New Hieromartyr Barsanuphius of Kyrillov

Barsanuphius (Lebedev) was Bishop of Kyrillov in the Novgorod region of Russia who was shot during the Soviet persecution of the Church in 1918. He is numbered among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia and is commemorated on September 2 (Old Style; September 15 New Style).

By the account preserved in the life of his fellow-martyr, Abbess Seraphima, Bishop Barsanuphius was arrested together with the leadership of the Therapontov Convent during the unrest that followed the Bolshevik seizure of power. He was led to execution alongside Seraphima, Abbess of the Therapontov Convent, and four laymen. The synaxarion lists with him also a priest named John and the martyrs Anatole, Nicholas, Michael and Philip.

The prisoners were taken along the Old Goritsky road to Zolotukha Hill, where there was a shooting range. According to the tradition recorded in his fellow-martyr's life, the bishop called the place 'our Golgotha,' and, supporting Mother Seraphima, urged her to go to death without fear, as to a wedding feast, with joy. He was shot and buried in a common grave at the site, where a memorial chapel was later built.