Kiev, July 31, 2019
Photo: foma.ru At their meeting on July 28, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided to officially include in their Church calendar a day for the commemoration of the Hieromartyr Priest Vladimir Troepolsky (+1905), as Foma.ru reports, citing the website of the Information and Education Department of the UOC.
Fr. Vladimir was previously glorified by the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in November 1981, before it reunited with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007.
On the same day, the Feast of the Baptism of Rus’, the UOC also liturgically celebrated the glorification of three saints of the Kiev Theological Academy: Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky) of Kanev (+ 1908) and Archbishop Vasily (Bogdashevsky) of Kanev (+ 1933), Archpriest Alexander Glagolev (+ 1937). Read about their lives here.
Hieromartyr Vladimir Troepolsky was born on January 13, 1864 in the village of Kolomna of the Oryol Province to the family of a priest. He lost his parents in his childhood, and received education first in a religious school, then in a theological seminary.
From 1885, he carried out an obedience as the psalm-reader in the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Yalta and taught the Law of God in the Yalta Women's National School in Crimea. He then served as a civil servant.
In 1891 he was ordained as a deacon, then a priest. He served in Saki and Alupka in Crimea, led active social activities, and taught at the Simeiz National School.
During his ministry in Alupka and Simeiz, the Christian population (of the region known for Muslim Crimean Tatars) increased to 830 people.
Fr. Vladimir spoke out against the revolutionaries active in 1904-1905. For this, in early 1905, he received a warning with threats. This did not stop the martyr, and he continued to urge people not to participate in political rallies, but to remain in peace and love.
Four days after the Nativity of Christ in 1905, Fr. Vladimir was stabbed with daggers in his house, in front of his wife and three young sons.
When the priest, covered in blood, fell to the floor, one of the murderers in a fit of horror and remorse fell down shouting: “Batiushka! Forgive me!” to which Fr. Vladimir whispered: “God forgives.” The martyr later reposed in the hospital.
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Matfey Shaheen
