Peter Golubev

Holy Hieromartyr Peter Golubev, a priest, was born on 12 January 1880 in the village of Koledino in the Podolsk district, in the family of the psalmist Grigory Golubev and Pelagia. His father died when he was three. He finished the spiritual school at Perervino in 1894, then, as an exemplary pupil, was admitted without examination to the Moscow seminary, which he finished in 1900, and was named teacher at the church school of the village of Staroe. In 1904 he was ordained deacon for the Intercession church in Pokrovskoe-⁠na-⁠Gorodne, and in 1914 priest for the church in Shebantsevo, in the Podolsk district. In 1925 he was moved to the Dormition church in Petrovo-⁠Dalnee, in place of his brother, who had fallen on ice and could no longer serve. He remained there until his arrest.

He served on all feasts and Sundays, often prayed molebens in the homes of parishioners and at processions. The parishioners loved him for his gentleness and kindness: he helped the poor and the old, welcomed children and always gave them gifts, above all at Pascha. At Petrovo-⁠Dalnee he first rented rooms, and in 1931, with the authorities' permission, built himself a house. In 1935 the authorities forbade him to baptize, so he baptized at home. His position became still more dangerous when his nephew became assistant to the chairman of the village council and said around the village: I will remove my uncle, they laugh at me. At the end of the thirties the NKVD asked the chairman of the council to denounce those who were to be arrested, the priest among them, and the chairman tried to draw him into talk, but the priest said nothing for which he could be accused.

Arrested in 1938, he was interrogated and said that he had never been on the side of the enemies of Soviet power and did not concern himself with politics. He did not admit guilt. Then he was taken to Taganka. On 16 July an NKVD troika sentenced him to death. He was shot on 3 August 1938 and buried in the common grave at the Butovo range. The day after his arrest the church was plundered, then some Tatars threw down the bells and brought down the dome; about a year later the chairman of the collective farm ordered it blown up, to use the bricks for greenhouses.

He is commemorated on 3 August, on 29 May (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Butovo and on 5 September (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow, in the new style.