Archbishop
Saint Sergius, Archbishop of Elets, was born on February 4, 1870, in Petropavlovsk to a priest's family. He graduated from the Seminary, Saint Petersburg University, and the Court Choir. In 1899, he completed his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy. He was ordained a priest and served as the inspector of the women's diocesan school. He took monastic vows with the name Sergius and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
In 1922, he was consecrated as Bishop of Sevastopol, and from 1925 he became the Bishop of Melitopol. He was part of the temporary composition of the Holy Synod established by Saint Patriarch Tikhon. In 1926, he was arrested and sentenced to two years of exile. In 1927, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. From 1929 to 1935, he served as Archbishop of Elets. In 1935, he was arrested for 'anti-Soviet propaganda' and sentenced to five years in camps. On October 31, 1937, he was shot in the Karaganda concentration camp.
He was glorified in 1999 by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He was canonized among the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for universal veneration.
