Anastasia Shilova

Holy Martyr Anastasia Shilova was shot dead on 15 March 1922 on the steps of the Resurrection Cathedral in the town of Shuya, Vladimir province, in the time of the repression of the defenders of the church. She is commemorated together with the holy hieromartyrs Paul Svetozarov and John Rozhdestvensky and the martyrs Peter Yazykov, Nikolai Malkov, Avxenty Kalashnikov and Sergei Mefodiev. They are commemorated on 7 February, in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, and on 10 May and 20 June, in the Synaxis of the Saints of the Ivanovo Metropolis.

On 2 January 1922 the Soviet authorities issued a decree on the removal of museum property. The famine that followed the civil war allowed the Bolsheviks to continue the war and to rob churches and kill the clergy. Patriarch Tikhon, in August 1921, appealed for help for the starving to the Orthodox patriarchs, the Pope of Rome, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the people of Russia and of the whole world, and blessed the founding of a Church Committee of Aid. The government demanded its dissolution and the handing over of the money gathered. In February 1922 the campaign to take valuables out of the churches began. On 19 February the Patriarch addressed an appeal to the faithful.

Among the first victims of this campaign were the priests and laity of the town of Shuya and the village of Palekh in the Vladimir province: Protopriest Paul Svetozarov, Priest John Rozhdestvensky, Peter Ivanovich Yazykov, Nikolai Malkov, Avxenty Kalashnikov, Sergei Mefodiev and the maiden Anastasia. On Wednesday 15 March 1922 the people gathered in the square before the Resurrection cathedral, mostly women. Mounted militiamen with whips came, then soldiers, and cars with machine guns were brought. Boys climbed into the bell tower and rang the bells. Shooting began, first over the heads, then into the crowd. First killed was Nikolai Malkov, who had cried out "Orthodox, stand for the faith". Second killed was the maiden Anastasia: that morning, on the way to the factory, she had stopped at the cathedral, climbed with others onto its steps and there she was shot. Avxenty Kalashnikov and Sergei Mefodiev were also killed. Twenty-⁠two people suffered on the side of the faithful.

Afterwards came the trial, at Ivanovo-⁠Voznesensk, which began on 21 April. On 25 April Protopriest Paul Svetozarov, Priest John Rozhdestvensky and the layman Peter Yazykov were sentenced to death. The petition for clemency was rejected: on 4 May the Politburo confirmed the sentence, and on 10 May 1922, at two in the morning, it was carried out. It is told that before the execution the priests served the funeral service for themselves and for the layman Peter and bore themselves with courage. Father Paul's last prayer was for the children left orphans.