Alexander Hotovitzky
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hotovitzky hieromartyr
Hieromartyr
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr who was also one of the clergy . In like manner a priest-monk is often called a hieromonk....

 of the Bolshevik yoke, Missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 of America, was a Ukrainian who came to the United States in the 1890s as a lay missionary and was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

 to the priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

hood while there. He was active as a missionary among the emigrated Uniates in the northeastern United States before being ordered back to Europe 1914. He was to become vicar of the congregation of the Russian Embassy in Berlin. Because of the outbreak of the First World War he was instead made vicar of the Orthodox congregation in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, then a part of imperial Russia. In 1917 he was assigned Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. After the Bolshevik coup he was subjected to the cruelties by the revolutionaries as he defended the Orthodox faith, his people, and church property. Subjected to many arrests and exile Father Alexander serviced his beloved Church as best he could through these tumultuous times until after a final arrest he was executed during Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...

 on August 19, 1937. His glorification
Glorification
-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...

 is celebrated on December 4.

Missionary in the United States

Alexander Hotovitzky was born on February 11, 1872, in the city of Kremenets
Kremenets
Kremenets is a city in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kremenets Raion , and rests 18 km north-east of the great Pochayiv Monastery...

 in Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...

 (now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). His father, Alexander, was a priest who was the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of the Volhynia Theological Seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

. Fr. Alexander was educated at the Volhynia Seminary before entering the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Upon graduation from the academy in 1895 with a master's degree he was sent to the Diocese of the Aleutians and North America as a lay missionary and as reader at the St. Nicholas Church in New York City. He was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

 a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 after his marriage to Maria Scherbuhina, who was a graduate of the Pavlosk Institute of St. Petersburg. Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 Nicholas (Ziorov) ordained Fr. Alexander to the priesthood on February 25, 1896, at the diocesan cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 in San Francisco.

A week later he returned to New York to become the pastor of St. Nicholas Church (New York, NY), where he had been a reader. During the ensuing years, Fr. Alexander was successful in his missionary activities among the emigrees from Galicia and Carpatho-Russia as well as representing the Orthodox Church before American religious institutions and meetings. He was instrumental in the establishment of many new Orthodox parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es, including those in Yonkers, Passaic, and Philadelphia. He edited the journal of Orthodox activity, the American Orthodox Messenger. He actively participated in establishing an Orthodox mutual aid society (ROCMAS), including serving in various management positions. Through his initiative and active participation a new architecturally majestic St. Nicholas Cathedral was built to replace the small parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 church in New York City, traveling throughout the United States, and even to Russia, soliciting funds for its construction. In 1903, the new edifice became the diocesan cathedral.

For eighteen years he served in America under Bishop Nicholas; the future Patriarch of Moscow, St. Tikhon
Tikhon of Moscow
Saint Tikhon of Moscow , born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin , was the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of the Soviet Union, 1917 through 1925.-Early life:...

; and Archbishop Platon; the now Archpriest
Archpriest
An archpriest is a priest with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches, although it may be used in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church instead of dean or vicar forane.In the 16th and 17th centuries, during...

 Alexander returned to Russia on February 26, 1914.

Russia and Martyrdom

After his arrival in Russia Fr. Alexander was assigned as a vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 of the Orthodox congregation in Helsinki, then a part of the Russian Empire. Here, as assistant to the archbishop of Finland, Sergius (Stragorodsky), laterPatriarch Sergius I of Moscow
Patriarch Sergius I of Moscow
Patriarch Sergius I , – May 15, 1944) was the 12th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, from September 8, 1943 until his death. He was also the de facto head of the Russian Orthodox Church as Patriarchal locum tenens in 1925-1943.-Early life:...

, he defended the Orthodox minority against the proselytizing activities of the expansionist Finnish Lutherans. The crypt chapel of the Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki is today named after him. Then in August 1917 he was transferred to Christ the Savior Church in Moscow as an assistant priest to once again serve under his old archpastor from America, the future St. Tikhon
Tikhon of Moscow
Saint Tikhon of Moscow , born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin , was the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of the Soviet Union, 1917 through 1925.-Early life:...

.

He also arrived as two historic events were to unfold, the All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918 and the Bolshevik coup of October 1917. He was an active participant in the Church Council and assisted St. Tikhon in the administration of the Moscow diocese. With the loss of state funding, the Church and the Cathedral had to look to other sources of funds. Fr. Alexander, with Fr. Nicholas Arseniev, the rector of Christ the Savior Cathedral, aided the establishment of a brotherhood that appealed to the Orthodox flock to defend and preserve the Cathedral, and to aid the starving.

Fr. Alexander's activities defending the Church naturally brought him the enmity of the Bolsheviks and led to his arrest for brief periods in May 1920 and November 1921 for violating decrees concerning church relationships. In 1922, the next stage of Bolshevik antagonism began as Church property, including icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

s and sacred vessels, were confiscated on the pretextof helping the poor and starving. Although St. Tikhon encouraged the Church's donation of funds for this purpose, this was not enough for the Bolsheviks. So, St. Tikhon issued a decree based on canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 that the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 in Russia were not to surrender sacred vessels for non-ecclesiastical use. This brought St. Tikhon's arrest and numerous court trials in which the servants of the Church were accused of counter-revolutionary activity. These trials intensified the Bolshevik attacks and the increased shedding of blood of the clergy and faithful who defended God's Church.

Fr. Alexander was in the forefront of those who implemented the Patriarch's instructions. He took part in meetings to draft a resolution for a general parish meeting of the Christ the Savior parish about the state decrees. This resolution, drafted by Fr. Alexander, was presented at a general meeting of the parish by Archpriest Nicholas Arseniev on March 23, 1922. Fr. Alexander had already been placed under arrest. The final resolution contained demands of guarantees from the state that all donations by the Church are used for saving lives of the starving. However, the drafting of this resolution was considered a further example of counter-revolutionary activity. This led to further trials and executions of hieromartyrs and martyrs. Then a new high-visibility trial was convened in Moscow on November 27, 1922, during which 105 clergy and laity
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

 were accused of "attempting to retain in their hands possession of church valuables and, through the resulting starvation, to topple the Soviet Regime."

In this trial the state prosecution portrayed Fr. Alexander as a central figure in the activities surrounding the preparation of the resolution. Under questioning, Fr. Alexander did not admit to wrongdoing and tried to protect the other defendants. In his final words as a defendant, Fr. Alexander defended the meeting as an ordinary meeting without any counter-revolutionary intent. On December 13, 1922, the verdicts were announced. As a surprise the penalties were milder than earlier bloody verdicts. Fr. Alexander and two others were given ten-year sentences in prison, loss of their personal property, and loss of civil rights for five years. The others were given lesser sentences, but appeals for pardons were turned down by the Supreme Central Executive Committee on February 16, 1923.

Then, surprisingly, in October 1923, Fr. Alexander and others were granted amnesty. However, despite his freedom he was not assigned to a parish but served by invitation in Moscow churches. Then on September 4, 1924, the State Political Directorate recommended administrative exile of thirteen clergy and church leaders including Fr. Alexander. After further interrogation, Fr. Alexander was exiled to the dreaded northern Turuhan region for three years. After return from exile he was elevated to the rank of protopresbyter and was assigned as an assistant to the Deputy Locum-Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Sergius. In the 1930s, he went on to serve as rector of the Church of the Deposition of the Robe on Donskoy Street.

Then in the summer of 1937, Fr. Alexander was again arrested.He was sentenced to death, and shot on August 19, 1937, and buried in the Donskoi cemetery.

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