Hieromartyr Gabriel, Archbishop Of Vitebsk

Archbishop Gabriel (in the world: Gabriel Dmitrievich Voyevodin) was born in about 1871 in the city of Luga, St. Petersburg province. In 1890 he finished his studies at the St. Petersburg gymnasium, and in 1893 he was tonsured and ordained to the diaconate. In 1894 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy with the degree of candidate of theology, was ordained to the priesthood and appointed teacher at the Vladikavkaz theological school. In 1895 he became a teacher at the Alexandrovsky missionary seminary in the Ardon in Osetia. In 1896 he became a teacher at the Mogilev theological seminary. In 1898 he became an inspector at the Poltava theological seminary. In 1901 he became superior of the Dormition monastery in Ufimsky uyezd in the rank of archimandrite and was a member of the Ufa theological consistory. In 1908 he was appointed superior of the Zhitomir Theophany monastery. From 1908 to 1917 he was head of the Zhitomir school of pastorship in Volhynia province. On July 20, 1910 he became superior of the Trinity Transfiguration monastery in Zhitomir uyezd.

On July 25 (according to another source, 15), 1910 he was consecrated Bishop of Ostrog, a vicariate of Volhynia diocese by Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Volhynia, Bishop Eulogius (Georgievsky) and others. From June 9, 1915 he was appointed Bishop of Chelyabinsk, the first vicariate of the Orenburg diocese. From January 26 / February 8, 1916 until 1917 he was Bishop of Barnaul and in 1917 - temporary administrator of the see of Krasnoyarsk and Yeniseisk. He was a member of the Local Council of the Russian Church in 1917-18, being the deputy of Bishop Anatolius (Kamensky) of Tomsk. From 1919 to 1922 he was bishop of Akmolinsk and temporary administrator of Petropavlovsk, a vicariate of the Omsk diocese. From 1920 to 1921 he was temporary administrator of the Zhitomir diocese. In the spring of 1921 he was appointed Bishop of Petropavlovsk, but did not arrive at his see. On September 14, 1921, he retired.

In September, 1922 he joined the renovationists and was appointed "bishop" of Tomsk and then of the Altai; and in 1923 he signed the decree depriving Patriarch Tikhon of his rank and monasticism. However, in the same year he repented and was received in his existing rank. In June or August, 1923 he was raised to the rank of archbishop. In 1924 he was appointed archbishop of Yamburg - according to another source, Kingisepp, a vicariate of the Leningrad diocese. In 1925 he was exiled to Moscow without the right of leaving the city. From the end of 1926 to Pascha, 1927 he administered the Petrograd diocese temporarily, without the right of leaving the city. Then he retired. On April 19, 1927 he was arrested, and on November 19, 1927 he was released. He rejected the declaration of Metropolitan Sergius and stopped commemorating his name, but did not join the Josephites. From December, 1927 to 1928 he was archbishop of Polotsk and Vitebsk. In 1928 he was retired at his own request. On February 17, 1932 he was arrested, and on March 22 he was sentenced to five years in the camps. From 1932 to 1937 he was in the Mari camps. In February, 1937 he was released, and from 1937 to 1938 he lived in Borovichi, Novgorod province. In 1938 he was arrested in Borovichi and shot.

(Sources: Pravoslavnaya Zhizn', N 1 (565), January, 1997, p. 12; Russkiye Pravoslavnye Ierarkhi, Paris: YMCA Press, 1986, p. 25; M.E. Gubonin, Akty Svyateishago Patriarkha Tikhona, Moscow: St. Tikhon's Theological Institute, 1994, p. 968; Ikh Stradaniyami Ochistitsa Rus', Moscow, 1996, p. 64; ; Pravoslavnaya Rus', N 14 (1587), July 15/28, 1997, p. 6; Bishop Ambrose (von Sievers), "Episkopat Istinno-Pravoslavnoj Katakombnoj Tserkvi 1922-1997 gg.", Russkoye Pravoslaviye, N 4(8), 1997, pp. 4, 6; Za Khrista Postradavshiye, Moscow: St. Tikhon's Theological Institute, 1997, pp. 294-295; Michael Shkarovsky, "Iosiflyanskoye Dvizheniye i Oppozitsiya v SSSR (1927-1943)", Minuvsheye, 15, 1994, pp. 446-463; I.I. Osipova, "Skvoz' Ogn'Muchenij i vody Slyoz", Moscow: Serebryanniye Niti, 1998, p. 256)