Born on July 1, 1864, in the village of Babye, Tver Province. He graduated from the 4th Moscow Gymnasium with a gold medal and enrolled in the historical and philological faculty of Moscow University. He served as a teacher, inspired by the teachings of Leo Tolstoy, but later returned to the Church, becoming the author of an "Open Letter" to Tolstoy.
He studied the writings of the Church Fathers and became close to Father John of Kronstadt. He participated in Religious-Philosophical Assemblies and published the "Religious-Philosophical Library." In 1905, he advocated for the convening of a council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 1918, he became a member of the Temporary Council of United Parishes of Moscow and provided his apartment for Theological courses. In 1920, he took a secret monastic vow with the name Mark.
From 1922, he was part of the "Brotherhood of Zealots of Orthodoxy." He was arrested on August 12, 1922, and released in March 1923. In 1923, according to some sources, he was secretly consecrated as Bishop of Sergiev.
In 1929, he was arrested again and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. In 1931, he was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment. The conditions of his detention worsened, and he was transferred to solitary confinement.
On January 17, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death by shooting. He was executed on January 20, 1938, in a Vologda prison and buried in a common grave. He was canonized among the ranks of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia in August 2000.
