The Lord is long-suffering, but it is difficult for that people, over whom the judgment of God begins to be executed. For more than a hundred years, the Lord waited for the repentance of the higher classes in Russia and their return to Orthodoxy, as well as the strengthening of faith among the lower classes. The elections to the Constituent Assembly began. The Bolsheviks, politically and financially supported by the warring Germany, achieved the greatest results. In Soligalich, Kostroma Province, a native named Vasily Vyluzgin was sent. On October 7 (20), 1917, he arrived in Soligalich from Petrograd. In November 1917, elections were held, in which the majority of the population voted for the Bolshevik party. All state institutions were seized, and a detachment of the Red Guard was created. On January 23, 1918, the Soviet government issued a decree on the separation of the Church from the state, which opened the way for widespread persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church. In protest, processions took place. On February 12 (25), representatives of the Bolshevik Soviet arrived at the Bogoroditse-Feodorovsky Monastery, declaring that the next day they would come and take the bread. The abbot of the monastery, Priest Vasily Ilyinsky, asked the members of the Duma to protect the monastery from plundering. A delegation consisting of representatives of the population was formed, asking for support. After the liturgy, the priest delivered a sermon that touched the believers. The assembly decided to send a delegation to the Soligalich garrison. The members of the delegation appealed to the commander of the garrison, asking him to support the people and suspend the requisition of bread. After this, a meeting began with speeches from the orators. Vyluzgin, seeing the turn of events, hid in the building of the Soviet, and then fired a shot into the air. Shooting was opened from the building of the Soviet, resulting in several people being wounded and one killed. After this, the members of the Soviet began to flee, but the crowd caught them. People surrounded Vyluzgin, began to beat him, and he was taken to the hospital. At midnight, a group of armed men came to him, accusing him of the murder of Orlov. On February 22 (March 7), the executioners shot Protopriest Joseph Smirnov, Priest Vladimir Ilyinsky, Deacon John Kastorsky, and caretaker John Perebaskin. The execution took place at night; all the executed were carelessly thrown into a pit. A cross and a fence were erected at the site of the brotherly grave, which were demolished by godless people in the 1930s. The cross on the grave was restored in 1996.
Martyr Joseph (Joseph Sergeyevich Smirnov) was born in 1864. After graduating from the Kostroma Theological Seminary, he was appointed a teacher at the Soligalich Theological School. In 1886, Joseph Sergeyevich was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Soligalich. He served as a chaplain at the city prison and as an overseer of church-parish schools. In 1905, Father Joseph was appointed the rector of the cathedral. In 1907, Father Joseph was elevated to the rank of protopriest.
Martyr Vladimir (Vladimir Ivanovich Ilyinsky) was born in 1833. He was ordained a priest and served in the church in the village of Solda. In 1918, he turned eighty-five years old, having long retired and lived in Soligalich.
Martyr John was born in 1848 in the village of Nikol-Berezovets in the family of Deacon Alexei Kastorsky. After graduating from the Soligalich Theological School, he served as a watchman and sacristan in the Soligalich cathedral, and later as a psalmist in the Bogoroditse-Feodorovsky Monastery. In 1880, he was ordained a deacon.
Martyr John was born in 1862 in the family of Deacon Pavel Perebaskin. In 1880, he graduated from the Kostroma Theological Seminary, and in 1884 from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. In 1897, he was appointed the overseer of the Soligalich Theological School.
