Presbyter
Saint Alexander Andreyev was born on February 24, 1901, in Moscow into a pious family. From childhood, he loved church prayer and visited temples. After finishing school, he entered the Moscow Merchant School but realized that his calling was church service. He served as a clerk in the 684th combined evacuation hospital. In 1919, he became a novice at the Moscow Ascension Monastery, where he was ordained as a deacon and later as a priest. He wished to combine priesthood with the vow of celibacy. In 1922, he was appointed to a priestly position at the Resurrection Church in Kadashi, and in 1924, he became the rector of the Sophia Church in Moscow.
On March 25, 1929, he was arrested on charges of anti-Soviet agitation and organizing an illegal sisterhood. He was sentenced to three years of exile in Kazakhstan. From 1929 to 1932, he was in Karkaralinsk.
After completing his exile, he was deprived of the right to reside in Moscow and appointed to the Sorrowful Cemetery Church in Ryazan. On January 14, 1936, he was arrested and held in Taganka prison. During the investigation, he rejected all accusations. On April 4, 1936, he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a concentration camp.
In the Suslov department, there was the imprisoned archimandrite Mina and many others. In September 1937, he was sentenced to execution for participating in a 'counter-revolutionary group.' The sentence was carried out on October 22, 1937.
Priest Alexander Andreyev was glorified in the ranks of the holy martyrs on August 13-16, 2000. His memory is celebrated on November 4 (October 22 in the old calendar).
