On September 15 (September 2 on the Julian Calendar) we commemorate St Damaskin (or Damascene), Bishop of Starodub, New Martyr of the Communist Yoke, who reposed in the Lord in 1937.
Hieromartyr Damaskin, Bishop of Starodub, Vicar of the Chernigov Diocese (in the world Tsedrik Dmitry Dmitrievich) was born in 1877 in the city of Mayaki, Odessa district, Kherson province, into the family of a postal official. Dmitry graduated first from a theological seminary, then from the Vladivostok Agricultural Institute with a degree in agronomy, and then the Kazan Institute of Oriental Languages. Soon he took monastic vows with the name Damaskin and began serving as a missionary at the Beijing Spiritual Mission. In 1914, Father Damaskin went to the front and was part of the Red Cross detachment in the Caucasus.
In 1918, he was arrested in the Oryol province and sentenced to the "supreme measure of punishment", but he managed to avoid execution. At the same time, his brother, priest Nikolai, was executed for fearlessly denouncing the Bolsheviks.
For some time, Father Damaskin lived in the Kiev Mikhailovsky Monastery, being a diocesan missionary and a student at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In 1919, he was elevated to the rank of hieromonk by Archbishop Dimitry of Simferopol and Taurida (Prince Abashidze). In 1920, Father Damaskin was appointed abbot of the Balaklava St. George Monastery in Crimea and elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Soon, in the same year, he was again arrested together with Bishop Dimitry, but after a few months he was released and expelled from Crimea.
Father Damaskin successfully fought against renovationism. On September 14, 1923, he was personally consecrated by Patriarch Tikhon as Bishop of Starodub, and from that time on he also administered the Chernigov Diocese and the Glukhov Vicariate. After repeated arrests during these years, Vladyka Damaskin was so exhausted by imprisonment and interrogations that he was forced to anoint the people while sitting at the all-night vigil. He suffered heart attacks in the altar, but the next day he served again, seeing the divine service as his only joy.
In 1924, Vladyka was exiled by the authorities to Kharkov, and from September 1925 he lived in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow without the right to leave. But already in November 1925, the Saint was arrested again in connection with the case of the holy martyr Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky, commemorated on September 27). By the decree of the State Prosecutor's Office (dated May 8, 1926), Vladyka Dmaskin was sentenced to three years of exile in the Turukhansk region, but was held in the Butyrka prison in the capital until August 1926, then lived in Krasnoyarsk and the village of Poloy in the Krasnoyarsk region (beyond the Arctic Circle). Here, the position of agronomist, which he received in his youth, came in handy - he started a vegetable garden, saving himself from scurvy with the greens he grew himself.
He and his cell attendant repaired the tiny, dilapidated house themselves. Here he was caught by the news of Metropolitan Sergius' publication of the "Declaration" in 1927. The bishop was so shocked by its contents that he wrote about 150 letters on the subject, sending his cell attendant-communicator with them.
In the winter of 1928, when Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) was being driven past Pola, a meeting of two future holy martyrs took place, who after a short conversation became friends.
The Bishop did not talk about his time in prison, answering questions like this: “Well, there are good people there, and I am ready to go there again now,” believing, like many bishops, that freedom at that time was morally worse than imprisonment.
After his release in November 1928, Vladyka Damaskin was received in Moscow by Metropolitan Sergius, after which he immediately separated from him, initially joining the "Danilov" group. Vladyka addressed a sharp message to Metropolitan Sergius, denouncing his call to express "gratitude to the Soviet government for... attention to the spiritual needs of the Orthodox population": "For what should we be grateful?" asks the Saint. "For the innumerable sufferings of recent years? For the churches trampled upon by apostates? For the fact that the lamp of St. Sergius went out? For the fact that the remains of St. Seraphim, precious to millions of believers, and even earlier, the remains of Saints Theodosius, Mitrofan, Tikhon and Joasaph, were subjected to incredible blasphemy? For the fact that the bells of the Kremlin fell silent? For the blood of Metropolitan Veniamin and others killed? For what?"
The Bishop settled in Starodub and did not accept the appointments offered to him. From there, in the summer of 1929, he sent a devoted man to Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky), who was in exile. He asked the Saint, as the legitimate Head of the Church, for clarification on many issues of church life and passed on to the Bishop the letters of Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) and other bishops to Metropolitan Sergius regarding his "Declaration."
