Nicholas Postnikov

Holy Confessor Nicholas Postnikov was an archpriest in the Moscow region and died in exile, at Arkhangelsk, on 10 April 1931, at the age of nearly seventy-⁠four.

He was born in 1857 in the town of Kasimov, in the Ryazan province, in the family of the priest Jacob Postnikov. He finished the seminary in 1878 and until 1883 was director and teacher of religion at the model one-⁠class school of Kurlovo, Kasimov district. In 1883 he was ordained priest for the church of the Resurrection in the village of Lyubich, Zaraysk district. Between 1889 and 1902 he had the obedience of district missionary against the schism, and between 1893 and 1906 he was a member of the deanery council. In 1901 he received the pectoral cross and later the rank of archpriest.

In December 1929, at the invitation of the parishioners, he came to serve at the church of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian in the village of Timoshkino and served there until 21 January 1930. Archbishop Juvenal (Maslovsky) of Ryazan blessed him to stay, but asked him to seek the consent of his own bishop. While he served at Timoshkino, a case was begun against him at Lyubich: he was charged that he had "carried on anti-⁠Soviet agitation against the state farm, the collective farm and other measures of the authorities", spread provocative rumours about the persecution of religion and called for the defence of the church against the barbarous power. The OGPU, not finding him at home, put out a search for him, and on 28 January, on his return, Father Nicholas was arrested and imprisoned at Kolomna. At the interrogation he said that, speaking with people, he had sometimes said that life had become hard, taxes heavy and religion persecuted, but nothing against the state farm and the collective farm. On the same day the inquiry ended, and on 28 February 1930 the Special Council sentenced him to three years of exile in the Northern Territory. He was nearly seventy-⁠three, and the conditions of exile were beyond his strength. He died in the Solombala hospital in Arkhangelsk on 10 April 1931 and was buried in an unknown grave.

He is remembered on 10 April, on 23 June in the Synaxis of the Saints of Ryazan, on 5 September (a movable day) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow, on 1 November in the Synaxis of the Saints of the Archangelsk Metropolis, and on 7 February (a movable day) in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors, in the new style.