Holymartyr Evgraf Evarestov, Presbyter

Holymartyr Evgraf Evarestov, Presbyter

Hieromartyr
Presbyter

Saint Martyr Priest Eugraph Evarestov was born in 1857 in Samara Province in the family of a rural priest. He graduated from the Samara Theological Seminary and afterwards served as a teacher at the Samara Theological School. In 1885, he graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy and served for two years as an assistant inspector at the Ufa Theological Seminary. In 1887, he was ordained to the diaconate, and then to the priesthood. He spent all his pastoral service at the Ufa Resurrection Cathedral, continuing to teach at the Ufa Theological Seminary.

In 1900, he was elevated to the rank of protodeacon and appointed as the rector of the Resurrection Cathedral. He displayed many talents, was an outstanding preacher, and actively participated in diocesan and public life. He was elected twice as a deputy of the spiritual department to the Ufa City Duma. He was a member of the provincial Statistical Committee and the treasurer of the Orthodox Missionary Society.

In 1914, he was awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir of the 3rd degree for his service in the civil department. In 1918, the Ufa clergy met the White Army, which liberated Ufa from the Bolsheviks. Father Eugraph participated in collecting donations for the White Army, for which he was subjected to arrest.

On November 18, 1919, he was arrested by Red Army soldiers and sentenced to execution for “agitation in favor of Kolchak.” The sentence was carried out on December 7-8, 1919. The martyr was led to execution in nothing but his underwear, barefoot in the snow. His widow and children were exiled to the Katav-Ivanovsk factory.