Hieromonk
He was born on January 4, 1886, in the village of Savostino, Tver Province, into a peasant family, and was named Mikhail at baptism. After finishing rural school, he lived with his parents until the age of 24.
In 1921, he entered the Zheltikov Monastery in Tver. He served as a psalmist and deacon, and was tonsured into monasticism with the name Mardarij. In 1925, he was ordained as a hieromonk and sent to serve in the church of the village of Fedoritskoye in the Yaroslavl region. From 1929, he served in the village of Derevenki, where he became close to Archbishop Seraphim of Uglich.
Father Mardarij lived modestly, served strictly according to the rules of monastic life, and enjoyed great authority among the faithful. He provided material assistance to arrested priests and was beloved by the clergy for his meek disposition.
In 1933, he was arrested, but after pressure from the faithful, he was released on the condition of leaving the Uglich district. He served in the village of Yurievskoye, where he resumed monastic worship. However, on January 9, 1937, he was arrested again and accused of anti-Soviet agitation.
The court did not find him guilty, but the case was transferred to an extrajudicial troika. On March 17, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death by shooting, which was carried out on March 18, 1938. He was buried in a common grave without a name.
