Presbyter
Saint Alexius was born on September 9, 1884, in the village of Urey, Penza Province. After graduating from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary in 1909, he was ordained a priest and served in the church in the village of Orekhovo. In 1929, he was accused of 'violating the rules on the separation of Church and State' and sentenced to a fine, and in 1930 — to confiscation of property and exile. In 1931, he settled in the village of Velikiy Dvor and began to serve in the village church, where he demonstrated his talents and zeal in ministry. The number of believers increased, and people from other villages began to attend the church. In 1938, he was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison. The next day, the investigator interrogated him, but he did not confess to his guilt. On February 8, the NKVD troika sentenced him to execution. Priest Alexius Knyazhesky was shot on February 17, 1938, and buried in an unmarked grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
