Saint John Kochurov

Saint John Kochurov (1871-1917)

Missionary to North America, First Hieromartyr under the Bolshevik Yoke

John may be spelt Ioann, Ivan, Johannes.

Alexandrovich may be spelt Aleksandrovich.

Early life of John Alexandrovich Kochurov

On 13 July, 1871, John Alexandrovich Kochurov was born to the Archpriest Alexander Vasilievich Kochurov and his wife Anna Nikolaevna Kochurova (born Perekhvalskaya). This was a pious family in the village of Bigildino-Surky of the Dankov county in the Ryazan Governorate in Russia (Russian Empire). Ryazan is to the east of Moscow, on the Central Russian Plain between the Central Russian Uplands and the Volga Uplands. It is south of Ryazan, and north of Voronezh, about 87 km (54 mi) from Lipetsk. Besides John, Father Alexander and Matushka Anna received from the Lord other children : Sofia Alexandrovna, Maria Alexandrovna, Lubov Alexandrovna, Nikolai Alexandrovich, Vasily Alexandrovich, Dmitry Alexandrovich.

The Archpriest Alexander Vasilievich Kochurov served almost the whole of his life in the Temple of the Holy Theophany in Bigildino-Surky village in the Diocese of Ryazan, from the moment of his ordination on 2 March, 1857. In serving this parish, he followed in the footsteps of his father, the Archpriest Vasily Vasilievich Kochurov, who had served in that parish since 1841. Having combined these many years of service in the parish with the fulfilment of his obligations as a teacher of God’s Law (“Zakon Bozhii”, catechism) in the Bigildin public school, he imprinted in the hearts and consciences of his sons, and particularly in that of John, the most spiritually sensitive of them, a radiant image of the parish priest, full of deep humility and high inspiration. John’s upbringing, rooted in the remarkable traditions of many generations of clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, and bound together with the manner in which the people naturally lived out their lives in Orthodox piety, prepared his path for eventually beginning pastoral service.

Higher education

John enrolled first in the Dankov Theological School, and afterwards in the Ryazan Theological Seminary. His studies were marked not only with outstanding success in the mastery of theological and secular disciplines, but also with remarkable examples of ecclesiastical piety which he demonstrated during a time when the everyday life of a provincial theological school was not always spotless in the moral sense.

In 1891, John successfully graduated from the Theological Seminary in Ryazan. Having passed the entrance exams for the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, he then became a student at one of the best theological schools in Russia, in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire.

During the period of John Alexandrovich’s study at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, his propensity to regard theological education as a preparation primarily for future service as a parish priest became clearly defined. Already during his student days, John coupled the possibility of his service as a parish priest with that of missionary activity, in which he saw the embodiment of the ideal of the Orthodox pastor.

He graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy with the distinction of a true student.

Marriage, 1895

In the midst of summer, 1895, soon after the end of his studies, John Alexandrovich Kochurov was married to Alexandra Vasilyevna Chernyshova.

Diaconal ordination, 1895

Not long after the marriage, John Alexandrovich Kochurov was ordained to the Holy Diaconate in Saint Petersburg.

Presbyteral ordination, 1895

On 27 August, 1895, Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov) of the Diocese of the Aleutians and North America ordained John Alexandrovich Kochurov to the Holy Priesthood in the Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra of Saint Petersburg.

Pastoral service

The ordaining hierarch for the Priest John Kochurov was Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov) because Father Kochurov, while he was yet a student, had expressed an interest in missionary work in North America. Bishop Nicholas had been in Saint Petersburg for his regular reporting. At the same time, he was searching for candidates to become missionaries in the North American Diocese, also known as the “Russian Mission” in North America.

The Kochurov family in Saint Petersburg

Summer of 1895, after the marriage and ordinations, before leaving for America. Sitting from left to right : Maria Alexandrovna Kochurova, Priest Ivan (John) Alexandrovich Kochurov, Matushka Alexandra Vasilyevna Kochurova, Nikolai Alexandrovich Kochurov. Standing from left to right : Vasily Alexandrovich Kochurov, Dmitry Alexandrovich Kochurov. Absent are Lyubov Alexandrovna and Sofia Alexandrovna Kochurov.

Assignment to North America, 1895

In accordance with his long desire for missionary service, very soon after his marriage and ordinations, the Most Holy Synod decreed that the Priest John Kochurov and his wife Alexandra were transferred and assigned to the Diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska. Although this assignment was a fulfilment of a personal desire and hope, it must be stressed and understood that an assignment is nevertheless an obedience which is willingly accepted and embraced (even if it be different from what was expected). Some compare this with military obedience, but this is not an adequate comparison.

Father John’s arrival in Protestant America put him in contact with a life that was dissimilar in many respects from his accustomed life in Orthodox Christian Russia. As it was later noted by one of his descendants, he was a Russian Orthodox Christian intellectual who was now living in a predominately Protestant society. For his first sojourn in the USA, Father John arrived in New York City, which with its mundane ways was very different from the spiritual life of the Russian cities. Even though he had not yet learnt the English language, thanks to the brotherly support of the New York Orthodox Christian community (at that time of modest size), Father John did manage to adjust himself to the life of the country (until then unknown to him) without any particular psychological or other complications.

It must be noted that Church life in the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians was very different in character from that in other parts of the country, which was vast in its territory but rather small in the number of clergy. Specifically, the Russian Orthodox missions in Northern California, on the Aleutian Islands, and in Alaska had at that time already existed for about 100 years, and Church life was conducted on a foundation of rather numerous parish communities which possessed significant financial resources, having become accustomed to life in America over several generations.

However, Orthodox life in the rest of the country was only being initiated, and it required a great deal of evangelical activity by the clergy to create normal Orthodox parishes within the multi-national and multi-confessional local population. It was precisely to that part of the diocese that Deacon John was soon to be sent.

Father John and Matushka Alexandra Kochurov

Missionary activities, 1895

The beginning of Father John’s parish service was associated with the opening by https://orthodoxcanada.ca/Bishop_Nicholas_(Ziorov) Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov)] of the Orthodox parish in Chicago, Illinois, in 1892. Assigned in 1895 by order of the Most Holy Synod to be the parish priest at Saint Vladimir’s Cathedral in Chicago, Father John was immersed in a parish life that was strikingly different from the Orthodox parishes in Russia, which were organised and rooted in a living tradition many centuries old.

Being a lonely island of Orthodox Christian life, remotely situated many hundreds of miles from the other scattered Orthodox parishes in North America, Saint Vladimir’s Church in Chicago (together with the Temple of the Three Hierarchs in the town of Streator with which it was affiliated), in the less than 3 years of its existence still had not managed to become formed as a parish in the full sense of this word. Indeed, it required heroic labours from the young Father John to become established in a proper manner. It would be appropriate to describe the Streator and Chicago congregations as one pastoral unit (still referred to as a parish) at the time, since they were both served by one priest only. However, Streator is about 161 km (100 mi) southeast of Chicago. Until his assignment, the small community of Saint Vladimir had been served only periodically by the Archpriest Alexis Toth. The congregation did not yet have its own building, and the parishioners were poor. It occupied a small part of a rented building in the southwestern part of the city.

Priest John Kochurov

Beginning his work in Chicago and Streator, Father John nourished these 2 small and multi-national congregations. Because the parishioners had such limited means, he was never able to be supported in his work by a sound parish community having at its disposal sufficiently large material means.

In one of his articles, written in December, 1898, Father John gave the following vivid description of the Chicago-Streator congregations :

 The Orthodox parish of Saint Vladimir’s Church in Chicago consists of a small number of the original 
 Russians, Galician and Hungarian Slavs, Syrians, and Bulgarians.  The majority of the 
 parishioners are working people who earn their bread by toiling not far from where they live, on the 
 outskirts of the city.  Affiliated with this parish in Chicago is the Church of the Three Hierarchs in 
 the city of Streator.  This place, and the town of Kengley, are situated ninety-four miles from Chicago, 
 and they are famous for their coal mines.  The Orthodox parish there consists of the Slovaks who work there 
 who have been converted from the Unia.

The unique characteristics of the Chicago-Streator pastoral unit demanded of Father John a deft combination of pastoral-liturgical skills, along with missionary ones. These abilities enabled him to stabilise the membership of his parish community spiritually and administratively. These abilities further enabled him to enlarge his flock continually by means of conversions, or by the return to Orthodoxy of the ethnically diverse Christians living in Illinois. Already during the first 3 years of Father John’s parish service, 86 Uniats and 5 Roman Catholics were brought into the Orthodox Christian Church, bringing the number of permanent parishioners up to 215 men (plus women and children) in Chicago, and 88 in Streator. There were 2 functioning Church schools affiliated with the 2 Temples, with more than 20 pupils enrolled in them. The course consisted of Saturday classes during the school year, and daily classes during the school vacations.

In his work, Father John continued the best traditions of the Russian Orthodox Diocese in North America. In Chicago and Streator, he organised the Saint Nicholas and Three Hierarchs Brotherhoods. This enabled a goal of setting up a programme of social and material mutual aid amongst the parishioners of the Chicago-Streator pastoral unit, as members of the “Orthodox Mutual Aid Society”. The varied labours of Father John were soon rewarded. After the very first years of his pastoral service, he already received emblems of priestly distinction from Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov), such as the “nabedrennik” and “purple kamilavka” (usually given after several years of service). These would be followed soon by other, honourific awards (orders).

Father John’s abundant labours for building up a healthy, flourishing parish life in the communities entrusted to him did not hinder him from fulfilling other important diocesan responsibilities that were given to him. So it was that, on 1 April, 1897, Father John was appointed to be one of the members of the newly-created Censorship Committee of the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians on texts in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English languages.

A significant obstacle to the normal functioning of the Church liturgical cycle in the Temples of the Chicago-Streator pastoral unit was the condition of the buildings, which were unfit for the purpose. As previously mentioned, Saint Vladimir’s Church in Chicago occupied rented quarters. On the ground floor of the house, the church itself was separated by a wall from the kitchen and a room where an attendant lived. On the first floor there were several small rooms which were occupied by Father John and his family, and by the parish reader. The Church of the Three Hierarchs in Streator employed the lobby of the Russian section of the Chicago World Exhibition.

