the holy new martyrs of eastern russia - Coptic Orthodox teaching

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St. Nicholas, an old man, the father of the mistress of the house was lying on
the point of death. He turned to Fr. Misael and implored him: “Give me
Communion!” Fr. Misael had nothing with him. The old man made his
confession to Fr. Misael and then died. It turned out that these people had
lived a strict Orthodox life at home, and had not entered the collective farm.
Fr. Michael set off for Nemetskaya Sloboda, where he lived with German
sectarians. They knew that he was an Orthodox priest. Once Fr. Michael
blessed some water and began to drink it. They also wanted to drink it, but he
did not allow them, saying: “You mustn’t, you are of a different faith.” Soon
the masters of the house were baptized by Fr. Michael. Then he hid for nine
months in the only house in the sloboda where Russians were living. More
than once NKVD officers came out to interrogate the owners. When an officer
came in, he would usually sit on a cot while Fr. Michael was under the cot.
“That accursed one-eyed priest!” complained the NKVD officer. “An All-
Union search warrant has been issued for him, but we can‘t catch him!” Once
he had to sit in a well, and another time – in a ravine.
In 1955 Fr. Michael returned to Central Asia. There he was arrested and
sent into exile in Przhevalsk, Kirgizia. Nothing more is known about him
except that he became a schema-archimandrite in Orenburg.
*
Hieromonk Timothy (Nesgovorov). He was born in 1894 in the city of
Asha, Chelyabinsk province. In 1922-23 he fell into renovationism, and was
received back into the True Church through repentance by Vladyka Peter,
who in 1925 ordained him as a “reserve priest” (that is, a priest ordained
because of the extreme necessity in times of persecution, whose ordination
remained a secret until it became necessary to reveal it) on the instructions of
Archbishop Andrew of Ufa. In 1926 Archbishop Andrew blessed the “reserve
priests” to go to the parishes. He served in a prayer house. But thanks to his
fine sermons and close links with the people, Fr. Timothy acquired great
authority, to the extent that a renovationist priest was forced to leave his
parish while Fr. Timothy was invited to take his place in the church. Bishop
Benjamin (Troitsky) awarded him with a nabedrennik. In 1930 Fr. Timothy
was arrested, but ran away from prison four times. He was 19 years in prison.
His family became very poor, his matushka was not given work anywhere,
but she had five children, so she had to live by begging. Fr. Timothy was
released in 1948, and received monasticism together with his matushka.
Vladyka Peter blessed him to serve the large Tashkent community of the
Catacomb Church. In 1951 all the members of the community were arrested.
He was sentenced to 25 years, but was released after six years, in 1956… He
went to Asha, and with the blessing of Vladyka Peter went round the villages
and towns of Russia, serving the Catacomb Church. After the death of
Vladyka Peter, his flock was served by Fr. Timothy. He lived in the Caucasus
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