The Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia is celebrated on February 7 (January 25), if this day coincides with Sunday, and if it does not coincide, then on the nearest Sunday after February 7. Only on the day of the celebration of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia is the memory of saints, whose date of death is unknown, celebrated.

On this day, the Holy Church commemorates all the dead who suffered in the time of persecution for the faith of Christ. This commemoration is performed according to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of January 30, 1991 on the basis of the decision of the Local Council of 1917-1918.

The cruel and bloody 20th century was especially tragic for Russia, which lost millions of its sons and daughters not only at the hands of external enemies, but also from its own persecutors-theomachists. Among those villainously murdered and tortured during the years of persecution was an innumerable number of Orthodox: laity, monks, priests, bishops, whose only fault was a firm faith in God.

The glorification of the host of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the guise of saints at the jubilee Bishops' Council in 2000, at the turn of the millennium, drew a line under the terrible era of militant atheism. This glorification showed the world the greatness of their feat, illuminated the paths of God's Providence in the destinies of our Fatherland, became evidence of a deep awareness of the tragic mistakes and painful delusions of the people. In world history, it has never happened before that so many new, heavenly intercessors glorified the Church (more than a thousand new martyrs are counted among the saints).

Among those who suffered for their faith in the 20th century are St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, whose election took place in (1925); holy royal martyrs; Hieromartyr Peter, Metropolitan of Krutitsy (1937); Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia (1918); Hieromartyr Benjamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdov; Hieromartyr Metropolitan Seraphim Chichagov (1937); Dean of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Hieromartyr Protopresbyter Alexander (1937); Martyrs Grand Duchess Elisabeth and Nun Varvara (1918); and a host of saints, both revealed and unrevealed.

The icon of the Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia was created by icon painters. The image consists of a centerpiece, a deesis and 15 hallmarks, the size of the icon is 167x135 cm. The description of the icon is published in a separate brochure: “The icon of the Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, who suffered for Christ, revealed and not revealed, glorified at the Jubilee Bishops’ Council” (49 pages).

The icon "Cathedral of Saints, glorified in the year two thousandth from the Nativity of Christ" was created at the Icon Painting School at. The size of the icon is 95x71 cm. It depicts 57 ascetics.

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, pray to God for us!

Brother will betray brother to death, and father his son; and children will rise up against their parents and kill them; and you will be hated by all because of my name; but he who endures to the end shall be saved(Holy Gospel of Matthew, 10:21,22)

From the very beginning of its existence, the Soviet government took an uncompromising and uncompromising position towards the Church. All religious denominations of the country, and the Orthodox Church in the first place, were perceived by the new leaders not just as a relic of the "old regime", but also as the most important obstacle to building a "bright future". An organized and regulated society, based solely on ideological and material principles, where the only value was recognized as the "common good" in the "this age" and iron discipline was introduced, could not be combined with faith in God and the desire for Eternal Life after the Universal Resurrection. The Bolsheviks brought down on the Church all the power of their propaganda.

Not limited to a propaganda war, the Bolsheviks immediately began numerous arrests and executions of the clergy and active laity, which were massively carried out in several waves from the October Revolution to the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

Another misfortune was the incessant control by the state security agencies, which actively contributed to the emergence and fanning of numerous disagreements and schisms in the church environment, the most famous of which was the so-called. "renewal".

The materialistic worldview of the leaders of Bolshevism could not accommodate the words of Christ: I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it» (Matthew 16:18). Driving the Church into more and more difficult conditions, destroying more and more people, and even more - intimidating and averting, they could not bring this matter to the end.

After all the waves of persecution, persecution and repression, at least a small remnant of people faithful to Christ remained, they managed to defend individual churches, find a common language with the local authorities.

In the face of all these troubles, in an atmosphere of rejection and discrimination, not everyone dared to openly confess their faith, to follow Christ to the end, enduring martyrdom or a long life full of sorrows and difficulties, not forgetting other words of Christ: And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear the One Who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna» (Matthew 10:28). Orthodox people who managed not to betray Christ during the persecution in Soviet times, who proved this by their death or life, we call the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

First New Martyrs

The very first new martyr was Archpriest John Kochurov, who served in Tsarskoe Selo near Petrograd and was killed a few days after the revolution, irritated by the Red Guards for urging the people not to support the Bolsheviks.

Local Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918 restored the patriarchate. The cathedral in Moscow was still going on, and on January 25, 1918, in Kyiv, after the Bolshevik pogrom in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, he was killed Met. Kyiv and Galitsky Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky). The day of his murder, or the Sunday closest to this day, was established as the date of commemoration of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, as if anticipating that the Bolshevik persecutions would continue. It is clear that for many years this date could not be celebrated openly on the territory of our country, and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia established this memorial day in 1981. In Russia, such a celebration began to take place only after the Council of Bishops in 1992. And by name, most of the New Martyrs were glorified by the Council of 2000 G.

Elected by the Local Council 1917-1918 Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) and he himself subsequently replenished the number of New Martyrs. Constant tension, the most difficult opposition from the authorities quickly exhausted his strength, and he died (and possibly was poisoned) in 1925 on the feast of the Annunciation. It was Patriarch Tikhon who became the first in terms of glorification (in 1989, abroad - in 1981).

New Martyrs from the Imperial House

Of particular note among the New Martyrs is the Royal Passion-Bearers - Tsar Nicholas and his family. For some people, their canonization is bewildering, for others, their unhealthy deification is observed. The veneration of the murdered royal family is not and should not be associated with any conspiracy theories, or with unhealthy national chauvinism, or with monarchism, or with any other political speculation. At the same time, all the confusion regarding the canonization of the royal family is associated with a misunderstanding of its cause. The ruler of the state, if he is glorified as a saint, does not have to be an outstanding genius and powerful political figure, a talented organizer, a successful commander (all this may or may not be, but in itself they are not reasons for canonization). Emperor Nicholas and his family are glorified by the Church because of the humble renunciation of power, power and wealth, the refusal to fight and the acceptance of an innocent death at the hands of the godless. The main argument in favor of the holiness of the Royal Passion-Bearers is their prayerful help to people who turn to them.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, the wife of the uncle of Emperor Nicholas, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, after the death of her husband at the hands of terrorists in 1905, left court life. She founded the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, a special Orthodox institution that combined elements of a monastery and an almshouse. During the difficult years of the war and revolutionary turmoil, the monastery acted, providing a variety of assistance to those in need. Being arrested by the Bolsheviks, the Grand Duchess, together with her cell attendant nun Varvara and other close people was sent to Alapaevsk. The day after the execution of the imperial family, they were thrown alive into an abandoned mine.

Butovo landfill

To the south of Moscow, not far from the settlement Butovo(now giving names to two districts of our city) is located secret training ground, where priests and laity were shot on a particularly large scale. Nowadays, a memorial museum dedicated to them has been opened at the Butovo training ground. Another place of mass feat of the New Martyrs and Confessors was Solovetsky Monastery, converted by the Bolsheviks into a place of detention.