Arrival of Bishop Tikhon (Belavin) as the new bishop, 1898

The arrival on 12 December, 1898, of Bishop Tikhon (Belavin) in the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians, was especially significant for the resolution of problems of Church life in the congregations entrusted to Father John. Bishop Tikhon had arrived in New York City], USA, on the Feast of the Holy Apostle Andrew (30 November, Old Style). Bishop Tikhon, zealously fulfilling his hierarchical obligations, already during the first several months of his leadership of the see managed to visit practically all the Orthodox parishes scattered around the vast territory of the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians, in an effort to discern the most fundamental needs of the diocesan clergy.

Arriving in Chicago for his first archpastoral visit on 28 April, 1899, Bishop Tikhon gave his archpastoral blessing to Father John and to his flock ; and by the next day, he had already inspected a plot of land proposed as the site where the new Temple – so necessary for the parish in Chicago – would be constructed. On 30 April, Bishop Tikhon visited the Three Hierarchs Church in Streator and served the Vigil service at Saint Vladimir’s Church in Chicago. On the following day, after serving the Divine Liturgy, he approved the minutes of the meeting of the committee regarding the construction of the new church building in Chicago. The committee was chaired by Father John.

On 22 May, 1899, Father John was appointed to be the Chairman of the Board of the Mutual Aid Society by a decree of Bishop Tikhon.

The limited financial resources of the Chicago-Streator pastoral unit, where the people being ministered to were primarily poor, did not permit Father John to begin the construction immediately. Since more than 5 years had already passed since the time of Father John’s arrival in North America, his great desire to visit his beloved Orthodox Russia for at least a brief time prompted him to submit an application to Bishop Tikhon requesting leave for the journey to his fatherland. Bishop Tikhon blessed the request.

Being above all mindful of the needs of the parish entrusted to him, Father John decided to use the vacation time granted to him from 15 January until 15 May, 1900, in order to collect money in Russia. The result of his appeals yielded $50,000.00 after exchanging the rubles (a very significant amount for that time). Such funds would allow the Chicago parish to commence construction of the new church building, and also of the first Orthodox cemetery in the city. Soon after his return from leave, Father John embarked on the construction of the Temple.

In November, 1900, Bishop Tikhon (Belavin) (together with Father Sebastian (Dabovich) and Father John Kochurov) attended the consecration of a vicar for the Episcopalian Bishop Charles Grafton of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Not long after this, Bishop Grafton made a visit to Russia. Previously, in the context of a hoped-for evangelical approach to the Episcopalians by the Russian Orthodox Church, Father Sebastian had developed a correspondence with Bishop Grafton, and there had been a conference of Orthodox-Episcopalian dialogue in Fond du Lac.

Priest John Kochurov ; Archimandrite Sebastian (Dabovic) ; Bishop Tikhon

Bishop Tikhon arrived in Chicago on 31 March, 1902, for the ceremony with prayers of the blessing of the foundation the new Holy Trinity Temple.

On 6 May, 1903, Father John was awarded the Order of Saint Anna, 3rd degree, for his inspiring labours. This degree was awarded thanks to the intercession of Bishop Tikhon.

While he zealously fulfilled his numerous obligations as a parish priest, he did so as the only priest in that area during the first 9 years of his service in the congregations of Chicago and Streator (which would later grow into distinct parishes). At the same time, Father John continued to participate actively in resolving various concerns in the life of the North American diocese.

In February, 1904, Father John was assigned as a chairman of the Censor Committee of the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians, in which he had already participated as a member of the council for 7 years.

In June, 1905, he was an active participant in the preparatory meetings of diocesan clergy, held in Old Forge, Pennsylvania under the guidance of Bishop Tikhon, where matters were discussed in connection with preparation for the first assembly in the history of the Diocese of North America and the Aleutians.

It was in the solemn atmosphere of the sessions preparatory for this assembly, that, on 20 July, 1905, Father John’s first decade of priestly service was celebrated (the actual date of the anniversary being 27 August).

The completion of Father John’s first 10 years of service is celebrated by the diocese, 1905

With true pastoral inspiration combined together with sober, practical record-keeping, Father John managed the construction of the new Temple, which was finished in 1903. It required a very significant sum of money for that time, $50,000.00. The sanctification of the new Temple (which was then named in honour of the Holy Trinity) was performed by Bishop Tikhon, and it became a real festivity for the whole of the Russian Orthodox diocese in North America. Two years later, in greeting Father John on the occasion of his first 10 years of service as a priest in the Church, the highest praise of Bishop Tikhon went to the careful pastoral labours of Father John Kochurov in the construction of the Holy Trinity Church, which had become one of the most remarkable Orthodox Temples in the USA :

 The year has been filled with the most vivid of impressions, sometimes agonizing, sometimes good. A year 
 of endlessly arduous fund-raising in Russia, a year of sleepless nights, worn-out nerves, and countless 
 woes – and here is the testimonial of your care : a Temple made with hands, in the image of a magnificent 
 Russian Orthodox Temple, shining with its Crosses in Chicago, and the peace and love not made with hands 
 that are springing up in the hearts of your flock !  

The completed Holy Trinity Temple, Chicago ; Three Hierarchs Temple, Streator

In Saint Michael’s Church in Old Forge, before a large group of diocesan clergy presided over by the Bishop Raphael of Brooklyn, Father John was awarded a gold Pectoral Cross, and the speeches offered a perceptive and thoroughly objective description of the whole period of Father John’s pastoral service in North America :

 Directly after your study at seminary, having left the motherland, you came to this strange land to 
 expend all your youthful energy, to devote all your strength and inspiration for that holy concern to 
 which you were attracted in your vocation. A hard legacy was left for you : the church in Chicago was 
 located then in an untidy church setting, in a wet, half-ruined building, the parish with its loosely-
 defined parish membership scattered over the huge city with a heterodox population torn asunder by the 
 wild beasts – all that could fill the soul of a young laborer with great confusion, but you bravely 
 accepted the task of selecting a precious spark from the pile of rubbish, to fan the sacred fire into a 
 small group of faithful ! You were forgetful of yourself : calamities, illnesses, the poor location of your 
 house, with its ramshackle walls, floors, and cracks that gave open access to the outer elements, with 
 destructive effects on your health, and the health of your family members. [...] Your babies were sick, 
 your wife was not quite healthy, and bitter bouts of rheumatism seemed to wish to destroy your 
 confidence, to exhaust your energy. [...] We greet you, remembering another of your good deeds, the 
 performance of which is plaited as an unfading laurel in the crown of honour of your decade of sacred 
 service : we have in mind here your sacrificial service in the office of Chairman of our beloved Mutual 
 Aid Society, in the office of Censor to our enlightening missionary publishing house, and in spreading 
 wide our evangelical efforts – organising the parishes in Madison (Illinois) and Hartshorne (Oklahoma). To 
 complete your tribute, let us mention another circumstance, which magnifies the valour of your labour and 
 the grandeur of its results.  The remoteness of your parish in Chicago has torn you from your bonds with 
 your colleagues in America, depriving you during these years of the chance to see your brother-pastors. 
 [...] You were bereft of that which for the majority of us adorns the missionary service through which we 
 pass.  How touching, and how great a degree of isolation was yours, is witnessed by the fact that you had 
 to baptise your children yourself, because of the absence of the other priests around you. [...] Let this 
 Holy Cross we present serve you as a sign of our brotherly love, and let the image of our Lord’s Crucifixion 
 on it permit you to accept the hardships, misfortunes, and sufferings that are so often met with in the 
 life of a missionary priest, and let it encourage you to more and more labours for the glory of the Giver 
 of Exploits and the Chief Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ.  

The Priest John Kochurov with the Pectoral Cross given at his 10th anniversary

Less than a year after the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Father John’s priestly service, the highest Church authority granted him one of the most honourable priestly orders, which recognised with gratitude his genuine exploits in the Diocese of North America and the Aleutians. By order of the Most Holy Synod on 6 May, 1906, Father John Kochurov was elevated to the dignity of archpriest.

Holy Trinity Church, 1905, final construction and interior

More work, greater responsibility

Thus, there began a qualitatively new period in Father John’s service. Having become one of the most respected archpriests of the diocese (thanks to his outstanding pastoral work in his parish and in diocesan administrative activities), at the initiative of Bishop Tikhon who valued him highly, Father John became more and more deeply involved in resolving the most pressing matters of diocesan administration. In May, 1906, Father John was assigned to be the dean of the New York area of the Eastern States ; and in March, 1907, he would be seen to be one of the most energetic participants of the first North American Orthodox Sobor (assembly) in Mayfield, Pennsylvania, which dealt with the rapidly increasing conversions from Uniatism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism within the Diocese of North America and the Aleutians (later known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America, the basis on which The Orthodox Church in America was later founded).

During the period of 1903-1907, the Chicago-Streator parish, built through his labours, was transformed into one of the most self-sufficient and flourishing diocesan parishes. Nevertheless, however successful the external circumstances of Father John’s service in North America may have seemed, his deep, fervent nostalgia for his beloved Russia (which he had only visited once for a leave of several months in recent years), and the necessity of providing his 3 older children with an undergraduate education in Russia, pressed Father John to think about the possibility of continuing his priestly ministry in his native Russian land. There was a rather significant circumstance furthering Father John’s submission of an application for transfer back to Russia. This was the insistent request of his elderly and seriously ailing father-in-law (a clergyman of the Diocese of Saint Petersburg), who wished to hand over his parish to the guidance of such a deserving priest as Father John had shown himself to be.

On 20 May, 1907, in accordance with his application, Father John received a release from his service in the Diocese of North America and the Aleutians, and a transfer back to Russia and the Diocese of Saint Petersburg. Therefore, he began preparing himself for the move back to Russia. However, the week before their scheduled departure, Father John and his family had to bear some sudden startling news from Russia. The news was that Matushka Alexandra’s beloved father had succumbed in advance of their return, and fallen asleep in the Lord.

In July, 1907, Father John left the Chicago-Streator parish which was so dear to his heart, and where he had given 12 years of missionary service. He and his family set out for the unknown future that awaited him in his homeland, where he would spend the rest of his priestly service.

Return to Russia, 1907

Father John’s return to Russia in the summer of 1907 signified for him not only the beginning of his service in the Diocese of Saint Petersburg (familiar to him from his student years), but it also challenged him with the need to apply the pastoral skills he had earlier acquired in America in the field of theological education.

