Saint John Kochurov (1871-1917)
"Father John Kochurov was born on July 13, 1871, in the village of Bigildino-Surky of the district of Danky in the Ryazan region, to a pious family of many children. His parents were the priest Alexander Kochurov and his wife Anna. Father Alexander Kochurov served almost all his life in the Church of Theophany in Bigildino-Surky village in the Diocese of Ryazan from the moment of his ordination on March 2, 1857, and having combined all those years of service in the parish with the fulfillment of his obligations as a teacher of the God's Law in the Bigildin's public school, imprinted in the 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.
His education included attendance at the Ryazan Theological Seminary before continuing at the St Petersburg Theological Academy. He excelled at his studies at both the seminary and academy.
After graduating in 1895, father John married and then entered his life's work when he was ordained deacon. On August 27, 1895, he was ordained a priest at the Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St Petersburg by Bishop Nicholas (Ziorov) of the Diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska.
Having expressed the desire to be a missionary priest in the United States, father John was soon transferred and became the first permanent priest at St Vladimir's Church in Chicago. This parish was later to become the Holy Trinity Cathedral. As St Vladimir's parish did not yet have their own building, his first major project was construction of the church building. Under the guidance of Bishop Tikhon, later Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and saint, father John enlisted the services of the noted architect Louis Sullivan to design the church. To finance the project, father John sought and obtained donations from Tsar Nicholas II as well as from a few Americans, notably Harold Fowler McCormick and Charles R Crane who was the American ambassador to China. Construction of the church began in April 1902 and was completed the next year for the consecration by Bishop Tikhon.
Father John devoted much effort to aiding the establishment of other parishes in the Chicago area. He performed the first service for the future Archangel Michael Orthodox Church in southwest Chicago. In the Chicago area he was active in the formation of the parishes in Madison, Streator, and Joliet (all in Illinois), as well as aiding the parishes in Buffalo, NY, and Hartshorne, OK.
Father, John returned to Russia in 1907 where he was assigned to Estonia. Here he put to use the skills he had learned in the United States teaching catechism in the schools.
Then in 1916, he was transferred to Saint Catherine's Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo, just outside St Petersburg. At Saint Catherine's, he established himself as a popular priest who was skilled in presenting moving sermons. Then in October 1917 the Bolshevik uprising in St Petersburg spilled over quickly into Tsarskoye Selo as the town was attacked by Bolshevik elements. The people thronged to the churches where the clergy held prayer services and led processions throughout the town praying for peace.
On October 31, 1917, the Bolsheviks entered Tsarskoe Selo in force and arrested father John. He was taken by the Bolsheviks out of town where he was summarily shot. By this act, father John became the proto-hieromartyr of the Bolshevik revolution and the Soviet yoke. Father John was buried several days later in the crypt of Saint Catherine's Cathedral.
In December 1994, father John was glorified by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, in session at St Daniel's Monastery, Moscow, Russia, as the first of the new martyrs of the 20th century."
Saint John, pray for us, particularly in this season of chosing that our nation would be spared the demonic yoke that yours suffered under.
