of clergy, his purpose may have been partly missionary. Thus it was that Leif Ericsson set out from Greenland with thirty-four companions and indeed discovered the same lands as Bjarni. Compared to Greenland it was a paradise for the Norsemen, for here they could pasture their cattle and drink fresh milk. Here they found wild grain and many berries from which they made bread and wine. They built "large houses" here and stayed the winter, seeing no snow. They called the place Vinland. We call it Newfoundland. − − What became of these settlers? Did they all return to Greenland? Some think that they were killed by disease or the native inhabitants. No one alive today knows. But however we may look at it, the fact is that the first Christians in North America came from Scandinavia at a time when Scandinavian Christians were Orthodox.
The irish and Vikings were nothing to do with the Orthodox Church
== History of the Orthodox Church in North America ==
== History of the Orthodox Church in North America ==
===The Russians===
===The Russians===