Ioannikiya (Kozhevnikova), abbess

Saint Martyr Priest John Romanovich Sarv was born in 1867 in the Livonian province. He graduated from the Riga Theological Seminary and was ordained as a priest. He served in various churches, including the Transfiguration Church on the Zabalcan Prospect, where he became the rector in 1912. In the late 1920s, he was expelled from Leningrad and continued his ministry in Tikhvin. In 1934, he was arrested, but after interrogations, he was released. In 1937, he was arrested again along with 14 other priests and laypeople, accused of counter-revolutionary activities. All the priests, including John Sarv, were executed on December 3, 1937, demonstrating rare Christian courage and refusing to admit their guilt.