Hieromonk
Saint Sergius (in the world Nikolai Ivanovich Sorokin) was born in 1900 in the city of Skopin, Ryazan province, in the family of a tinsmith. From an early age, his parents instilled in their children a love for God and prayer. In 1918, Nikolai entered the Pronsk Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, which was soon closed. After serving in the Red Army, in 1922 he took monastic vows in the Novy Afonsky Simon-Kananitsky Monastery. This monastery was also closed in 1924, and most of the monks relocated to the valley of Pshuh. In 1928, Sergius returned to Ryazan province and was ordained a hieromonk by Archbishop Juvenal. He served in the Trinity Church of the village of Zapolye, where he was beloved by the parishioners for his sincerity and desire to help those in need.
In 1931, the abbot Philaret was arrested, and Sergius was also arrested in the case of the “Philaretists,” sentenced to three years in a forced labor camp. At the end of 1934, he returned to Ryazan and continued his ministry in the village of Sreznevo, where solemn services and processions were resumed. In 1937, Sergius was arrested for “counter-revolutionary activities” and executed on December 23.
