Peter Yazykov

Holy Martyr Peter Yazykov (Pyotr Ivanovich Yazykov) was born in 1881 in the town of Shuya in Vladimir province, in a pious family, went to church from childhood and sang in the choir. In youth he learned the trade of founder and worked at the Shuya factory, first as a worker, then as head of the foundry workshop.

On 13 March 1922, as he was going to the factory, he passed the Resurrection cathedral and saw people gathering at the entrance. Learning that representatives of the authorities would come to make an inventory of church property, he went into the church. The commission arrived, and the parishioners drew aside to let them pass; shouts were heard: What do you want here? The Church is separated from the state. Peter noticed that the chairman of the commission, Vitsyn, was drunk. He said to those near him: Look, they came into the church drunk, it is an insult to believers, and they are armed; one does not enter the altar with weapons. The commission nevertheless went into the altar, where they demanded that the cathedral be emptied. The priest answered that he had no right to drive out those who pray. A member of the church commission, Medvedev, begged the crowd to disperse so that he and Father Paul would not be arrested. Peter told him: If you fear arrest, give up your authority; others will be found who know how to speak to the authorities.

For those events Father Paul Svetozarov, the priest John Rozhdestvensky and the lay believers Peter Yazykov, Nikolai Malkov, Avksenty Kalashnikov, Sergei Mefodiev and the maiden Anastasia were tried. At the trial Peter did not admit guilt. Asked by the president of the tribunal, Galkin, whether he had said that the commission was drunk, he answered: When Vitsyn passed me, I smelled liquor. Asked by the prosecutor whether he was a believer, he said: I am a believer. On the confiscation: Only surpluses can be confiscated. On 25 April 1922 he was sentenced to death, together with Archpriest Paul Svetozarov and the priest John Rozhdestvensky. The petition for pardon sent by the faithful was approved by the Presidium, but the Politburo decided on execution. On 10 May 1922, at two in the night, the sentence was carried out.

Saint Peter is commemorated on 10 May, on 7 February (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church and on 20 June in the Synaxis of the Saints of the Ivanovo Metropolis, in the new style.