1883–1937
An abbot of Zhitomir in Ukraine, martyred in the Soviet persecution (1937)
The Holy New Hieromartyr Eugene (Vyzhva), Abbot, of Zhitomir
Eugene (Vyzhva) was an Orthodox abbot connected with Zhitomir (Zhytomyr) in Ukraine who was put to death during the Soviet persecution of the Church in 1937. He is numbered among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, and is commemorated on September 7.
Born in 1883 to a peasant family, he entered the Pochaev Dormition Lavra in 1908 and had become an igumen (abbot) by 1917. From 1918 he served as a priest in Zhytomyr and later in a nearby village parish, before being arrested during the campaigns against the clergy.
Eugene entered the Pochaev Dormition Lavra in 1908 and advanced to the rank of igumen (abbot) by 1917. From 1918 he served as a priest in Zhytomyr in Ukraine, and subsequently in a parish in the surrounding district. It is this connection that underlies his liturgical title as abbot of Zhitomir.
During the Soviet campaigns against the Church he was arrested in 1935 and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. After being held in prison and then a labour camp, he was condemned again and executed in 1937. He is remembered together with other clergy who suffered in the same persecution, and is counted among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, with his feast kept on September 7.
Among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia