Paul Sokolov

Saint Paul Sergeyevich Sokolov, new martyr, was a servant of the church at Ruza, near Moscow, and died by shooting on 26 February 1938, during the Soviet persecution. He is numbered among the new martyrs of Russia. He is commemorated on 13 February by the old calendar, which is 26 February by the new, the day of his death, and in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

He was born in 1892 at Ruza, Moscow governorate, into the family of Sergei Grigoryevich Sokolov, a psalmist of the church of Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica, who had four other children. In 1912 his father became a deacon, and in 1917 was ordained priest and served into deep old age.

Paul studied at the Volokolamsk theological school and at the Bethany seminary (1906 to 1914). He served at the church of Saint Demetrius, like his father, as a psalmist.

He was arrested on 10 February 1938 and accused of counter-⁠revolutionary agitation. An NKVD troika sentenced him on 16 February to the supreme penalty, and on 26 February 1938 he was shot. The place of burial is unknown.