Metropolitan Bishop
The clergyman was born in 1862 in a pious family of a priest. In 1885, he graduated from the Voronezh Theological Seminary, and in 1892 — from the Moscow Theological Academy. He worked at the Zhirovitsy Spiritual School and in the Synodal Educational Committee, distinguished by his selflessness and strictness.
He participated in the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1918. After the revolution, he served as the manager of the Moscow factory 'Bogatyr'. In 1920, at the suggestion of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, he took monastic vows and became his assistant.
After his ordination as Bishop of Podolsk, he was exiled to Veliky Ustyug, but returned to Moscow after the release of the Patriarch. In 1923, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop, and in 1924, he became the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and entered the Temporary Patriarchal Synod.
In the last months of Patriarch Tikhon's life, he was his faithful assistant. In early 1925, he was appointed a candidate for the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. After the death of the Patriarch, the duties of the Locum Tenens were entrusted to him, and he was confirmed by the Archpastoral Council of 1925.
In managing the Church, he followed the path of Patriarch Tikhon, opposing the Renovationist schism. Anticipating arrest, he wrote a will regarding his successors and provided money to assist exiled clergymen.
In November 1925, he was arrested and subjected to torture. After being held in the Suzdal political isolator, he was transferred to Lubyanka, where he was offered to renounce his ministry in exchange for freedom, but he refused. In 1926, he was sent into exile for three years in the Tyumen region, then to the Far North.
In exile, he suffered from asthma and a lack of medical assistance. In 1930, he was arrested again and imprisoned in the Yekaterinburg prison. He refused offers from the authorities to renounce his Locum Tenens position.
Despite the harsh conditions, he remained faithful to the Church. In 1931, he was partially paralyzed, and in 1933, he was deprived of walks. In 1936, while awaiting release, he received a new prison term.
On September 27 (October 10), 1937, he was shot in the Magnitogorsk prison, completing his confessional feat with martyr's blood for Christ.
