In 1917, in the Zilant Monastery, on the outskirts of Kazan, there lived nine monks and novices under the guidance of Archimandrite Sergius (Zaitsev).
In 1918, after the liberation of Kazan by the Czechoslovak troops, the monastery was shelled by the Red Army. On August 28 (September 10 in the new style), they executed the entire brotherhood, leaving only Hieromonk Joseph alive, who, falling to the ground, was taken for dead. He found refuge in the John the Baptist Monastery and recounted the martyr's death of his brothers.
The executed were: Archimandrite Sergius (Zaitsev; 1863–1918), Hieromonk Lavrentiy (Nikitin; 1872–1918), Hieromonk Seraphim (Kuzmin; 1870–1918), Hierodeacon Theodosius (Alexandrov; 1864–1918), Monk Leontiy (Karyagin; 1870–1918), Monk Stefan (1918), Novice Georgiy (Timofeev; 1880–1918), Novice Sergey (Galyn; 1918), Novice Ilarion (Pravdin; 1918), Novice Ioann (Sretensky; 1918).
The funeral service for the martyrs was performed by Archimandrite Ioasaph (Udalov), who later became Bishop and Holy Martyr. They were canonized as locally revered saints of the Kazan Diocese in 1998 and were included in the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia for universal veneration in August 2000.
