Nicholas Karaulov

Holy Hieromartyr Nikolai Karaulov (in the world Nikolai Apollonovich Karaulov) was bishop of Velsk, vicar of the diocese of Vologda, born on 28 May 1871 in the village of Tomash, in the Kadnikov district of the Vologda province, and died in the prison at Novosibirsk on 17 April 1932. He was numbered among the new martyrs and confessors of Russia in August 2000, at the Jubilee Council of Bishops. He is remembered on 4 April, on the old calendar.

The priest

He was born in the family of the priest Apollonius Karaulov. In 1893 he finished the theological seminary at Vologda and in the same autumn was appointed psalm-⁠reader at the church of Saint George in Vologda. He married Alexandra Apollonovna, née Ugletskaya, the daughter of a village priest, and on 26 December 1893 was ordained deacon. In 1894 he was moved to the cathedral of the All-⁠Merciful Saviour, and in 1898 was ordained priest. From September 1900 he was priest at the diocesan cathedral in Vologda, and on 7 February 1901 rector of the church of Saint Catherine in Vologda, to which all his pastoral work afterwards was tied.

At twenty-⁠five his wife died unexpectedly, together with their small son, Mikhail. Three small children were left, Alexei, Olga and Anatoly. He wrote that in the earliest time of his life a terrible trial struck him: he had scarcely settled, had won the love of his parishioners and begun to work for the spiritual good of his flock, when misfortune struck him. He preached much, gave lectures at the public religious and moral readings, took care of charity and was raised to archpriest. In 1921 he was arrested on the charge of counter-⁠revolutionary activity, sentenced to two years of exile and sent to Pinega, in the Arkhangelsk province.

The bishop

On his return he found church affairs in the city much disturbed, for the ruling bishop, Alexander (Nadezhdin), had fallen into Renovationism, and the Orthodox bishop appointed in his place, Sylvester (Bratanovsky), could not live at Vologda and lead the diocese. On 21 October 1923, after being tonsured a monk, he was consecrated bishop of Velsk, vicar of the diocese of Vologda, and appointed to lead the diocese of Vologda temporarily. He met great difficulties. On 1 January 1924 he wrote to Patriarch Tikhon asking to be retired, because of the ill will of the clergy and laity of the Velsk district, and of the leadership of the Vologda diocese, since the powers given by Bishop Sylvester were insufficient. Besides, he was very ill.

Since Bishop Anthony (Bystrov) of Arkhangelsk had been arrested, the Patriarch proposed that he take over the Arkhangelsk diocese temporarily, but he refused and stayed at Vologda, serving at the church of Saint Catherine, where he had once been rector. In 1925 he was arrested because he refused to cooperate with the Renovationists and was held in the Vologda prison, then released. He was a completely grey old man, with a long beard and blue eyes. In 1927 he asked to leave the see of Velsk and was retired. He served at the church of Saint Catherine in Vologda, and after its closing, in 1930, at the church of the Resurrection of Lazarus in the Gorbachev cemetery.

Arrest and death

At the beginning of 1931 a new wave of persecution rose against the Church. On 10 May 1931 the authorities arrested Archbishop Ambrose (Smirnov) of Vologda, Bishop Nikolai (Karaulov), seventeen clerics, seven monks and eleven laymen. They were accused of meetings among themselves, of visits on feast days and of friendly conversations which, in the view of the authorities, had an anti-⁠Soviet character. He was sent to the place of exile and died in the prison at Novosibirsk on 17 April 1932. In August 2000 the Jubilee Council of Bishops numbered him among the new martyrs and confessors of Russia.