1883–1937
A Russian priest who served village parishes and was martyred during the Soviet persecution.
The Holy New Hieromartyr Demetrius (Benevolenskii), Priest, of Tver
Demetrius Mikhailovich Benevolenskii (Russian: Dimitri Benevolensky) was a Russian Orthodox priest of Tver province who served village parishes through the early Soviet decades and was executed during the persecution of the Church in 1937. He is commemorated among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
Born on October 10, 1883, in Vyshny Volochyok, Tver province, he was the son of a clergyman. He trained at Tver seminary and graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary in 1909, teaching for a time at the Nikolo-Stolpensky Monastery before his ordination.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1911, he served successively at parishes in Ostrovno, Panoshin (Udomlya district), and Sinevo-Dubrovo. Arrested and imprisoned repeatedly by the Soviet authorities, he was shot on November 27, 1937 (November 14 on the Old Calendar), and buried in an unmarked mass grave. He was numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia on September 19, 1999.
By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
you became a successor to their throne.
Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God;
by teaching the word of truth without error, you defended the Faith,
even to the shedding of your blood.
Hieromartyr Demetrius, entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Demetrius was born on October 10, 1883, in Vyshny Volochyok in Tver province, into the family of a clergyman. He studied at the Tver seminary and then completed his theological training at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, graduating in 1909.
After his studies he taught at the Nikolo-Stolpensky Monastery. In 1911 he married Anna Ivanovna, daughter of the railway engineer Ivan Alekseevich Tikhomandritsky.
On November 21, 1911, he was ordained to the priesthood and assigned to the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrios in the village of Ostrovno. Although the parish was poor, he donated his own silverware toward casting a new church bell, and he took particular care in selecting and training the choir to cultivate beautiful church singing.
In 1919, following his father's death, he transferred to the Trinity Church (also identified with the parish at Panoshin, in the Udomlya district). After returning from exile in 1933, Archbishop Thaddeus (Uspensky) of Tver assigned him to the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Sinevo-Dubrovo, in the Sonkovo district.
Father Demetrius was arrested and imprisoned several times under the Soviet regime because of his pastoral activity. He was first arrested on January 16, 1929, charged with 'inciting superstition among the masses' for having led a procession with the icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker on October 28, 1928; the parish council president, Alexander Shchegolev, was arrested with him. At the district court hearing in Vyshny Volochyok on April 16, 1929, Father Demetrius was fined 100 rubles while the council president received six months' imprisonment. A cassation appeal filed in May 1929 was rejected.
He was arrested again on February 5, 1930, together with the church president Ivan Ilyich Kolokoltsev and Father Pavel Bogoyavlensky, accused of opposing the closure of the church and of 'anti-Soviet agitation.' On April 25, 1930, an OGPU troika sentenced him to three years' exile in the Northern Territory. He returned home in May 1933. His sons were expelled from school as children of a designated 'class enemy.'
Father Demetrius was arrested for the last time on November 12, 1937. During interrogation on November 21, 1937, by the head of the Sonkovo district NKVD, he was accused of 'systematic counter-revolutionary activities,' of spreading 'provocative rumors about war,' and of disrupting pre-election work. He denied all the charges. Asked about a sermon, he explained that when he had said, 'Do not get caught, O sheep, in the teeth of wolves,' he meant sectarians, not the Soviet authorities.
On November 25, 1937, an NKVD troika resolved to have him executed. He was shot on November 27, 1937 (November 14 on the Old Calendar) and buried in a mass grave whose location remains unknown.
On September 19, 1999, Father Demetrius was numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. His feast is kept on November 14.
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