Days of Remembrance of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia:

January 25 (February 7) or closest Sunday- Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

March 25 (April 7, the feast of the Annunciation)- memory of St. Patr. Tikhon

4th Saturday after Easter- Cathedral of the New Martyrs of Butovo

The memory of other New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia is celebrated almosteveryday.

Troparion of the New Martyrs (tone 4)

Today, the Russian Church rejoices with joy, / glorifying its New Martyrs and Confessors: / saints and priests, / Royal Passion-bearers, / noble princes and princesses, / reverend men and women / and all Orthodox Christians, / in the days of persecution of the godless / their lives for the faith in who laid down Christ/ and observed the truth with blood./ By those intercession, long-suffering Lord,/ preserve our country in Orthodoxy// until the end of time.

Today the Russian Church joyfully rejoices, glorifying her New Martyrs and Confessors: saints and priests, Royal Passion-bearers, noble princes and princesses, reverend husbands and wives, and all Orthodox Christians, who in the days of godless persecution laid down their lives for their faith in Christ and affirmed the truth with their blood. Through their intercession, long-suffering Lord, preserve our country in Orthodoxy until the end of time.

_________________

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Biographies of Bishops -

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

†

Vl. Victor (Ostrovidov) - one of the inspirers of the CPI

†1934

Ep. Victor had great influence and authority among his flock in the northeast of the European part of the USSR. Since 1924, after his release from exile, he temporarily ruled the Vyatka diocese, was arrested again on May 14, 1926 and released after 3.5 months with an attachment for 3 years to a certain place of residence, with the exception of the central cities and the Vyatka province. In September 1926, he was entrusted with the management of the neighboring Votkinsk diocese, but during the periods of stay in the Synod of the ruling bishop of the Vyatka diocese, archp. Pavel (Borisovsky) Bishop. Victor actually controlled her too.

In late August - early September 1927, Saint Izhevsk received the text of the Declaration, intended to be read to the clergy and believers of the Votkinsk diocese. Being deeply indignant at its content, he sealed it in an envelope and sent it back to Metr. Sergius. He wrote about his moods to a bishop he knew in Moscow.

Soon followed the decree of the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens and the Synod on the division of the Votkinsk diocese into five parts between neighboring dioceses, and in October ep. Victor turned to Metr. Sergius with a rather respectful letter, trying to convince him to change his position. In response, from the Synod, he was warned that he, as a vicar of the Vyatka diocese, "knew his place" and would obey the ruling bishop in everything, and then followed a decree appointing him bishop. Shadrinsky with the right to manage the Sverdlovsk diocese. The trip of the deputation to the Metropolitan Sergius with a request to cancel the decree ended to no avail. As a result, ep. Victor refused to comply with this decree, did not go to Shadrinsk, and wrote a second, already harsher letter to M. Sergius ...

Soon a meeting of the Spiritual Administration of the Votkinsk Episcopacy took place, at which a resolution was adopted to terminate prayerful and canonical communion with M.S. and like-minded bishops as having betrayed the Church of God to reproach until they repent and renounce the Declaration. The resolution was approved by Bishop Victor and sent on December 29 in the third letter to M.S. Victor. However, the majority of the believing people united around five temples, including the two main cathedrals that did not adopt the Declaration.

The alarmed head of the diocese urgently left Moscow. On the eve of his visit to Vyatka, Bishop Victor sent a telegram to his supporters in the city (dated December 11): “In view of the arrival of Archbishop Pavel in Vyatka, it is necessary to invite him to repent and renounce the “Appeal” as a mockery of the Church of God and as a deviation from the truth of salvation. Only if this condition is fulfilled, you can enter with him in prayerful communion. In case of persistence, stop the commemoration of his name during Divine services, which was allowed only as before his arrival and the hardness of his heart was revealed.

As a result, as a short-term visit of archp. Pavel to Vyatka, as well as his "archpastoral" message of December 14 with an explanation of the "positive" results for the Church achieved by M.S. and the Holy Synod after legalization, were unsuccessful.

Vl. Victor reported this to his acquaintance in Moscow in con. December: "I wrote to you that Arch. Pavel came to "execute", and he was met with an offer to repent and renounce the "Appeal". He refused and was very pitiful in his justification - then, he says, prison and all sorts of hardships await me. the priest guaranteed him full provision, but he did not agree.From the questions put to him, it turned out that they were acting without the blessing of Metropolitan Peter and they were aware that if he came, he would remove them - and we would leave - so he said, but what during this time they will do so much evil and destroy thousands of souls, they won’t even blink an eye. He confessed that they did this at the insistence of the civil authorities, and when asked what they had achieved, he answered that he felt like a legal bishop. Oh, blindness! But he doesn’t feel His vicious attacks against the true believers, and in particular against me, and unsuccessful excuses that he was not a renovationist, finally alienated the flock from him, and the movement against the "Proclamation" swept the entire diocese.

Returning to Moscow, archp. Paul appealed to the Synod with a complaint against Vl. Victor. The synod ultimatum demanded that he immediately leave for the Svedlovsky diocese and on December 15 appointed Onisim (Pylyaev) Bishop. Votkinsky on behalf of the temporary administration of the Vyatka diocese. Appointment to the place of Vl. Victor of the new bishop only hastened the final separation. After receiving a message about the appointment of Bishop Onisim, on December 22, the Spiritual Administration of the Glazov Episcopacy decided until repentance and renunciation of M.S. from the Declaration, to refrain from communion with him and the bishops who shared his views, and also to recognize Bishop. Victor as their spiritual leader. On the protocol Vl. Victor imposed a resolution: "I rejoice in the grace of God, which enlightened the hearts of the members of the Spiritual Administration in this difficult and great matter of choosing the path of truth. May its decision be blessed by the Lord."

Guided by the order of the Synod, ep. Onesimus began to forbid the secessionist clergy from serving, in particular in Izhevsk. In response to Vl. Victor sent two telegrams to the main temple of the city, the Pokrovsky Cathedral, with a message about the termination of communication between the Votkinsk diocese and M.S. and an indication that "the prohibition of Onesimus and other bishops who fell away from the Orthodox Church through the "Appeal" has no meaning for us." The resolution adopted on December 23 by M.S. and the Holy Synod in the case of the "discordant" activity of Bishop. Victor.

“We believe with childish simplicity that the strength of the Church is not in organization, but in the grace of God, which cannot be where there is wickedness, where there is betrayal, where there is renunciation of the Orthodox Church, even under the guise of achieving the external good of the Church. the sin of M. Sergius and his advisers! Oh, if only it were so! No! Here is the systematic, according to a definitely deliberate plan, the destruction of the Orthodox Russian Church, the desire to mix everything up, desecrate and decompose spiritually. Here lies the death of the entire Orthodox Church "(In the arms seven-headed serpent, Montreal, 1984, p.103).