Much of what the Bishop reported was news to Metropolitan Peter, and he only conveyed the answer verbally, but his words, according to the messenger, coincided with the words of the Bishop himself. Through this messenger, Metropolitan Peter orally conveyed the following: “1. You, bishops, must remove Metropolitan Sergius. 2. I do not bless the commemoration of Metropolitan Sergius during the divine service.”
In a letter to Metropolitan Kirill, the Bishop assessed the current situation as follows: “God’s Judgment is taking place over the Church and the Russian people... A selection is being made of those true Warriors of Christ who alone will be able... to resist the Beast himself. The times have undoubtedly drawn near, apocalyptic... All our efforts must now be directed toward establishing strong ties between pastors and their flock... and, if possible, to correct the sin committed by opposing evil to the point of being ready to wash away our sin even with blood...”
In his messages to the faithful, the Bishop noted the stubbornness with which Metropolitan Sergius continued to ignore the opinion of the overwhelming majority of hierarchs and church people who disagreed with his course. Even when it became obvious that the course of legalizing the church administration had failed, the Metropolitan refused to admit his mistake. “Incalculable, infinitely burdensome are the internal consequences of the Declaration – this sale of the birthright of Truth for a lentil soup of false and unrealizable benefits,” the Bishop wrote.
In 1929, he became close to the Kyiv supporters of the holy martyr Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh, commemorated on November 7) and Archbishop Dimitry (Lyubimov, commemorated on May 4), with whom he corresponded. That same year, he refused the offer of Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) to be his assistant, because "as before, he does not want any of Sergius's proposals."
By this time, the Bishop had matured in his thinking, and he repeated in his letters and messages: "Christianity in Rus' must go underground." Influencing the broad masses of people had become impossible. It was necessary to save the small flock. The masses would know that somewhere there is still "a refuge for the Truth rejected by the world, where the Unfading Light flickers." "Without idle talk and loud phrases," wrote the Bishop, "first create a small core of a few people thirsting for Christ, who are ready to implement the Gospel ideal in their lives. Unite for the gracious leadership around worthy pastors, and let us each individually and all together prepare ourselves for an even more faithful service to Christ... Several people united by such a life already make up a small Church, the Body of Christ, in which His Spirit and Love dwell."
The Bishop was arrested again in November 1929 on the denunciation of the Starodub dean and, by order of the State Prison Service, was sentenced to 10 years in the camps.
In June 1930, Vladyka was sent to Solovki, from where he was released in 1933. After his release, he headed a number of Josephite communities in Ukraine and in Russia itself, appointed deans in Kyiv and the Vyatka diocese, gathering a small flock. Although Vladyka went underground, he did not take off his cassock, nor did he cut his beard or hair.
The Saint was arrested again in September 1934 in Kherson and, by order of the People's Commissariat of the Interior, was sentenced to 3 years of exile in the Northern Territory, where he cared for the spiritual children of the recently deceased holy martyr Bishop Victor (Ostrovidov).
In one of his letters, the Bishop informed his children about the position of Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky) as follows: “I inform you that Grandfather Peter suggested that Metropolitan Sergius dissolve his illegal Synod, change his behavior, and repent before the Church and his brothers” (this letter is from the investigative file of Bishop Damaskin, p. 55). When during interrogations the Bishop was asked what church orientation he adhered to, then after declaring that he did not recognize Metropolitan Sergius as the legitimate head of the Church, he heard the following remark from the Cheka investigator: “Until you stop reasoning like this, counterrevolutionary cases will not stop being created against you.”
In June 1935, Vladyka Damaskin wrote a message to the Josephite priests with an indication of the need for the Church to go completely underground. The saint, who was in exile in Arkhangelsk, was arrested again in early 1936 and, by order of the People's Commissariat of the Red Army, was sentenced to imprisonment in a camp.
While imprisoned in the Karaganda camp (Kazakhstan), he worked as an accountant. At that time, both sending parcels to prisoners and corresponding with them were already prohibited. The bishop was transferred from place to place with various convoys. Those who lagged behind were shot along the way: the saint, in order to save his friend and fellow prisoner, priest John, from this, carried him on his back to the camp. By the resolution of the NKVD troika for the Karaganda region (dated 10.09.1937), the saint was sentenced to death by firing squad. He accepted a martyr's death, being shot on September 2 (15), 1937 in Karaganda.
He was canonized as a New Martyr and Confessor of Russia at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for universal veneration.
