May 4 - Brutally Murdered by Atheists - St. John Prigorovsky

Just before Pascha, on Holy Saturday, soldiers broke into the church during the service, and seized the priest. They treated him violently in front of all the parishioners. First they beat him savagely, and then dragged him, disfigured and half-dead, to the outskirts of the village . . .

The Holy Hieromartyr John Prigorovsky

The holy hieromartyr John was born in 1875, in the family of Emelian Prigorovsky, a sexton of the Chernigov diocese. 

Having finished the Theological Seminary, he was sent to serve as an altar server in a church, in the village of Mostovoye, in the Kubanskaya oblast.

Soon John was ordained a deacon, and three months later he was ordained as a priest for the village of Kugayesky. There he taught the Law of God as the principal of the parish school. His efforts lead to the opening of a night school for adults, in which he taught.

In 1903, Fr. John moved to the Stavropolsk oblast, where he served as the priest in several villages. He taught in both high schools and parish schools. Fr. John was also chosen as a representative in the diocesan and district congresses. From 1916 on, Fr. John Prigorovsky was the head priest of the church of Elijah the Prophet in the village of Nezamaevskaya. 

After the atheists came to power, both the Red and White armies came through the villages of the Kubanskaya oblast. Before Pascha in 1918, the village of Nezamaevskaya was seized by the Bolsheviks.

On Holy Saturday, the Red Army soldiers broke into the church where a service was being held, and seized the priest. They treated him violently in front of all the parishioners. First they beat him savagely, and then dragged him, disfigured and half-dead, to the outskirts of the village, where they brutally murdered him, forbidding the villagers to bury him. 

The fourth of May is the feast day of the Holy Hieromartyr John Prigorovsky.

  • Shqip
  • العربية
  • English
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • Italiano
  • Português
  • Русский
  • Español