Presbyter
Saint John was born on September 8, 1873, in the village of Charus, Kasimov district of Ryazan province, into the family of a sacristan. He graduated from the Kasimov Spiritual School and the Ryazan Theological School, after which he was appointed as a teacher and ordained as a deacon. Later he became a priest. In 1913, he worked as a teacher of the word of God to the Spasskaya Women's Gymnasium. At that time he was also elevated to the rank of protodeacon.
In the late 1920s, persecutions against the Church began. In 1931, after a fire at the Church of the Dormition, Saint John and the nuns were arrested and accused of arson. He was sentenced to five years of exile in Kazakhstan, from where he returned in 1934 and continued his ministry at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
In 1935, the authorities closed the cathedral despite protests from the faithful. In 1938, Saint John was arrested again and accused of counter-revolutionary activities. He denied all charges but was sentenced to eight years in a labor camp.
Saint John passed away on May 6, 1940, in Karlag. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
