Presbyter
Saint Hieromartyr Mikhail Petrovich Kiselev was born in 1855 into the family of a priest. He graduated from the Perm Theological School and began teaching in schools in the Cherdyn district. In 1885, he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed rector of the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Kylasovo, in the Kungur district. In 1890, he was transferred to the Church of the Epiphany in the Solikamsk district of Perm. During his ministry in Maikor, he earned the respect and love of his parishioners. He was elevated to the rank of archpriest and received honours in recognition of his service.
In 1918, the area was first occupied by units of the Red Army and subsequently by White Army forces. During the final days before the evacuation, the revolutionaries committed horrific crimes on the orders of the communist authorities.
On the night of 1–2 January 1919, Fr Mikhail, Fr Alexander Fedoseev, his son Alexander and the factory superintendent Leonid Yevseyevich Petelin were arrested and interrogated. The soldiers demanded that Fr Mikhail would pay 10,000 roubles as a ransom for his release. His family gathered all their savings and paid 4,000 roubles, which was deemed insufficient.
When the White Army forces captured Maikor, the bodies of the martyrs were found near the factory, covered by a thick layer of snow. Fr Mikhail's body bore eighteen wounds. They were buried together in a common grave in the church grounds, in the presence of many faithful.
Hieromartyr Mikhail Kiselev was canonized among the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church at the August 2000 Bishops' Council.