Assignment to Narva, 1907

In August, 1907, by order of the Saint Petersburg Church Consistory (chancellory), Father John was assigned to the clergy of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva (since 1918 in Estonia). Beginning on 15 August, 1907, he began to perform his duties as a teacher of the Law of God (this term refers to an amplified catechism about Orthodox life and teaching) in the male and the female gymnasiums in Narva. By order of the chief of the Saint Petersburg Area Educational Department, effective 20 October, 1907, Father John was confirmed in his service in the male gymnasium as a teacher of the Law of God (catechism), and he was hired as a teacher of the same subject in the female gymnasium of Narva, which became the main sphere of his service in the Church for the next 9 years of his life.

The common way of life in small, provincial Narva, where the Russian Orthodox inhabitants consisted of scarcely half the population, brought back to Father John in some measure the atmosphere familiar to him in America, where he performed his pastoral service in a social environment permeated with heterodox influences. In Narva, the other influences were mainly Lutherans and Roman Catholics. At the same time, the circumstances of his work as a teacher of God’s Law in 2 secondary schools (where the Russian cultural element and Orthodox religious ethos indisputably dominated) permitted Father John to feel that he was breathing an atmosphere of Russian Orthodox life reminiscent of his childhood.

Father John’s teaching load usually consisted in those years of 16 hours a week in the male gymnasium and 10 hours in the female gymnasium. This required of him a fairly significant effort. In Narva, the gymnasium did not have only Orthodox Christian students. Because the teaching of the subject of God’s Law (a form of catechism) covered all aspects of life, he had to be familiar not only with the theological foundation, but also mundane matters. Inasmuch as the 12 years of his labours at the Chicago-Streator parish had transformed Father John from an inexperienced beginner into one of the most authoritative pastors in the diocese, his 9 years of service in teaching God’s Law (not marked by any spectacular events, but filled with concentrated work in imparting spiritual enlightenment) was one in which Father John became a most conscientious practical Church teacher and learned Orthodox preacher.

Tikhvinskys and Kochurovs at Riga, 1912

In Russia, from August, 1907, until November, 1916, Father John was a supernumerary (unpaid) priest of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva ; and from July, 1909, to November, 1916, he was also a priest of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan in Sillamäe (now in Estonia) by Narva Bay on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, about 28 km (17 mi) northwest of Narva. These 2 responsibilities occupied all his time. However, it was already easier to “breathe”, as it were : almost all of his large family, by then having become related through the sisters of Father John Alexandrovich to a family of hereditary priests, the Tikhvinskys, moved to live in Riga, Latvia, so he was able often to meet with relatives.

Father John at the Kazan Icon Temple at Sillamäe

The manifest successes of Father John in his activity as a teacher during all these years were supplemented by his joy at the fact that all his 4 elder sons, while studying in the Narva gymnasium, had the opportunity to receive their spiritual upbringing under his immediate guidance.

However, along with the undeniable advantages of this new period of the pastoral service of Father John, after his return to his home following many years of absence, there remained a circumstance which could not but burden the heart of one who for his whole life had been such a genuine parish pastor. This circumstance was that he was only attached to the Holy Transfiguration Sobor in Narva, and he was not, therefore, one of the assigned staff clergy. Therefore, Father John was deprived not only of the opportunity to lead, but even to participate fully in the parish life of Holy Transfiguration Sobor in Narva. This was the case because of the peculiarity of this situation in fulfilling his duties as a teacher of the Law of God at the gymnasium.

Nevertheless, in the Protocol Book (Minutes Book) of the Sillamayev Temple Guardianship there is a record of the issue of a payment to the Archpriest John Kochurov to compensate for a shortage of 150 rubles for the cottage according to the established agreement. He rented a summer cottage there, as was customary in pre-revolutionary Russia, being a “summer” priest invited from Narva. He performed Divine Services (the Divine Liturgy and other services) for visitors from Saint Petersburg. According to the agreement between the parish in the person of the board of trustees and the invited priest, he was given a cottage on the seashore, and the board of trustees took over the costs of the cottage and the maintenance of the priest. The summer season in Sillamäe began in mid-May and lasted until November. At that time, Divine Services and various sacraments and prayer-services were held in the Temple. In winter, there were no services.

After having become a member of the board of trustees, Father John Kochurov improved the grounds of the Temple. He also built an extension to the Temple, which included facilities for parishioners, as well as for a watchman, a psalm-reader, a kitchen and a priest in winter. Donations were collected on a subscription list amongst vacationers, to which were added the membership fees of the Temple trustees.

By 1912, the parish house was constructed.

On 6 May, 1912, after only 5 years of teaching Divine Law in the Narva schools, Father John was awarded the Order of Saint Anna, 2nd degree. After another 4 years, Father John’s achievements in the field of theological education were recognised by his being awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir, 4th degree, which (in addition to numerous Church and State awards) gave the deserving archpriest the right of receiving the title of nobility.

Soon, Father John Kochurov began to prepare the founding documents for a school building. The minutes of the Council preserved entry no. 19 dated 6 August, 1913 :

 At the proposal of the chairman, it was unanimously decided to express sincere and heartfelt gratitude to 
 Father John Kochurov for the diligent and reverent service this summer, as well as for his sermons full 
 of deep religious feelings and reverence. They unanimously decided to ask Bishop John, the Archbishop of 
 Riga and Mintava for the approval of 'Father John Kochurov as Head of the Affairs of the Sillamayevsky 
 Church for the upcoming three years'.

Tikhvinskys and Kochurovs at Sushigoritsy, 1913

The large family of Kochurovs and Tikhvinskys by this time shared their time between Riga, Latvia, and Sushigoritsy – the village of the Vesyegonsky district of the Tver Province, often being there for long visits, where the Tikhvinskys had their own house. It was there that on 20 November, 1914, both families gathered to celebrate the anniversary of Sofia Alexandrovna Kochurova, sister of Father John Kochurov, his 3 brothers, and their sisters Maria and Lubov.

Tikhvinskys and Kochurovs : Sushigoritsy, 1914, family celebration

The anniversary was celebrated on a large scale. Sofia Kochurova was one of the first female physicians, and she was the first female surgeon in Russia. She was a Zemstvo doctor in Sushigoritsy, where she worked for more than 40 years. A “Zemstvo” doctor was competent in treating everything from a sore throat to an epidemic. During her years of service, she would receive up to 250 patients every day. Nevertheless, her speciality was ophthalmology. Just in time for the anniversary, in 1914, the hospital was named after her. This hospital still stands, although it has by now been abandoned. During the many years of her medical practice, Sofia maintained a custom with her patients in which, having recovered, they would plant seedling trees on the hills around the hospital. This plantation eventually became a true park.

More than 50 years later, Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) wrote about the Elder (Staretz, Gerondos) Amphilochios (Makris) of the Monastery of Saint John on Patmos. This elder had been “an ecologist before ecology”. After having heard the confessions of the local farmers, he used to assign to them the penance of planting a tree. The product of this was the transformation of the formerly barren hillside near the Cave of the Apocalypse into hillside boasting a multitude of tress.

From 1914, Father John Kochurov was the true leader of the parish in Sillamäe. He was in charge of all economic and parish affairs. The choir was led by visiting choir-leaders (regents) from Russia, as well as deacons, psalm-readers and choristers, who drove on vacation to summer cottages by the sea.

In July, 1915, Father Kochurov organised a women’s club in the parish for work in aid of Russian soldiers. The ladies bought materials for military underwear, gauze and bandages, sewed military uniforms, and they put in order the linens for soldiers who were arriving from the front.

During World War I, the parish revenues were falling, and the board of trustees decided to petition the Ministry of the Interior and the Most Holy Synod to issue an annual subsidy for the maintenance of the Temple. Father John did not agree. He indicated that the

 Sillamäe Temple cannot be assigned to the category of needy Temples, since its parishioners are summer 
 residents who are quite wealthy.  This is also evidenced by the fact that this Temple was built with funds 
 collected by the summer residents themselves and it has been kept by them for 18 years without much 
 difficulty.

After conferring, the Council proposed to canvas the Orthodox summer residents during a prayer-service on the Feast-day with an appeal to donate funds for the maintenance of the Temple.

At the same council meeting, a small remuneration was established for Father John, in view of family circumstances and the increasing cost of living in Sillamäe. The unpaid ministry that he had been carrying out for 6 years was already becoming overwhelming. The congregation, recognising that the cottage was not very convenient and could not be recognised as a sufficient remuneration for the work of the priest, decided to add a compensation of 100 rubles in addition to the rent.

The last mention of John Kochurov in the “Book of Trustees” of the parish dates back to 8 July, 1917, when he was unanimously elected to be Honourary Member of the Guardianship in view of his beneficial activities for the good of the parish.

In November, 1916, an opportunity arose for the fulfilment of a long-cherished hope for Father John Kochurov : to resume serving as a parish pastor in his motherland. A vacancy for a parish priest in the Saint Catherine Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo appeared, and Father John wrote his petition to be considered for this responsibility. Then, by a decree of the Saint Petersburg Spiritual Consistory, Father John was assigned to be a parish priest to the vacant second position at Saint Catherine’s Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo. Thus, his prayer to be able to resume service as a parish pastor in his motherland was fulfilled.

Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, 1916

Tsarskoye Selo had become the remarkable incarnation of a whole epoch in the history of Russian culture. It combined in itself the qualities of a quiet provincial town with those of Saint Petersburg, the capital. The Sobor of Saint Catherine occupied a special place in the town. Of the parish churches there (predominantly parishes of the imperial court and of the military), it was the largest.

Tsarskoye Selo, early 20th century, view of Saint Catherine's

In becoming a member of the clergy at Saint Catherine’s Sobor, and taking up residence there together with his matushka and 6 children (the oldest son, Vladimir, was at the time fulfilling his military service), Father John received, at last, his longed-for chance to be immersed fully in the life of a parish priest, and in one of the most notable churches of the Saint Petersburg diocese. He was warmly and respectfully received by the flock of Saint Catherine’s.

From the first months of his service there, Father John showed himself to be zealous and inspiring not only as a celebrant of the Church services, but also as an eloquent and well-informed preacher to the flock of Christ. Thus, he gathered under the eaves of Saint Catherine’s Sobor Orthodox Christians from all around the town of Tsarskoye Selo. It seemed that such a successful beginning of parish service at Saint Catherine’s Sobor would open for Father John a new period in his priestly service.

