Mochalny

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The island Mochalny (Russian: Мочальный остров) is a island on the Volga River opposite the mergence of the Volga and Oka Rivers between the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Bor. The island was a place of massive executions during communist "Red terror" and repressions.

Among the first victims who were killed on the island were 15 monks of Oransky Monastery and their father superior Archimandrite Augustine. They were shot during the night between August 17 and 18 in 1918.

According to researchers more than 5000 clergymen and laymen were killed on the island between the summer of 1918 and the end of the 1930s. Some of these martyrs have been canonised and glorified as New Martyrs. Also many other victims of political repressions were killed on the island. The bodies of those murdered were then thrown into the river. A memorial stone cross has now been erected on the island and requiems are regularly served. Soon a church dedicated to the martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their Mother Sophia will be built on the island. .

Among the new martyrs already glorified by Church and who have found a place of rest on the island of Mochalny are:

1. +November 6, 1918 Bishop Lavrenty (Knyazev), archpriests Alexey Porfiriev and Aleksey Neidgardt who were shot within the city and whose bodies were thrown into the water on the island.