“What a desecration of souls now begins by impious clergymen, whom the bishops will scatter everywhere; and others, unrecognized by the believing people, will cause a terrible corruption of faith and the decline of religious life. who longs for our eternal death, whose servants the new traitors became, replacing the very essence of the Orthodox Church of Christ; they made it not heavenly, but earthly and turned it from a grace-filled union into a political organization" (p. 104).

Shmch. Victor pointed out the connection between the theological teachings of Met. Sergius and his Declaration: “His delusions about the Church and the salvation of a person in it were clear to me back in 1911, and I wrote about him in the Old Believer journal that the time would come and he would shake the Church” [Bp. Viktor (Ostrovidov). Letter to Abraham, ep. Urzhumsky // Lev Regelson. Tragedy of the Russian Church. 1917-1945. Paris: YMCA-PRESS, 1977, p. 601]. Let us note for ourselves the fact that the Orthodox cleric had to criticize Met. Sergius to contact the Old Believer publication. No official Orthodox publication would publish this criticism.

According to St. Victor, Metropolitan Sergius was a wonderful theologian, a faithful disciple of Metropolitan. Anthony, a wise clergyman, but all this wisdom, all this theology came from a non-Christian foundation.

"The Declaration is a departure from the truth of Salvation. It is a view of salvation as the natural moral perfection of man; it is a pagan philosophical doctrine of salvation, and in order to achieve such salvation, an external [church] organization is absolutely necessary. In my opinion, this is the same delusion, which I accused Metropolitan Sergius of back in 1912."

The quote is given in reverse translation from English: "The "Declaration" is a separation from the truth of salvation. It looks on salvation as on a natural moral perfection of man; it is a pagan philosophical doctrine of salvation, and for its realization an external organization is absolutely essential. In my opinion, this is the same error of which, as early as 1912, I accused Metropolitan Sergius" (Russia" Catacomb Saints. Lives of the New Martyrs, by Ivan Andreev//ed. By Fr. Seraphim (Rose), Platina, California: Saint Herman of Alaska Press, 1982, p.146).

At the beginning of January, Vl. Victor established written communication with the St. Petersburg Josephites, and received from them various kinds of anti-Sergian literature. Then he personally went to Leningrad and began to send to Bishop. Gdovsky Dimitry of their candidates for ordination to the priesthood.

On April 11, M.S. and the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod under him on "the case of disorder in the Leningrad, Yaroslavl, Votkinsk and Voronezh dioceses", according to which Bp. Victor was dismissed from the management of the Shadrinsk vicariate and the Sverdlovsk diocese, he was subjected to the canonical court of bishops and was forbidden to serve. In the resolution, as a fault, it was indicated that he ordained clerics for dioceses not subordinate to him, and also, together with ep. Nikolsky Hierofei (Athonicus) received the blessing of Metropolitan. Joseph for ordination to the rank of bishop igum. Anthony. And a week before that, on April 4, he was arrested in Glazov. By a resolution of the Special Meeting at the KOGPU dated May 8, he was sentenced to 3 years in concentration camps, according to the verdict, "for conducting anti-Soviet agitation, for writing and distributing a letter with a request to protect the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church ... to endure persecution from the new government, as the Metropolitan did Philip or Ivan, the so-called "Baptist"..."

Vl. Victor was sent to the Solovetsky camp, where he wrote his famous last message, betraying M.S. to the judgment of God. He was in Solovki from the spring of 1928 until the end of 1930 and worked there as an accountant for a rope factory. The accounting building in which he lived was located outside the walls of the Kremlin, on the edge of the forest. Bishops Nektary (Trezvinsky), Hilarion (Belsky), Maxim (Zhizhilenko) and some priests often came to him allegedly "on business" and held secret services in the nearby forest. Their member Prof. I.A. Andreev later recalled: “In the depths of the forest, at a distance of one verst, there was a clearing surrounded by birches. We called this clearing the “Cathedral” of our Solovetsky catacomb church in honor of Trinity Ave. Here, from time to time, our secret services took place. More often, such services took place in another place, also in the forest, in the "church" named after St. Nicholas the Wonderworker ... The Lord protected our "catacombs", and for all the time from 1928 to 1930 inclusive, we were not noticed ... Vladyka Victor was an optimist and believed in the possibility of a short but bright period, as the last gift from heaven for the tormented Russian people.

In April 1931 Vl. Victor was exiled for 3 years to the Northern Territory, and then in May 1933 to the Komi Republic, where he died on May 2, 1934 in the village of Ust-Tsilma.

Hieromartyr Damascene (Cedric)

†1937

An outstanding preacher, one of the main inspirers of the True Orthodox Church, Ep. Glukhovsky, vicar of the Chernihiv diocese, ordained in 1923 by Patriarch Tikhon himself and then repeatedly arrested, on December 11, 1928, met in Moscow with Metropolitan. Sergius, after which he finally breaks with him.

November 27, 1929 Bp. Damaskin is arrested again. He was charged with "counter-revolutionary opposition to Metropolitan Sergius" and that he was allegedly "the leader of a church group." The scammer was a Sergian priest, dean of the Starodub region. In his denunciation to the GPU, he accused Vladyka of trying to organize a conspiracy against the Soviet government. In the indictment, the "group" led by Bishop Damaskin (Tsedrik) was assigned two tasks: "organizing active opposition to the measures of the Soviet authorities directed against the church" and "preparing the transition of all church activities to the underground (catacombs)". According to the verdict of the Collegium of the OGPU "The case of Bishop Damaskin (Tsedrik). 1930" ends with imprisonment in the SLON (Solovki Special Purpose Camp).

At the beginning of 1934, St. Damascene is released. He secretly visits Chernigov, Kyiv and other places where there are like-minded people. In his conversations, he holds the idea that the time of open service has passed, that the True Church of Christ must, as in the first centuries of Christianity, flee to the desert catacombs (Rev. 12, 6): The New Testament Noah's Ark of salvation must be closed from within in order to preserve even a "little flock" (Luke 12:32) from the "all-consuming waves of the fiery ocean"...

And yet, for all its closeness, the True Orthodox Church could not remain completely invisible to others, because one of its main tasks is to bear witness to the Truth. Because of this, in the conditions of a total struggle with Christianity, denunciations and betrayals follow one after another.

From the indictment following case No. 7, on charges of Smirnov K.I. and Fokina L.N. under Art. 58/10 and 58/11 of the Criminal Code.