In this period, Father John’s pastoral inspiration and sacrificial demeanour, so characteristic of him in his former activity, might be combined with the daily routine of the outward conditions of his service and with the spiritual and harmonious personal relationships between a diligent pastor and his numerous pious flock.

The Saint Catherine Sobor, Tsarskoye Selo

Revolution, 1917

On 23 February, 1917, the first of 2 revolutions began in the nearby Petrograd. It is usually called the “February Revolution”. The revolutionary activity ended on 3 March, 1917. On 2 March, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. An interim government began the attempt to establish itself, and to restore order. Although the revolution ended on 3 March, unrest continued.

The cataclysms of the February Revolution occurred only 3 months after Father John’s assignment to Saint Catherine’s. This revolution began rather rapidly to involve Tsarskoye Selo in the treacherous vortex of revolutionary events.

The soldiers’ riots that had taken place in the military headquarters at Tsarskoye Selo already during the first days of the revolution, and the imprisonment of the Russian royal family in the Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoye Selo during a period of many months, brought the town to the attention of representatives of the most extreme revolutionary elements. These elements had propelled the country towards the path of civil war, and eventually to complete internal political division. The sources of this division lie first in the uprisings associated with the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, and in Russia’s very unpopular and catastrophic participation in the bloodshed of World War I. This latest war caused the death of multitudes of civilians and military personnel, and it undermined the economy of the empire. These aforementioned elements were not without foreign influence. These developments gradually changed the quiet atmosphere of Tsarskoye Selo, diverting the inhabitants’ attention from the conscientious daily fulfilment of their Christian and civil responsibilities to the Church and to the fatherland.

Nevertheless, during all these troubled months, the inspiring message of Father John continued to sound forth from the ambon (the central projection before the Royal Doors) of Saint Catherine’s Sobor. He strove to instil feelings of forgiveness and reconciliation into the hearts of the Orthodox Christians of Tsarskoye Selo. He called them to consider spiritually the nature of their own inner life and the daily struggles between good and evil that each faced, so that they might understand the contradictory changes taking place in Russia.

October revolution, 1917

In October, 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd. This took place through an armed insurrection in Petrograd on 25 October, 1917, and it is generally called the “October Revolution”. This action initiated a turmoil and civil war which lasted until 1923, during which large numbers of people perished, and large numbers of people fled into exile. For several days after the seizure of power in Petrograd by the Bolsheviks, reverberations from the momentous events happening in the capital were felt in Tsarskoye Selo, 24 km (15 mi) to the south.

In Tsarskoye Selo, there remained the Cossack units of Cossack soldiers loyal to General Paul N Krasnov. He and they remained faithful to the Provisional Government and to A F Kerensky (Minister-Chairman of the Provisional Government). Armed detachments of the Red Guards, soldiers and sailors who supported the new revolution moved towards Tsarskoye Selo from Petrograd in order to expel General Krasnov and his forces from the city.

On the morning of 30 October, 1917, stopping at the outskirts of Tsarskoye Selo, the Bolshevik forces began to expose the town to artillery fire. The inhabitants of Tsarskoye Selo, like those everywhere else in Russia, were still unaware that the country was involved in a civil war.

A tumult erupted, and many people ran quickly to the Orthodox Temples, including Saint Catherine’s, in the hope of finding prayerful serenity at the services, and of hearing from the ambon a pastoral exhortation pertaining to the events taking place. All the clergy of Saint Catherine’s Sobor eagerly responded to their flock’s spiritual entreaties. A special moleben (prayer service of intercession or supplication) seeking an end to the civil conflict and to the internecine fratricidal battles, was offered beneath the arches of the Temple, which was jammed with worshippers. Afterwards, the dean of the cathedral, the Archpriest Nikolai Smirnov, together with 2 other priests, Father John Kochurov and Father Stefan Fokko, reached a decision to organise a sacred procession in the town, with the reading of fervent prayers for a cessation of the fratricidal civil strife. The pages of the newspaper, the “All-Russian Church Social Messenger” presented, for several days, the testimony of a certain Petrograd newspaper correspondent describing the events which had taken place, as follows :

 The Sacred Procession had to be relocated under the conditions of an artillery bombardment, and 
 notwithstanding any predictions it was rather crowded.  The lamentations and cries of women and children 
 drowned out the words of the peace prayer.  Two priests delivered sermons during the procession, calling 
 the people to preserve tranquillity in view of the impending trials.  I was fortunate enough to 
 understand clearly that the  priests’ sermons did not contain any political tinges.

The Holy Procession lingered. Twilight changed into darkness. Candles were lit in the hands of the praying people. Everybody was singing.

Precisely at that time, in the evening of 30 October, the Cossack leadership, wishing to prevent an outbreak of fighting in the streets of Tsarskoye Selo, were withdrawing their forces from the town. The priests were warned about it : “Isn’t it time to stop the prayers ?” They insisted : “We shall carry our duties to completion. These have departed from us, and those who are coming are our brothers ! What kind of harm will they do us ?”

Martyrdom-Repose, 1917

In the morning of 31 October, 1917, the Bolshevik forces entered Tsarskoye Selo. They encountered no opposition. One of the anonymous witnesses to the aftermath of these horrible events wrote a letter to the prominent Saint Petersburg Archpriest Filosof Ornatsky, who himself was killed a year later (together with his 2 sons) and received martyrdom at the hands of the godless authorities. The writer told in simple but profound words of the passion-bearing that became the destiny of Father John :

 Yesterday (on 31 October), when the Bolsheviks, together with the Red Guard, entered Tsarskoye Selo, they 
 began to make the rounds of the apartments of the military officers, making arrests.  Father John 
 (Alexandrovich Kochurov) was conveyed to the outskirts of the town, to Saint Theodore’s Cathedral, and 
 there they assassinated him because of the fact that those who organised the sacred procession had 
 allegedly been praying for a victory by the Cossacks, which surely was not, and could not have been, what 
 actually happened.  
 The other clergymen were released yesterday evening.  Thus, there has appeared another Martyr for the 
 Faith in Christ.  The deceased, though he had not been in Tsarskoye Selo for long, had gained the utmost 
 love of all, and many people used to gather to listen to his preaching.

John Reed, an American journalist (a Marxist), described the arrival of the Bolsheviks in Tsarskoye Selo in Chapter IX, ‘Victory’ of his book “Ten Days That Shook the World” :

 I returned to the palace of the Council in Tsarskoye in the car of the regimental headquarters. Here 
 everything remained as it was : crowds of workers, soldiers and sailors arrived and went, everything was 
 packed with trucks, armored cars and guns, screams and laughter still sounded in the air - the triumph of 
 an unusual victory. Half a dozen Red Guards, including a priest, pushed through the crowd. It was Father 
 Ivan, they said, the one who blessed the Cossacks when they entered the city. Later I heard that this 
 priest was shot.  

Elsewhere in the book, he wrote :

 In the evening, when Kerensky’s troops retreated from Tsarskoye Selo, several priests organised a 
 procession in the streets, and addressed the citizens with speeches and persuaded them to support the 
 legitimate authority, that is, Interim government. When the Cossacks cleared the city and the first Red 
 Guards appeared on the streets, then, according to eyewitnesses, the priests began to incite the people 
 against the Soviets, making appropriate speeches at the grave of Rasputin, located behind the imperial 
 palace. One of these priests, Fr. Ivan Kochurov was arrested and executed by the annoyed Red Guards. 

Mr. Reed was mistaken or perhaps biased : according to other eyewitnesses, Father Kochurov did not “incite the people against the Soviets” during the procession. When the Bolsheviks entered Tsarskoye Selo on the morning of 31 October, the Saint Catherine Sobor was still full of worshippers. Father John Kochurov was in the Temple. It was there that he delivered a sermon, in which he urged people to try to keep calm. This sermon was devoid of any political connotation.

A few days later, on the pages of the newspaper “All-Russian Church-Public Herald”, the testimony of a correspondent of one of the Petrograd newspapers was printed :

 The priests were captured and sent to the headquarters of the Council of the Working and Soldiers 
 Deputies.  A priest, Father John Kochurov, was trying to protest and to clarify the situation.  He was 
 hit several times on his face.  With jeers and yelling the enraged mob conveyed him to the Tsarskoye Selo 
 aerodrome.  Several rifles were raised against the defenceless pastor.  A shot thundered out, then 
 another, after which the priest fell down on the ground, and blood spilled upon his cassock.  Death was 
 not instant.  The priest wheezed and gnawed at the frozen ground for a long time.  He was dragged by the 
 hair, and someone suggested that someone ‘finish him off like a dog’. 

The next morning, the body was taken to the former palace hospital. According to the newspaper “The Peoples’ Affair”, the head of the State Duma, together with one of its members, saw the body of the priest, but the Pectoral Cross was no longer on Father Kochurov : the very one that was presented to him in America for a decade of service. Father Kochurov’s words came true :

 I will not part with it until my grave.  But it does not belong in the grave.  May it stay here on earth 
 for my children and descendants, like a holy relic. 

However, his children did not receive it as a keepsake or relic. The Cross was simply stolen by his killers.

There are, therefore, 2 versions of his death.

The first is that Father John was arrested in the Sobor. He tried to protest, but received several blows to the face. He was then taken to the Tsarskoye Selo aerodrome (airfield) and he was shot there in view of his son, a gymnasium student. The Diocesan Council of Petrograd wrote about a variant of this first version.

The second is that he again went on a religious procession to pray for an end to the internecine warfare, during which he was publicly killed : a shot in the head only wounded him – he was killed with beating by rifle-butts, and by dragging him by his hair along the cobblestones of the pavement.

Funeral services

Although it is not certain on precisely what day afterwards the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Priest were served, it is clear that this occurred in the Saint Catherine Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo. The services for the departed in Saint Catherine’s Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo were served by the shocked local clergy in an atmosphere of great dismay and anxiety.

After the funeral services, the body of Father John Kochurov was interred in the crypt below the Saint Catherine Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo.

The Sobor of Saint Catherine was destroyed in the 1930s, but it was rebuilt in 2006. It was re-sanctified in 2010.

