Presbyter
The Holy Hieromartyr Vasily Danilovich Zalessky was born in 1887 in the village of Fyodorovka, Astrakhan District, Astrakhan Province, in the family of a psalm reader. He graduated from the theological seminary and was ordained deacon to the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Astrakhan. In 1916, Father Vasily was ordained priest at the Church of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, attached to the Alexandrine Orphanage.
After the revolution, the church was closed, and in 1920 Father Vasily returned to serve at the Church of the Nativity. In 1923, when the church was seized by the Renovationists, he transferred to the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God.
For many years, Father Vasily and his parishioners regularly visited the graves of Archbishop Mitrophan (Krasnopolsky) of Astrakhan and his vicar, who had been executed in 1919, serving memorial services. For this, on July 15, 1927, he was arrested — the panikhidas were regarded as a political demonstration against the Soviet authorities. He was sentenced to three years in a labor camp, but due to amnesty, the term was shortened by one quarter. He remained in the transit camp at Kem, where he worked as assistant warehouse manager at the USLON department store.
In January 1930, a criminal case was brought against the store management and employees for alleged theft. Father Vasily was implicated and sentenced to another five years in prison, being sent to work on the construction of the White Sea–Baltic Canal. He was released in 1934 and returned to Astrakhan.
In 1936, Father Vasily received permission to serve at the Church of the Holy Prince Vladimir, but in 1937 the church was closed because of continual conflicts with the Renovationists. On January 20, 1938, Father Vasily was arrested and accused of active anti-Soviet activity and counterrevolutionary propaganda. He was sentenced to death and executed on February 15, 1938, being buried in a common unmarked grave.
He was glorified among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on April 20, 2005.
Commemoration days: February 16 (February 3, Old Style), and in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
