Thaddeus (Uspensky), Archbishop of Tver, was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church who died a martyr's death during the Soviet persecution of the Church in 1937. Born Ivan Vasilievich Uspensky on November 12, 1872, the son of a village priest, he was a scholar and theologian before his episcopal ministry, and was remembered for his strict ascetic life and his reputation for the gifts of prophecy and healing. He is numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia and is commemorated on December 18.
After studies at the theological seminary in Nizhny Novgorod and at the Moscow Theological Academy, he was tonsured a monk in August 1897 with the name Thaddeus and was soon ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. He taught at theological seminaries, including those at Smolensk and Ufa, and served as inspector and then rector of the Olonets seminary from 1902. He received a Master of Theology degree for a thesis on the unity of the book of the prophet Isaiah and was awarded a Doctor of Theology in 1908.
Consecrated bishop on December 21, 1908, as Bishop of Vladimir-Volyn', a vicar of the Diocese of Volyn', he later served as Archbishop of Astrakhan from December 1923 before being transferred to Tver in 1928. Through the years of revolutionary upheaval and the campaign against the Church he was arrested repeatedly, including a year-long exile to the Zyryansk region beginning in September 1922 and a further arrest in 1926.
In the renewed repressions of 1937 he was arrested on December 20 and executed; by tradition his death is dated December 18 (31), 1937. His relics were uncovered in 1938 but their location was subsequently forgotten; they were rediscovered in 1990 and, on October 26, 1993, were placed in the Ascension Cathedral in Tver. He was glorified by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997, and is commemorated both on the day of his martyrdom (December 18/31) and on the uncovering of his relics (October 13/26).
