James of Gortyna

Holy Martyr James of Gortyna (Jacob Ivanovich Gortinsky, 1899-1937) was a mechanic at a hospital in Gorky. He was arrested in 1937 on a charge of church counter-⁠revolutionary activity and, not admitting guilt, was shot on 29 August 1937 with a group of believers, among them Venerable Martyr Anna (Yezhova). He was glorified by the Council of Bishops in the year 2000.

He was born in 1899. He lived in the settlement of Gnilitsy in the Avtozavodsky district of the city of Gorky and worked as a mechanic at the hospital. In August 1937 he was arrested together with Venerable Martyr Anna (Yezhova), charged with taking part in a church counter-⁠revolutionary group. He did not admit guilt. On 21 August 1937 the special troika of the UNKVD of Gorky region condemned him to death. He was executed on 29 August and buried in an unknown grave.

He is commemorated on 29 August, on 7 February, in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, and on 12 September, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Nizhny Novgorod (new style, the last two being movable days).