On October 4 (September 21 on the Julian Calendar) we commemorate Saints John Flerov and John Bystrov, priests and martyrs of the Communist yoke, who reposed in the Lord in 1918.
Father John Flerov
Priest John Flerov was the builder and first minister of the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Semyany, Vasilsursky District, Nizhny Novgorod Province. The church was built and consecrated shortly before the Revolution of 1917. Having consecrated the church, Father John said: "My church will stand for a long time, and no one will approach it." This came true, but the rector himself was arrested in the winter of 1918 and taken to Vasilsursk; he was forty years old at the time.
In Vasilsur prison he was tortured for a long time, often summoned for interrogation, demanding that he renounce Christ or the priesthood. The priest did not agree. And then Fr. John was taken to the cemetery and ordered to dig a grave. Having dug, he began to pray. And when he finished, he said: "I am ready." He was killed by a volley of gunfire to the back.
After his death, the temple found a representative before God. For a long time, the atheists could not close it, and when they closed it, they could not destroy it, but they wanted to, because the temple was a reproachful monument to popular construction - the builders themselves and the peasant donors were still alive.
But the parishioners did not give up the keys. A believing friend would come to Tatyana, the keeper of the keys, and say:
"Tatyana, they'll take us with them anyway."
"Well, let them take us, we'll leave for no one but God," Tatyana will answer.
During one of the persecutions, the cunning chairman of the village council called Tatyana to him and said:
"Tatyana, you have the key, come on, we need to open the church."
To which she responded: "You're lying, you won't open the church now, I won't give you the key. Even if you put me and all my belongings in jail, I won't give you the key until you announce that there will be a service in the church."
The chairman backed down, and the church survived undamaged until its opening in the forties.
Father John Bystrov
In this village, priest John Bystrov was born in 1888 (9?). Father John's parents had only daughters, but they wanted a son, and his mother earnestly prayed to God for this, making a vow that if a boy was born, he would be dedicated to the Lord, and when he was born, they named him John.
After graduating from high school, John became a teacher in his native village.
The construction of the temple and the service of the zealous pastor in it had a considerable influence on the young teacher. It was clear that only with God could education be successful, because its foundation could only be love.
Possessing notable gifts as an educator, he soon became known among teachers, and those around him predicted a glorious future for him. It seemed that he had found himself in his favorite business, and that the vows given before his birth were forgotten. But the Lord Himself reminded of Himself. More and more often John recalled the word given by his mother, and more and more painfully experienced the thought of his unfaithfulness to God. No matter how successful his future life would be, it would be worthless if it was built on the shaky foundation of untruth. And when John turned twenty-seven, he said to his mother:
"Mother, I have to keep my promise. I want it myself."
He got married, was ordained and began serving in the village of Sakany in the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. It was a happy family in all respects. He and his wife had eight children, and mutual love reigned in the family. With a rare measure, Fr. John was judiciously strict and fair with the children, and the children loved him. He never forgot that he was not only a father, not only an educator, but also a priest - a model of morality for everyone around him. And although the family in those years was doubly troubled from the persecution that fell to its lot because John became a priest, he never regretted that he fulfilled his mother's vow. No persecution, no oppression from the godless authorities frightened him. Persecuted by the authorities, he had to change several parishes. The last place of his service was the church in the village of Arapovo, Bogorodsky district, Nizhny Novgorod diocese.
His fame as a teacher protected him for some time, but at the end of the thirties, arrest was inevitable. Some of the authorities tried to persuade Fr. John to leave the church and return to teaching, promising that his priesthood would not be mentioned, he would be made a school principal, and with his abilities all roads would be open to him. Otherwise, arrest would not be avoided. Hearing this, Matushka rushed to persuade her husband to leave the church and go to school; she reminded him of the children, tearfully begging him to have mercy on them. But as before, so now the pastor remained firm in his decision to serve God. With meekness and love he said:
"The Lord will not abandon us, he will bring all children into the world."
On September 11, 1938, on the feastday of St. John the Faster, he was arrested. When the Chekists arrived, the service was in progress, and they did not dare to interrupt it. Instead they left the church and settled down nearby, waiting for the priest.
Father John was imprisoned in Nizhny Novgorod prison.
His death and that of many other priests of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese arrested in 1937-1938 was as follows. They were all taken to the middle of the Volga opposite the city of Bor, not far from Nizhny. The tied priests were pushed into the water one by one, watching to make sure no one floated out; those who floated out were drowned. And so they were all tortured and murdered.