Presbyter
Saint Zosimas, in the world Zosimas Alekseevich Pepenin, was born in 1888 in the village of Pepenino, Vyatka province, into a poor peasant family. He studied at a church-parish school and was fascinated by the life of ancient monks, often retreating for prayer. At the age of seventeen, he went to work in the city, but his calling led him to Irkutsk, where he entered the theological seminary. In 1913, he married Alexandra Mikhailovna Chirtseva, the daughter of a well-known Irkutsk protodeacon. They had two daughters: Alexandra (1914) and Galina (1919).
In 1917, difficult times began for Russia and the Church. Zosimas started his priestly ministry in Siberia, but soon faced persecution from the Soviet authorities. In 1921, he was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment in Barnaul prison, but was released in 1922. For his faithfulness to Christ, he was arrested again in 1923 after the birth of a son, who soon died. In 1925, the family moved to Irkutsk and then to Moscow.
In 1929, Zosimas was appointed rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Krylatskoye. He served with love and care for his family and parishioners. However, in 1935, he was arrested on charges of anti-Soviet agitation. He spent eight months in Butyrka prison, after which he was sentenced to three years in KarLag. On the day of his release from prison, he was arrested again and sentenced to death for supporting hostile relations with the prisoners. The sentence was carried out on November 2, 1937.
The memory of Saint Zosimas is celebrated twice: on the day of his death – November 2, and on the day of the celebration of the assembly of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church of the 20th century – on the first Sunday after February 7.
