Presbyter
Saint Martyr Nicholas was born on April 5, 1876, in the city of Dmitrov, Moscow province, into the family of priest Mikhail Vinogradov. After graduating from the seminary, he served as a teacher of the Law of God and settled in the house of the Ascension Monastery. On July 1, 1898, Nicholas married Antonina Ivanovna Mitropolskaya. Soon he was ordained as a deacon and appointed to the Moscow Ascension Convent, and around 1917 he became a priest at the Church of Great Martyr George on Pskov Hill. In 1918, the church was closed, and he served at the Church of Great Martyr Nikita on Shiva Hill for about 18 years.
Despite the difficulties, Saint Martyr Nicholas continued to care for the sisters of the monastery. In 1923, the abbess of the monastery requested to award him a cross for his diligent service. When his children grew up, the family moved to the bell tower. In 1935, the Church of Nikita was closed, and he served in the Resurrection Church of the village of Vasilievskoe. During the hard years, he was not abandoned by the parishioners, and he continued to perform the sacraments despite his illnesses.
Saint Martyr Nicholas was arrested on the night of August 24-25, 1937, on charges of counter-revolutionary agitation. On October 15, 1937, he was sentenced to 10 years in a correctional labor camp. In December 1937, a letter from him arrived, in which he reported that he was alive and asked for help. On December 24, 1937, Saint Martyr Nicholas passed away in the NKVD camp and was buried in an unmarked grave.
The memory of Saint Martyr Nicholas is celebrated on December 11 (24) and January 25 (February 7) on the day of the Assembly of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
