Love and desolation: The story of Matushka Olga Michael with Meagan Saliashvili (S3:E7)

Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, journalist Meagan Saliashvili tells the story of the recently glorified Orthodox saint, Matushka Olga Michael, an indigenous healer in Alaska long venerated in local communities for her ability to heal victims of sexual abuse. What does Matushka Olga have to teach us about humility, gender, and healing? Find out on this episode of In Search Of. A transcript of this episode can be found here.

For further searching, check out these links:

• Visit Meagan’s website
• Read Meagan’s piece on Matushka Olga in Religion Unplugged
• Read Meagan’s news story on Matushka Olga in the Christian Century
• Check out Meagan’s other news pieces in the Century
• For more on Orthodox saints, listen to “Episode 6: Following the saints with Dan Koski,” from the first season of In Search Of
• Find Fr. Micheal Oleska’s book Orthodox Alaska
• And for more information on Amy’s retreat, visit sagemountaininstitute.com

And don’t miss this related content from the Christian Century:

• “Preservation of church and planet,” by Katie Bean (Sep 2023)
• “Seven things I learned by teaching a Me Too Bible class,” by Mary Beth McSwain (June 2021)
• “Trauma survivors are in your congregation. How will you help them heal?” by Ruth Everhart (June 2019)
• “Only we can humble ourselves,” by Peter W. Marty (April 2019)
• “It’s easy to mistake humility for humiliation,” by Stephanie Paulsell (Dec 2018)