New Martyrs in the USSR: Why the Church Canonized Saints in Soviet Times

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the 20th century, the Orthodox Church found many new martyrs. At that time in history, the clergy faced a difficult choice. Every Christian, and first of all a clergyman, was automatically considered an enemy of the state and was subjected to destruction. Despite the direct threat to life, during the Soviet era there were many cases of devoted service to the church. This was the reason for the canonization of clergy and martyrs. Their relics are still considered miraculous, and their deeds during their lifetime are considered spiritual exploits.

Holy Russian merchant

In adolescence, without a livelihood, Vasily Muravyov went to the capital in search of work. Here, with the light hand of a kind man, he settled down to trade in the shop of a local merchant. Being very capable, he independently mastered the literacy, and at the age of 17 he took the place of the senior clerk. However, in the young man's dreams, the desire to go to a monastery was ripe. During his visit to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Vasily communicates with the schema-monk, who blesses him to marry, raise children, and only after that devote himself to monastic life with his wife.

After his marriage, Muravyov mastered the fur trade. His business was so successful that he soon became a millionaire. Vasily spent a significant part of his income on helping those in need. In 1920, having distributed all his fortune to churches and monasteries, yesterday's millionaire officially becomes a member of the brotherhood at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. At the same time, his wife took vows in the nunnery. In 1927, the future saint becomes a monk.

The elder has already become famous for his gift of clairvoyance and healing. He was constantly surrounded by visitors, he invited people to his own cell. When the Nazis came to the village, they came to Seraphim Vyritsky to find out the future. The officers asked the elder how soon they would be on a victorious march across Russia, to which the monk replied: "This will not happen." The monk also predicted the exact time of the end of the blockade of Leningrad, helping the desperate townspeople in search of relatives and friends. The elder died on April 3, 1949, canonized in 2000.

Warrior from the front line and his incorruptible relics

Sergei Florinsky grew up in a Suzdal family of clergy. After studying at the theological seminary, he taught at the zemstvo school for 7 years, after which he became a priest. He actively participated in the Russo-Japanese War, showed himself on the front lines in the First World War, which is confirmed by military awards.

In December 1918, Florinsky was arrested as a supporter of the overthrown tsarist regime. He was accused of preparing an armed uprising against the Red Army, for which he was shot. During interrogation before his death, Florinsky said that his only fault was that he was a priest and boldly signed it.

In 2003, the imperishable relics of Sergei Florinsky were delivered to the Estonian church. Since that time, believers from all over the world come to the shrine.

Authoritative priest and deputy

In addition to church ministry, Peter Korelin was actively involved in teaching at public schools. Since 1889, he was repeatedly elected a deputy, at the same time he taught at parish schools and served as an observer of the county deanery. Fulfilling a huge range of responsibilities, Peter remained a priest who served in the parish and did not miss divine services, as well as a diligent family man and a father of four children.

The last refuge of Korelin was the Perm Holy Trinity Church at the Kamensk plant. After the revolution of 1917, the power in the village passed to the Bolsheviks, who began to create military detachments from the workers of the local metallurgical plant. Anti-church repressions began, but Father Peter fearlessly continued his ministry.

In the summer, the local council decided to take the birth documents from the church. Parishioners refused to give church books to the Bolsheviks. When the new authorities came for the documents, one of the priests rang the bell and a scuffle ensued, but the armed workers dispersed the disgruntled villagers. Father Peter was accused of organizing the uprising, arrested and taken to trial in Yekaterinburg. He was imprisoned in a high security solitary confinement cell.

After some time, Father Peter and other prisoners were handed over to the commissar of the punitive detachment and taken to Tyumen. It was clear that a martyr's death lay ahead. Expecting clashes with the army of the Siberian government, the revolutionaries built fortifications, forced the prisoners to work hard. Father Peter carried earth around the clock, sawed boards, without losing courage even in a state of extreme exhaustion. One evening Korelin was taken to Tobolsk in a dirty steamer hold. At night he was forced to go out on the deck, stripped, beaten and, tying a stone, thrown into the water.

Miracles of healing Kuksha Odessa

Kuksha Odessky's mother in her youth wanted to go to a nun, but her parents insisted on marriage. The woman prayed that one of her children would take monastic vows.

Kosma (the worldly name of Kukshi) from childhood loved loneliness, while being very attentive to those around him. Once Kosma took an unhealthy cousin to an old man who was casting out evil demons. The elder helped the young man, warning Kosma that he would be persecuted by enemies until the end of his life.

At the age of 20, Kosma, after visiting Mount Athos, decided to serve God. In 1896 he became a resident of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery. In 1905, novice Kosma was tonsured into monasticism. In 1913, after the demands of the Greek authorities for the departure of Russian monks from Athos, the future hieromartyr returned to Russia, becoming a novice of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Father dreamed of a great schema, but due to his young age he was refused. At the age of 56, he was seriously ill and was thought to be terminally ill. He was urgently tonsured into the schema, giving a name in honor of the hieromonk Kuksha of Pechersk. However, after this event, he fully recovered. In 1938, in the wake of severe persecution of Orthodoxy, Kuksha was sentenced to five years in a camp, after which the 63-year-old priest was sent to exile for another 5 years of exhausting logging work.

But even in those difficult conditions of life, Kuksha saved other prisoners with prayer and compassion. After his release 10 years later, the elder returned to the ministry and was even more popular among the flock. Kuksha died in 1964 in the Odessa Assumption Monastery. There are numerous cases of miraculous healing of the sick at the saint's grave. According to believers, even the earth from there has healing power.

Laureate of the Stalinist award and early canonization of Luka Krymsky

Luka Krymsky openly called himself the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church during his lifetime, but even this did not spoil his career as a brilliant surgeon. The doctor became a laureate of the Stalin Prize, surprisingly, already in the dignity of a priest. Luke was canonized ahead of schedule - in 39 years the field of death instead of the traditionally minimum fifty. This circumstance is explained by the huge number of miracles that occur after turning to the saint for help.

Colleagues of the talented doctor testified that he came to the operating room in a cassock, not only providing medical assistance to patients, but also confessing them at the same time. During the years of his ministry to the church, Luke visited prisons and exile three times. There is a known case when Father Luka ended up in Butyrka, where almost every prisoner soon became a believer.

Luka Krymsky, during his lifetime, a bust was installed at the Institute. Sklifosovsky, and after his death, temples named after him were opened at medical centers.

The life of the righteous is often extremely difficult. There are many shocking and strange facts from the life of Catholic saints.