During a search of Smirnov (Metr. Kirill), a letter from Bishop Damaskin was found, which sets out the following views: “God’s judgment is being carried out on the Church and the Russian people ... A selection is being made of those true soldiers of Christ, who alone can ... resist the beast himself. undoubtedly apocalyptic ones have approached ... All our efforts should now be directed to establishing strong ties between shepherds and flocks ... and, if possible, correct the sin committed by counteracting evil, to the point of being ready even to wash away our sin with blood. When asked about his attitude to this document, Smirnov replied: “The author of the letter is a bishop, Damaskin is my like-minded person. The letter was written to Archbishop Seraphim Samoylovich, and in a copy to me ... Church ... and the blame for this lies mainly with the clergy. The task is the need for a deeper education of the people, so that the members of the Church are true Christians ... which means opposing the kingdom of evil. These views I expressed to the bishops of Damascus and Athanasius, who were in solidarity with me on this matter.

This is followed by a whole series of arrests and exiles of Vl. Damaskin, ending with the execution on September 15, 1937.

P.S. The Moscow Patriarchate canonized Vl. Damaskin along with other representatives of the TOC, such as, for example, Archbishop Nikolai of Vladimir (Dobronravov), Archbishop. Ivanovo-Voznesensky Augustin (Belyaev), Ep. Kineshma Vasily (Preobrazhensky), Ep. Krasnoyarsk Amfilohiy (Skvortsov), Ep. Lubensky Arkady (Ostalsky), Ep. Nizhny Tagilsky Nikita (Delektorsky), Ep. Lipetsky Uar (Shmarin) and others. Can the cynicism with which the MP tries to appropriate the glory of new martyrs be regarded differently than hypocrisy and theft? Our Lord Jesus Christ cried out: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and say: if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their accomplices in shedding the blood of the prophets ... "Supplement the measure of your fathers. Serpents, offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Gehenna?" (Matthew 23:29-39).

Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky)

†1937

Born March 21, 1876 in the village. Makaryevsky, Vetluzhsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province. in the family of a priest. 1900 - graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy with a degree in theology, hieromonk. 1903 - Master of Theology. As rector of the Tambov Seminary, Archimandrite Theodore headed the local organization of the Union of Russian People. On May 3, 1907, an attempt was made on his life by one of the revolutionary-minded students of the seminary, but the bullet flew past. Since 1909, the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. 09/14/1909 consecrated in Ep. Volokolamsky. After the February Revolution, in the midst of anti-monarchist persecution, he was removed from his post by the decision of the "Holy Synod". The Provisional Government forbids propaganda of monarchist views, and the Synod, keeping up with the times, was in a hurry to "repay Caesar what is Caesar's", forgetting about God. Thus, responding to the seizure of power by the Judeo-Masons, the "Synod" declared: "The will of God has been done ... Russia has embarked on the path of a new dispensation of state life ..." In 1917-1930. Vladyka Theodore was the rector of the Moscow Danilovsky Monastery, which then became the spiritual center of Moscow. 1920 (1921) - arrest, Taganskaya prison. 06/08/1923 - released. 04/16/1924 - again arrested on charges of "anti-Soviet agitation" and imprisoned in Butyrka prison. 06/15/1925 sentenced to 3 years for deportation to the Kyrgyz region; then he was exiled to the Zyryansk region ... After the treacherous declaration of Sergius, he headed one of the movements of confessors of Orthodoxy, called "Danilov", which included: Bp. Amphilochius (Skvortsov), Ep. Grigory (Kozyrev), Ep. Grigory (Lebedev), Ep. Nikolai (Nikolsky), archim. Simeon (Kholmogorov), Archim. Polikarp (Soloviev), archim. Stefan (Safonov) and others. According to reports, he took part in the secret Council of the Catacomb bishops, at which the Epistle of the archbishop was supported. Seraphim (Samoilovich) about the prohibition in the priesthood of Metropolitan. Sergius and developed some fundamental documents. For active opposition to the policy of Met. Sergius and the organization of the hidden Church was sent into exile in Syktyvkar. A monk with a strict ascetic lifestyle, an expert in patristic theology and canon law, an incendiary preacher - he enjoyed great respect among the bishops and the entire church people. He considered the Sergian church to be graceless, calling its priests "simple shoemakers", and generally comparing the Sergians with "Gadarin pigs". 10/23/1937 - shot in the Ivanovo prison.

Archbishop Perm Varlaam (Ryashentsev)

†1942

Archbishop Varlaam (Viktor Stepanovich Ryashentsev) was born on June 8, 1878 in Tambov into a merchant family. Classmate and friend Vl. Theodore at the Kazan Theological Academy, he graduated from it with a degree in theology. From 1906 he was the rector of the Poltava Theological Seminary. From January 13, 1913 - Bishop. February 6, 1928 separated from Met. Sergius as part of the Yaroslavl group, for which he was banned from serving by the Sergian Synod. Despite a brief hesitation, at the end of 1928 he finally broke with Met. Sergius, followed by the usual ending for such cases: death on February 20, 1942 in prison No. 1 in Vologda as a result of bullying by red bandits.

He was not the only one in his diocese to continue the work of Met. Agafangel. Shortly after his separation from Met. Sergius, he was followed by Bp. Rybinsky Veniamin (Voskresensky) (1871 - 10/5/32), who on June 16, 1929 wrote to the dean of the temples of Yaroslavl, Fr. Phlegont of Pongil:

Quote:
Metropolitan Sergius made an experience unparalleled in the history of the Church - the experience of the contact of two mutually negating elements - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Godlessness, the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Antichrist. Metropolitan Sergius was always distinguished by a certain flexibility of his mind. Here he crossed the line and became its victim... The godless homeland is no longer a sacred homeland. For a Christian, it ceases to be a homeland...

Ep. German (Ryashentsev)

†1937

The closest friend of Vl. Theodora at the academy and brother Archbishop. Varlaam Bishop Herman (Ryashentsev) of Vyaznikovsky followed his elder brothers in upholding the truth. Refusing in 1928 to accept the appointment of Met. Sergius, he doomed himself to a camp-exiled life. In exile, he is charged with the organization of the so-called. "Holy Squad", allegedly fighting in 1934-37. against owls. authorities (five volumes of this case are still closed in the Archives of the Ministry of Security of the Komi Republic). On September 15 he was shot in Syktyvkar.

Ep. Kineshma Vasily (Preobrazhensky)

†1945

Vl. Vasily left the False Church at the beginning of 1928, then joining the "Yaroslavl opposition". Without resorting to listing the places of detention and describing the tortures and sufferings he endured, we will confine ourselves to the words from the protocol of interrogation in the Oryol GPU in the spring of 1933. He said that Sov. power is a temporary power, does not believe in the idea of ​​building socialism-communism. The struggle against religion is allowed by the will of God to test the moral and religious life of the people. During this period of testing the people, there will undoubtedly be a split into believers and unbelievers. Moreover, believers may remain in the minority. But despite this, the Church will overcome and the gates of hell will not prevail against her.

The wording with which he was then condemned is interesting: "The creation of a network of counter-revolutionary circles, which set as their task the anti-Soviet education of the religious masses and the overthrow of the existing system" - the need for inventions is strong.

