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| Theodore Ivanovich Chesnokov with his wife, Eudocia |
St. Varus, Bishop of Lipetsk was shot on the 23rd of September in 1938.
However, Bishop Varus’ flock continued to gather in secret, calling themselves "True Orthodox
Christians". Persecutions began against them in 1937, and during the war they were scattered in
various directions.
A particularly strong community was centered in the village of Kuiman in Trubetchino district,
Ryazan (now Lipetsk) region, led by Theodore Ivanovich Chesnokov.
At the beginning of the war, almost the whole of the community was arrested. On September 21,
1941, as the Germans drew near, 36 people were condemned for anti-Soviet activity. On November
25th they were all shot in a forest about 2-3 kilometres from the town of Ryazhsk. Nun Maria
(Ivanovna Chesnokova) was among them, together with nine other members of the Kuiman community of the Catacomb Church.
In 1943, all the elders of the Kuiman community were arrested. Then, in 1944, they exiled all those
who had refused to join the collective farm, sending them to Tyumen in Siberia. This was in accordance with a letter written on July 7, 1944 by Beria* to Stalin asking permission for the deportation of 1,673 Catacomb Christians from the Ryazan, Voronezh and Orel regions to Siberia.
*Beria was "Minister of State to Stalin" and was also the founder of the "Department of External
Affairs" as a KGB department of the Sergianist Moscow Patriarchate. This organization has since
changed its name to the D.E.C.R..
He described the Catacomb Christians as "leading a parasitical way of life, not paying taxes, refusing to fulfill their obligations and service, and forbidding their children to go to school."
However, the exiles kept in touch, and under Krushchev they began to be released.
This catacomb community gave birth to many yet to be glorified Saints who were killed for
their Orthodox Confession. May we have their holy prayers!