Presbyter
Vasily Sergeyevich Smirnov was born in 1889 in the village of Kazejevka, Penza Province, in the family of a priest. He graduated from the Penza Theological Seminary in 1912 and was ordained a priest. In 1930, he was arrested and sentenced to 8 years in a labor camp, serving his sentence on the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. After returning to Penza in 1935, he was acquainted with Bishop Theodore and the city clergy. On October 18, 1936, Bishop Theodore, Father Vasily Smirnov, and other priests were arrested. Father Vasily did not admit his guilt. On April 4, 1937, the investigation was completed, but after the issuance of the NKVD order for mass arrests, the hearing of the case was canceled. On September 4, 1937, he was shot according to the decision of the troika of the U.N.K.V.D. and buried in an unmarked grave. He was glorified by the Archierarchical Jubilee Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
