St. Lydia Alexandrova, along with her husband, mother and three daughters

Commemorated on January 6

Protopriest Andrew Zimin, a dean from the village of Chernigovka near Vladivostok, Russia, was murdered with his whole family in their home in 1919 on the Feast of the Theophany.

Fr. Andrew had served the all-night vigil, but when the church bell sounded for the Liturgy the next morning, he did not appear. It was discovered that a group of about 10 to 12 Bolsheviks from neighboring villages had burst into his house and bound Fr. Andrew, his wife, Lydia Alexandrovna, his three daughters, aged between 11 and 13 (the eldest was named Maria), his mother-in-law, Domnica Petrovna Shmarova, and a servant.

The family was tortured, with the men demanding money. After this, the children were violated in front of their parents. The daughters, their mother, and their grandmother received the crown of martyrdom when they were shot to death. Fr. Andrew was thrown onto the floor, where they beat and tortured him, then pressed a door onto his stomach and chest.

They were all buried in a common grave beside the church where Fr. Andrew had served for twenty years. Not long before his death, Fr. Andrew wrote a letter to his friend, the professor of theology at the University of Vladivostok, Protopriest John Konoplev, asking him to open it only in the event of his death. In the letter, Fr. Andrew described a dream of his that accurately and in detail depicted his future death.

By permission of www.orthodox.net