Russian Church celebrates glorification of New Confessor Archpriest Nikolai Florov

Kotelnich, Kirov Province, Russia, July 6, 2020

Photo: яранская-епархия.рф Photo: яранская-епархия.рф     

At its session on March 11, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Archpriest Nikolai Florov as a New Confessor of the Russian Church, together with a number of saints who had been previously venerated in the Russian Church Abroad and the Belarusian Exarchate.

On Friday, July 3, the anniversary of the repose of and the feast day of the new saint, his glorification was liturgically celebrated in Kotelnich in the Kirov Province, where St. Nikolai had served, in the Yaransk Diocese of the Russian Church.

The Divine Liturgy and the rite of glorification were celebrated by His Grace Bishop Paisy of Yaransk and Luz and clergy of the diocese in the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kotelnich, reports the diocesan press service.

The rite of glorification took place during the Little Entrance in the Divine Liturgy. The icon of the newly-glorified New Confessor Nikolai was brought out of the altar and Bp. Paisy announced the resolution of the Holy Synod to include his name in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. The faithful were blessed with his icon as his troparion was officially sung for the first time.

During the Liturgy, a litany was also read for the repose of the deceased relatives of St. Nikolai. At the end of the service, Bp. Paisy sang the glorification to St. Nikolai and congratulated the faithful with the new feast, saying:

Dear fathers, brothers and sisters, today we all witnessed the greatest event—the glorification of Archpriest Nikolai Florov among the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. For many years, he served as a priest in the churches of Kotelnich and Yaransk counties. For his faith and zealous service, Fr. Nikolai endured many trials. He died on the day of his release from prison, July 3, 1933.

Archpriest Nikolai was a very bright person. He left behind a large written legacy in the form of sermons, articles, journal entries, and letters. Under the care of the sisters of the Vladimir Monastery in the village of Piksur, the written works of the newly-glorified saint are studied and published. Soon everyone will be able to partake of his spiritual wisdom.

A year before his arrest, Fr. Nikolai left a note on an old piece of paper from a notebook of his son who had been shot: “I will remain among Christians forever.” Through the prayers of the Hiero-Confessor Nikolai, may the Lord help us all, despite our sorrows and trials, to remain Christians forever. Amen.

All those present were then blessed with a gift of an icon of the newly-glorified St. Nikolai.

Photo: яранская-епархия.рф Photo: яранская-епархия.рф     

***

Archpriest Nikolai Florov was born on October 10, 1870 in the village of Pusheyskoe in the Vyatka Governorate in the family of a priest. He graduated from Vyatka Theological Seminary in 1894 and was appointed as a teacher at a parish school.

He was married in 1895 and subsequently ordained a deacon and then a priest, serving in various villages in Vyatka. He was especially active in educating the people.

During WW1, he was very active in praying for fallen soldiers and calling on others to help the injured. During this time he was also very active in writing; overall he published more than 120 sermons, speeches, and essays that attest to his special attention to the lives of ordinary people.

In July 1918, he was taken hostage together with other clergy, but he was released thanks to the intercession of a Red Army soldier who was the son of a priest.

In 1923, he was elected as the first dean of a new local deanery. In February 1924, he spoke against the renovationist movement at the Renovationist Diocesan Congress in Vyatka. During these years, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest.

In 1929, a fellow priest testified that conditions were so harsh that Fr. Nikolai went around in rags, worse even than what the beggars wore. At the same time, Fr. Nikolai wrote to his wife that he lived in peace and enjoyed reading St. Theophan the Recluse and writing spiritual music.

After the closure of his church, he was returned to his former village, where all his property, including his house, was expropriated.

He was soon invited to serve in a village where four priests and a deacon had been arrested two years prior. Realizing the danger, he went to serve anyways and was arrested in October 1932. A year earlier he had written on a notebook: “I will remain among Christians forever. October 28, 1931.”

From prison, he wrote: “I was accused of ‘registering a parish.’ I fulfilled my pastoral duty, opened a community, and celebrated the services. I believe I have imitated the apostolic zeal and am languishing in the name of Christ.”

Fr. Nikolai was sentenced to 3 years in exile, but being seriously ill, he was released from prison due to overcrowding in a barely alive state on July 3, 1933. He reposed in the Lord on the same day.

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7/6/2020

Comments
FrE7/8/2020 10:24 pm
Are any of his works available in English?
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