Moscow, March 14, 2024
Four monk-martyrs of Sinozersk Monastery were canonized. Photo: booksite.ru
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to canonize five new saints at its session yesterday, March 12, held in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
Having heard the petition of His Eminence Archbishop Thomas of Odintsovo, the Synod resolved to enter the name of the laywoman Nadezhda Vasilievna Semenova into the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church and the Synaxis of All Saints of Moscow, reports Patriarchia.ru.
She was persecuted for her Orthodox faith and died a confessor in a Soviet labor camp. Her feast day was established as the day of her death: April 25/May 8. Should her remains be found, they are to be venerated as holy relics.
And having heard the petition of His Eminence Metropolitan Savva of Vologda, the Synod canonized Hieromonks Sergei and Avraamy, Schemamonk Ephraim, and Novice Vasily of the Holy Trinity-Annunciation Sinozersk Monastery for local veneration as holy martyrs (†1612).
Their feast was established as March 20/April 2. Should their remains be found, they are to be venerated as holy relics.
The monk-martyrs were also included in the Synaxis of All Saints of Vologda.
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The confessor St. Nadezhda Semenova was born on September 8, 1865 in the city of Voskresensk (now known as Istra) in the Moscow Governorate.
She went to the school next to the Holy Ascension Church, and she later served as church warden.
With the advent of Soviet power, the authorities began to fight with the faithful in Voskresensk, and in 1922, the they seized liturgical vessels, four crosses, and other valuables from the church. In May 1934, a state commission demanded to demolish the church, those this decision was appealed by St. Nadezhda together with Militsa Kuvshinova and Evodkia Kuzminova The latter two were eventually arrested and shot, and have already been canonized as holy martyrs.
In February 1937, St. Nadezdha was denounced to the authorities for communicating with priests and “agitating for religion,” and during the interrogation she allegedly criticized the Soviet government. On August 21, 1937, St. Nadezhda was finally arrested and imprisoned in Moscow. She was sentenced to eight years in a labor camp in the Irkutsk Province.
St. Nadezhda reposed in the Lord in the camp on May 8, 1938, at the age of 72. She was buried in a nearby cemetery.
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In 1612, many people were saved from Polish marauders by the Venerable Martyr Euphrosyny, who founded the Sinozersk Hermitage in 1594. On March 19, St. Euphrosyny foretold that the Poles were coming to the monastery and advised everyone to flee, but the elder himself did not leave because, as he said, “For the sake of Christ, I came to die in this holy place.”
Deciding to follow the example of their elder and remaining faithful to God and His holy providence to the end, other inhabitants of the monastery, among whom were Hieromonks Sergei and Avraamy, Schemamonk Ephraim, and novice Vasily, shared the fate of the Venerable Martyr Euphrosyny, being martyred on March 20, 1612. St. Euphrosyny was glorified among the saints in 1912.
His disciples, who shared his martyrdom, are venerated alongside him in the Vologda Diocese. The burial places of the newly canonized saints is unknown.
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