Theodore Bogoyavlensky

Holy Confessor Theodore Bogoyavlensky, a priest, was born on 26 February 1881 in the village of Seslavino in the Yaroslavl district, in the family of the priest Paul Bogoyavlensky and his wife Catherine. He died in exile, on 10 February 1933, in the town of Totma.

In 1904 he finished the Yaroslavl seminary, and on 21 January 1905 he was appointed teacher at the parish school of Oboltino. On 24 October 1905 he moved to the zemstvo school. On 20 December 1907 he was ordained priest for the church of the Protection of the Mother of God in the village of Pokrovskoe in Zhary, Danilov district. In the 1920s he served as rector of the church in the village of Oseneevo, Gavrilov-⁠Yam district. At the beginning of February 1930 rumours reached the village that many priests of the district had been arrested and exiled, with all their property confiscated. Speaking of this with the deacon of the church, Sergius Urusovsky, Father Theodore proposed to serve on Saturday, 8 February, the day of remembrance of a departed relative, since he might not have the chance to serve again.

On 7 February 1930 a brigade arrived in the village from the town to organize the collective farm. On 8 February the service took place, with more than forty of the faithful present. After Matins they confessed, and during the Liturgy still more people came, for it was market day and the rumour that the church might be closed had reached everyone; many received communion, and those who had not had time to confess were told by the priest to prepare for Sunday. After the Liturgy, according to witnesses, Father Theodore said, "The time has come for us to part, Soviet power will move us all, no one knows where. Receive communion for the last time, Orthodox, and be ready for everything."

On 10 February the priest Theodore Bogoyavlensky, the deacon Sergius Urusovsky and four parishioners were arrested. At the inquiry Father Theodore said that he knew all the arrested peasants as parishioners, that the service was celebrated on 8 February, that about forty people were present, that the thought of confession and communion was prompted by rumours of the church's closure, and that he did not admit guilt of anti-⁠Soviet activity. On 16 March 1930 the OGPU troika sentenced Father Theodore and the others arrested with him to three years of exile in Russia's North. Father Theodore was exiled to Totma in the Vologda region, where he died of pneumonia on 10 February 1933.

He is commemorated on 10 February (new style), in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church on 7 February on a movable day, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl on 5 June, and in the Synaxis of the Saints of Vologda on 11 July on a movable day.