Presbyter
Priest John Evfimievich Ilyinsky was born in 1846 in the family of a peasant. In 1864, he entered the Simbirsk Theological Seminary, which he graduated from in 1870. In 1873, he married Alexandra Ivanovna. In the same year, he was ordained as a deacon, and then as a priest, and was assigned to serve in the village of Tomylovo, where he served for 45 years. During his service, he was awarded numerous church honors for his diligence in public enlightenment and teaching children the Law of God.
John and Alexandra had six children, three of whom participated in the hostilities on the fronts of the First World War. In 1917, due to the revolution, persecutions against the Church began. In 1918, John was arrested and shot by Red Army soldiers, not having the chance to say goodbye to his family. His martyr's death occurred on September 15/28, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
The family did not know about his fate for a long time, and only in October 1918 did they learn of his martyr's death. Attempts to bury his body were unsuccessful. In 1919, the revolutionary tribunal recognized the murder as illegal, but the names of the murderers remained unknown. The memory of Priest John Ilyinsky is commemorated on September 15/28 and on the day of the celebration of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
