Hyacinth Pitatelev

Holy Venerable Martyr Hyacinth Pitatelev, a monk, was born in 1882 in Perm province, in the settlement of Ust-⁠Aktaisky in the Verkhoturye district, in a peasant family whose forebears had been the first inhabitants and builders of the town of Verkhoturye. His name in the world was Ilya Ivanovich Pitatelev. He was killed by the Bolsheviks on 30 October 1918, together with the monk Kallist Oparin, because they refused to renounce Christ.

His family and calling

The Pitatelev family is one of the honoured families of Verkhoturye and came to the Urals at the beginning of the seventeenth century, at the summons of the tsar's criers, when in 1598 the building of the town was begun. The line was distinguished by firm faith, piety and almsgiving; help to the Church grew as the family's means increased, tied to the gold rush in the Urals. The Pitatelevs moved to Verkhoturye, beside the church of the Sign, where Ilya's father, Ioann, had four sons: Osip, Grigory, Maxim and Ilya. The father's piety, the mother's devotion, the keeping of all church customs, attendance at services, fasting and prayer left deep traces on the children's souls, above all on that of the youngest, Ilya. From childhood he was weak in health. The family had a farm on the Kamenka river, in Maly Aktai, not far from the hermitage of the monastery, where the schemamonk Elijah Chebotarev struggled. The small Aktai hermitage lay 22 versts from the monastery and the town and had been founded on the place of the elder's first labours. Ilya Pitatelev could see from near the ascetic life of the elder and heard stories of his clairvoyance; this decided the young man's life. His older brothers studied at the monastery's church school, married, had large families (Grigory had ten children) and went into trade, helping to adorn the churches and to build the cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Verkhoturye. Ilya chose the good part.

On 12 October 1912, under the influence of the elder Elijah, he entered the Saint Nicholas men's monastery of Verkhoturye. In the register of the brethren it was written of him that he was capable of obediences. Of the six years of his life in the monastery almost nothing is known; in the report of the abbot, Archimandrite Xenophon (Medvedev), for 1918 only his martyr's death is described. On 25 June 1917 he received tonsure with the name Hyacinth. He was sent to obedience in the small Aktai hermitage, where he was cook, reader and psalmist.

The years of persecution

After 1917 the monastery was occupied and plundered by Red Army soldiers. The Bolsheviks were especially irritated that in the monastery the relics of Holy Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye rested openly. On 17 August 1918 (old style) the chairman of the Extraordinary Investigating Commission, A. V. Saburov, came to the monastery with a detachment and demanded that the relics be opened. Thanks to the self-⁠sacrificing defence by the abbot, the sacrilegious hand did not touch the holy relics. Saburov that same week fell from his horse and broke his collarbone; after suffering he repented, came to Archimandrite Xenophon and begged his forgiveness with tears, then came to the monastery, prayed with tears at the relics and promised not to allow such sacrileges again. The brethren nonetheless suffered the plundering of property, searches and mockery, and the services could no longer be held in some churches. Despite this, the spiritual life of the monastery was strengthened, with prayer with tears and frequent communion.

In October 1918 the troops of Admiral Kolchak entered Verkhoturye, and the Reds withdrew along the Aktai river, stopping near the Maly Aktai hermitage. The abbot blessed the monks Kallist (Oparin) and Hyacinth to move to the hermitage and, as far as possible, guard it from plunder; Hyacinth was chosen not by chance, for the places were known to him from childhood. When the confessor schemamonk Ioann Kevroletin and the monk Aaron left for the monastery with the antimension and the Reserved Gifts, Hyacinth and Kallist remained at their obedience. On 25 October 1918 Red soldiers came and carried out a search; they broke up the floor of the ambo and searched for treasure in the altar, throwing about the service objects. Angered by the fruitless search, they accused Hyacinth and Kallist of spying and arrested them. They led them through the forests to the front line, then by train on the Bogoslovsk railway to the station of Karelino. According to witnesses from the same carriage, the Bolsheviks asked them to renounce Christ in the sight of the passengers, in exchange for freedom. The martyrs firmly rejected it and were shot on 30 October near the station of Karelino. The bodies were taken to a nearby swamp and covered with earth. After the Reds withdrew, the bodies were found. On 23 November they were brought to the monastery, and on 25 November Archimandrite Xenophon performed the funeral service. They were buried in the brethren's cemetery beside the church of Saint Neophytus, next to the grave of their elder Elijah. In the thirties the church and cemetery were destroyed.

By decision of the Holy Synod of 17 July 2002 his name was entered in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. He is commemorated on 30 October, on 7 February, in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, and on 11 February, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Yekaterinburg (new style, the last being a movable day).