St. Matthew the New Martyr of Russia 

St. Matthew the New Martyr was born on August 9, 1868 in the village of Nakhabino in the family of a peasant Ivan Gusev. Matthew graduated from the village school and worked and raised his family on his own large farm and supplied oats and hay for a nearby inn. Matthew was a pious layman in his native village and was a member of the church council, which, during his arrest in 1937, served as the main accusation against him and proof of his crime; the chairman and secretary of the village council wrote about him that he "is an ardent churchman and has a connection with the priests."

In 1933, Matthew Ivanovich was arrested for failing to fulfill an agricultural assignment, his property was confiscated, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison. After intensified efforts, the sentence as unjust was canceled, and Matthew was released after fifteen days of imprisonment. Witnesses interviewed in July 1937 showed that Matthew Ivanovich, discussing the closure of the temple in Nakhabino, said that if he were younger, the church would not have been able to close, but now, although the priest wants to do something with the church leader Yes, they are afraid. Witnesses also showed that Matthew Ivanovich allegedly said that the Soviet government does not give anyone freedom, they talk about the Stalinist constitution, freedom of religion, and the church themselves want to close.

Matthew Ivanovich was arrested on September 7, 1937 and imprisoned in the Tagansky prison in Moscow. He was seventy years old; after his arrest, the doctor of the local hospital, having examined his state of health, acknowledged the almost complete loss of vision and senile decay.

On October 10, 1937, a troop of the NKVD sentenced Matthew Ivanovich to ten years in a forced labor camp.

Matthew Ivanovich Gusev died in Siblag on January 18, 1938 and was buried in an unknown grave. He is commemorated on January 5/18, on the day of the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia and on the day of the celebration of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Krasnogorsk on Wednesday of Bright Week.