Presbyter
Priest Mikhail Platonov was born in 1868 in the family of a deacon in the Nizhny Novgorod province. From 1890 to 1894, he worked as a teacher, and on October 20, 1894, he was ordained as a deacon, and three years later — as a priest. He served in the church of the village of Uvarovo in the Knyagininsky district, where he was also a teacher at the literacy school. For his efforts in popular education, he was awarded a naberezhnik and a skufia.
From 1907, he served in the Saratov diocese, where he established good relations with Bishop Germogen of Saratov. In 1910, he was appointed head of the Podlesinsky missionary school, and in 1911 — head and legal advisor of the second-class women's teacher training school. In 1912, he was assigned to the priestly position at the Pokrov Church in the village of Bolshoy Melik, and in 1913 — to Saratov, to the church in honor of the venerable Seraphim of Sarov.
Since 1914, he lectured on spiritual and moral topics. In 1916, he was elected as the authorized representative for the construction of a memorial church for the heroes of World War I. For his merits in the spiritual department, he was awarded a golden pectoral cross. He participated in pilgrimages to miraculous icons and witnessed healings.
After the February Revolution of 1917, he founded the Orthodox society 'For Faith', aimed at restoring the Orthodox monarchy. Mikhail Platonov and his wife Valentina Sergeyevna had four children, and their son Vasily took on the deacon's rank.
In August 1918, after hearing about the execution of the last Russian emperor's family, Priest Mikhail performed a prayerful commemoration and spoke about the persecutions against the faith. On August 21, an article appeared in the 'Izvestia of the Saratov Council', calling attention to the events, after which he was arrested.
In September 1918, by the order of L.D. Trotsky, Bishop German and the entire Diocesan Council were arrested. After a show trial on October 6, 1918, Priest Mikhail Platonov was sentenced to death by shooting. After an appeal on January 9, 1919, his sentence was changed to 20 years of imprisonment.
However, after the assassination attempt on Lenin, they were sentenced to death as 'implacable enemies of the workers' and peasants' power.' Priest Mikhail Platonov was executed in the night of October 10, 1919, on the outskirts of the Saratov Voskresensky cemetery.