In 2006, during the excavation of the foundation of the Sobor of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine, which had been blown up by the Bolsheviks, the relics of the Holy Martyr John Kochurov were acquired. Anthropological studies were carried out at the Institute of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the assistance of forensic experts from the Central Internal Affairs Directorate in Saint Petersburg and the region. Officially, the acquisition of the Holy Relics was announced on the day of the celebration of the memory of the saint (13 November, 2008). According to the dean of Tsarskoye Selo district, the rector of Saint Sophia Sobor, Archpriest Gennady Zverev, “when the cathedral exploded, the skull of Saint John was fragmented into several parts. Now the Holy Relics are in the Altar of the Saint Sophia Sobor in the town of Pushkin, 1 km. (.5 mi) distant. On holidays we take them out for general worship. Later [...] in the lower room of the Temple there will be a museum and tomb of John Kochurov”.

Father John Kochurov was 46 years old at the time of his martyrdom.

Priest-martyr John Kochurov

Glorification, 1994

The Archpriest John Kochurov was the first priest to be killed for the sake of his faith in Christ and as an Orthodox Christian in October, 1917, at the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution. From that day, there was no doubt expressed that he had truly lived for Christ and for the protection of Christ's spiritual flock, even to the shedding of his blood. He was spoken about as would be a martyr (specifically, a hieromartyr). This martyrdom for the sake of Christ is understood to place him amongst the saints of the Church. However, under the circumstances of that time, it was impossible that the Church make any official declaration to that effect, although certainly there were prayers offered for the newly-departed in a public manner. For the following more than 70 years, the Church simply tried to survive. It was only after the end of the Communist Soviet Union's persecution of the Church that an official act could be promulgated by the Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, at a time when many others (such as his bishop, the Hieromartyr Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky) of Petrograd) were being officially recognised as being martyrs, the sanctity of Father John Kochurov was likewise proclaimed openly by the Russian Orthodox Church.

 Proclamation for the Glorification of Saint John in 1994
 
 29 November (12 December), 1994 
 Saint Daniel’s Monastery, Moscow, Russia
 
 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit !
 
 Cognizant of Her unbroken connection with the Synaxis of the New-Martyrs of Russia, the Russian Orthodox 
 Church continues to glorify individually those who, during the persecutions to which the Orthodox Church 
 in Russia was subjected, through their righteous lives and martyrs’ death, manifested the highest ideal 
 given to the Church of Christ by the Holy Apostle Paul : ‘For if we live, we live to the Lord ; and if we 
 die, we die to the Lord’ (Romans 14:8).
 
 The first clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church whom Our Lord Jesus Christ made worthy of bearing a 
 martyr’s crown in the twentieth century from the hands of the godless Bolshevik authorities, the first 
 murdered Russian Orthodox priest, about whom the Holy Confessor Patriarch Tikhon said : ‘Adorned with a 
 martyr’s crown, the reposed pastor now stands before the throne of God amongst the chosen faithful of 
 Christ’s flock’, was destined to be the zealous parish priest, and inspired witness ‘even unto death’ 
(Apocalypse 12:11) of Christ’s Truth - Archpriest John Kochurov, who met a martyr’s death at the hands of 
 apostates and fighters of God on 31 October, 1917, in Tsarskoye Selo.
 
 The Holy Council, having examined the zealous service and martyr’s death of Archpriest John Kochurov, is 
 convinced of the holiness of his deeds and hereby decrees :
 
 That Archpriest John Kochurov, killed in Tsarskoye Selo by persecutors of the Church of Christ on 31 
 October, 1917, be numbered amongst the hieromartyrs for Church-wide veneration ;
 That the Righteous Remains of Hieromartyr John, buried in Tsarkoye Selo, henceforth be considered Holy 
 Relics and be left to the care of God’s mercy, until such time as they may be uncovered ;
 That the service to Hieromartyr John, following this, the day of his glorification, be the general 
 service for martyrs and that a blessing is given for the composition of a special service to him ;
 That the memory of Hieromartyr John be celebrated on 31 October according to the Julian Calendar ;
 That the memory of Hieromartyr John be included in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia ;
 That an icon for veneration of the newly-glorified Hieromartyr John be written according to the Decree of 
 the Seventh Ecumenical Council ;
 That the life of Hieromartyr John be published for the edification of the Faithful of the Church in piety ;
 That, on behalf of the Holy Council, the great and Grace-filled joy of the glorification of the new 
 hieromartyr of Russia be announced to the flock of All Rus’ ;
 That the name of the newly-glorified hieromartyr be made known to the Primates of the sister Orthodox 
 Churches for inclusion in their calendars.  
 
 Through the intercessions and prayers of Hieromartyr John, may the Lord strengthen the faith of all the 
 Faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church and bestow His blessing upon them. Amen.  
 
 + ALEKSEY 
 Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 
 And the Members of the Holy Synod 

The services with the glorification of Saint John Kochurov (at the same time as Saint Alexander Hotovitzky) took place on 4 December, 1994.

Feast-days

The Feast-day of the Holy Hieromartyr John Kochurov, at Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, is 18/31 October, the date of his repose.

Saint John Kochurov is also commemorated on the Sunday nearest 25 January on the Feast of the New-Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Tropar Tone 1

O Holy Hieromartyr John of Chicago,

aflame with love for God,

you were manifest to all as a true shepherd.

You nurtured your people in the Orthodox Faith ;

you guided them by word and deed on the Way of Salvation,

and you defended the True Faith even unto the shedding of your blood.

Now, we, your spiritual children, cry out in thanksgiving :

“Glory be to Him who gave you strength.

Glory to Him who gave you the crown of a martyr.

Glory be to Him, who through you gives His great mercy to all”.

Kontak Tone 8 (Repose)

O Holy Hieromartyr, Father John,

you zealously fulfilled your pastoral service,

and you brought your soul to God as a well-pleasing sacrifice.

Entreat Christ our God to give peace to the world, and His great mercy to our souls.

Kontak Tone 3 (Glorification)

Now, the holy hieromartyr is glorified :

he took up his Cross, and he followed Christ our God.

In so doing, he gave us a model of true discipleship.

Now, let us cry aloud to him :

“Rejoice, O Father John, glory of priests”.

A full set of various service-texts may be found here.

Reflections

The matter of the disappearance of the Gold Pectoral Cross at Father John’s martyrdom, as mentioned by the reporter, takes on a particular spiritual significance when viewed against the background of some words spoken by Father John 12 years before his death, which proved to be prophetic. When he received this Cross in New York, at the ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of his priestly service, he said with emphasis :

 ‘I kiss this Holy Cross, a gift of your brotherly love for me.  Let it be my support in times of 
 tribulation.  I will utter no pathetic comments about my intention not to be separated from it even till 
 my grave : that would have a grandiloquent sound, but would not be prudent.  It does not have any place 
 in a grave.  Let it remain here on earth for my children and posterity as a family Holy Relic, and as a 
 clear proof that brotherhood and friendship are the most sacred things on the earth’.  

In this manner, Father John had expressed his gratitude towards his colleagues and his flock. He did not suspect that this very prayer about that brotherhood and friendship would descend on the Russian Orthodox people at a time when love and clemency were scarce in long-suffering Russia. There was a pitiless hatred towards him from the side of the apostates, who deprived him of his earthly life. They snatched away the Pectoral Cross from his chest, but they were not able to rob him of the imperishable glory of Orthodox martyrdom.

At the beginning of November, 1917, the Bolshevik power could not yet secure unfettered control even over the suburbs of Petrograd, and terror on a state level had not yet become an unavoidable part of Russian life. Therefore, with the populace of Tsarskoye Selo and Petrograd in a state of complete horror and exasperation, this first malicious execution of a Russian Orthodox priest inspired the former organs of power, who were not yet ousted by the Bolsheviks, to form an investigating commission which included the 2 representatives of the Petrograd city council. It was soon abolished by the Bolsheviks, before it could manage to identify Father John’s murderers.

This day in Tsarskoye Selo opened a new chapter, full of earthly grief and heavenly joy, in the history of sanctity in the Russian Church. This chapter is about the Holy New-Martyrs of the 20th century. The opening of this chapter is linked with the name of the Russian Orthodox shepherd who became one of the first to give his spirit for his flock during this 20th century of fighters against God : the Archpriest John Kochurov. However, for Russian Church life, this first martyrdom of a Russian Orthodox pastor in the 20th century was deeply significant. It aroused a profound spiritual response within the hearts of many laity, clergy, and hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church.

At the time, Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky), of Petrograd, the future holy martyr, was attending the All-Russian Church Council being held in Moscow. Within a few days after the burial, the leadership of the Petrograd diocese, with Metropolitan Benjamin’s blessing, published the following announcement in the newspaper, the “All-Russian Church-Social Herald” :

 On Wednesday, 8 November, 1917, the ninth day after the death of Father John Kochurov who was murdered 31 
 October in Tsarskoye Selo, a Hierarchical Panikhida will be served in Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral at 
 3 p.m. for the eternal memory of Archpriest John and of all the Orthodox Christians who have perished in 
 a time of civil conflict.  Parish clergy free of serving obligations are invited for the panikhida.  
 Vestments should be white.

Soon after this hierarchical panikhida, which was served in Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral, the diocesan council of Petrograd published a proclamation “To the Clergy and the Parish councils of the Diocese of Petrograd”. This became the first official recognition of the martyric character of the Father John’s death pronounced in the name of the Church ; but it was also the first Church statement to specify concrete measures of assistance to the families of clergymen persecuted and assassinated by the theomachists (fighters against God) in Russia. This document is remarkable in our Church’s history. It expressed the situation eloquently, with deep humility in the face of the anticipated future persecution of the Church, and it embodied genuine sympathy for Father John’s bereaved family. The leadership of the Petrograd Diocese responded to the death of the first diocesan holy martyr :

 Dear brothers, on 31 October of this year, the town of Tsarskoye Selo suffered the martyrdom of one of 
 the good shepherds of the Petrograd diocese, the Archpriest of the local Cathedral, John Alexandrovich 
 Kochurov.  Without any blame or justification for this on his part, he was seized in his apartment, 
 conveyed to the suburbs, and was there, in an open field, shot by the possessed mob [...].  
 
 It was with feelings of profound sorrow that the Petrograd diocesan council received this news ; the 
 grief has been considerably augmented by the realisation that, with the Archpriest’s demise, a large 
 family is left behind, consisting of six members who now are without food, shelter, or any means of 
 subsistence.  
 
