Presbyter
Holy New Martyr Paul Vasilyevich Borisoglebsk was born in 1874 in the provincial town of Vasilysursk, in the Nizhny Novgorod, into the family of a priest. He studied at the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary. In 1898, he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed rector of the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Gorshkovo, in the Semyonov district. He later served in several other parishes.
In 1928, Father Paul was arrested and convicted on charges of "anti-government activity." He was sentenced to three years of exile in the Zyryan region.
After returning to the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese in 1931, he began serving at the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Plotinskoye, in the Lyskovo district.
In the summer of 1937, he was arrested once again, together with other priests from the same district. He was accused of participating in an ecclesiastical terrorist organization and of engaging in counter-revolutionary propaganda, allegedly encouraging people to leave the collective farms (kolkhozes) while spreading slander against the leaders of the Communist Party. Father Paul steadfastly denied all the charges until the very end. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to death.
He was executed on 20 November 1937 in the Gorky region. His burial place remains unknown.
In August 2000, he was canonized among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
His memory is commemorated on 20 November (7 November according to the Old Calendar), as well as on the Synaxis of the Saints of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese and the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
