Elias

Holy New Martyr Elias (Nikolayevich) was born in a village near Moscow in the nineteenth century, studied at the Moscow Theological Academy and married a devout woman named Eugenia. He was ordained a priest and served in the small church of a poorhouse, then in the parish of Saint Nicholas Tolmachev in Moscow, until the October revolution of 1917. He was a most pious priest, and his church was a beacon of spiritual light for many believers. Though married, he lived an ascetic life.

In 1932 the Soviet secret police arrested him and exiled him to the Krasnaya Vishera river region. Matushka Eugenia spent the whole night in prayer and tears, and in the morning, falling asleep, she saw the Theotokos in a dream, who told her not to be afraid. Two years later Eugenia visited him in exile and brought him a Gospel and a small vial of holy water. The guards confiscated the Gospel; asked what was in the vial, she answered that for them it was plain water, but for her and her husband it was sacred, their medicine. The saint looked tortured. He was not allowed to serve, which caused him immeasurable grief. He told her how he and many others had been brought to the place of exile, forced to walk on melting snow: the thin ice broke under their feet and the convicts sank to the waist. Wet to the bone, with nothing to eat or drink all day, they were shut into a hut for the night. The exhausted men fell to the floor as if dead, and only the saint stayed awake. Around midnight he cried from the depths of his heart: "Lord, why have You forsaken me? I have served You so faithfully. How many times have I read the Akathist and the Canons? Why do I suffer so much?"

Suddenly a divine visitation, like a flame, touched his aching soul and flooded it with otherworldly consolation. The light of faith secretly illumined his heart and ignited in him an inexpressible and irresistible love for Christ. When dawn came he was like a young man, born again, as if baptized in fire. As he bade farewell to Eugenia he said: "My heart is ablaze for Christ. I think I came here to understand that there is nothing better, nothing more wonderful than He. I wish to die for Him." When she arrived back in Moscow, she learned that there had been a fire in the camp and that Saint Elias had burned along with eleven other Christians. He is commemorated on 16 February (new style; 1 March on the old calendar).