 God is the Judge of the cunning villains who violently ended the life that was still young.  Even if they 
 flee unpunished from trial at the hands of men, they can never elude the judgement of God.  But our 
 obligation now is not only to pray for the peace of soul of this innocent sufferer, but with all our 
 sincere love to attempt to treat the deep and incurable wound that has been inflicted on the very hearts 
 of the poor bereaved family.  
 
 The diocese and the diocesan clergy are directly obligated to provide for the martyred pastor’s orphaned 
 family, to give them the opportunity to live in material comfort, and to provide the children with a 
 proper education.  
 
 The diocesan Church council, being moved by the loftiest of sentiments, now appeals to the clergy, parish 
 councils, and all the Orthodox Faithful of the diocese of Petrograd with an ardent entreaty, asking most 
 earnestly, for the sake of Christ’s love, that you stretch forth a brotherly helping hand, and by 
 whatever amount you can offer, support a poor family left to be at the mercy of fate.  Great is the need, 
 and it should not be delayed ! 
 
 [...] His martyrdom is, for each of us, a dire reminder, an ominous warning.  We therefore must be ready 
 for anything.  And to prevent such situations of destitution as we now have, we must prepare, between the 
 times of trial, an assistance fund to be allotted for the defenceless, persecuted, and tormented clergy 
 that in such cases and in similar ones they may have material aid from their kindred in spirit.  
 
 [...] Through the deans, special lists will be sent to each parish in the diocese for the collection of 
 donations, those that are voluntary and from the Church funds, for help to the family of the deceased 
 Archpriest John Kochurov, and also for the establishment of the special fund for assistance to the clergy 
 in all similar cases.  
 
 [...] An immense task requires means commensurate with it.  The diocesan Church council hopes that with 
 God’s help such means will be found.  The modest offering of the diocese and clergy, made voluntarily and 
 laid on the Christian conscience of each person, will provide an opportunity for drying the tears of the 
 unhappy orphans and for making a beginning of that concern for good brotherly assistance, for which our 
 clergy have a great need particularly now [...]. 
 
 It has thundered ; now is the time to make the sign of the Cross !  

On one of his regular visits to his diocese during the All-Russian Church Council in Moscow, Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky) served the Divine Liturgy on 26 November, for the patronal feast-day at the Saint Catherine Sobor in Tsarskoye Selo. A correspondent for the “All Russian Church-Public Herald” reported that the Divine Liturgy had ended with a fervent exhortation from the hierarch, during which he appealed to the people for unity, love, and brotherhood.

 The metropolitan also mentioned the terrible event, the assassination of the beloved pastor of the local 
 Church, Father John Kochurov ; he noted that though it is a very sad occasion, it has been a cause of 
 reconciliation as well, through the realisation that the pastor had laid down his life for love of God 
 and of neighbour, thus providing an example of martyrdom.  The archpastoral message had a strong effect 
 on everyone, and tears were seen on many faces.  Following the Liturgy, the Litiya for the Departed took 
 place at Father John’s tomb in the burial-vault of the cathedral.  After the service, the metropolitan 
 visited the rectory, where he met the family of the deceased.  Thus, a second time – and now from the 
 mouth of the diocesan hierarch, who remembered the slain clergyman of his diocese – the Russian Orthodox 
 Church characterised Father John’s death as a martyrdom.  

The All-Russian Church Council was just then taking place in Moscow, and this death had deeply touched the hearts of the delegates, and aroused loud lamentation. The Archpriest Peter A Mirtov was commissioned to compose a proclamation expressing the sentiments of the Council, giving information about the untimely death of the deceased Father John Kochurov, who fell victim while zealously fulfilling the obligations of his rank.

The Holy Patriarch Tikhon had become well-acquainted with Father John during the many years they had worked together in the Diocese of North America and the Aleutians, and he therefore felt a deep respect for him. Expressing a genuine conviction formed at the council that the Russian Orthodox Church had gained a new martyr saint in the event of Father John’s death, the patriarch dispatched a letter of sympathy to Matushka Alexandra Kochurova, the widow of the deceased pastor. The future Confessor, the Holy Patriarch Tikhon wrote :

 With great sadness the Most Holy Council of the Russian Orthodox Church has received a report concerning 
 the martyrdom of Father John Alexandrovich Kochurov, who has fallen victim while zealously fulfilling the 
 obligations of his rank.  Joining our prayers with those of the Holy Council for the repose of the soul 
 of the slain Archpriest John, we share your great grief, and we do that with a special love, because we 
 knew well the deceased Archpriest, and have always held his inspiring and strong pastoral activity in 
 high estimation.
 
 We bear in our hearts the sure hope that the deceased pastor, adorned with the wreath of martyrdom, now 
 stands at the Throne of God amongst the elect of Christ’s true flock.  The holy council, with earnest 
 sympathy for your bereaved family, has decided to petition the Holy Synod to give you the proper 
 assistance.
 
 May the Lord help you to endure the trial sent to you by the ways of God’s Providence, and preserve you 
 and your children unharmed amidst the storms and calamities of our time.
 
 We invoke God’s blessing on you and on your family. 
 Patriarch Tikhon.

On 31 March, 1918, exactly 5 months after Father John’s death (by which time the number of murdered clergymen known to the Holy Synod had already reached 15), the first Memorial Divine Liturgy for the New Hieromartyrs and Martyrs in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century was served. This Divine Liturgy was offered in the seminary chapel of the Moscow Theological Seminary, by Patriarch Tikhon, 4 other hierarchs, and 10 archimandrites and protopresbyters. At the Memorial Divine Liturgy and Panikhida, a supplicatory prayer was pronounced for the repose of the servants of God who had perished for the Faith and for the Orthodox Church. Following the mention of the first slain hierarch, Metropolitan Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) of Kyiv, Father John Kochurov, the first-slain Archpriest, was remembered. His passion-bearing death ushered in the service offered by the New-Confessors and the assembly of the Russian New-Martyrs of the 20th century.

On an anniversary of the memory of the New-Martyrs of Russia, the great-granddaughter of the New-Hieromartyr John and Matushka Alexandra, the journalist Maria Gerasimova provided some of her reflections :

 Once, in my distant foggy youth, I, a child of the Soviet era, was walking around the City of Pushkin, as 
 Tsarskoye Selo was then called.  I was admiring the exquisite luxury of the former royal residence.  I 
 could not imagine then that I was walking the streets of the city in which my great-grandfather was 
 killed.  
 Until the 80s of the twentieth century, not only did I not know his name, but I did not even know about 
 his existence.  Then, if the names of relatives who died or went missing during the Second World War were 
 known by name, their names were raised at the festive table on 9 May, when the whole family gathered at 
 our place after the demonstration.  Then my father told me the name of Ivan Alexandrovich Kochurov in 
 1983. In a whisper.  
 It was like a revelation.  Not only did I suddenly find out that my great-grandfather-priest was publicly 
 killed by the Bolsheviks, but I also had relatives from the side of my father who were priests.
 They told me, yesterday’s pioneer, who until that time, had been visiting the church out of idle 
 curiosity, that there were priests in my family.  True, in fairness, I must admit that I was a bad 
 pioneer : at every opportunity I took off my scarlet tie. 
 And the Komsomol was completely useless.  It’s enough to say that I was almost dragged into the Komsomol 
 in the tenth grade of the school by a class teacher – a woman who was smart and well aware of Soviet 
 realities. 
 I stayed a member of the Komsomol for exactly a couple of months until I received the school certificate. 
 Immediately after leaving school, the Komsomol ticket was lost in the bowels of the old desk, where I had 
 been doing my homework for ten years never to be found, and I successfully replenished the ranks of the 
 Soviet underground.  
 My youth was merrily burned in theosophical and philosophical searches of the meaning of life and myself 
 in some informal associations of Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad) and Moscow.  
 Meetings in underground apartments and anti-Soviet conversations in kitchens, art and music apartments, 
 visits to underground rock concerts - including Boris Grebenshchikov, whom I loved then (to this day) in 
 the same city of Pushkin, with which all my friendly company went, took their turn.  They periodically 
 raked into the mentovka and we spent a good night in the ‘monkey house’ – threading at night from house 
 to house, under the piles of awkward coats, of Solzhenitsyn’s already worn-out samizdat volume of the 
 "GULAG" [...].  
 But the story of the murdered great-grandfather-priest, told to me by my father in a whisper, in the 
 rented room of the apartment of the dissident Felix on Pryazhka in Saint Petersburg, which I had safely 
 left by that time, leaving my home and having gone into all the vicissitudes of life, did not give 
 me rest since then : from year to year, bit by bit, from the cautious conversations of my relatives, I 
 step by step, fact by fact, gradually accumulated knowledge about the history of my family and the 
 history of Ivan Kochurov.  

Awards

Gold Pectoral Cross, 1905

Order of Saint Anna, 3rd Degree, 6 May, 1903

Order of Saint Anna, 2nd Degree, 6 May, 1912

Order of Saint Vladimir, 4th Degree, 1916

Writings

Writings about Saint John Kochurov by various authors :

• Circular of the Department of Education of Saint Petersburg, from 1907, p. 294.

• Maltsev, A, “The Russian Orthodox Churches and Institutions Abroad (Saint Petersburg, 1906), p. 419. [In Russian].

• “Church News” [“Tserkovniye vedornosty”], no. 18 (1912), p. 128.

• “The Central State Historical Archive” of Saint Petersburg (CSHA of Saint Petersburg), F. 14 University of Petrograd, 3, f. 31575, 1.8, 10 (the personal folder of the student Dmitry Alexandrovich Kochurov).

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19 ["The Church Consistory of Petrograd"], 113, f. 4167 ; the clergy list of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva from 1908, f. 4333 ; ibid. from 1916, f. 4366 ; the clergy list of the Saint Catherine Sobor in Tsarkoye Selo.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg., F. 277, 1, f. 3220, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19, 113, f. 4167, para. 37.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19, 113, f. 4167, para. 38-39.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19, 113, f. 4167, para. 40.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19, 113, f. 4333, para. 12.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 19, 113, f. 4366, para. 1.20.

• “CSHA” of Saint Petersburg, F. 139, 1, f. 11305, para. 28.

