Presbyter
Saint Neophytus (Neophyt Porfirievich Lyubimov) was born in 1846 in the village of Tabori, Samara district, Samara province. He received higher education at the Kiev Theological Academy, graduating as a candidate of theology. From 1876 to 1882, he was a teacher of the Russian language and civil history at the Simbirsk Diocesan Women's School, and from 1885, he served as a legal scholar and class inspector at the same school. He also taught at the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium in Simbirsk and the Simbirsk Cadet Corps.
In 1885, Neophyt Porfirievich was ordained as a priest at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the diocesan school. His sermons contained teachings on spiritual upbringing and moral perfection. He emphasized the importance of education based on Orthodox faith and called for a virtuous life.
Thirty-three years of the life of Protopriest Neophyt were dedicated to priestly service, which he performed with a sense of great responsibility. He actively participated in educational readings for workers and founded his own missionary publishing house, publishing works against sectarianism and in defense of Orthodoxy.
In 1918, he was arrested after a memorial service for the former Tsar Nicholas II. Accused of agitation against the Soviet government, on September 17, 1918, he was sentenced to death and executed. His body was buried at Kalitnikovsky Cemetery, which has now become unknown.
