Presbyter
Jacob Ivanovich Gusev was born on October 19, 1887, in the village of Diveevo, Ardatov district, Nizhny Novgorod province, into the family of a priest. He was baptized in the Diveevo church on the third day after his birth. His initial education was under the guidance of his father, who was a teacher at the church-parish school. After finishing school, Jacob entered the Nizhny Novgorod seminary.
In 1910, he married Elena Nikolaevna Vinogradova. On June 10, 1910, he graduated from the seminary and was ordained as a priest on January 30, 1911. He served in the village of Khudoshina, and then in the Holy Nicholas Church of the village of Elizaryevo. Father Jacob was accessible to the parishioners, conducting services with reverence and attention to those confessing.
With the establishment of Soviet power, Father Jacob faced oppression. In 1927, his younger brother was arrested, and in 1930, Father Jacob himself was arrested and imprisoned. In 1935, he was arrested again when the village council decided to close the church. Father Jacob did not admit guilt to the charges.
On November 20, 1937, he was arrested right in the church. On November 24, the indictment was signed, and on December 2, the sentence followed — execution by firing squad. Father Jacob was executed on December 26, 1937.
On July 30, 2003, the name of Saint Martyr Jacob Gusev was included in the Assembly of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church of the 20th century.
