Presbyter
Saint John was born on February 18, 1878, in the village of Yeski, Bezhitsky district of Tver province, into the family of priest John Tomilov. After graduating from Tver Theological Seminary, he was ordained a priest in 1904 for the church in his native village of Yeski, taking over from his father. Father John served his entire life in this church.
In early 1931, a legal case was initiated against the priest and some peasants for tax evasion. On March 1, 1931, a trial took place, and Father John was accused of failing to deliver milk. The court sentenced Father John to five years of exile with confiscation of property, but the sentence was not carried out, and he continued his service in the church.
During the persecutions in the late 1930s, a new case was initiated against him. The secretary of the village council wrote a character reference for the priest, stating that he was conducting counter-revolutionary activities and was an anti-Soviet agitator. On February 10, 1938, Father John was arrested and imprisoned in the city of Bezhitsk.
On February 13, the NKVD troika sentenced Father John to execution. He was shot on February 15, 1938, and buried in a common unmarked grave.
