Archbishop
Saint Seraphim, in the world Mikhail Mitrofanovich Ostroумov, was born in 1880 in Moscow into the family of a psalmist. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy and remained there as a professor. In 1904, Mikhail was tonsured into monasticism with the name Seraphim and went to Optina Pustyn, where he performed various obediences. In 1905, he visited Kholmshchina, fell in love with it, and left the Academy to serve in the Yablochinsky Holy Onuphrius Monastery, which was in decline. In 1906, he became the abbot of the monastery and over eight years transformed it into a center of religious and cultural revival in Kholmshchina, organizing schools and courses.
In 1908, he was awarded the rank of archimandrite. In the Kholm diocese, he held the positions of dean, diocesan missionary, and rector of the Kholm Theological Seminary. In 1917, he became the Bishop of Oryol. During the work of the Holy Council of 1917-1918, he was arrested and subjected to persecution for resisting the confiscation of church valuables. In 1922, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, but after almost two years in jail, he was released and continued the struggle against Renovationism.
In 1926, he was arrested again and transferred to the Smolensk see. In 1936, Archbishop Seraphim was arrested as 'one of the leaders of a counter-revolutionary group of clergymen' and sentenced to five years of imprisonment. In March 1937, he was sent to Karlag. In November of the same year, he was arrested again and ultimately shot in the forest near Smolensk on December 8, 1937.
