the holy new martyrs of eastern russia - Coptic Orthodox teaching

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17. HIEROMARTYR JOASAPH, BISHOP OF CHISTOPOL
and those with him
Bishop Joasaph, in the world John Ioannovich (Ivan Ivanovich) Udalov,
was born on April 5, 1886, in the pious family of a watchmaker in the city of
Ufa. He finished his studies at the Ufa theological school (1900) and the Ufa
theological seminary (1906). Wishing to become a priest, John Ioannovich
entered the Kazan Theological Academy in August, 1906, and graduated with
the degree of candidate of theology in 1910. On August 2, 1910, he was
tonsured into the brotherhood of the monastery of the Theophany in Zhitomir
by Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Volhynia and Zhitomir, and on the
next day was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Gabriel of Ostrog, the
vicar-bishop of the diocese. On August 14, by a decree of the Holy Synod, he
was appointed a teacher in the Zhitomir pastoral school in the name of John
of Kronstadt. In the same year of 1910 Fr. Joasaph was ordained to the
priesthood by Archbishop Anthony, whose influence helped his rapid rise up
the ecclesiastical hierarchy. However, he was helped even more by his
righteous life and firm confession of the Orthodox Faith.
On October 3 (or September 24 or in November), 1911 Fr. Joasaph was
appointed assistant inspector of the Kazan Theological Academy at the
request of the rector of the Academy, Bishop Alexis (Dorodnitsyn). He was
appointed president of the Council of missionary courses. He then worked in
the Tatar mission and with the yedinovertsy. On July 11, 1912, by another
decree of the Holy Synod, he was appointed acting superior of the Kazan
Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery with promotion to the rank of igumen.
With his fine mind and administrative flair and ability to get on with all kinds
of people, the young igumen soon brought the community to a flourishing
state. Here he began building a chapel in the Old Russian style over the relics
of St. Ephraim, metropolitan of Kazan. (The chapel was destroyed to make
way for a garage in 1972.)
In 1915 he was raised to the rank of archimandrite and appointed president
of the Pedagogical Council and the Economic committee of the Kazan
missionary courses.
In September, 1918 the Bolsheviks conquered Kazan. At that moment there
were no bishops in the city: Metropolitan James (Pyatnitsky) of Kazan and
Bishop Boris (Shipulin) had left with the Whites, while Bishop Anatolius of
Chistopol, the rector of the Academy, was in Moscow at the All-Russian
Church Council. It was at this critical moment that Archimandrite Joasaph
took upon himself the burden of leading the church administration in the city.
Arrests and shooting were taking place everywhere, and the majority of the
churches were closed because of the departure of a significant proportion of
the parish clergy - they were all terrified by the bestialities perpetrated by the
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