Presbyter
On October 14, 1888, in the village of Belenitsyno, Vladimir Province, a boy named Yakov was born. From a young age, he loved the Lord and possessed a beautiful voice. Leaving his home, he served as a church singer and psalmist. In 1919, he was drafted into the Red Army, where he served as the head of the choral section.
After demobilization, he accepted the sacred order and in 1921 was appointed priest at the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spaso-Gennadiev Monastery. Father Yakov, caring for the hungry people, devoted all his strength to serving God and those in need. His prayers resonated in the hearts of the faithful, and the number of parishioners in the church of Voskresenye-Runovo began to grow.
Despite his humble origins and three years of education, he impressed others as an educated man, reading extensively and showing interest in the sciences. In 1930, he was arrested and sentenced to three years in concentration camps, serving his term in Kazakhstan, leaving his family without means of support.
In 1934, he returned from exile, but the position of priest in Runovo was occupied. After the death of the rector, he returned to his church. On August 5, 1937, he was arrested again as a “member of a rebellious kulak counter-revolutionary group” and, not admitting his guilt, was executed on August 26. The location of his burial is unknown. By the decision of the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was canonized as a hieromartyr.
