Presbyter
Saint Alexius (Alexey Mikhailovich Nikitsky) was born on March 6, 1891, in the village of Mikhalevo, Bronitsky district of Moscow province. In 1914, he was ordained a priest and served in the Church of the Nativity of Christ. With the advent of Soviet power, he was mobilized and served in various positions. In 1922, he began serving in the Trinity Church in the settlement of Udelnoe. In 1937, under the conditions of tax oppression, the clergy of the church wrote a statement of protest. On January 26, 1938, he was arrested by the NKVD. During the investigation, he denied all charges, asserting that he was fulfilling his duties as a priest. On February 16, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to execution for 'counter-revolutionary agitation.' On February 28, 1938, he was shot at the Butovo firing range and buried in an unknown common grave. He was canonized among the ranks of the new martyrs of Russia on March 12, 2002, for church-wide veneration.
