Monk
Monk Vincent the new martyr was born in 1888 in Saint Petersburg. He was baptized with the name Victor. His grandfather was a priest, while his father, Alexander Petrovich, had graduated from a theological seminary and served in the Ministry of Finance. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the family lost all its possessions. His father relocated to the town of Kashira.
Victor entered Optina Monastery in 1913, where he assisted with administrative and clerical duties. In 1918, he was tonsured a monk and received the name Vincent. He declined to become a priest, preferring a life of hesychastic prayer and monastic asceticism. After the closure of the monastery, he was placed under the care of a parish priest in Kozelsk. There he lived an ascetic life, avoiding worldly distractions while remaining steadfast in his devotion to the Church.
On 18 August 1930, he was arrested together with other monks and laypeople. During his interrogation, he stated that he had not participated in any counter-revolutionary activities and did not belong to any political organization. On 27 November 1930, he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a labor camp and was sent to the Vishera Camps, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. On 26 April 1931, he was released and exiled to the Ural region, where he continued to live in poverty, relying on the support of friends and relatives.
On 5 September 1935, he was permitted to return to Kozelsk. However, by 1936 he once again found himself without a home. On 24 July 1937, he was arrested and charged with counter-revolutionary propaganda. On 8 September 1937, an NKVD troika sentenced him to ten years of imprisonment in a forced labor camp. He died on 11 December 1937 in Lokchimlag and was buried in an unmarked grave.
