Theodore Poroykov

Saint Theodore Poroykov, hieromartyr, was a priest in Russia and died a martyr in the Kuloy camp in the Arkhangelsk region on 4 January 1938. He is commemorated on 4 January (22 December by the old calendar), in the Synaxis of the Saints of Arkhangelsk, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl and in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.

He was born in 1875 in the village of Mimoshna, Myshkin district, Yaroslavl governorate, in the family of a servant of the Church. He entered the theological seminary of Yaroslavl but studied only two years. He married and was ordained priest. His first place of service is not known; by 1930 he held the rank of archpriest. During collectivization and dekulakization he was arrested and condemned and until 1934 was in prison.

After release he was appointed priest in the village of Voshchazhnikovo, Borisoglebsk district, Yaroslavl governorate, and dean of the fifth district. By 1934 only one church remained in the village of Voshchazhnikovo, which earlier had several. Father Theodore did all he could to keep this last church and prevent its closing. In 1936 another attempt was made to close it. In the name of the parish council Father Theodore wrote a petition of protest against the closing of the church, which the faithful signed and sent to Moscow. The church was saved, but on 10 October 1936 Theodore Poroykov was arrested on a charge of anti-⁠Soviet agitation. He rejected all the charges brought against him and did not even give the address of his relatives.

On 16 January 1937 the special panel of the Yaroslavl regional court sentenced him to five years in the camps. He was sent to Kuloilag and died there on 4 January 1938. On 26 January 1996 he was rehabilitated. He was numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 27 December 2000. In 2018 his name was entered in the list of the Synaxis of the Saints of Arkhangelsk.