Ep. Nikolai (Golubev)

†1929

Another confessor who joined Yaroslavl in early 1928 was Bishop Nikolai (Golubev) of Vetluzh, who maintained close relations with the Archbishop. Varlaam (Ryashentsev). In June 1929 he went to Leningrad and received from the Archbishop. Dimitry (Lubimov) permission to organize his diocese. During his arrest, the following certificate is found on him: “The bearer of this Bishop Nikolai Golubev, the former Vetluzhsky, now retired, belongs to the Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Peter, and is in canonical communion with Metropolitan Joseph. Temporarily Administrator of the Leningrad diocese, Archbishop Dimitry Gdovsky. 1 June 1929." Almost all the priests of the Kineshma district who were arrested at that time, during searches, found the text of the renunciation: “I, the undersigned, being convinced of the apostasy from the spirit of Orthodox Christianity of Metropolitan Sergius, interrupt all communication with him and enter into such with the Church, ruled by Metropolitans Peter and Joseph. I wish to be with the flock entrusted to me under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Nicholas. The materials of the investigation file say that Bp. Nikolai introduced the formula of commemoration "On the suffering prisoners of the metropolitans and bishops Peter, Joseph, Vasily and others" during the divine service. During the search, the texts of two prayers received from Bp. Basil and Archbishop Demetrius. One of them said: "Give, Lord, the Church of Russia to rule. Drive away the evil wolves far away and crush their machinations. Grant to everyone who is in power the essence of Your mind and fear, save Your people from pernicious teachings, heresy and unbelief." Vladyka died from a serious illness associated with prison.

Archbishop Shlisselburgsky Grigory (Lebedev)

†1937

During Vladyka Theodore's abbotship at the Danilovsky Monastery, there under his care, being first a novice and then an archimandrite, the future Bishop lived for several years. Grigory (Lebedev). He was made a bishop on December 2, 1923 by Patr. Tikhon. In December 1927, being the governor of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, he stopped the commemoration of Metropolitan. Sergius, coming out of submission to him. Unable to resist Sergian pressure, he left his post and switched to secret service. In 1929, Vladyka left Leningrad and hid in the Kalinin region, and from 1933 he lived in Kashin. On April 16, 1937, he was arrested on charges of "being the head of the counter-revolutionary group of the fascist-monarchist organization in the city of Kashin, systematically holding illegal gatherings in his apartment at which a/c questions were discussed, and recruiting new members in fascist-monarchist organization". Resolution Troika UNKVD Kalinin region. dated September 13, 1937 among 50 people Vl. Grigory was sentenced to capital punishment and shot at one in the morning on September 17.

Hieromartyr Paul (Kratirov)

†1932

One of the main centers of the anti-Sergian movement in Ukraine was Kharkov, then its capital. In the late 1920s, many exiled clergymen lived there. In the position of an exile with a written undertaking not to leave since the spring of 1925, he lived in this city and Bishop. Starobelsky Pavel (Kratirov). He did not recognize Mr. Sergius even before the publication of the Declaration, considering him an invader of the highest church authority, which since 1926 should have belonged to Metropolitan. Yaroslavl Agafangel, and for this he was banned from serving by the Exarch of Ukraine, Metropolitan. Mikhail (Ermakov). Sharply negative ep. Pavel also met the Declaration of Met. Sergius. At the end of 1927 he sent a letter to Met. Agafangel and was quite satisfied with the answer, because Yaroslavl Metropolitan called Sergius "usurped church power." In April 1928, Bishop Pavel sent an official statement to the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens about his separation from him, and in the same month he was banned from the priesthood by the decree of St. Synod.

Ep. Pavel acted, first of all, as a strong ideological opponent of Metr. Sergius. He became the author of three widely distributed works throughout the country. The first of them was written in February 1928 and was called "Our critical remarks on the second epistle of Metropolitan Sergius." Vl. Pavel pointed out that the Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod openly fought for power in the Church, but having received it, he arbitrarily entered a new course and, calling everyone to peace, began to impose ecclesiastical punishments on those who disagreed with him. “If Metropolitan Sergius really wanted to preserve “the unity of the Spirit in the union of the world” before the Council, “so as not to tear the tunic of Christ,” as he puts it, then, having turned out to be at the head of church administration with all sorts of lies and truths, he would not frighten in vain with church canons those who do not recognize him, as he does all the time with great zeal; he would not single-handedly impose prohibitions on dozens of bishops who disagree with him, but with due humility, putting his own canonicity under a question mark "in the unity of the Spirit and in the union of the world", he would expect the future Council who would figure out who is right and who is to blame in church troubles, and will reward everyone according to his deeds... Metropolitan Sergius places his hope on the heavenly Shepherd that He will not leave us orphans in difficult times, and "hope will not disgrace him"... We will go beyond the bounds of the possible if we share the hopes of Metropolitan Sergius that the Lord will be his Helper in his deeds! .. (It would be more correct to think, bearing in mind his last speeches I, full of seeking before the powerful of this world, that the Lord forsook him and the Spirit of God departed from him." Here is Ep. Pavel and called Metr. Sergius to repentance: “We fervently urge him to sacrifice, for the sake of the good of the Church, his self-love and lust for power, by which he has so far been guided more than love of God, and again sincerely repent of all his church sins, and to provide the management of the Church the one from whom it was taken."

April 3/16 Paul writes his "First Letter from a Bishop" addressed to an unnamed hierarch supporting Met. Sergius. In it, he said that there was no need to be afraid of divisions in the church environment, and, on the contrary, welcomed the protest against "metr. Sergius' terrible work." The message said that “The Church of Christ is nothing but the Kingdom of God, and, according to the Savior, it is within us. Does this Kingdom of God inside us really need all this vile system that Metropolitan Sergius allows in relations with external Is it really possible to sell Christ and the Kingdom of God because of the preservation of church property (temples, buildings, utensils), the office and its accessories? I cannot help being indignant and suffering at the sight of the scarlet-prodigal Church, because I myself, prodigal and sinful, have a great need for the Virgin Church, who is chaste for us, wearing the white robe of chastity and the completely pure, unspotted Bride of Christ, who is able to save me, a sinner... Since the Church of St. Sergius put on the scarlet robe of a harlot, then through this she became guilty and criminal in everything ... The Church of St. Sergius, like a ecumenical, now it rages, dominates, forbids, exiles, and through this reveals itself as a Caesar-papist organization in the most vile sense of the word. And therefore, I am leaving for the desert, in the hope that at this time only the deserted, kicking (from the word "to kick, that is, reviled") Church can indicate the true path to eternal salvation, along which a Christian should go ... Legalization of the Church of Christ or the Kingdom of God in our conditions is the same as talking about a round square or dark light, hot ice, etc. Everything shows that I can’t get out of the desert yet, and I myself hasten there to take refuge there until the wrath of God passes. I only grieve that among the archpastors of the Russian Church there were many followers of the practically stinking Sergius fornication ... And that is why I renounce the Sergius church. From the outside, the body of the church seems to be whole and everything is in order, but through the apostasy the head has already been cut off. And no matter how much Metropolitan Sergius shouts about loyalty to Orthodoxy, the most important thing is already gone. The result is not a Church, but a church party organization, an orientation. It is not a church ship, but Sergius vskaya "rook-gas chamber". Repent before it's too late. You won't be able to get out later, you know why."

