Hieromartyr Paul Uspensky

Hieromartyr Paul Dmitrievich Uspensky was born on May 23, 1888 in the village of Chernevo near Moscow (now part of Krasnogorsk) into a priest's family. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1911 and in December 1913 was ordained deacon and priest for the Trinity church in the village of Sapronovo, where he served until 1930. He then served in several village churches of the Moscow region; when the church in Sapronovo had been closed, the villagers who knew him invited him to their homes to perform services.

Arrested on March 19, 1938 and held in Kashira prison, he answered every question with the same words: "I do not admit my guilt." The case was later shown to have been fabricated. Sentenced by an NKVD troika on June 7, 1938, he was shot at the Butovo firing range near Moscow on July 4, 1938 (June 21 Old Style) and buried in a common grave. He was rehabilitated in 1957 and canonized by the Jubilee Council of Bishops in August 2000. His feast is June 21 (July 4 New Style), and he is also commemorated with the New Martyrs of Butovo and the Synaxis of Moscow Saints.