Moscow, September 28, 2021
Photo: church.by
Another martyr for Christ was added to the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church last week.
After hearing a report on the petition of His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Vyatka and Sloboda, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to include the name of Archimandrite Gennady (Parfentiev) in the Synaxis, reports the press service of the Russian Church.
St. Gennady’s feast will be celebrated annually on the day of his death on October 28/November 10.
Should the remains of St. Gennady be uncovered, they are to be given proper veneration as relics, and icons are to be painted of the New Martyr according to the canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Synod resolved.
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St. Gennady was born to a peasant family in 1864 in the Kursk Governorate. He first entered a monastery at the age of 26, and after 10 years, he took monastic vows and was ordained a hierodeacon at St. Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Kirov. The next year, he was transferred to the Holy Dormition-St. Tryphon Monastery, also in Kirov, where he was ordained a hieromonk in 1900.
In 1902, he was appointed rector of Holy Prophet Monastery in Yaransk. A peaceful and grace-filled atmosphere reigned under Fr. Gennady, who enjoyed authority among the local population. He also pastored local convents and took part in the founding of the Holy Protection Convent in the Kotelnich District.
In 1918, Fr. Gennady was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Due to the monastery’s authority in the local area, the Soviets decided to disperse the monastery in September 1918, beginning with the confiscation of a significant part of the monastery’s property. Fr. Gennady was detained and sent to Vyatka in November 1918, but in January 1919 he returned to the monastery.
The authorities ordered the monks to leave the monastery the next month, and on February 16, Fr. Gennady was arrested again. In April, he was sentenced to death, being held responsible for the monastery hiding grain and celebrating the services.
St. Gennady was shot on November 10, 1919.
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