In May 1928 Vl. Pavel wrote an open letter "On the modernized Church, or on Orthodoxy of Sergius", addressed to an unknown "brother in Christ", in which he argued that the Declaration affects the very essence of the Orthodox Church doctrine: "Metr. Sergius is not personally from himself and his Synod, but on behalf of the entire Orthodox Catholic Church, he bowed to the man-god, speaking proudly and blasphemously... I, a sinner, think that such church leaders should be called not only heretics and schismatics, but also apostates. the heresy of modernized apostasy, the natural consequence of which was church confusion and schism... So, Metropolitan Sergius trampled not on the outside, but on the very essence of Church Orthodoxy. faith and represents a clear apostasy - falling away from the faith, apostasy... Metr. Sergius, with his super-wise and wicked declaration and subsequent anti-church work, created a new Renovationist schism or Sergius renewal, which, while preserving for the "little ones" the fiction of Orthodoxy and canonicity, is much more criminal than the first two renewals (1922 and 1925). Those who trudged for the Met. Sergius, returning to the path of truth is a difficult task, associated with considerable sorrows and hardships. But I, a sinner, see everything and live in hope in God, Merciful, Wise and Strengthening the weak..."

Total Ep. Pavel wrote, in his words, four "reasonings" on the subject of who should govern the Russian Church, two appeals to Sov. authorities and a letter to the deans of Starobelsk in response to their collective appeal with a reproach about the non-recognition of Metropolitan. Sergius. Then, during his hierarchal service in Vl. Pavel headed about 40 parishes in Kharkov, Sumy and Dnepropetrovsk districts. Vladyka introduced all his messages to priests and laity.

From the famous Kharkov archpriest Nikolai Zagorovsky, who then lived in Leningrad, Bp. Paul learned about Ep. Gdovsky Dimitri (Lubimov), who headed after the arrest of Met. Joseph (Petrovykh) "legal" Church, and in June 1928 sent him a letter with the message that back in 1926 he left the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan. Sergius and a request to accept him into prayer fellowship. Ep. Demetrius requested the relevant documents and explanations, and after receiving them he sent a benevolent answer with a proposal to minister to the nearest True Orthodox communities. Since that time, correspondence has been established between the bishops. For example, in the summer of 1928 Ep. Pavel in one of his letters asked for clarification and guidance on such issues: how to relate to the prohibitions imposed by Metropolitan. Sergius, whether there are plans to organize a new church government and legalize it before the civil authorities. The letter also said: “Are we not placed by the duty of our pastoral ministry in the need to impede at every step the existing government in its work. How can we approve of godless education in modern schools. directly and frankly testify to the authorities that our paths lead in different directions and that we can only talk about our desire to be loyal, but we cannot testify to our loyalty by our deeds. How can we approve of joining the Communist Party ... "

Of course, the bloodthirsty antichrist power could not allow the existence of such a zealous shepherd on the territory subject to it. On January 17, 1931, Vladyka was arrested, and by post. On January 2, 1932, the KOGPU was sentenced to 10 years in the camp. And on January 5 of the same year, after severe torture and torment, he died in the Kharkov prison hospital.

Holy saint of Christ Paul, pray to God for us sinners!

Hieromartyr Nectarios (Trezvinsky)

†1937

Born in 1889 in Little Russia in the family of a priest. Graduated from Kyiv Theological Seminary and Academy. Hieromonk, Candidate of Theology. During the Great War, he was a regimental priest. Then rector at the Alexander Nevsky Holy Trinity Lavra. In 1919 the first arrest. In 1921 - the second: the so-called. "The Case of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra". Sentence: one year forced. works with detention in "Crosses". Then again the service in St. Petersburg. In 1924 he takes the episcopal rank. A staunch fighter against renovationism, for which - a new term - 3 years in SLON. February 20, 1928, withdraws from the administrative subordination of Metropolitan. Sergius and his Synod, for which he was banned from serving as part of the "Victorian" group of non-commemorators.

“After prayers and long reflections,” writes Vl. Nektariy, “I stopped ecclesiastical communion with M. Sergius ... as having entered into a bloc with the Antichrist, violating church canons and allowing cowardice and cunning tantamount to apostasy from Christ ... The synod was assembled of the so-called tarnished or corrupted bishops. The appointment of bishops to the cathedra takes place with the knowledge or approval of the head of the Moscow department No. 6. Can this be acceptable by Orthodox people, and even more so by bishops? .. I hope and believe that this church Nizhny Novgorod fair (Sergius wore the title of Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod) under the neo-renovation flag will suffer complete disgrace and Orthodox believers will all leave this sad church adventure, started to destroy and desecrate the Church of Christ, which is the pillar and affirmation of the Truth "

On August 30, 1930, he was arrested again on charges of creating the counter-revolutionary organization "True Orthodox Church" in Kazan, and on January 26, 1932, under Art. 58-10-11 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR - 10 years of SLON, where in 1937. by the verdict of the "troika" he was shot. From exile he wrote to his flock:

“From the history of the Church of Christ it is clear that almost all the fighters for the truth of Christ died in the struggle, only after their death did the cause of God for which they fought triumph. - these are mostly ritual performers-priests, for whom if only they had something to feed themselves, to live in peace, and against us, opponents of Sergianism, they will not disdain any forces, immoral measures, such as: interrogations, false rumors, drinking vodka to throats at parish meetings, etc. So, Sergius printed about me: I, allegedly, initiated a bigamist into the priests, which I never saw in a dream.

In a word, our struggle, although holy, is powerless. I personally do not hope for liberation, but most likely I will die, rot in the camps, comforted by the promises of Christ. Blessed are the exiles for the sake of righteousness... It is not easy to suffer. But there is no other way out, there can be no choice or separation. Do not hesitate, beloved, for you life is Christ and death is gain. What should we do? How can we be? You ask me, zealots of Orthodoxy, deprived of their shepherds and unable, because of a sensitive conscience, to pray in Sergian churches. The suffering of your souls is quite understandable. To live without church prayer is a great disaster for believers, and now there are many cities and villages where there are no churches, and if there are, they are renovationist or Sergian. Unite in small groups and pray at home, sing church hymns, read the word of God, do alms as much as you can, bury the dead without Sergian priests. Accept the Holy Mysteries only from true shepherds, and you will always find such with God's help."