• “[Russian] American Orthodox Messenger” (“AOM”), no. 14, (1907), p. 269.

• “AOM”, no. 1 (1896), p. 14.

• “AOM”, no. 7 (1896), p. 117.

• “AOM”, no. 14 (1897), p. 290.

• “AOM”, no. 24 (1898), pp. 681-682.

• “AOM”, no. 11 (1899), pp. 305-306.

• “AOM”, no. 10 (1900), p. 215.

• “AOM”, no. 1 (1901), pp. 26, 32.

• “AOM”, no. 8 (1902), pp. 171-173.

• “AOM”, no. 5 (1904), p. 81.

• “AOM”, no. 17 (1905), pp. 340-342.

• “AOM”, no. 10 (1906), p. 206.

• “AOM”, no. 11 (1906), p. 229.

• “AOM”, no. 14 (1907), pp. 269-270.

• “Addition to the Church Gazette” [“Pribavleniye k Tserkovnym vedomostyam”], nos. 5-16 (1918), p. 519.

• “Tsarskoye Selo File” [“Tsarskoselskoye Delo]”, (18 November, 1916).

• “Church News” [“Tserkovniye vedornosty”], no. 18 (1912), p. 128.

• “Church News”, nos. 18-19 (1916), p. 167.

• “Church News”, no. 18 (1912) ; nos. 18-19 (1916) ; nos. 48-50 (1917) ; nos. 15-16 (1918).

• “Church News”, nos. 48-50 (1917), pp. 2-3.

• “Vserosiysky Tserkovno-Obschestvenniy Vestnik” (VTOV) [“All-Russian Church-Social Herald”], (2 November, 1917).

• “VTOV” (5 November, 1917).

• “VTOV” (7 November, 1917).

• “VTOV” (1 December, 1917).

• “VTOV” (15 Dec., 1917).

Synaxis of the Saints of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago Saint John Kochurov

Akathist to Saint John Kochurov

Kontak 1

O glorious Hieromartyr John of Chicago, true emulator of the Good Shepherd, you nourished your flock with streams of Divine doctrine. You defended them from the minions of the evil ones who sought like ravenous wolves to devour them. You preserved them whole and unharmed at the expense of your earthly life. Therefore, we honour you as a true disciple of the Lord, crying out :

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Ikos 1

You were born into a priestly family like the Holy Forerunner, and like him you went out into a wilderness proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In doing so you strengthened those who believe, and you corrected those in error. Therefore we, the descendants of those who heeded your call, cry out to you :

Rejoice, heavenly trumpet proclaiming God to the world ;

Rejoice, mouth speaking true theology ;

Rejoice, beacon of Truth amidst error ;

Rejoice, correction of those deceived by the prince of this world ;

Rejoice, tormentor of the devil’s minions ;

Rejoice, strength of the Faithful ;

Rejoice, herald of Truth in the New World ;

Rejoice, Truth’s guardian and martyr in the Old World ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 2

You came to America as to a wilderness of strange beliefs, O Father John ; and like the Herald of Christ, whose name you bear, you proclaimed the Kingdom of God to all who would listen. Teaching them to praise the one True God in Trinity and to sing with the angels : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 2

Following in the footsteps of Saints Innocent, Herman and Juvenaly, you came to North America, a land as strange to you as the Slavic lands were to Saints Cyril and Methodius. Nevertheless, by word and deed, you fulfilled both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. You earned for yourself by the Grace of God, the reward of a wise and faithful steward, and from us these words of praise :

Rejoice, heir of the Alaskan Saints ;

Rejoice, inspiration of Saints to come ;

Rejoice, benefactor of those in need ;

Rejoice, consolation of those in sorrow ;

Rejoice, advocate of the powerless ;

Rejoice, physician of those infirm in soul and body ;

Rejoice, you that give strength to the humble ;

Rejoice, you that teach humility to the proud ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 3

You came to North America from your native land. Amidst the cacophony of cultures and ideologies, you clearly preached the Word of God ; you brought many to the True Faith, and you taught them to sing : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 3

Like Abraham, you left your homeland, and you guided your people through a new land of promise, thus manifesting the Orthodox Faith to its inhabitants. In thanksgiving, we, the Faithful of this land cry out to you :

Rejoice, anchor of faith in the tempest of worldly cares ;

Rejoice, rock pouring forth spiritual nourishment ;

Rejoice, bestower of the manna from Heaven ;

Rejoice, our mediator who offers our gifts to God ;

Rejoice, guide of the pious ;

Rejoice, recoverer of those lost in sin ;

Rejoice, illuminator of those in delusion ;

Rejoice, re-uniter of those in the Unia ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 4

You came to North America, and from peoples of diverse tongues and nationalities, you brought together citizens of the Holy Nation called by Christ’s name. In the unity first manifested at Pentecost, you taught them to sing as one : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 4

Imitating the journeys of the Apostle Paul, you traversed the heartland of North America, sowing the seeds of Orthodoxy in the fertile soil. Now we, the fruit borne of your labour, offer our praise to you :

Rejoice, you that heeded the call of Christ ;

Rejoice, labourer in the field of Faith ;

Rejoice, planter of the seeds of Truth ;

Rejoice, winnower of the chaff of error ;

Rejoice, you that tended the field by word and deed ;

Rejoice, you that nourished it by the shedding of your blood ;

Rejoice, you that were sown as a righteous seed ;

Rejoice, righteous seed, for you have borne fruit in abundance ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 5

As chief amongst priests, you visited the churches under your care, across the heart of the continent; confirming true teachings, dispelling falsehoods, and reuniting those who had lapsed; that with one voice we may cry out : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 5

The land of North America was fertile ; and with your saintly co-workers you strove to offer a plentiful harvest to the Lord. You sowed where you knew others would reap. Through your efforts, the Church in North America has borne much fruit ; and she glorifies your memory, saying :

Rejoice, faithful follower of the Holy Hierarch Tikhon ;

Rejoice, companion of saintly priests ;

Rejoice, colleague of victorious martyrs ;

Rejoice, peer of the Seventy ;

Rejoice, elder of pious laity ;

Rejoice, servant of the faithful ;

Rejoice, labourer in the vineyard of Christ ;

Rejoice, pure fruit of Christ the True Vine ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 6

You are truly beloved of God, O Holy Father John ; for you were granted a foretaste of the Communion of the Saints, while still on earth. You counted amongst your co-labourers your archpastors, the Holy Archbishop Tikhon and the Holy Bishop Raphael. Your colleagues in the sacred priesthood, were Alexis and your co-sufferer Alexander. We praise you as we sing to the God who glorified you : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 6

As a priest, you led your people in prayer, while manifesting to them an image of the Great High Priest. Now, as you stand before Him whom you preached, we your spiritual children offer you such words of praise as these :

Rejoice, model of virtue ;

Rejoice, icon of piety ;

Rejoice, physician of souls ;

Rejoice, consoler of penitents ;

Rejoice, refuge of the weak ;

Rejoice, reprover of the proud ;

Rejoice, leader of the Faithful ;

Rejoice, rescuer of the lost ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 7

As the crowd once thronged Christ, seeking His aid, so your people sought you out ; for you helped and guided them through all tribulations of this world. We now, as then, entreat you to aid all who worship the Holy Trinity, crying out : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 7

As Christ once instructed His disciples to allow the children to come to Him, and as He Himself once taught the elders in the Temple, so also you, O Holy Father John, instilled the deposit of Faith in your flock, from the youngest to the oldest. Therefore, we of all ages praise you with these words :

Rejoice, O lampstand of Truth ;

Rejoice, beacon of the Faith ;

Rejoice, trumpet of the Spirit ;

Rejoice, voice of the Fathers ;

Rejoice, flowing stream of divine knowledge ;

Rejoice, abyss of heavenly wisdom ;

Rejoice, zealous expounder of the Word of God ;

Rejoice, fervent dispeller of ungodly myths ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 8

In unquestioning obedience to the Great Commission, you, O Holy Father John, imbued your flock with all that Christ commanded and taught through the Apostles. Securing them in the armour of Faith, you thus protected them from all assaults of the Adversary, and you enabled them joyfully to sing : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 8

You have emulated Christ in all things, even in the horrific manner of your death, O Holy Hieromartyr John. As he was derided by pagan soldiers, so you were mocked by those of the atheists. As He was whipped and beaten, so you were bound and dragged over railway ties. And as His body was pierced by the nails and the spear, so yours was pierced by bullets. For this, we offer you praise befitting your righteous life with such words as these :

Rejoice, shining image of a Christian life ;

Rejoice, glorious icon of virtue ;

Rejoice, prey of the atheists ;

Rejoice, victor over the godless ;

Rejoice, sacrifice pleasing to God ;

Rejoice, libation nourishing the Church ;

Rejoice, true shepherd of the Church ;

Rejoice, true Martyr for Christ ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 9

In all things you embodied all that Christians are called to be : prophet, priest and king ; prophet, for you proclaimed the uncorrupted Word of God to all ; priest, for you offered all things, even your life, to Christ that all might be sanctified ; king, for you ruled your people as a just, and compassionate ruler in the name of the King of Kings. For this, we honour you as we cry out to Him who rules over all : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 9

In all things you emulated the first disciples of Christ. You traversed great distances, teaching, adjuring, and exhorting all who sought the True Faith. To those in need, you brought heavenly comfort. To the infirm, you manifested the Physician of Souls and Bodies. To the confused and deluded, you brought the True Light which enlightens all. To all generations, you proved to be the model of true Christian living. For this, we honour you with these words :

Rejoice, healer of souls

Rejoice, intimidator of demons ;

Rejoice, guardian of the weak and destitute ;

Rejoice, reprover of the proud ;

Rejoice, enlightener of those seeking Truth ;

Rejoice, confounder of those teaching empty myths ;

Rejoice, Lamp of Faith ;

Rejoice, extinguisher of the flames of perdition ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 10

In ancient times, when Abraham arrived in the land to which God sent him, he erected an altar and offered sacrifices to glorify the Lord’s goodness and mercy. Likewise, when you arrived in North America, you erected an altar to the Holy Trinity, at which you offered the bloodless sacrifice to Him for your sins and for those of the people. Now, as we stand before that same altar, we honour you and we entreat your aid, as we offer a sacrifice of praise to the God of our Fathers, crying out : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 10

