Evgeny (or Yevgeny) Aleksandrovich Rodionov was eighteen years old and serving his obligatory military service when he was captured by Muslim insurgents near Chechnya. After enduring months of extremely harsh captivity he was told he could save himself by converting to Islam. But he refused to remove the cross he wore. On May 23rd 1996, his 19th birthday, after enduring great torture he was decapitated by his captors and buried with three other murdered soldiers in a shell crater. His mother went to great lengths and expense to locate and recover her son's remains which have been reburied with honor. His grave is now a popular shrine for pilgrims and St. Evgeny has become the unofficial patron of the Russian Army.
His mother is still alive and often writes and speaks about her son.
Great Martyr Evgeny pray for us!
hasn't Moscow declined to canonize him?
ReplyDeletepersonally, i think he should be, based on the reports of his martyrdom.
There was some initial resistance. However they did formally canonize him. I want to say it was in 2004 but could be wrong about the date.
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John