06 — The Hieromartyrs of Optina
The two Optina saints who sealed their eldership with confession and martyrdom under the Soviets: St. Nikon the Confessor (Belyaev), who kept Optina’s spiritual life alive after the closure and died in exile in 1931; and St. Isaac II (Bobrikov), the last superior of the monastery, shot in 1938.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox (Optina synaxis glorified 1996 local / 2000 general)
With Nikon and Isaac II the Optina lineage passes fully into the age of the New Martyrs. The first file follows St. Nikon (Belyaev), the last disciple of the great elders, who continued the confessional eldership at Kozelsk after Optina’s suppression, was arrested and exiled to the far north, and died of tuberculosis in exile — a confessor of the last days of Optina. The second follows St. Isaac II (Bobrikov), the last abbot, who governed Optina to its closure, was arrested in the Great Terror, and was shot with other Optina monks near Tula in 1938. Both are numbered among the fourteen glorified Optina elders and among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
Navigation
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| saint-nikon-the-confessor.md | St. Nikon (Belyaev, 1888–1931), the confessor of Optina’s last days, who died in exile |
| saint-isaac-the-hieromartyr.md | St. Isaac II (Bobrikov, 1865–1938), the last superior, shot in the Terror |
See Also
- The Eldership under Persecution — the closure that made these martyrs
- The New Martyrs of Russia — the wider host of Soviet-era martyrs
- Glorification and Veneration — the 1996/2000 glorification of the whole synaxis