Presbyter
Saint Alexius was born on September 22, 1879, in the village of Sholy, Belozersky district of Novgorod province. After graduating from the Theological Seminary, he was ordained as a priest and served in various parishes. In the late 1920s - early 1930s, he was arrested for failing to fulfill a tax obligation, sentenced to confiscation of property and imprisonment for six months in a corrective labor camp. Upon his return, he began serving in a church and was elevated to the rank of protopresbyter.
In early 1937, he was appointed to the Ascension Church in the village of Voznesenya, Bologovsky district of Tver region. He proved himself to be a zealous pastor, teaching the parishioners Christian love and prayer. Under the pressure of godless authorities, the peasants named their children un-Christian names, but the priest sent them to the village council for re-registration.
The authorities took notice of his service, and on September 2, 1937, Fr. Alexius was arrested. During the interrogation, he confirmed that he had performed the baptisms of newborns and spread Christian prayers. On September 19, the NKVD Troika sentenced him and the church elder Vasily Shikalov to execution. They were shot on September 21, 1937, and were canonized among the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000.
