Priest
Father Ioann Flerov was the builder and first minister of the Church of Archangel Michael in the village of Semyany, Vasilsursky district of Nizhny Novgorod province. The church was built and consecrated shortly before the revolution of 1917. After his arrest in the winter of 1918, he was tortured for a long time in the Vasilsur prison, being demanded to renounce Christ. He did not agree and was shot in the back in the cemetery, after which the church could not be closed and desecrated for a long time. The parishioners, despite the persecutions, did not give up the keys to the church.
In 1888 (or 1889), a priest named Ioann Bystrov was born in this village. His mother, praying to God for a son, made a vow to dedicate him to the Lord. After finishing gymnasium, Ioann became a teacher, but soon remembered his vow and became a priest. He had a happy family with eight children and remained a strict but fair father. Despite the persecutions, he did not regret his choice to serve God.
On September 11, 1938, on the feast of St. Ioann the Faster, he was arrested during the service. He was imprisoned in Nizhny Novgorod prison, and then, along with other priests, was executed; they were tied up and thrown into the water, ensuring that no one would swim to safety.
