Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr Augustine (Belyaev), Archbishop of Kaluga
1886 — 1937
Also known as: Сщмч. Августин (Беляев), архиеп. Калужский, Августин Калужский, Александр Александрович Беляев, Августин, архиепископ Калужский и Боровский
Bishop of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, then of Syzran and Kaluga, a firm opponent of the Renovationists; exiled to Central Asia (Khujand and Panjakent) and imprisoned in a camp, he was shot in 1937.
Augustine (Alexander Belyaev, 1886–1937), a priest's son, graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy and taught in Penza. Widowed in 1920 with two small daughters, he was ordained priest the same year and arrested twice. In 1923 the Orthodox communities of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, whose bishop had joined the Renovationists, chose him as their bishop; Patriarch Tikhon approved, and he was consecrated on 21 September 1923. Through his efforts most Renovationist churches in the city returned to the Patriarchal Church.
In 1926 he was sentenced to three years' exile in Central Asia, which he spent in Khujand and Panjakent until 1930. He then served as Bishop of Syzran, spent three years in the Svir camps, and from 1934 was Bishop (from 1936 Archbishop) of Kaluga and Borovsk. Arrested in September 1937, he refused to admit any guilt and was shot on 23 November 1937 with a group of Kaluga clergy and laity. He was glorified by the Council of Bishops in 2000.