New Martyr 20th century

New Hieromartyr Basil Sungurov

1876–1937

Also known as Basil Sungurov, Priest

A priest martyred in the Soviet persecution (1937)

Feast Day

September 7

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

The Holy New Hieromartyr Basil Sungurov

Life

Basil (Vasily) Arsenievich Sungurov was a Russian Orthodox priest who served parishes in the Moscow region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was put to death during the Soviet persecution of the Church in 1937. He is commemorated on September 7 and numbered among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Born in 1876 into a clerical family, he gave most of his ministry to a single rural parish until its closure under the anti-religious campaigns of the 1930s. He was arrested in 1937, imprisoned, and shot at the Butovo firing range near Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him among the New Martyrs in 2005.

Timeline 5 moments Read Hide

1876 Birth Born on March 20, 1876 in the village of Spasskoye, Ruza district, Moscow province, the son of the psalmist Arseny Sungurov.
1898 Begins church service After completing the Volokolamsk theological school, he was appointed psalmist at the Nicholas church in the village of Amelfino, Volokolamsk district.
until 1934 Rector at Ulitkino He served for many years as rector of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Ulitkino, where much of his priestly ministry was spent, until the church was closed in 1934.
1937 Arrest and martyrdom Arrested on August 28, 1937 and held in the Taganka prison in Moscow, he was executed by shooting on September 20, 1937 and buried in a mass grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
2005 Canonization On April 20, 2005 the Hierarchical Council of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized him among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Ministry

Sungurov's life followed the ordinary path of a rural parish clergyman of his generation: born to a psalmist, schooled at the Volokolamsk theological school, and set to church service first as a psalmist and later as a priest in the parishes of the Volokolamsk and surrounding districts of Moscow province.

The greater part of his ministry was bound to the parish of Saint Mary Magdalene in Ulitkino, where he served as rector for many years until the church was closed in 1934 amid the Soviet campaign against religious life.

Arrest and martyrdom

During the intensified persecution of 1937, Father Basil was arrested on August 28 and imprisoned in the Taganka prison in Moscow. He was condemned and shot on September 20, 1937, and his body was placed in a mass grave at the Butovo firing range outside Moscow, where many clergy and faithful of the period were executed and buried.

He is venerated as a hieromartyr — a priest who died for the faith — and is commemorated on September 7 among the wider Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Commemorated with Read Hide

Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Synaxis

Notes

Among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Sources: Synaxarion