Moscow, August 26, 2022
pravoslavie.ru
Several new feasts were added to the liturgical calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church yesterday.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to add three more names to the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church: Fr. Gregory Zlatorunsky, Fr. Dmitry Semenov, and Archpriest Mikhail Soyuzov.
The Synod also established the feast of the Appearance of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord near Veliky Rostov in 1423, to be celebrated on May 29/June 11.
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Hieromartyr Gregory Zlatorunsky was born on January 4, 1877, in the Kuban Province. He graduated from the Ekaterinodar Theological School and became a reader in the Stavropol Governorate.
He was ordained to the diaconate on June 21, 1898, and served for 11 years in Stavropol and Kuban. He also showed special care for educational institutions and the Christian upbringing of children.
He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1909. He participated in the canonization of St. Joasaph of Belgorod in 1911, and having fervently prayed to the saint to be worthy of the priesthood, missionary activity began to occupy a major role in his ministry.
The Red Guard entered his village on June 18, 1918, and Fr. Gregory was arrested and imprisoned. He comforted his wife, telling her not to be sad, for he was to die innocently, “and I don’t need any better death.”
He was brutally executed on the night of June 20-21, 1918, being “literally chopped into small pieces.”
He has been locally venerated in the Stavropol Metropolia since 2016. His feast is celebrated on June 8/21.
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Hieromartyr Dmitry Semenov was born on October 30, 1873, in the Stavropol Governorate in the family of a priest. He graduated from the Stavropol Theological Seminary with a certificate as a public school teacher.
He was ordained a deacon in August 1896, serving in Stavropol, and later in the Tomsk Diocese. He was ordained a priest on May 31, 1909, and zealously educated his people in the faith and piety.
He later returned to Stavropol to take care of his elderly father, where he served until his martyrdom in the summer of 1918. He earned the respect and love of his entire flock.
The Red Guard entered his village on June 27, 1918. When they came to Fr. Dmitry’s house, he fed the soldiers, and half an hour later they arrested him. He was tortured and mocked for a long time, and after offering a final prayer, St. Dmitry was beheaded.
He has been locally venerated as a saint in the Stavropol Metropolia since 2019. His feast is celebrated on June 14/27.
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levashovskayagolgofa.ru Hiero-Confessor Mikhail Soyuzov was born on May 12, 1869, in the family of a priest in the Novgorod Province. He graduated from the Novgorod Seminary, and later from the St. Petersburgh Theological Academy.
At the request of St. John of Kronstadt himself, Mikhail became was appointed as reader at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Kronstadt. He was ordained to the diaconate on October 10, 1893, and to the priesthood on April 28, 1895, and was sent to the serve at the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in the 2nd Cadet Corps, again at the recommendation of St. John of Kronstadt.
During WWI, by Fr. Mikhail’s labors, an infirmary for wounded soldiers and a shelter for children of wounded and killed officers were opened. His wife also served as a nurse helping wounded soldiers.
Fr. Mikhail was first arrested a week after the declaration of the “Red Terror” on September 13, 1918, without charges. He was released a month later. He was arrested again on May 20, 1922, after some of his parishioners attempted to stop authorities from seizing church valuables. He testified that neither he nor Metropolitan Benjamin had encouraged the people to cause any unrest. Rather, Fr. Mikhail called on his flock to show “love, peace, meekness, and kindness.”
levashovskayagolgofa.ru Having deflected accusations away from Met. Benjamin, on July 5, 1922, Fr. Mikhail was sentenced to three years in strict isolation. He died in a prison hospital on October 19, 1922. He is buried at the Smolensk Cemetery, not far from the Chapel of St. Ksenia of St. Petersburg.
His feast is to be celebrated on October 6/19.
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The Appearance of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord Near the City of Veliky Rostov on the Sakhotoe Swamp (1423) will be celebrated on May 29/June 11.
According to an oral tradition first recorded in the early 18th century, the first miracle of God worked by the miraculously appearing Cross was the foundation of a solid hill amidst the swamp for the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas.
Since then, innumerable miracles have occurred, including the lame walking again, and the blind recovering their sight.
After the 1917 revolution, godless activists tried to remove the Cross from the church, “but it seemed to be filled with lead, and they couldn’t move it.” Then they tried to saw it, “but the teeth of the saw hit an inexplicably hard material and broke, as if the Cross wasn’t carved from wood, but from stone.”
In 1940, the Cross was moved by the faithful from closed Holy Cross Church to the Church of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Godenovo. It has been known as the Godenovo Cross ever since.
Many pilgrims flock to venerate the Cross, especially on June 11, the day of its appearance. There is a large number of contemporary miracles recorded and attributed to the Cross.
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