Pskov, February 6, 2026
Photo: pravoslavie.ru
Yesterday, February 5, the Pskov Caves Monastery held memorial services marking the 20th anniversary of the repose of Archimandrite John (Krestiankin), one of the most revered Russian elders of the past century.
In 2021, the Pskov Diocese began gathering documents and testimonies towards Archimandrite John’s eventual canonization.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Matthew of Pskov with His Grace Bishop Barnabas of Veliky Luki, and clergy from the monastery, the diocese, and beyond, including spiritual children of Fr. John, the Pskov Diocese reports.
The liturgical hymns were sung by the monastery brotherhood choir and the Archpastoral Choir of the Pskov Caves Monastery.
Before the service began, Met. Matthew presented cassocks to first-year students at the Pskov Caves Seminary and tonsured fourth-year students as readers.
Following the Liturgy, Met. Matthew addressed those gathered with an archpastoral word.
A memorial service was then held at the elder’s grave in the God-created caves of the monastery.
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Archimandrite John was born in 1910 in Oryol as the eighth and youngest child in his family. From childhood he served in church, as altar server and later as subdeacon to Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov) of Oryol, who was later martyred and canonized in 2001. At age 12, he expressed his desire to become a monk and received a blessing from Bishop Nicholas (Nikolsky) of Yelets, who told him he would first finish school, work, serve as a priest, and eventually become a monk.
After completing high school in 1929, he worked as an accountant in Oryol and later Moscow. In 1944 he became a reader at the Church of the Nativity in Moscow’s Izmailovo district, was ordained a deacon in 1945, and ordained a priest by His Holiness Patriarch Alexei I in October 1945. He served at the Izmailovo parish while studying at the Moscow Theological Academy by correspondence.
In April 1950, Fr. John was arrested following a denunciation by a fellow priest and sentenced to seven years in labor camps for “anti-Soviet agitation.” He was released early in February 1955 but wasn’t rehabilitated until 1989.
After his release, Fr. John served in various parishes in the Pskov and Ryazan dioceses, frequently transferred due to pressure from Soviet authorities who disapproved of his active ministry. He was tonsured a monk in June 1966 by Elder Seraphim (Romantsov) of Glinsk. In 1967, Patriarch Alexei I appointed him to serve at the Pskov Caves Monastery, where he remained until his death.
At the monastery, Fr. John became widely known as a spiritual elder, receiving countless visitors and answering correspondence from believers worldwide. He was elevated to the rank of igumen in 1970 and archimandrite in 1973. Among his spiritual children were Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), author of Everyday Saints, and Archimandrite Hilarion (Prikhodko).
Fr. John reposed on February 5, 2006, at age 95, on the feast day of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. He was buried in the caves of the Pskov Caves Monastery.
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