O thrice-blessed Priest John, you were raised from a priestly family in the manner of Aaron. You were Divinely-appointed to the priesthood in the manner of Melchesedek. You fulfilled your priestly calling, preserving the Body of Christ as it was entrusted to you at your ordination. Through tribulation, hardship, persecution and even death, you preserved that portion entrusted to you whole and unharmed. Now, as you stand glorified before the Throne, we, your spiritual children, offer you this praise :

Rejoice, rival of Abraham in holy obedience ;

Rejoice, equal of Zechariah in piety and suffering ;

Rejoice, imitator of the Apostle Paul in steadfast proclamation of the Truth ;

Rejoice, emulator of the godly John in unwavering love of the Lord ;

Rejoice, colleague of the Seventy in zealous witness to Christ ;

Rejoice, companion of Saint John the Baptist in virtue ;

Rejoice, righteous shepherd in the manner of Saint Ignatius ;

Rejoice, loving father after the example of Saint Nicholas ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 11

Arriving in North America, you changed your outward appearance to acclimate yourself to this strange new land ; yet within you the Faith was preserved whole and uncorrupted. Neither did your devotion to your holy calling change ; for you laboured fervently through all manner of hardship and tribulation, in order to multiply that which was entrusted to you, like the servant with the five talents. We, the multitude gained by your labour, now gather to praise Him who acquired us through you, singing : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 11

A good shepherd seeks the sheep who is lost. In like manner, you sought those led astray by reformers, schismatics, and those whose devotion is to worldly cares. Yet in so doing, you strove to prevent the ninety-nine from falling away. You sought to fulfil Christ’s call that there be one flock and one shepherd. For this we, your rational flock, honour you saying :

Rejoice, paragon of rational sheep ;

Rejoice, scourge of irrational wolves ;

Rejoice, embodiment of the True Shepherd ;

Rejoice, condemnation of hirelings ;

Rejoice, reconciliation of those led astray ;

Rejoice, exhortation of the Faithful ;

Rejoice, cornerstone of the Church in our land ;

Rejoice, millstone grinding away the evil in our midst ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 12

The Holy Justinian exclaimed that he had out-done Solomon when he had erected the Great Church. However, you, O holy Father, have surpassed them both ; for not only have you erected a Temple to the glory of God, but in like manner you have added to the building up of the Church by adding soul upon soul, as a builder would add stone upon stone. You sealed your work with your blood as with mortar. For this, we honour you as we praise the Cornerstone upon which you built, crying out : “Alleluia”.

Ikos 12

“Be all things to all people”, the holy Basil implores of Christ, asking Him to be what He is. In this, you emulated Christ to your people as a provider to the poor, a protector of the weak, a solace to the distressed, an anchor of the Faithful, and beacon to the lost. For this we extol you with such words as these :

Rejoice, apostle bringing Truth to our land ;

Rejoice, teacher illuminating those in the fog of error ;

Rejoice, preacher of virtue and Christian love ;

Rejoice, unmercenary freely granting Grace from God ;

Rejoice, bodily angel guarding your charges from the assaults of the Evil One ;

Rejoice, heavenly disciple adjuring those who reject God ;

Rejoice, confessor enduring hardships in defence of the Church ;

Rejoice, prophet of the Word rejected and killed by your own countrymen ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 13

In all things you are the embodiment of the true priesthood in Christ. You are both a priest descended from priests after the order of Aaron, and a priest set apart by God after the order of Melchisedek. You are the image of piety like Simeon the Elder, and model of righteous devotion like Zechariah the Prophet. You are a zealous teacher and pastor in the manner of Saint John of Kronstadt, and a fervent evangeliser in the manner of Saint Juvenaly of Alaska. O disciple, priest, and martyr for Christ, we praise and honour you as we glorify the Great High Priest who inspired you, proclaiming : “Alleluia”. (sing the Kontak three times)

Ikos 1

You were born into a priestly family like the Holy Forerunner, and like him you went out into a wilderness proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In doing so you strengthened those who believe, and you corrected those in error. Therefore we, the descendants of those who heeded your call, cry out to you :

Rejoice, heavenly trumpet proclaiming God to the world ;

Rejoice, mouth speaking true theology ;

Rejoice, beacon of Truth amidst error ;

Rejoice, correction of those deceived by the prince of this world ;

Rejoice, tormentor of the devil’s minions ;

Rejoice, strength of the Faithful ;

Rejoice, herald of Truth in the New World ;

Rejoice, Truth’s guardian and martyr in the Old World ;

Rejoice, O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Kontak 1

O glorious Hieromartyr John of Chicago, true emulator of the Good Shepherd, you nourished your flock with streams of Divine doctrine. You defended them from the minions of the evil ones who sought like ravenous wolves to devour them. You preserved them whole and unharmed at the expense of your earthly life. Therefore, we honour you as a true disciple of the Lord, crying out :

Rejoice O Father John, true pastor of the Orthodox Christians in Russia and in North America.

Prayer to Saint John Kochurov

O holy, glorious, and truly-victorious Hieromartyr John, Enlightener of North America and shining star of Russia. As Saints Cyril and Methodius brought Orthodoxy to the Slavic lands, so you brought the True Faith to the New World. Having been set over a portion of Christ’s flock, you became all things to them, that you might by all means save some [see 1 Corinthians 9:19-23]. To the powerless, you were an advocate ; to the ignorant and unenlightened, a teacher and preacher of Grace ; to the spiritually weak, a pillar of strength ; to the needy, a benefactor and protector ; to the sick, a physician of soul and body ; and to those estranged by false teaching, you were a light in the darkness. At the same time, you were to all a minister of the sacred Mysteries and an example of righteous living. Having come with your family to an alien land, you ceaselessly gave yourself for your flock, traversing the Midwest so that none of sheep of Christ sheep would be left untended. In so doing, you endured hardship, suffering, sorrow, and strife. Then continuing your service in your homeland, you ultimately suffered death at the hands of your own countrymen, like the prophets of old. All this you accepted for the sake of the Gospel, O glorious Father. May we, through your example and prayers, be enabled to imitate your righteous life. O true shepherd of the rational flock, entreat the Chief Shepherd, that the Church in our land and throughout the world may enjoy the unity of the Holy Trinity ; that it be spared from the powers of the devil which constantly besiege it. And, as your last act on earth was to pray for the cessation of hostility, so also implore the Lord of Hosts and Prince of Peace, that our world may be preserved in peace and tranquillity. O righteous Pastor, never cease beseeching the Lord that He may extend His bounteous mercy upon us, His unworthy servants ; for He it is whom you served ; He it is who glorified you ; and He it is to whom we ascribe glory, honour and worship, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

References

“The Russian Mission in North America”

Tarasar, Constance J, ed., “Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America” (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.

OCA biography of Saint John Kochurov, original article by Alexis P Liberovsky

Proclamation for the Glorification of Saint John in 1994

Wikipedia biography

Russian Wikipedia biography

Russian Wikipedia biography (in Russian)

Midwest Diocese biography

Drevo Encyclopaedia biography

Pravoslavie.ru biography

“Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” biography, no. 11 (2017)

Estonian Orthodox Church biography of Holy Martyr John Kochurov

Archpriest John Bartholomew biography at orthochristian.com

Holy New-Martyrs and Confessors, Brooklyn parish biography

Holy New-Martyrs and Confessors, Brooklyn parish biography (in Russian)

Additional information :

Gray, George A, Bear, Jan V, eds., “of American Saints” (Los Angeles : Diocese of the West, OCA , 1994).

Maltsev, A, “The Orthodox Church and Russian Establishments Abroad” (Saint Petersburg, 1906). [In Russian]

Prokurat, Michael ; Golitzin, Alexander & Petersen, Michael, eds., “The A to Z of the Orthodox Church” (Lanham, MD : Scarecrow Press, 2010), pp. 187-188. ISBN : 978-0-8108-7602-6.

Reed, John, “Ten Days that shook the World” (Digireads.com, 2007). ISBN-10 : 1420930257 ; ISBN-13 : 78-1420930252.

Reed, John, “Ten Days That Shook the World”, (New York : Boni & Liveright, 1919). (pdf version)

Saint Vladimir’s Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois

Temple of the Three Hierarchs, Streator, Illinois

Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois

Saint Michael’s Orthodox Church in Old Forge, Pennsylvania

Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva, Estonia

Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan Sillamäe, Estonia

Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia

Orthodoxwiki article about The Orthodox Church in America

Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Church

Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov)

Saint Tikhon (Belavin)

Saint Raphael (Hawaweeny)

Metropolitan Antony (Vadkovsky)

Saint Benjamin (Kazansky)

Saint Sebastian (Dabovich)

Saint Alexander Hotovitzky

Saint Alexis Toth

Findagrave reference for St John Kochurov

Wikipedia article “Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska”

Orthodoxwiki article “Diocese of Sitka and Alaska (OCA)”

Diocese of Sitka and Alaska web-site

Shadows of the Motherland : Russian Orthodoxy in downstate Illinois

Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the Midwest

Chicago Deanery of the Diocese of the Midwest list of parishes

Wikipedia article about Chicago, Illinois

“Orthodox History” articles about St John Kochurov

Pravmir.ru article : “My American Great-grandfather : The life and death of the holy martyr John Kochurov through the eyes of his great-granddaughter” (in Russian)

Mystagogy article : “Holy Hieromartyr John Kochurov, Missionary to America and First Clergy Martyr of the Russian Revolution, +1917” (MYSTAGOGY)

The Feast of St John Kochurov celebrated at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago (31 October, 2003)

Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) of the Russian Orthodox Church visited Tsarskoye Selo (28 May, 2009)

Pravoslavie.ru article : “Celebration of the Feast of St. John Kochurov at Chicago’s Holy Trinity Cathedral” 2 November, 2016

99th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint John Kochurov (13 November, 2016)

100th Anniversary of Martyrdom of St. John of Chicago celebrated at Holy Trinity Cathedral (8 November, 2017)

Ancient Faith Podcast : The Life of Saint John Kochurov (9 February, 2021)

Saint John Kochurov Society : 6 videos (20 November, 2022)

Video : “In your Patience, possess ye your Souls” : How do we become patient ?] St John Kochurov (2022)

‘Saint John Kochurov’ in “Canadian Orthodox Messenger” (Winter, 2004/2005), p. 15.