Hieromartyr Arkady (Ostalsky), Bishop of Bezhetsk

Hieromartyr Arkady, born Arkady Iosifovich Ostalsky, was born in 1889 in the village of Yakovitsy, Volhynia Governorate. He graduated from the Volhynia Theological Seminary and the Kiev Theological Academy. From 1911 he served as a priest; during World War I he served as a regimental chaplain at the front. From 1917 he was rector of a church in Zhitomir. In 1922 he was arrested for resisting the confiscation of church valuables and sentenced to 5 years, serving his term at Solovki. In 1925 he took monastic vows, in 1926 was elevated to archimandrite and then consecrated bishop with the title of Lubny, vicar of the Poltava diocese, later appointed Bishop of Bezhetsk, vicar of the Kalinin (Tver) diocese. He was repeatedly arrested and exiled for his steadfast confession of faith. On December 16 (29), 1937, he was shot at the Butovo firing range near Moscow. He was glorified by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000 in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. His memory is kept on December 16/29.