Presbyter
Hieromartyr Alexy was born on February 10, 1877, in the village of Genino, Serpukhov District, Moscow Province, into the family of Priest John. In 1892 he graduated from the Zaikonospassky Theological School, in 1898 from the Bethany Theological Seminary, and in 1902 from the Moscow Theological Academy. He was ordained to the priesthood and served until 1930, when he was arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary activity and sentenced to three years of exile. After returning from exile, he served in a church in the village of Malo-Fominskoye.
On February 16, 1938, he was arrested and imprisoned in the city of Vesyegonsk. During the investigation, witnesses were questioned who confirmed that Father Alexy refused to conduct funeral services for those who did not acknowledge God and did not attend church. The investigator demanded that Father Alexy describe his “anti-Soviet activities.” In response, Father Alexy said: “In the first days of February 1938, I had to conduct funeral services for three deceased persons at the same time. During the service, I delivered a short sermon in which I expressed to the faithful my surprise that three funerals took place on one day, whereas such cases had previously been rare, and I called on the collective farmers to submit to the will of God. I did not engage in anti-Soviet agitation.”
On March 6, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death by shooting. Priest Alexy Nikolsky was executed on March 8, 1938, and buried in an unknown mass grave.
