Boris Ornatsky

Holy Martyr Boris Ornatsky was an artillery captain and a veteran of the First World War, shot in October 1918 at Petrograd. He was born on 11 June 1887 in Saint Petersburg and was a captain of the 23rd Artillery Brigade. He was numbered among the saints of the Russian Church in 2000.

His father, Philosopher Nikolayevich Ornatsky, was an archpriest and rector of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. His mother, Elena, born Zaozerskaya, was the daughter of a former subdeacon of Metropolitan Isidore. Boris was the second of ten children. His brother, Nicholas Philosopherovich, was shot together with his father and Boris in October 1918 and is numbered among the holy hieromartyrs.

He received his secondary education at the Tenth Saint Petersburg Gymnasium, then entered the army. In 1911 he graduated from the Konstantinovsky artillery school and was posted as second lieutenant to the 49th Artillery Brigade. He was a teacher and assistant head of the training detachment. On 31 August 1913 he was promoted lieutenant, and on 25 October of the same year was transferred to the 23rd Artillery Brigade, with which he entered the First World War. For distinction in battle he received several orders, among them the Order of Saint Anne, fourth class, with the inscription for bravery, two orders of Saint Stanislaus and two further orders of Saint Anne, of the third and second class. He was promoted staff captain on 5 February 1916 and captain on 7 February 1917.

He was arrested in August 1918 with his father, Archpriest Philosopher, and his brother Nicholas. The parishioners demanded the priest's release, and the authorities answered by moving him with his sons from Petrograd to Kronstadt. Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky and his sons were shot, it is believed, around 30 October 1918. On the way the father read aloud the prayers for the departure of the soul over the condemned. According to some sources the execution took place at Kronstadt, according to others near the Gulf of Finland, between Ligovo and Oranienbaum. The bodies of those shot were, it seems, thrown into the gulf. In August 2000 Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky and his sons Nicholas and Boris were numbered among the saints for veneration throughout the Church by the Jubilee Council of Bishops.