Presbyter
Saint Gregory was born in 1873 in the village of Shuvatovo, Simbirsk province, into a peasant family. He received his initial education in a rural school and furthered his knowledge through self-education and church upbringing. In 1917, after the October Revolution, he decided to dedicate his life to the service of the Church and began preparing for ordination.
In 1921, he was ordained a priest and served in the churches of Astrakhan, and in 1923 he was assigned to the church in honor of the Rudnenskaya Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Nachalovo. Father Gregory actively cared for the spiritual education of his parishioners, collecting spiritual books and providing them for reading.
With the onset of collectivization in 1929, persecutions against the Church began. Despite this, faith in the village strengthened, and the church was filled with worshippers. In 1930, after an attempt by the authorities to remove the bells, Father Gregory became a target of suspicion from the local authorities. On February 3, 1930, he was arrested, but the lack of evidence led to the case being dropped.
However, on February 22, 1930, an armed uprising against the Soviet government occurred in the village, resulting in the deaths of members of the local council. Father Gregory was arrested again, despite the absence of evidence of his guilt. On February 28, the OGPU troika sentenced him to death, and on March 6, 1930, he was executed in the suburbs of Astrakhan and buried in an unknown mass grave.
