courtesy of Nina Bogdan, author of The Desolation of Exile: A Russian Family's Odyssey
Surname, Name, Patronymic: Voznesensky Nikolai Fedorovich
Rank: Archbishop
Place of Birth: Kursk Province
Place of Repose: Leningrad
Date of Birth: 1871, XIX Century
Date of Repose: January 31, 1947, XX Century
Church Affiliation: Russian Orthodox Church
DIMITRY (Voznesensky Nikolai Fedorovich), Archbishop of Hailar in Harbin Diocese. He was born in 1871 in Kursk Province. In 1898 he graduated from the Moscow Spiritual Academy with a degree in Theology, after which he taught History of Debunking the Schism in the Kursk Spiritual Seminary. On February 19, 1904, he was removed under his own request from the school service. Later he became teacher of the Law of God (Catechesis) to the Poltava Cadet Corps, where he also published the journal “Faith and Life”. After receiving the holy orders, he first served in Kursk as a priest, and then as an archpriest. In 1909 he was appointed an archpriest to the Blagveshchensk Cathedral. In 1917 he moved to Harbin, where he held the post of residing archpriest attached to St Nicholas Cathedral and at the same time served as a lecturer at the East China Railway Commercial School. Afterwards he was appointed the rector of the Holy Iveron Mother of God Church in Harbin. In 1934 he was consecrated the Bishop of Hailar while remaining the rector of the mentioned church. In 1944 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. On September 29, 1946, he went to Moscow, from where he retired to the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery. He reposed on January 31, 1947, in Leningrad, where he was buried at the larger Ohtensk cemetery. The burial service was performed by Gregory, the Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod, and Yuvenaly, Bishop of Chelyabinsk. In the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate a statement of this Far Eastern bishop was published, in which he called for reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Hierarch was distinguished for his piety, strictness regarding the proper keeping of the statutes and Church regulations. He was always austere toward himself but lenient in regard to others, he attracted the faithful with his love and kindness. Thrice a week he served the Divine Services. Together with Metropolitan Melety he had shown a remarkable zeal in protecting the Orthodox Faith in his battle against the Japanese coercion to force the Russian people to bow to the goddess Amaterasu, at the same time being unshaken by the threats and repression from the Japanese administration. He wrote commentaries on Revelation and the Psalms. He has also written many other religious and ethical books, some of which it was impossible to identify.
“How to Transform Our Spiritual Schools and Seminaries”. Harkov, 1906. “Short Accounts from the History of the Christian Church”. Harbin, 1921. “The Wolf and the Goat: Fables”. Harbin, n.d. [no date of publication] “Children’s Prayer Book with Simple Explanations of the Prayer Text”. Shanghai, 1948. “The Diary of Murzilka: A Tale of the Travels, Wonderings, Mischief and Pranks of the Little Wood People”. Harbin, n.d.
March 1941
“Church Bulletin” 1898, № 40, pg. 370, 1904, № 10, pg. 97. “JMP [Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate]” 1945, № 10, pg. 5, 1947, № 2, pg. 4, 6. “Russian Orthodox Church”, pg. 44. “Journal of the Kazan Diocese” 1904, № 12-13, pg. 369. ”Church Life” 1934, 7, 114-119.
Teacher: Kursk Spiritual Seminary; 1898, XIX Century – 1904, XX Century.
Hierarch: Hailar Diocese; 1934 – September 16/29, 1946, XX Century.