Hieromartyr Philosophos of St Petersburg and his Sons
1860–1918
Also known as Philosophos Ornatsky · Boris Ornatsky · Nicholas Ornatsky
A beloved archpriest of St Petersburg, a tireless preacher and worker of charity, who openly resisted the Bolshevik persecution of the Church and was shot in 1918 together with his two sons, Boris and Nicholas.
Feast Day
May 31
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The Holy New Hieromartyr Philosophos Ornatsky, Archpriest of Saint Petersburg, and his Sons Boris and Nicholas
Life
Philosoph Nikolaevich Ornatsky (1860–1918) was an archpriest of Saint Petersburg known for an unusually energetic public ministry of preaching, charitable building, and religious education in the decades before the Russian Revolution. The son of a village priest, he combined parish service with civic life, sitting in the city Duma and directing one of the capital's principal societies for religious enlightenment.
After the Bolshevik seizure of power he openly opposed the new regime's campaign against the Church and was arrested in 1918. He was shot together with two of his grown sons, Boris and Nicholas, and the three are commemorated as a single family of martyrs. They were glorified among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, and the Church keeps their memory on May 31.
Timeline 6 moments
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1860Birth in Novgorod GovernorateBorn May 21, 1860, in the churchyard of Novaya Yerga, Cherepovets County, Novgorod Governorate, into the family of a village priest.
1885Graduation and ordinationGraduated from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy with the degree of Candidate of Theology and, after marrying, was ordained to the priesthood the same year.
1893–1917Civic and educational leadershipServed in the Saint Petersburg City Duma and, for some twenty-six years, chaired the Society for the Dissemination of Religious and Moral Education in the Spirit of the Orthodox Church.
1913Rector of the Kazan CathedralAppointed rector of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, one of the capital's principal churches.
1918Arrest and martyrdomArrested in 1918 and shot together with his sons Boris and Nicholas near the Gulf of Finland; by the accounts, he read the prayers for the departure of the soul as the prisoners were led to execution.
2000GlorificationGlorified for general veneration by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000, among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
Contributions & Legacy
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Ministry and Charitable Work
Ornatsky's reputation rested above all on his preaching and on a sustained program of social and educational work in the imperial capital. He served successively at the orphanage church of the Prince of Oldenburg, at the church of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers from 1892 to 1912, and from 1913 as rector of the Kazan Cathedral. Through his efforts a number of churches were built in and around Saint Petersburg, among them the Church of the Resurrection of Christ at the Varshavsky railway station.
He directed the building of hostels, orphanages, and almshouses, organized courses of religious instruction for factory workers, and founded a technical college offering secondary and professional education. He also edited several religious periodicals and, in 1900, chaired a commission on reforming catechism instruction in secondary schools. He had ten children and lived modestly; during the First World War he gave over his own residence to serve as a hospital for the wounded. The synaxarion notes that he was closely associated with Saint John of Kronstadt, to whom he was also related by marriage.
Arrest and Execution
After the revolution Ornatsky preached openly against the new regime's hostility to the Church, and the authorities are said to have judged his sermons too dangerous. He was arrested in 1918; two of his sons, Boris—a staff captain—and Nicholas—a military doctor—were taken with him. The three, with a larger group of prisoners, were shot near the Gulf of Finland, by tradition between Ligovo and Oranienbaum, and the bodies were cast into the bay. Sources vary on the exact date of the arrest and on the precise execution site, some placing it near Kronstadt; by one account his body later washed ashore near Oranienbaum and was buried in secret by local inhabitants.
Glorification
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia included Ornatsky and his sons among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in 1981. They were glorified for general veneration by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in August 2000, when more than a thousand victims of the Soviet persecutions were canonized. Father, and sons are commemorated together on May 31.
