St. Amphilochios (Skovrtsov), Bishop of Eniseisk and Kransoiarsk, was martyred on this day in 1937. Aleksandr Skvortsov was born in 1885 in the family of the church cantor (psalmist). From a young age, he wanted to be a monk. In 1908, during his studies in Kazan Theological Academy, Aleksandr was tonsured. In 1910 he was ordained priestmonk. Kazan Theological Academy specialized in preparing missionaries for Russian Asia and the East beyond the border. Fr. Amphilochios became an expert in the Kalmyk language and Bible translations into this language. As a result of his expedition to Mongolia (then part of China), two Chinese men were baptized in Kazan. Following the October Revolution (1917), Fr. Amphilochios abandoned academic work and withdrew to Siberia, where he wanted to conduct monastic lifestyles in various monasteries. When it proved difficult due to the resistance from the Renovationist schismatics, Fr. Amphilochios established a skete for monks and nuns in the taiga. In March 1925, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, and St. Peter, Metropolitan of Krutitsy, led Fr. Amphilochios’ episcopal consecration for the see of Krasnoiarsk. In 1926, he was imprisoned at SLON (Special Concentration Camp in Solovki). When in 1928 Bishop Amphilochios was released, the authorities did not permit him to return to Krasnoyarsk. Bishop Amphilochios disagreed with Substitute to the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergii (Stragordskii), regarding the liturgical commemoration of godless authorities. According to him, the only permissible commemoration of them would be for their conversion. As a result of this stalemate, both bishops agreed to the compromise: Bishop Amphilochios retired. In 1931, he was arrested and transferred “from Siberia to Siberia” (V. Vysotskii). The fact that the saint was a true missionary is seen in the fact that even criminals respected him and stopped stealing from other prisoners. In 1937, his term of imprisonment should have ended, but he was arrested again. St. Amphilochios rejected any accusation of counter-revolutionary activity. On September 20, 1937, Troika NKVD (three officials who issued sentences without public trial) decided that St. Amphilochios should live no longer. He was executed on this day. The Bishops Council of 2000 canonized him. Source: Hegumen Damaskin (Orlovskii), “Amfilochii,” Pravolsavnaia Entsiklopedia. | 
