Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,
whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed
a good profession before many witnesses (1 Tim. 6:12).
This article is dedicated to Righteous John Domovsky, an ascetic of faith and piety from Rostov-on-Don, a confessor of Orthodoxy, a fighter against the Renovationist schism, and a pastor of Christian souls who lost their support during the civil war and persecution of the Church. The ministry to which God called him presented him with difficult choices, especially at the end of his life: to become a monk, retire, or remain in the midst of human sorrows, ecclesiastical unrest, and the conflagration of war. In those days, many solved these problems by emigrating or fighting with the authorities, while others were isolated and retreated into reclusion. Righteous John, “holding on to eternal life,” firmly confessed his faith, fulfilled the law of Christ’s love, and chose the path along which the Lord led him to the Heavenly Kingdom.
On July 24, 2025, by decision of the Holy Synod, Archpriest John Alexeevich Domovsky was canonized as a righteous saint for local veneration in the Don Metropolia. The Synod determined to commemorate the Righteous John, Presbyter of Rostov on February 24/March 9 on the day of his repose, and August 27/September 9, on the day of the reburial of his remains in 2020.
St. John in his cell, late 1920s St. John was born on March 30, 1844, in the family of Deacon Alexei Domovsky in the village of Pokrovskoe, Ekaterinoslav Governorate. From an early age, he helped his father in the altar. He loved the services and was very fond of Church singing. From 1859 to 1865, he studied at the Ekaterinoslav Theological Seminary, after which he married Maria Gosoporova. Shortly after their wedding, on August 30, 1866, St. John was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Platon (Troepolsky) of Ekaterinoslav and Taganrog, and to the priesthood the next day. He was appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Vasilevka, Slavyanoserbsky County (now the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Alchevsk). Fr. John and Matushka Maria had no children for about four years. But the young couple placed all their hope in God, and the Lord soon showed them mercy: In 1870, their first daughter, Zinaida, was born, and then three other daughters: Anna (1873), Anastasia (1875), and Barbara (1886).
Having become rector of the St. Nicholas Church and kindled by fervent love for the Lord, Fr. John began zealously preaching the word of God to the villagers and taking care of and beautifying the house of the Lord. In life and speech, he was simple, showing humility, meekness, and love for all, which drew the parishioners to him. During his ministry, his love for his flock, the services, and Church music helped him gather a strong parish around him and develop a good parish choir.
Seeing the zeal in his ministry, the hierarchy entrusted Fr. John with many obediences. He became an assistant to the dean and a candidate deputy of diocesan congresses. A year later, in 1867, Bishop Platon of Ekaterinoslav honored him with an episcopal blessing “For zeal for the house of God.” In 1872, he was awarded the right to wear the nabedrennik[1] for his zealous service to the Church of Christ.
In 1875, Bishop Theodosy (Makarevsky) of Ekaterinoslav and Taganrog transferred Fr. John to the Transfiguration of the Lord Cathedral in Ekaterinoslav and appointed him director of the episcopal choir.
At the same time, Fr. John began writing Church music. Some of his works have survived to the present day. Many churches of the Don Metropolia still sing his arrangement of the “We have no other help but thee” troparion to the Most Holy Theotokos. During his years of service in Ekaterinoslav, Fr. John bore many obediences: He was a teacher of the Law of God and instructor of the Orthodox faith, a member of the censorship committee, part of the board of the Ekaterinoslav Men’s School, a member of the Guardianship of Poor Clergy, served on the construction commission during the building of the dormitory and house church of the Ekaterinoslav Diocesan Women’s School, and was the cathedral sacristan. For many years, he was a member of the committee of the Orthodox Missionary Society, which worked among Protestant and sectarian communities that had separated from the Church of Christ. Fr. John held talks and debates and published missionary literature explaining and defending the Orthodox faith.
In 1877, the Russo-Turkish War for the liberation of the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke began. Fr. John was one of the first to start helping the Russian army, actively raising funds to help the front. At his initiative, the episcopal choir gave a charity spiritual concert, with the participation of artists from the St. Petersburg opera whom Fr. John had invited. The funds raised were transferred to the Red Cross for the care of sick and wounded soldiers being treated in hospitals.
A special field of service that largely determined Father’s fate was his obedience as instructor and teacher of religious law. Many students noted:
His classes were lessons in hard work, humility, and mutual love. Fr. John believed there was no higher art than that of education. Fulfilling the moral duty of a teacher, developing and ennobling the minds of children, the pastor tried to develop and ennoble their hearts even more on the principles of the truth of the holy faith of Christ, as the only correct explanation of the true dignity and purpose of man on earth.
In 1883, Father was entrusted with a special obedience in selecting readers and singers for the diocese, and in 1886, Bishop Serapion (Mayevsky) of Ekaterinoslav and Taganrog appointed him as sacristan of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration and chairman of the committee established by the Holy Synod at the Holy Cross Church at the bishop’s residence, to “select psalm readers and deacons from among those who haven’t completed seminary or theological school, but who possess good voices and know how to sing and read.”
Fr. John Domovsky during the period of his ministry in Nakhichevan-on-Don, 1912–1915 In 1886, Fr. John was confirmed as teacher of the Law of God at the Ekaterinoslav Women’s Middle School. He was also a member of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, which provided benefits for the poor, among other things.
