Vostoргов Nikolay Yevdokimovich (November 21 / December 3, 1875 — February 1, 1930) was an Orthodox priest canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a hieromartyr. He was born in the selo of Nikologorsky Pogost in Vyaznikovsky Uyezd of Vladimir Governorate. His connection to Nizhny Novgorod Region stems from his final place of service — the selo of Chulkovo — and from his inclusion in the Assembly of New Martyrs and Confessors of Nizhny Novgorod, at the nomination of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.[1][2]
Origins and Education
Nikolay's father, Yevdokim Mikhaylovich Vostoргов, served as a psalm-reader at the Church of the Nativity of Christ in the selo of Nikologorsky Pogost. His mother was Anna Alexandrovna. Nikolay was the only son among four sisters. The family was distinguished by strict piety: the children were not permitted to miss Vespers or Matins.[2] After finishing the village school, his father took him to Vladimir, where Nikolay enrolled in the Vladimir Theological School, but was compelled to leave his studies.[1] Nikolay Vostoргов left handwritten notes addressed to his children, in which he described the years of his childhood and schooling, as an edification for his descendants.[2]
Path to the Priesthood and Ministry
After his studies, Nikolay Vostoргов followed a long path of monastic obedience: he lived as a novice at the Spaso-Yevfimiyev Monastery, then resided at the Vyaznikovsky Blagoveshchensky and Bogolyubsky Bogoroditse-Rozhdestvenskiy monasteries, and served as a cell attendant and secretary to the abbot of the Vvedenskaya Ostrovnaya Hermitage.[1] From 1897, following his marriage, and until 1915, he served as a psalm-reader at the church of the Goritsy pogost near Nikolskoye Lake in Muromsky Uyezd.[1]
In 1915, Vostoргов was ordained deacon at the Church of the Savior in the selo of Dedovo. In the spring of 1927, he was ordained priest and appointed to the church of the selo of Golyanishchevo. In June 1928, he was transferred to the selo of Chulkovo in Nizhny Novgorod Region, where he served until his arrest.[1][2]
Arrest, Imprisonment, and Death
In August 1929, Nikolay Vostoргов was arrested in the selo of Chulkovo. He was charged with the following: lacking official notice of eviction from the former church house he occupied, he had voiced complaints to the local population while making his rounds with prayer services, had incited the chairman of the parish council and the church warden to convene an unauthorized assembly, and had "become the organizer of a public disturbance that could have resulted in terror against Party and Soviet workers"; he was also charged with directing the collection of signatures and drafting petitions. During interrogation he conducted himself with dignity, did not admit guilt, and did not implicate anyone.[1]
On November 20, 1929, the Special Conference of the OGPU Collegium sentenced him to three years in a concentration camp; two peasants implicated in the case each received six months' imprisonment.[1] Vostoргов was transferred to the 4th company of the Solovetsky Camp on the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. Shortly after his arrival he fell ill with typhus and was admitted to the camp hospital, where he died on February 1, 1930.[1][2]
Canonization and Church Veneration
Nikolay Vostoргов was canonized by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on August 13–16, 2000, at the nomination of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.[1][2] He is included in the Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Saints, the Assembly of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, and the Assembly of Saints of the Arkhangelsk Metropolitanate (commemoration on November 1).[1] His liturgical commemoration falls on February 1, the day of his martyric death.[1]
Sources
- cyclowiki.org — Nikolay Yevdokimovich Vostoргов — Tsiklopediya
- nne.ru (archive) — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate