Alexander (born Aleksandr Andreyevich Pokhvalinskiy in secular life; March 4, 1865, The village of Khokhloma, Kostroma Governorate — December 11, 1937, Gorky) — Orthodox bishop, Archbishop of Bogorodsk, vicar of the Gorky Diocese. His ministry was carried out almost entirely in the Nizhny Novgorod region; he was executed during the Great Terror and was subsequently rehabilitated.[1]
Origins and Education
He was born into the family of deacon Andrey Ivanovich Pokhvalinskiy (b. 1841) and his wife Nadezhda Venediktovna, née Tikhoбrazova (b. 1838). In addition to Aleksandr, the family included sisters Yekaterina, Anna, and Mariya, and a brother Porfiry. In 1880 he completed his studies at the Nizhny Novgorod Theological School with a second-class grade, and in 1886 graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary, also with a second-class grade.[1]
Pastoral Ministry Before Taking Monastic Vows
From September 21, 1886, he served as a psalm-reader at the Vladimir (Kanavinsky) Church in Nizhny Novgorod. On February 26, 1889, he was ordained as a priest and appointed to the Assumption Church of the village of Aleksandrovskoye in Sergachsky Uyezd, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. He was widowed in 1893. From 1901 he served as a priest at the Transfiguration Cathedral of Nizhny Novgorod. On June 14, 1917, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest; from that same year he served as dean of the Nizhny Novgorod cathedrals and house churches. From December 28, 1918, he was rector of the Spassky Staroyarmarochny Cathedral.[1]
The Renovationist Schism and Return to Orthodoxy
From 1922, Pokhvalinskiy joined the Renovationist schism, accepted the ryasophore, and on June 26 (according to other sources, July 9), 1922, was consecrated as the Renovationist Bishop of Pavlovsky, vicar of the Nizhny Novgorod Renovationist Diocese. The consecration in Nizhny Novgorod was performed by Archbishop Evdokim (Mescherskiy) and Bishops Varnava (Belyaev) and Polikarp (Tikhonravov). On August 25, 1923, he made his repentance before Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and was received into the canonical Church with the rank of bishop for the Pavlovsky Orthodox vicariate. On April 12, 1925, he signed the act transferring supreme church authority to Metropolitan Peter (Polyanskiy) of Krutitsy.[1]
From September 26, 1929, he served as Bishop of Bogorodsk, vicar of the The Diocese of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas. Until February 11, 1934, he temporarily administered the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese and resided in Gorky, since Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Sergiy (Stragorodskiy), serving as deputy patriarchal locum tenens, was permanently based in Moscow. On October 2, 1932, he was appointed Bishop of Podolsk, vicar of the Moscow Diocese, and elevated to the rank of archbishop. From October 20, 1934, to July 24, 1937, he again held the see of Archbishop of Bogorodsk, vicar of the Gorky Diocese; from January 24, 1937, he was on leave.[1]
Arrest, Execution, and Rehabilitation
On November 3, 1937, Pokhvalinskiy was arrested on charges of active participation in the "Gorky Church-Fascist, Espionage, and Insurgent Organization." Nine priests, three deacons, and a church warden from Nizhny Novgorod were arrested in the same case. On December 2, 1937, the troika of the UNKVD of the USSR for Gorky Region sentenced all of the accused to death. Archbishop Alexander was shot on December 11, 1937, in Gorky and Bugrovsky Cemetery.[1]
On March 18, 1957, the Military Tribunal of the Moscow Military District rehabilitated Pokhvalinskiy in the 1937 case.[1]
Church Awards
His awards included the kamilavka (April 7, 1905), the pectoral cross (March 19, 1909), and the right to wear a cross on the klobuk (April 1933).[1]
Sources
- drevo-info.ru — ALEXANDER (POKHVALINSKIY) — Drevo — …
- pravenc.ru — KERZHENSKY VICARIATE (archive)