Presbyter
Father Nikolai Biryukov was a zealous pastor, caring for the spiritual and moral upbringing of his flock. In the conditions of the civil war, he urged his parishioners to remain steadfast in faith and to strengthen the moral foundations of life. In 1919, he was arrested by the Cheka for anti-revolutionary agitation and was shot on September 2 of the same year. His sermons and personal correspondence with his son, who served in the White Army, became the basis for the accusations. Father Nikolai refused to perform the funeral rites for Red Army soldiers, citing the decisions of the Local Council, which condemned participation in the fratricidal war. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a Hieromartyr at the Archpastoral Council in August 2000.
