Deacon
Saint Joseph was born on June 7, 1886, in the town of Zhirovitsy, Slonim district of Grodno province. From his youth, he dedicated his life to serving the Church, graduating from the Zhirovitsy Spiritual School in 1901. He served as a psalmist in the church in the village of Veliky Les until 1915, then evacuated to Moscow, where he became a psalmist in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
In 1924, he was ordained to the deaconate and continued his service in various churches, including the church of Saints Peter and Paul in Moscow. In 1933, he applied for permission to leave for Poland, but unsuccessfully.
On November 5, 1937, he was arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary agitation. During interrogations, he denied all accusations, asserting that his sentiments were personal. On November 19, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death by shooting. Joseph Shchensnovich was shot on November 21, 1937, and buried in an unknown mass grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
