Presbyter
Saint Nicholas was born on December 14, 1859, in the Livonian province in the family of priest Stefan Bezhanitsky. He graduated from the Riga Theological Seminary and married Maria, the daughter of priest Ioann Kazarinov. He served in churches in the Pernov district, the city of Fellin, and the Georgievsky Church in Yuriev. He was elevated to the rank of protopresbyter.
During the revolutionary turmoil of 1905, Nicholas sought to save those arrested, striving to change their fate. He was remembered as a priest who devoted his efforts to the enlightenment of the people and who showed charity to the poor.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, Protopresbyter Nicholas was arrested along with Bishop Platon and accepted a martyr's end at the hands of godless revolutionaries on January 14, 1919.
