the holy new martyrs of eastern russia - Coptic Orthodox teaching

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For a short time Taisia had to go to a monastery in Ufa. There nobody
knew her, and they were cold to her. In this monastery she suffered paralysis,
and they looked after her badly. The Bishop of Ufa came to the monastery,
and on hearing of her condition began to serve the all-night vigil in her cell. It
was the eve of the feast of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in August, and during the
magnification she saw herself in a cave church where the relics of the holy
hierarch were resting. He got up out of his reliquary and gave her his hand.
She came to and felt herself healed. Then she was tonsured into the mantia
with the name Tikhona in memory of her healing.
On returning to Orenburg, Mother Tikhona wrote much in defence of the
monasteries, for she had literary talent. With the blessing of her spiritual
father she described her life in the form of a confession, and sent it to the wellknown
writer Sergius Alexandrovich Nilus.
In the summer of 1920 a group of Chekists came to the monastery and
demanded to speak with the abbess. They demanded the closure of the
monastery and the dispersal of the community. The Dormition monastery
was ruled by Abbess Taisia. She was so upset and despondent that the nuns
decided to elect one from their midst who was stronger in spirit. Nun Tikhona
was chosen. She took the name of Abbess Taisia and her whole identity, while
Abbess Taisia became Nun Tikhona. The new “abbess” bore her cross with
courage. Under the guise of removing church valuables, the Bolsheviks
robbed the monastery of all its property. Nun Tikhona (under the guise of
Abbess Taisia) accompanied them round the monastery during their searches.
After one of these searches, she invited them into her cell, gave them tea and
tried to stir up their consciences. The soldiers said that they themselves did
not like what they were doing, but they had no alternative… Soon the
Bolsheviks learned that before them was not the real Abbess Taisia, but Nun
Tikhona. With satanic fury they cut her to pieces with their sabres.
*
Priest Ivan Andreyevich Dokukin was born in 1874 in the village of
Chibikpura, Kazan province. He had a theological education, and lived in
Libanovsky settlement Kustanai province. On March 17, 1920 he was arrested,
and on February 15, 1921 was sentenced in accordance with article 58-10 to
five years in the camps. Nothing more is known about him.
*
Protopriest Demetrius Fyodorovich Neapolitanov was born on October
18, 1845, the son of a sacristan. On finishing his studies at the Ufa theological
seminary, he was appointed teacher of the preparatory class of the Orenburg
theological school. On November 25, 1873 he was ordained to the priesthood,
and was sent to the Voskresenskaya sloboda, Chelyabinsk uyezd, Orenburg
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