Presbyter
Saint Michael was born on November 14, 1887, in the village of Bikaliha, Tver Province. He was ordained as a deacon in 1910 at the church in the village of Rameshki. In 1925, he accepted ordination as a priest. In 1929, he was arrested and sentenced to two years of imprisonment and five years of exile. The harsh conditions did not break his will, and in 1935 he returned to serve in his church.
In 1936, the authorities began persecution, demanding from him the payment of an unbearable tax. In 1937, he preached, urging his parishioners not to believe the blasphemers, which became evidence of his 'anti-Soviet agitation.' On July 17, 1937, he was arrested, and the church was closed.
In the Tver prison, he was interrogated, but he did not admit his guilt. On September 27, the NKVD Troika sentenced him to execution. Priest Michael Skobolev was shot on October 1, 1937. He was canonized among the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in August 2000.
