Pachomius (Turkevich), Abbot, of Moscow

Saint Martyr Pachomius (known to the world as Pavel Akimovich Turkevich) was born in 1864 in the village of Milanovichi, in the Kovel district of Volhynia. He was born into the family of a blacksmith. He served at the Zlatoust Monastery until its closure in 1923. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, while already advanced in age, the saint lived in Moscow with his spiritual children.

During the interrogations, he was asked: “What is your attitude towards the Soviet authorities?” Saint Pachomius replied: “I regard the Soviet authorities as a power of the Antichrist, permitted by God as a punishment for the people.”