Presbyter
Saint John was born on August 30, 1870, in the village of Bolshie Soly, Yaroslavl Province, in the family of priest Alexander Uspensky. He graduated from a theological school and in 1890 was ordained as a deacon, and later as a priest, serving in the Introduction Church in the village of Vvedenskoe, Kineshma District, Ivanovo Region.
With the beginning of the persecutions in 1937, Father John was arrested on November 1, 1937, along with several laypeople. In prison, he was subjected to interrogations, during which he denied all accusations of counter-revolutionary activity. Despite the pressure of the investigation, he remained faithful to his faith and did not admit guilt.
On November 8, 1937, the investigation was completed, and on November 15, the NKVD troika sentenced all the accused to execution, and Father John to ten years of imprisonment in a labor camp. In prison, a new investigation was initiated against him, accusing him of anti-Soviet agitation. On February 3, 1938, he was sentenced to execution and shot on February 4, 1938, being buried in a common unmarked grave.
