Honoring the Hieromartyr of our Omsk Irtysh regiontranslated
On September 4, the Church celebrates the day of remembrance of the Hieromartyr Alexy, Archbishop of Omsk.
Hieromartyr Archbishop Alexy (Orlov) was born on February 8, 1862 in the family of a Samara clergyman, and graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy.
In the 1920s, he was consecrated to the rank of bishop. The bishop served in different regions of our country. In 1931, he was appointed Bishop of Omsk, and two years later he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.
A description of the saint’s appearance has been preserved: tall, white, ruddy face with kind eyes and a sweet, expressive smile. Bishop Alexy was a modest man. He was very simple in his manners, led an ascetic lifestyle, and served in church every day.
In Soviet atheistic times, the bishop supported and consoled his flock during trials. “Once I bought,” Bishop Alexy wrote in one of his letters, “a stack of notepaper, each sheet of which was decorated with a bold typographic seal: “Religion is a weapon of oppression of the masses.” I skillfully remade this slogan, and I got it: “Religion is a tool for consoling the masses.” It was in this alteration that the paper appeared around the world, in my business correspondence.”
In 1935...
