Monk
Saint Martyr Callistus (in the world Kozma Mokeevich Oparin) was born in 1864 in a peasant family and received home education. In the spring of 1899, he entered the Holy Nicholas Verkhoturye Monastery, where on February 13, 1904, he took monastic vows with the name Callistus. After being transferred to the Dalmatov Uspensky Monastery, he served as the cellarer and baker. In 1906-1907, he made a pilgrimage to holy places. In the summer of 1912, he was transferred to the Kirtom Cross Exaltation Monastery, and in 1913, he returned to the Verkhoturye Monastery, where he labored until his martyr's death.
During the revolutionary events, Callistus met in the Holy Nicholas Monastery. The monastery was seized by the Bolsheviks, and the monks were forced to come under the authority of the Soviet government. The monks worked for the 4th Yekaterinburg Regiment, performing various agricultural tasks. Callistus showed humility and obedience, enduring the Bolshevik invasion, recognizing in everything that happened the will of God.
In October 1918, Callistus, along with monk Joachim, guarded the monastery's Small Aktaev Skete from the looting of Red Army soldiers. When the soldiers accused them of espionage and arrested them, they refused to renounce Christ, believing in the words of the Savior: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it.” These were the first victims for faith in the city of Verkhoturye. Callistus was buried together with Joachim in the monastery cemetery near the church of Saint Neophytus.
