Bishop
Saint German, Bishop of Vyaznikov, in the world Nikolai Stepanovich Ryashentsev, was born on November 10, 1883, in the city of Tambov. He was baptized on November 14 by Priest Alexey Petrovsky. In 1902, he entered the Kazan Spiritual Academy, where he took monastic vows with the name German in his third year. In 1906, he graduated from the academy and was appointed as a teacher of Holy Scripture at the Pskov Seminary. In 1912, he became the rector of the Vifanskaya Seminary. On September 27, 1919, he was ordained as Bishop of Volokolamsk. In 1920, he was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison, but was released on April 22, 1921. In July 1922, he was arrested again and exiled to the Tyumen region. In 1923, he was sent into exile under escort, and in 1925, he returned to Moscow. On December 1, 1928, he was arrested in Vyazniki, and on May 17, 1929, he was sentenced to three years in camps. At the beginning of 1930, he ended up in the Solovetsky camp, where he fell ill with typhus. In 1933, he received permission to move to Arzamas. On February 24, 1937, he was arrested for the fifth time. Accusations of 'counter-revolutionary activity' led to his execution on September 15, 1937. On September 2, 2001, his name was included in the assembly of new martyrs and confessors of Russia.
