The Holy New Martyr Michael was born on 1st July 1864 in the province of Tver. He graduated from the Fourth Gymnasium of Moscow and began his studies at the Faculty of History and Philology. He was deeply attracted to the ideas of Leo Tolstoy, with whom he maintained a personal correspondence. After completing his studies, he worked as a teacher.
He soon returned to the Church and devoted himself to the study of the writings of the Holy Fathers. During this period, he became closely associated with Archpriest John of Kronstadt. He participated in the Religious and Philosophical Meetings of 1901–1903, while he also served as the editor of the Religious and Philosophical Library. In 1905, he supported the convening of a council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 1918, he became a member of the Provisional Council of the United Parishes of Moscow and offered his apartment for the holding of theology classes. In 1920, he secretly became a monk, taking the name Mark.
From 1922, he was a member of the "Brotherhood of the Zealots of Orthodoxy." He was arrested on 12 August 1922 and released in March 1923. According to certain sources, the same year he secretly became a bishop.
In 1929, he was arrested again and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. In 1931, he received an additional sentence of eight years in prison. The conditions of his confinement steadily deteriorated until he was transferred to solitary confinement.
On 17 January 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death. He was executed on 20 January and buried in a mass grave. He was canonized among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in August 2000.
