Presbyter
Saint Martyr Michael was born on January 7, 1858, in the village of Yarenko, Kalazin district of Tver province, in the family of priest Alexey Kosukhin. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary and was ordained as a priest. In 1907, he was appointed to the church in the village of Dymtsovo, Bezhitsky district, where he served until his arrest.
In the 1930s, after the confiscation of property, the priest continued to serve despite the pressure from the authorities. His persistence and zeal for God inspired love among the parishioners, who supported him. The authorities, seeing his determination, began to persecute him, attempting to evict him from the church lodge.
On March 25, 1936, after the village council tried to remove the frames from his house, the parishioners came to help, but the frames were not returned. Priest Michael, despite the threats, remained in the lodge and continued to serve. By Easter of that year, he was awarded a pectoral cross by the archbishop.
In 1937, at the age of 79, the priest was arrested and imprisoned in Bezhitskaya prison. Despite his poor health, he was interrogated, but he did not confess to anti-Soviet agitation. On August 10, 1937, he was sentenced to death by shooting.
Due to the harsh conditions of detention and an injury sustained in prison, the priest was transferred to the hospital, where he passed away on September 13, 1937, without waiting for the execution of the sentence.
