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Hieromartyr Nil (Smirnov): “I accepted the priesthood at a time when the struggle with faith took on fierce forms”translated

October 2, 2026 · 1 min read

Father Neil told an OGPU employee about the reasons why he decided to become a priest in the years when the authorities took up arms against the faith: “I served as an employee on the Kazan Railway <...> I accepted the priesthood at a time when the struggle with faith took on fierce forms, when an intensified process of believers leaving the Church began, and I, seeing such an outflow of people from Orthodoxy, decided to become a church leader, in which the Church at that time had a great need...”

Archimandrite Damascene ORLOVSKY

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Hieromartyr Nil was born on November 5, 1881 in the village of Peresypkino, Kirsanovsky district, Tambov province, into the family of the head of the Peresypkino elementary school, Mikhail Gavrilovich Smirnov. In the large village of Peresypkino, with a population of almost ten thousand people and a length of about ten miles, an elementary school was opened only in 1842. In 1875, Mikhail Gavrilovich was appointed head of this school and worked there for thirty-four years.

Mikhail Gavrilovich was a good teacher, he knew how to approach children, and they, in turn, loved him. He was among those who believed that consistency in the chosen direction was the main condition and success of the school.

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Source: Журнал ФОМА · Read the full story →

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Антон Орлов

It is interesting that he worked on the Kazan Railway, and then, precisely because people began to move away from the Church, he decided to become a priest. A brave move at a time like this. And his father worked at the same school all his life, 34 years - this is constancy.