Presbyter
He was born on March 18, 1869, in the Krasnokholmskaya sloboda of the Vyshegorod district of the Tver province, in the family of a psalmist, Nikolai Vasilievsky. After graduating from the Tver Theological Seminary, he was ordained as a priest and served in the cathedral of the city of Vyshegorod. In 1922, he was arrested, accused of resisting the confiscation of church valuables, and sentenced to one year in prison. After his release, he returned to the cathedral and continued his ministry until February 1924, then moved to the church of the village of Selikhovo, where he served until October 1926, after which he was appointed to the Resurrection Church of the settlement of Selizharovo.
In the Resurrection Church, three priests served, but Father Ioann was the most active among them, which led to persecution. On July 15, 1927, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Ostashkov prison. During the interrogation, the priest stated that he spoke about Christian upbringing of children but did not speak against the Soviet government. Witnesses interviewed by the investigation confirmed that Father Ioann did not conduct anti-Soviet agitation and did not call for a refusal to attend schools.
Nevertheless, the investigation brought forward the accusation that he was 'hostile to the Soviet government' and spread counter-revolutionary rumors. As a result of the investigation, despite the lack of sufficient evidence, the case was sent to the Troika of the NKVD of the Kalinin region. On September 13, 1937, the Troika decided to execute the priest. He was shot on September 17, 1937.
He was canonized among the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for public veneration.
