Hieromonk
Venerable martyr Michael, in the world Michael Grigorievich Zhuk, was born in 1872 in the village of Monastyrek, Rava-Ruska district of Lviv province. He came from a peasant family, graduated from gymnasium in 1887, and continued his self-education. From the age of 16, he served as a psalmist in the church and engaged in peasant labor. He married but became a widower early.
During World War I, he found himself in Russia among refugees and settled in the Mordovian region. In 1924, he became a novice at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, and in 1926 he was ordained as a hieromonk. After the monastery was closed, he served in parishes in Mordovia.
His first arrest occurred in 1930, the second in February 1932, and the third in June 1937, when he was accused of participating in meetings of clergymen against the Soviet government. On July 11, 1937, he was sentenced to death and accepted his martyr's end on July 17, 1937.
Venerable martyr Michael was canonized as a saint at the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
