Archimandrite
Saint Isaac of Optina (in the world Ivan Nikolaevich Bobrakov) was born in 1865 in the village of Ostriv in the Oryol province to a peasant family. He studied at a village school, and his parents were devout. His father, Nikolai Rodionovich Bobrakov, passed away in Optina Monastery in 1908.
In 1884, at the age of 19, Isaac came to Optina Monastery and spent four decades there. He was tonsured into the mantle with the name Isaac in 1898 and was ordained as a hieromonk.
On August 30, 1913, after the passing of Archimandrite Xenophon, Isaac was elected as the abbot of the monastery. He took on the leadership during a difficult time for Russia, when the First World War began and soon the revolution broke out.
By the end of 1916, the monastery willingly responded to requests for help from those suffering from the war, despite a lack of resources. Blessed Isaac had no moment of rest; his life was filled with prayer and care for the brethren.
In 1917, he participated in the All-Russian Church Council. On January 23, 1918, Optina Monastery was closed, but the monastery continued to exist under the guise of a 'agricultural artel.' In 1923, the monastery was transferred to the management of Glavkniga and was named 'Optina Monastery Museum.'
Saint Isaac and the brethren left the monastery and settled in Kozelsk. In 1929, they were arrested and sent to prison. Saint Isaac was arrested again in 1932 and five years later was honored with the martyr's crown.
He was accused of organizing an underground monastery and counter-revolutionary activities. All the arrested were subjected to brutal torture, but Isaac firmly refused to accept the charges. On December 30, 1937, a verdict was issued: execution by shooting.
The sentence was carried out on December 26/January 8, 1938, on the second day of the Nativity of Christ. Saint Isaac, remaining faithful to Christ until the end, became a witness of his faithfulness in blood.
