Demetrius Milovidov

Holy Hieromartyr Demetrius Milovidov, a priest (1879-1937), was born on 14 October 1879 in the village of Troitskie Borki, in the Lukhovitsy district of the Ryazan province, in the family of the priest Vasily Milovidov. He received the crown of martyrdom by shooting on 20 August 1937. He is commemorated on 20 August, on 29 May, in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Butovo, on 23 June, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Ryazan, and on 5 September, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow.

In 1903 he graduated from the Ryazan seminary and soon married Antonina, the daughter of the priest Alexis Khitrov, who served in the village of Knyazhevo, near Yegoryevsk. They had nine children: four died in infancy, and two sons were killed in the Great Patriotic War. In 1911, after his ordination as priest, he was assigned to the church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Troitskie Borki, where he served until his martyrdom in 1937. The church was full on every Sunday, and on feasts people came from the farthest villages. Father Demetrius served with great attention, and the services were very solemn. In the church and in the altar he kept perfect order. Of the altar he said that it was our little piece of paradise.

The pastor

In dealing with the people he was simple and explained clearly what had been read from the Gospel. At confession he was a loving father to each, living through the needs and sorrows of each as his own. It happened that he would stay in the church and weep, kneeling before the altar. Leaving early in the morning for the church, after the service he went to perform rites and rarely did his household succeed in persuading him to come home for a meal; he came home late in the evening. He served and performed rites even when he was ill. On great feasts, when many people gathered in the church, he gave shelter in his home to those left without a place to sleep, and he never refused alms to the poor. He taught the children the Law of God, and those with musical gifts, church singing. The Lord had also endowed him with gifts as a healer: he gathered herbs and treated the sick with medicines made from them.

The persecution

The first time he was arrested was in 1930, accused of failing to perform his duties to the state, and sentenced to eight years in a camp, although by law he could receive at most two years. He was sent to the Krasnoyarsk region, but the authorities realised the unlawfulness of the sentence and in 1933 he was freed and returned to his village, where he again served at Troitskie Borki. By then the situation in the village had changed: people, frightened by threats, were afraid to come to church, and at the services sometimes only a few prayed, and sometimes no one, but Father Demetrius served anyway, saying that this was his home, that he was a priest and had to serve and pray. The church was not heated, but he, dressed warmly, served in winter too, in any weather. In time the villagers, seeing him in the street, avoided his path, and some openly showed their contempt. Representatives of the local authorities came more and more often to the priest's home and urged him to give up serving and leave, but he refused. Sometimes he was summoned to the NKVD, where, by threats, he was pressed to stop serving. Returning home, he told those close to him: it was rather frightening when they began to shout and tried to force him, and he made himself not listen to them, asking help from God and the Queen of Heaven.

The second time he was arrested was on 8 August 1937, and imprisoned at Ryazan, where he was at once questioned, being asked to admit the charges of counter-⁠revolutionary work and terrorist moods. Father Demetrius did not admit guilt and categorically rejected all the charges. On 19 August 1937 the NKVD troika sentenced him to death. He was shot on 20 August 1937 and buried in an unknown grave.