Fr. John’s fiery preaching in the cathedral moved people’s hearts to faith and repentance. More and more people came to him, and soon the cathedral couldn’t hold all those who wanted to pray at the services he celebrated. He also received the blessing of the Holy Synod for the talks he held there. On Palm Sunday 1888, before a large gathering, Batiushka was awarded the golden pectoral cross. The ascetic’s love for the destitute and needy also didn’t go unnoticed: On May 15, 1893, Fr. John was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 3rd degree for twelve years of unpaid service in the Ekaterinoslav Diocese’s Guardianship of Poor Clergy.
The spiritual life and indisputable authority of Fr. John as a typikon expert, talented organizer, and liturgics scholar prompted Bishop Serapion to entrust him with the development of the rite of the procession with the wonderworking Samara Icon of the Theotokos. The procession went from parish and home churches in Ekaterinoslav to the cathedral, then to the consecration of the Dnieper River, and then to the Dormition Square for a moleben. Having prayed to the Most Holy Theotokos, Fr. John composed this solemn rite and it was used annually throughout the entire Ekaterinoslav Diocese.
In the 1880s–1890s, Fr. John began regularly visiting Optina Hermitage. Those were the years of the monastery’s spiritual flourishing, when holy eldership was adorned by the ascetic labors of St. Makary and his disciples.
The fame of the active priest began to spread throughout the entire Ekaterinoslav Diocese and beyond. The Lord was already preparing a new field of service for Fr. John, in the Don lands, where God manifested the spiritual gifts of healing and wonderworking in him.
In 1896, the 650th anniversary of the Battle of the Neva was celebrated in the Russian Empire. In honor of the anniversary, a church named for the Holy and Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky was erected in the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don with donations from the local merchant I. S. Shushpanov. The merchants of Nakhichevan, who often visited Ekaterinoslav, spoke with the clairvoyant and venerable Fr. John. They expressed a desire for him to lead the newly built church. He didn’t immediately agree, but fulfilling the blessing of the ruling hierarch, he resigned himself and went to the place of his new ministry. Being modest in his daily life, he had no housing of his own but lived in an apartment provided by the church. Therefore, heading to his new place of ministry, he moved his ailing wife Maria with their daughters to her sister’s house in Mariupol. And from Mariupol he arrived by steamship to Rostov-on-Don and then to his place of service. His new church was located on the border of Nakhichevan-on-Don and Rostov-on-Don.
In 1897, Fr. John became a member of the Ekaterinoslav branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. He published a number of articles on pilgrimage and lectured on the Holy Land.
That April, on the recommendation of the chairman of the Pedagogical Council and with the consent of Bishop Simeon (Pokrovsky) of Ekaterinoslav and Taganrog, Fr. John was confirmed as teacher of the Law of God at the St. Catherine’s Girls’ School in Nakhichevan-on-Don.
Being the father of four daughters, Fr. John knew how to educate young girls. He treated the education of his students with great care, just as he had that of his own daughters. He taught them kindness, obedience, mercy, love, and hope in God. Batiushka wished to see his pupils become comprehensively cultivated, beautiful, kind, tactful, and deeply faithful.
On August 1, 1897, Fr. John was elected by the St. Alexander Nevsky parishioners as chairman of the parish trusteeship and confirmed in this position by the diocesan authorities.
Eyewitnesses testify that from the first days of his ministry in the Don land, Righteous John proved himself to be a zealous priest who loved God and the people of God with all his soul, giving his time and money, helping the disadvantaged and all who asked for help.
In October 1897, the father of all Russia, Righteous John of Kronstadt, came to the Don. He arrived in Rostov-on-Don at the invitation of the merchant Maximov, a well-known philanthropist in the city, to consecrate the House of Diligence. On October 5, 1897, St. John of Kronstadt and the clergy of Rostov-on-Don and Nakhichevan-on-Don celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Rostov Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Among the priests who concelebrated with the great Kronstadt pastor that day was St. John Domovsky. After the service, the two ascetics met and talked. According to St. John of Kronstadt’s recollections, when pilgrims from Don would come to him, he would say to them: “Why are you coming to me? You have your own John”—pointing to the holy life of the Rostov ascetic.
On June 13, 1899, Bishop Simeon (Pokrovsky) of Ekaterinoslav and Taganrog elevated him to the rank of archpriest.
On August 30, 1899, Archpriest John, with the permission of the diocesan authorities, for his beneficial work in the parish and construction of a building for the parish school, was honored by the congregation of the St. Alexander Nevsky Church with a jeweled cross and an honorary address.
On September 21, 1900, by decision of the Diocesan School Council, Fr. John was confirmed as teacher of the Law of God at the girls’ church school.
In 1908, Fr. John’s wife died in Mariupol, and his daughters remained there under the supervision of their aunt and other relatives on his matushka’s side. The death of his wife prompted Fr. John to begin thinking about entering a monastery. HIs choice fell on Optina, which he so loved to visit. Having asked permission from his hierarch, Archpriest John went to the monastery for a blessing to become a monk. But he soon returned, telling his neighbors that the Optina Elders hadn’t blessed him to become a monk, but had instructed him to remain in the world to comfort the people in the difficult years ahead. Fr. John accepted this as God’s will and remained to serve his flock.
