the holy new martyrs of eastern russia - Coptic Orthodox teaching

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23. HIEROMARTYR ZENOBIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF TAMBOV
Bishop Zenobius, in the world Nicholas Drozdov, was born on July 14,
1875 in Kostroma province. In 1897 he finished his studies at the Kostroma
theological seminary and was ordained to the priesthood. He was later
widowed. In 1900 he entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and in
1903 he was tonsured into the mantia. In 1904 he graduated from the
Academy with the degree of candidate of theology. On August 14, 1904 the
Holy Synod sent him as a priest for the hospital ship "Orel". On September 23,
1905 he was appointed a teacher in the Vyatka theological seminary. On
September 28, 1906 he was appointed supervisor at the Kutaissi theological
school. From July 14, 1907 he was in charge of the chancellery of the exarch of
Georgia. On September 12, 1907 he was raised to the rank of archimandrite.
From July 13, 1908 he was supervisor at the Ekaterinburg theological school.
From January 22, 1909 he was rector of the Kishinev theological seminary.
On December 11, 1911, he was consecrated Bishop of Izmailov, a vicariate
of the Kishinev diocese, in the Trinity cathedral of the Alexander-Nevsky
Lavra. On January 17/30, 1913, he was transferred to the Kozlov (Michurinsk)
diocese, a vicariate of the Tambov diocese. He was a member of the Local
Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917-18. On May 22 / June 4,
1918, he was transferred to the diocese of Tambov and Shatsk. In 1920 he was
raised to the rank of archbishop. In July-August, 1922 he was removed from
his see by the renovationists, and in October was in prison in Tambov. In 1924
he returned to his diocese. In November, 1924 he was exiled to Moscow
without right of departure. On April 12, 1925 he signed the act transferring
leadership of the Church to Metropolitan Peter. In April, 1926 was exiled to
Arzamas and lived in the Diveyevo monastery, serving together with Bishop
Seraphim (Zvezdinsky).
He rejected the declaration of Metropolitan Sergius. He used to say:
"Dearer than the receiving of fresh rewards is the ability to preserve one's
dignity, not to lose that which one has."
He is known to have served together with Bishop Seraphim in September,
1927, when the Diveyevo convent was closed, and on September 21 the two
bishops went together with the Diveyevo nuns to prison in Arzamas. Then,
on September 26 they were transferred to the prison in Nizhni-Novgorod.
However, on October 8 they were released, and on October 17 the NKVD
ordered them to go to Moscow and see Metropolitan Sergius.
When they arrived at the metropolitan's residence, both bishops petitioned
to be relieved from their dioceses.
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