Catacomb Ep. Serpukhovsky Maxim (Zhizhilenko)

†1931

Quote:
"The Soviet and Catacomb Churches are incompatible... The secret, deserted, Catacomb Church anathematized the Sergians and others like them."

Shortly before his death, which followed on the feast of the Annunciation in 1925, Patriarch Tikhon shared with his personal doctor and friend Mikhail Zhizhilenko his premonition that the ever-increasing pressure of the government would one day force the primates of the Church to make concessions that would no longer be acceptable, and that the true Church would then have to withdraw into the catacombs, like the Roman Christians of antiquity. He advised him to take monastic tonsure and episcopal consecration for the secret care of the faithful (thus, the concept and even the very name of the Catacomb Church was foreseen by the patriarch himself; it was and is the "Tikhonov" Church). Thus, in 1928, one of the first secret bishops of the True Orthodox Church appeared. He is also considered the author of the statement of the Serpukhov clergy about dissociating themselves from Metropolitan Sergius and his Synod.

On May 24, 1929, Vladyka Maxim was arrested by the OGPU and sentenced to five years in a camp. At the end of November of the same year, he was placed in the Solovetsky camp, where he worked as a doctor and was in charge of a typhoid hut. Together with Bishops Victor (Ostrovidov), Nektary (Trezvinsky) and Hilarion (Belsky), as well as other clergy, he performed secret services in the forest. Vl. Maxim also participated in secret episcopal consecrations on Solovki. Then he was transferred to Belbaltlag, and then to Butyrka prison. Here, in Moscow, on February 18, 1931, he was accused of anti-Soviet activities (investigation file No. 28850: "The illegal church-monarchist organization "True Orthodoxy" in the Moscow region" and the Tver diocese (1930-1931) - organization of protection from godless power , through which 63 people passed), and on June 4, as part of 17 clergy, he was shot. He was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery.

Hieromartyr Mark (Mikhail Alexandrovich Novoselov)

†1938

Born in 1864. Graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University. He was one of the closest students of L.N. Tolstoy. In the mid-1890s, he broke with Tolstoyism and turned to Orthodoxy, drawing closer to St. John of Kronstadt. One of the active figures of the "Orthodox revival" of the early twentieth century, combining a strictly ecclesiastical theological orientation with a certain socio-political opposition. Since 1902 - the publisher of the famous book series "Religious and Philosophical Library", as well as the works of the Holy Fathers, published for the people. Founder of the Circle of Those Seeking Christian Enlightenment in the Spirit of the Orthodox Church of Christ. In 1917-18 he was a member of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1922-28, he was hiding from the OGPU in the underground, at that time Letters to Friends were written, and Mikhail Alexandrovich himself was consecrated as a secret bishop by Hieromartyrs Theodore (Pozdeevsky), Arseny (Zhadanovsky) and Seraphim (Zvezdinsky). Since 1927, schmch. Mark (Novoselov) is one of the leaders of the church movement opposed to Sergianism. In 1928 he was arrested by the OGPU and wandered around the camps, until he was shot in 1938.

Who are the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church? Why did they become victims of the communist regime? What is the significance of the exploit of the new saints?

The 20th century in the history of Russia was marked by the cruel repressions of the Soviet government against its own citizens. People were punished for the slightest disagreement with communist ideology and for religious beliefs. Many Orthodox Christians became victims of the Bolsheviks without departing from their faith.

The New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church are a host of saints of the Russian Orthodox Church who were martyred for Christ or were persecuted after the October Revolution of 1917.

The Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors began to take shape in 1989, when the first saint, Patriarch Tikhon, was canonized. Then, as biographies and other archival documents were studied, several people were canonized from year to year.

Among the New Martyrs and Confessors there are clergy and laity, people of various professions, ranks and estates, united by love for God and people.

Icon Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church

godless power

Christianity and communism are incompatible. Their moral standards contradict each other. God is love, not revolutionary terror. The Church taught not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to create idols, to forgive enemies, to honor parents. And the Bolsheviks killed the innocent, crushed the traditions of their ancestors, stole other people's property, raped them, sang fornication to the detriment of the family, and instead of icons they hung portraits of Lenin and Stalin. From the point of view of a Christian, they built Hell on earth.

Lenin's statements about religion are always atheistic, but in articles he tries to formulate his ideas in a civilized manner, while in orders and letters addressed to friends and subordinates, he speaks directly and rudely. Even before the Revolution, in a letter to A. M. Gorky, Lenin wrote: “... every god is corpse-slaughter. ... every religious idea, every idea about every god, every flirtatiousness even with a god is the most inexpressible abomination, especially tolerated by the democratic bourgeoisie - that is why it is the most dangerous abomination, the most vile "infection".

It is easy to imagine how such a leader of the state showed himself in relation to the Church when he received power.

Explosion of the Orthodox Church, 1918

On May 1, 1919, in a document addressed to Dzerzhinsky, Lenin demands: “It is necessary to do away with priests and religion as soon as possible. Priests must be arrested as counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs, shot mercilessly and everywhere. And as much as possible. Churches are to be closed. The premises of the temples shall be sealed and turned into warehouses.” Lenin repeatedly recommended executions of the clergy.

The activities of the state were aimed at destroying the Church and discrediting Orthodoxy: benefits and loans for sectarians, inspiring schisms, publishing anti-religious literature, creating anti-religious organizations - for example, the Union of Militant Atheists, where young people were driven.

Stalin continued the work of Lenin: “The Party cannot be neutral in relation to religion, and it conducts anti-religious propaganda against all and any religious prejudices, because it stands for science, and religion is something opposite to science ... Have we suppressed the clergy? Yes, they suppressed it. The only trouble is that it has not yet been completely eliminated.

In the Decree, along with economic indicators, a goal was set: by May 1, 1937, "the name of God must be forgotten on the territory of the country."

The looting of the church, post-revolutionary years

Hegumen Damaskin (Orlovsky) writes in his work: “How the arrests were made, the interrogations, the speed with which the troikas issued orders for executions, is evidenced by the data of the government commission for the rehabilitation of victims of political repression: in 1937, 136,900 Orthodox clergymen were arrested, 85,300 of them were shot; in 1938 28,300 were arrested, 21,500 were shot; in 1939, 1,500 were arrested, 900 were shot; in 1940 5100 were arrested, 1100 were shot; in 1941 4,000 were arrested, 1,900 were shot”(“The History of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Documents of the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation”). Most of the believers were repressed in 1918 and in 1937-38.

Only with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the repression of the clergy reduced its scope. Because the Soviet government decided to use the Church for patriotic propaganda. Temples were opened. Parishioners, led by priests, collected money for the front. During the period 1941-43, only one Moscow diocese handed over 12 million rubles for defense needs. But the war ended, and the ungrateful government no longer needed the Church. From 1948, new arrests of the clergy began, which lasted the entire period from 1948 to 1953, and churches were again closed.

