Archbishop
Archbishop Zacharias (Lobov Zachar Petrovich) was born on March 23, 1865, in the village of Petrovka, Pavlovsky district of Voronezh province, in the family of a minor official. He graduated from the spiritual school and seminary in Novocherkassk (1888). From September 1888, he served in the Novocherkassk Cathedral, became a protodeacon and keyholder of the church. In 1923, after becoming a widower, he took monastic vows and was consecrated as Bishop of Nizhnechirsk. In 1924, he was arrested and sentenced to two years of exile in Solovki, where he was among other hierarchs. He signed the 'Memorandum of the Solovetsky Bishops' in 1926, which proposed to adhere to the principle of non-interference of the Church in state affairs. In 1929, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed head of the Voronezh diocese. During the years of persecution against the Church, he preserved the Orthodox faith among the flock. He participated in the session of the Temporary Patriarchal Holy Council in 1931. In 1935, he was arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary agitation, and sentenced to five years in camps. He died in 1937 from dropsy. He was rehabilitated on June 30, 1992. At the Archpastoral Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000, he was canonized among the Russian new martyrs and confessors.
