Archbishop
Born on August 1, 1836, in the Smolensk province, he lost his mother at the age of five. He graduated from a spiritual school and seminary, and in 1857 entered the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. On June 24, 1860, he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Nicholas, and on June 29 and 30, he was ordained as hierodeacon and hieromonk. He was appointed as the rector of the consular church in Hakodate, Japan.
For eight years, he studied the country, language, and customs, and by 1868, his parish included about twenty Japanese. In 1869, he reported on the results of his work in Petersburg, after which the Russian Spiritual Mission was established for preaching among Japanese pagans. Upon returning to Japan, he moved the Mission's center to Tokyo.
In 1871, persecutions against Christians began, which ceased by 1873, allowing for free preaching. In the same year, he started the construction of a church and school in Tokyo, and later a spiritual school, which was transformed into a seminary in 1878.
On March 30, 1880, he was consecrated as a bishop in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Upon returning to Japan, he continued his apostolic work, completed the construction of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tokyo, and compiled an Orthodox theological dictionary in Japanese.
During the Russo-Japanese War, he faced great difficulties, for which he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. By 1911, there were 33,017 Christians in Japan in 266 parishes. On February 3, 1912, at the age of 76, he peacefully departed to the Lord. On April 10, 1970, he was glorified in the rank of Equal-to-the-Apostles.
