Paul Kushnikov and priest Nikolai Zavarin

JOURNAL number 31 HAD A REPEATED CONSIDERATION on the inclusion of a number of names in the Council of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. Reference: The Bishops ’Jubilee Council of 2000 determined:“ In post-election time, to include the new martyrs and confessors of Russia in the composition of the already celebrated Council of New Russians with the blessing of the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod, on the basis of preliminary studies conducted by the Synodal Commission on the canonization of the saints ”(clause 14 New martyrs and confessors of Russia). At the same time, having familiarized with the materials presented by the Synodal Commission on the canonization of saints, the Holy Synod found it necessary to decide on the inclusion of the names of priest Pavel Kushnikov (magazine No. 122 of 12/28/2017) and priest Nikolai Zavarin (magazine No. 124 of 12/28/2018) on consideration of the Bishops' Council. Having studied the additional information received from the Synodal Commission on the canonization of the saints for this meeting, the Holy Synod considers it possible to return to the consideration of this issue. *** Priest Pavel Aleksandrovich Kushnikov was born on December 16, 1880 in the family of a priest of the Transfiguration Church of Modena in the Ustyuzhna district of the Novgorod province. In 1905 he graduated from the Novgorod Theological Seminary. He worked as a teacher of parochial schools. In 1913, he was ordained deacon and priest and appointed to serve in the Belsky church of Ustyugen county, where he was a cleric for the next five years - until his death. During the First World War and the Revolution, the priest cared not only about spiritual and moral well-being and the health of his flock, but also about providing flocks with food. To this end, he created a parish public consumer store, distributing food between the parish residents. In 1917, some of the parishioners wrote a denunciation of him to the Ustyuzhensk county commissariat. He was charged with propaganda of disobedience to the new government, but according to the results of the investigation, Father Pavel was acquitted. On February 22, 1918, he was unexpectedly arrested by two delegates from the Ustyug Executive Committee, accused of hiding weapons for the “White Guards”, although nothing was found during the search. On February 23 (old style), Father Pavel was taken outside the village of Belskoye to the swamp and shot. His feat was testified by the metropolitan of Novgorod and the Old Russian Arseny (Stadnitsky), presiding at the meeting of the All-Russian Church Council on April 9, 1918. September 20, 1918 at the last meeting of the Council, the Secretary of the Council V.P. Shein (the future holy martyr Sergius) in his report "about the persecutions of the Church and about the new martyrs" among the clergymen who "suffered for the faith and the Church" mentioned priest Paul Kushnikov. *** Priest Nikolai Kelsiyevich Zavarin was born on May 4, 1878 in the village of Kichmengsky town of Nikolsky district of the Vologda province into a priestly family. In 1892 he entered the Nikolsky Theological School, from which he expelled in 1895 due to illness. In 1897, having passed the exam for the title of a teacher of parochial schools, he entered the school of Verkhomolomsky Spasskaya parish school of the Nikolsky district of the Vologda province. In August 1900, he was appointed acting psalm-reader of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Vyatsko-Nikolskoye of the same county. At the same time, the psalter Nikolay Zavarin was a teacher in a number of other schools. In 1913 he was ordained to the surplice, and in 1916 he was ordained deacon to the same St. Nicholas Church. On April 25, 1926, at the height of the persecutions of the Church, he was ordained a priest and appointed to serve in the Vladimir Church of the village of Piksur. In 1931, he was convicted by the Narcovite People’s Court for one year of imprisonment for not paying the arrears, but on the petition of his daughter Nadezhda on February 27, 1932, he was acquitted by the Nizhkraisud Presidium. After being released from prison, Father Nikolai served in the Trifonovskaya church in the village of Berezovo, Yuryansk district. In November 1932, he was again arrested for "anti-Soviet activities" and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1933 he was released early, after which he returned to the village of Piksur. In September 1935, activists of the Varzhensky Village Council decide on the closure of the Vladimir Church in the village of Piksur, allegedly on the basis of the decision of the majority of voters living in the parish territory. The temple was covered with grain. With the blessing of Father Nikolai, the parishioners, led by his daughter, applied to Moscow with a petition for the opening of the church. In December 1935, an order from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to cleanse the temple of oats in three days was handed to the Darovsk prosecutor. From the village council there were several more attempts to close the temple under various pretexts, but each time the believers managed to defend their temple. February 16, 1937, Fr Nikolai and his daughter Nadezhda were arrested. Father Nicholas was accused of “being the organizer of a counterrevolutionary group among people close to the church, he conducted anti-Soviet agitation, called on women to unite around the church and fight the Soviet authorities, spread rumors about the fall of the Soviet authorities and the massacre of God’s offenders, agitated about the wrong policy of the Soviet government, leading to hunger, explained the correctness of the struggle of the Trotskyists ". When arrested and searched, Father Nikolai answered the question about weapons: my weapon is the Gospel and religion, and I fight with them. During the investigation, the priest did not admit his guilt, and answered the questions of the investigator about “counter-revolutionary activities”: “Since I served in the church, I tried to maintain faith among the population, to defend the church so that it would not be closed, but I never spoke with anti-Soviet agitation.” He did not give any names, did not blame anyone, including his own false witnesses from among the clergy. Priest Nikolai was shot on August 19, 1937. RESOLVED: 1. Include the names of priest Paul Kushnikov and priest Nikolai Zavarin in the Council of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. 2. To commemorate the newly glorified saints in the days of their martyrdom: Martyr Pavel Kushnikov - February 23 / March 8; Martyr Nicholas Zavarin - August 6/19. 3. The honest remains of the holy martyrs Pavel Kushnikov and Nicholas Zavarin, if they are found, be considered holy relics and pay them proper reverence. 4. To write icons to the newly glorified saints for worship, according to the definition of the VII Ecumenical Council.