Hieromonk
Saint Arepha of Valaam (in the world Mitrenin Alexander Fyodorovich) was born on November 21, 1879, in Kronstadt. He entered the Valaam Monastery on May 26, 1902, was accepted as a novice on March 20, 1906, and was tonsured into monasticism with the name Arepha on May 22, 1910. He was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon on July 30, 1915, and to the rank of hieromonk on April 28, 1921. From February 1917, he served in the choir at the Moscow representation, conducting the series of divine services. In 1925, he left for Finland, from where he was expelled on October 22 for his loyalty to the Russian Church and the Julian calendar. From 1927, he lived in the chapel of the Valaam Monastery in Leningrad on Vasilievsky Island. He was arrested on February 18, 1932. The interrogation protocol indicated that he never actively opposed the Soviet government, but could not be considered a Soviet person, as monks were deprived of everything. He was sentenced to exile in Kazakhstan for a term of 3 years starting from February 17, 1932. He passed away in exile in November 1932, and was buried in Tashkent at the age of 53. He was 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 for public veneration (feast day January 25).
