Hieromartyr Alexander Adrianov

Hieromartyr Alexander Adrianov, venerated locally as St Alexander of Nizhnyaya Tura, was born in 1858 at the Nizhneturinsky works (now the town of Nizhnyaya Tura in the Urals) into the family of a priest. A graduate of the Perm Theological Seminary (1881), he taught school in his home town and then served for the rest of his life at the Church of the Three Hierarchs there, as rector from 1896. He built and enlarged churches, taught the Law of God, ministered to the remote gold and platinum mines and promoted temperance.

In the autumn of 1918, when most local clergy had fled after several priests were killed, Fr Alexander remained the only priest still serving and preaching in the district. On 8 (21) November 1918, the feast of the Archangel Michael, Red Army soldiers arrested him in church during the Liturgy and took him to Vyya station. On 12 (25) November he was beaten and shot; a participant later recalled that he kept praying "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!" He was buried by the altar of his church.

The Holy Synod numbered him among the New Martyrs on 7 March 2018, with his feast on 25 November. His remains, found at the church in October 2019, were recognized as his relics in 2020. In December 2021 his relics were brought to the Dormition Cathedral in Tashkent.