Tried quickly, shot immediately

There were no lengthy processes over clergy and monks. Their guilt in the eyes of the Bolsheviks was indisputable - religiosity, and the best evidence of the crime was the cross around their necks. Therefore, among the New Martyrs and Confessors there are many who were killed on the spot - where they prayed, where they called on God. Any reason could be found.

Archpriest John Kochurov

The very first to suffer for the faith was the New Martyr Archpriest John Kochurov who served in Tsarskoye Selo. He was shot on October 31, 1917 for organizing the procession, at which, as the Red Guards decided, he prayed for the victory of the White Cossacks, who defended Tsarskoe Selo, but were forced to retreat. In fact, Father John and other clergymen wanted to calm the local residents, frightened by the artillery shelling, and offered up prayers for peace.

Here is how an eyewitness tells about the death of a priest:

“Several rifles were raised on the unarmed shepherd. A shot, another - waving his arms, the priest fell face down on the ground, blood flooded his cassock. Death was not instantaneous - he was dragged by the hair, and someone offered to "finish him like a dog." The next morning, the body of the priest was transferred to the former palace hospital. The chairman of the Duma, who visited the hospital, together with one of the vowels, saw the body of the priest, but there was no longer a silver cross on his chest.

On January 25, 1918, in Kyiv, after the Bolshevik pogrom in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) was killed. He was kidnapped and immediately shot by a group of soldiers.

On July 17, 1918, the Imperial family, personifying the Orthodox kingdom, was shot in Yekaterinburg: Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, princesses and a small heir.

Photograph of the family of Emperor Nicholas II

On July 18, 1918, in Alapaevsk, several representatives of the Romanov House and people close to them were thrown into a mine and thrown with grenades. The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad canonized all those killed near Alapaevsk (except for the manager F. Remez) as martyrs. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized only two of them as saints - the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and the nun Varvara, who led a monastic life before the execution. Elizaveta Fedorovna, after the death of her husband at the hands of terrorists, founded the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, the inhabitants of which were engaged in the treatment of those in need and charity. There she was arrested.

Elizaveta Feodorovna and nun Varvara

There are children among the new martyrs. The youth Sergius Konev, a pupil of Bishop Hermogenes, considered Vladyka to be his grandfather. After the arrest and execution of the bishop, the boy told his classmates that his grandfather had suffered for his faith in God. Someone gave it to the Red Army. They chopped the boy with checkers.

Often during interrogations, security officers tried to get a person to confess to anti-Soviet statements. A formal reason was needed to condemn him as an enemy of the revolution. Therefore, they forced the defendants to slander each other, fabricated cases about counter-revolutionary organizations. Believers did not want to testify against their neighbors, for this they were tortured.

The lives of the New Martyrs and Confessors are impeccable. They remembered the words of the Gospel:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

(Matthew 10:28)

Scammers and slanderers were not subsequently canonized.

The innocence of the victims of repression can be seen immediately.

Priest Alexander Sokolov suffered for organizing prayer trips to the surrounding villages. According to the investigation, he deliberately distracted the collective farmers from harvesting. For which he was shot on February 17, 1938 at the Butovo training ground.

Priest Vasily Nadezhdin read to the youth of Basil the Great, John the Theologian, talked about a trip to the Diveevsky Monastery, for which he was exiled to the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp, where he fell ill with typhus and died on February 19, 1930.

Priest John Pokrovsky advised local schoolchildren to pray so that the lessons would be better remembered. One of the teachers denounced him. Accused of religious propaganda, the priest was shot on February 21, 1938.

Someone regretted that they no longer celebrate Christmas, someone accepted the monks and for this rested in a mass grave or went along the stage to the North ...

Of course, there were representatives of the clergy and laity not only declaring their faith, but also exposing the Soviet regime. This criticism was born of Christian convictions, which did not allow to put up with the robberies, violence, devastation that the Bolsheviks brought. It was then that the Church showed that she was with the people, that the priests, whom the socialists accused of acquisitiveness in those days, did not become servants of the new government, but denounced it.

The priests regretted the fate of the repressed Christians, carried them packages, urged them to pray for the salvation of the country, united the parishioners with a word of consolation, for which they were accused of counter-revolutionary activities.

Fresco in the church with the New Martyrs and Confessors

It took a lot of efforts by the punitive authorities before the remnants of the clergy were driven under the heel of the state. But tens of thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors were already far from the earthly vale, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor the NKVD, but life is endless.

Many repressed priests were fathers of many children, their little children waited a long time, running out onto the road or sitting by the window for hours. This is mentioned in the Lives. Innocent children did not know that meeting with parents is now possible only in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In almost every Russian family, in every clan, someone was subjected to repression. The biographies of many are half-forgotten, the circumstances of the arrest are unknown, but, as a rule, they were good Christians. Perhaps there are your relatives among the New Martyrs and Confessors. Not yet canonized, these people are holy to the all-seeing God.

The Lesson of the New Saints

The feat of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church has a deep meaning.

First of all He teaches fidelity to Christ. Correct distribution of priorities, when eternal life is preferable to temporal life.

Secondly, calls not to deviate from their principles. In a degrading society, do not betray high moral convictions, do not be "like everyone else."

Thirdly, recalls that the country must be protected from upheavals that lead to new repressions, to new innocent victims.

Fourth, testifies that if such times nevertheless come, no force will overcome Orthodoxy and the unbending will of a true Christian.

Fifth, The New Martyrs and Confessors set a good example for the youth. Therefore, it is worth remembering them more often, referring to their Lives in literature and cinema.

They call us to Salvation and help us achieve it.

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors, pray to God for us!

Solovetsky ascetics

One of the largest prisons, where many New Martyrs and Confessors carried their cross, was the Solovetsky Special Purpose Prison. Here, within the walls of the ancient monastery, from where the Soviet authorities expelled the inhabitants, the prisoners lived and died. During the 20 years of the existence of the camp, more than 50,000 prisoners went through hard labor. Among them are archbishops, archimandrites, hieromonks and pious lay people. From these praying walls their souls ascended to God.

Works in the Solovetsky camp

In winter, frost was over thirty degrees, from which people froze to death in unheated punishment cells. In the summer there are clouds of mosquito midges, for which the delinquent convicts were left to profit.

At each roll call, the guards killed one or three people to intimidate the rest. From tuberculosis, scurvy, exhaustion, 7-8 thousand prisoners died every year. In 1929, a company of prisoners was burned alive for failure to fulfill the labor plan.

Fresco about the suffering of the Confessors on the Solovki

They say that on Solovki one can serve the Liturgy anywhere, for the whole Solovki land is saturated with the blood of martyrs. It is worth mentioning that the exiled priests, even in the conditions of the camp, performed divine services more than once. The sacrament was bread and cranberry juice. The price of the Sacrament could be life.