Presbyter
Saint Nicholas was born on April 13, 1900, in the city of Saratov to a family of pious laypeople. He completed four classes at the Saratov Theological Seminary. From 1918 to 1924, he worked as a teacher and then as a chanter in the choir. On November 8, 1926, he was ordained a priest. He served in various churches, including the Pokrov Church in Moscow. In 1932, he was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison, where he refused to admit his guilt. On January 10, 1933, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a concentration camp. He was released in 1934 and served in churches but was directed to the city of Kashira. In 1937, he was appointed the rector of the church in Mozhaisk. On December 5, 1937, he was arrested again. On December 9, the NKVD troika sentenced him to execution. Priest Nicholas Safonov was shot on December 15, 1937, and buried in a common unmarked grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
