Presbyter
He was born on February 11, 1872, in the city of Kremets in a pious family of the rector of the Volyn Spiritual Seminary, Protopresbyter Alexander. He received his education at the Volyn Seminary and the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, which he graduated from as a master's student in 1895. After completing the academy, he was sent for missionary service in the Aleutian and North American Diocese, in New York, where he took the position of psalmist at the newly built Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas. After marrying his ward from the Petersburg Pavlovsky Institute, Maria Shcherbukhin, he was ordained to the diaconate, and soon, on February 25, 1896, to the presbyterate by Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov) of the Aleutian Diocese.
The ordination took place in the cathedral of the diocese in San Francisco. Bishop Nicholas highly valued his good upbringing and piety. From 1898 to 1907, he served under the omophorion of Saint Tikhon, who later became the Patriarch of Moscow. During this time, he actively engaged in missionary work, especially among the emigrant Uniates, and represented the Orthodox Church in American religious institutions.
The difficulties of missionary service were significant. In 1914, during his farewell, Archbishop Platon (Rozhdestvensky) noted his selflessness and courage. He established Orthodox parishes in Philadelphia, Yonkers, Panayka, and other cities in North America. An important contribution to the witness of Orthodoxy was the journal 'American Orthodox Herald,' which was published in English and Russian.
In 1914, he returned to Russia and continued his ministry in Helsingfors, where he faced Protestant expansion. In August 1917, he was transferred to Moscow to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and actively participated in the affairs of the Local Council of 1917–1918. During the difficult years of the Civil War, he was one of the closest assistants of Saint Tikhon in managing the Moscow Diocese.
In 1922, under the conditions of persecution against the Church, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. After his release in 1923, he continued his ministry, but was soon arrested again in 1937. According to testimonies, his martyr's death occurred in prison. The Orthodox Church in America honors him as a passion-bearer, whose life ended in suffering for Christ. The location of his burial is unknown.
