Monk
Saint Vitaly was born on August 10, 1890, in the village of D'yakovo, Tver Province, in the family of a peasant, Ivan Kokorev. After finishing the village school, he went to Valaam Monastery, where he spent six months, and then, deciding to choose the monastic path, he entered the number of novices at Nilova Pustyn in 1912. Here he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Vitaly.
At Nilova Pustyn, he labored until its closure in 1928. Despite the closure of monasteries, monks continued to lead a prayerful life and organized monastic communities. In one such community, called 'God's Work', monk Vitaly continued to strive until the community was closed and the monks arrested on charges of tax evasion. Vitaly was sentenced to five years in a labor camp and exiled to the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
He returned to Tver Province only in 1935 and took a job as a watchman at the church in the village of Khvoshnya, while also fulfilling the duties of a sacristan. In January 1937, interrogations of local residents by the NKVD began, and monk Vitaly was summoned for questioning, where he was accused of organizing illegal gatherings of believers.
On January 7, the day of the Nativity of Christ, he was interrogated again, but there was a lack of evidence for arrest. However, in August 1937, he was arrested and imprisoned in Ostashkov Prison. During the interrogations, he did not admit guilt in anti-Soviet activities. On September 9, the investigation was completed, and on October 3, the NKVD Troika sentenced monk Vitaly to execution by firing squad. He was shot on October 7, 1937.
Saint Vitaly was canonized among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for public veneration.
