On this day we commemorate St. John Kochurov, a simple priest from Russia who came to this country to do missionary work at the turn of the last century only to go back to Russia at the time of the Russian Revolution. There, amidst all the chaos and religious persecution, he became one of the first martyrs as the Soviets began to systematically execute over twelve million Orthodox Christians. Ironically, rather than eradicating Christianity, this merciless wave of persecution actually made the Church that much stronger as others fed off of the faith, courage, and conviction of these new martyrs for Christ!
Because so many Christians lost their lives during this era of religious persecution, the saying arose, “Squeeze a handful of Russian soil and out will come the blood of the martyrs.”
Fr. John
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