Martyr Ekaterina Andreevna Arskaya was born in 1875 in Saint Petersburg into a wealthy merchant family. Her father was the ktitor of a church, and her mother was engaged in raising children. Ekaterina studied at the Alexandrov Institute, where she met her future husband, an artillery officer. They were married in 1899. After marriage, Ekaterina dedicated herself to her family and children. The family was filled with an atmosphere of love and well-being, and church traditions formed the foundation of her family life. With the onset of World War I, her husband was wounded and returned to Petrograd. After October 1917, the family lost their wealth, and Ekaterina lost her entire family to dysentery. Left without means of subsistence, she became an active member of the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood. In 1932, Ekaterina was arrested, showing courage during the investigation by not naming a single family. She was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in a labor camp. After her release, she was forbidden to live in Leningrad, and she settled in Borovichi. In 1937, Ekaterina was arrested again on 'church matters' and refused to acknowledge the accusations under torture. On December 10, 1937, she was sentenced to death, and on December 17, she was executed.
