Kizlyar, Dagestan Republic, Russia, February 26, 2018
Photo: goragospodnya.ru A number of Orthodox priests and faithful have proposed the canonization of the parishioners of St. George’s Cathedral in Kizlyar, Dagestan, who were killed while leaving the church on Sunday, February 18, reports RIA-Novosti.
22-year-old local man Khalil Khalilov opened fire as parishioners began exiting the church after having gone through the Rite of Forgiveness in which all entreat and offer forgiveness to one another on the threshold of Great Lent. Four women were killed on the spot, a fifth dying later in the hospital. Another four people were injured, including two security guards at the church. Khalilov himself was later killed by police. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the massacre, and the Russian Investigative Committee is looking into all possibilities.
The women were buried on the territory of the church, being honored as martyrs for Christ.
“It is quite obvious that the servants of God Vera, Nadezhda, Lyudmila, Irina, and Vera became martyrs for Christ. The attacker killed them because they were pious Christians—he specifically attacked an Orthodox Church, and precisely at the time of a service,” reads an address from the group calling for their canonization to “the Church hierarchy.”
The five women were among the most active and well-respected parishioners not only of St. George’s or of Kizlyar, but even of the entire Dagestan Republic.
Lyudmila Georgievna Scherbakova was an honored doctor of the Dagestan Republic and a famous cardiologist in the city. Vera Gavrilovna Morgunova, Lyudmila’s cousin, was an employee of the regional administration and headed the Committee for War Veterans, Homefront Workers, and Labor Veterans of the Kizlyar Region. They were both always ready to help anyone in need and often went on pilgrimages together. Another victim, Nadezhda Sergeevna Terliyan, headed the church’s pilgrimage service. Vera Sergeevna Blinnikova was a very kind person who took care of her disabled husband who is now left without her support. Irina Melkomova, called “Blessed Ira” by parish priest Fr. Paul Kalikin, was a beggar at the church who gave away much of her “earnings” to others in need. She foresaw her death, and died attacking the killer to distract him from hurting others.
“We have lifted a finger to move the bags of the murdered parishioner Irina Melkomova from the bench. Thanks to her, those who were in the yard managed to hide in the church. She leapt at an armed criminal, trying to knock his gun out of his hands with her bags. She diverted murder to herself, which saved the lives of many parishioners,” Fr. Paul reflected.
To read more about the lives and memories of the Kizlyar martyrs, see the article “The Kizlyar Martyrs, in Personal Recollections.”
The faithful also recalled that martyrdom for the faith has not been a rare occurrence in modern Russia, pointing to the examples of the 1993 Pascha Martyrs of Optina Monastery, Hieromonk Vasily and Monks Therapont and Trophim, and Fr. Daniel Sysoev, who was martyred in 2009.
The canonization of the five women of Kizlyar would, according to the group of clergy and laity, inspire the country’s Orthodox and would help in the fight against Islamic terrorism.
