Synaxis of saints
Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Butovo
1937–1938; празднование установлено в 2003 году
Also known as: Новомученики Бутовские, Собор Бутовских новомучеников, Собор новомучеников, в Бутове пострадавших
The common commemoration of the new martyrs shot for their faith at the Butovo firing range near Moscow in 1937–1938, kept on the fourth Saturday after Pascha.
The Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Butovo commemorates the saints executed at the Butovo firing range, an NKVD execution and burial site now within Moscow. Between August 1937 and October 1938, 20,765 people were shot and buried there, among them 739 clergy and monastics and more than two hundred lay people who suffered for their faith. The first clergy shot there, on 20 August 1937, were Archpriests Alexis Vorobyov and Alexis Kasimov and Deacon Elisha Stolder.
The site was handed over to the Moscow Patriarchate in 1995. The Jubilee Council of Bishops of 2000 glorified 120 people shot at Butovo, and the number has since more than doubled. The movable feast was entered into the Church calendar with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II on 3 September 2003 and is kept on the fourth Saturday after Pascha, with a solemn service over the burial trenches. The Synaxis is headed by Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) and five other bishops: Dimitry (Dobroserdov), Nicholas (Dobronravov), Arcadius (Ostalsky), Nikita (Delektorsky) and Jonah (Lazarev).