Lakomkiny

Vladyka Gerontii names the ancestor of the surname Iyakov, an Old Believer of the Belokrinitskaya hierarchy. According to a family legend, he always wore a bag called a “gourmet”, in which there were pennies and pennies, giving alms to the poor and giving children. Because he wore this bag not only on holidays, as many did at that time, but daily, he was called Lakomka, and his sons Parfeny and Gerasim - Lakomkiny.

The family of Parfen's son Gregory was very large. Gregory and his wife Yevodokiya had 19 children, numerous relatives lived in the house. Sons and daughters were taught not only literacy - to read in Slavic and sing, but also arithmetic and writing. Families of the sons were engaged in peasantry and wove linen at home. One of the sons, Nikola Grigorievich, made steam from hand weaving, improved machine tools, and worked on the development of color. Having become ill with consumption, he left his work and was engaged in reading holy books and compiling extracts. Another son, Ivan, from childhood was engaged in reading holy books and became a priest. The son of Father John - George became bishop of the Don Diocese of Gennady, and his son Gregory became bishop of Petrograd-Tver Gerontius.

The great-grandson of Iyakova Lakomki Feodor Gerasimovich was made a priest in the village of Zolotilovka in the Kostroma province (now the village of Zolotilovo in the Vichug district of the Ivanovo region . His children were educated and talented, many were engaged in various crafts. Their main obstacle was persecution on faith. Nevertheless, the family always remained openly and boldly profess their faith.

The father of the Lakomkin brothers, John Grigorievich, was born on December 31, 1844. At the age of 17-18, his parents married him to a pious, educated, modest and beautiful girl from Vasilkovo , Manefe Dmitrievna. Soon after, Ivan Grigoryevich was invited to Moscow, and after training he was placed as a priest in Zolotilovo. In his youth, Father John was faced with many different obstacles: persecution, contention within the church, envy, everyday difficulties. His arrival at the beginning was small and poor.

John Grigorievich and Manefa Dmitrievna had five sons and one daughter, two sons died in infancy, one of the sons, the youngest, Ivan, was deaf and dumb. On weekdays, the family was engaged in peasant work, and guests gathered on holidays. Often they read aloud Chrysostom and the Fourth Mineas , as well as other holy books. The children attended the reading and then retold and explained what they heard.

Father John died July 25, 1887 from consumption , which had developed at his young age. Until the last day he left his work and ministry. Peasant work fell on mother Manef and young children.

Mother Manefa lived to a very old age. In 1900, consumption was opened in her, and the doctors considered that she had only a few hours left to live. On the night when, according to doctors, she was supposed to die, nurses found her praying. After this, mother Manefa recovered and lived another 15 years.

Old Believer Christians, ascetics and confessors.

Father Gennady

Born in 1866 , died in 1933 . The eldest son George in his youth was often a reader in the service in the city of Ivanovo . He studied banner singing .

At 18, George married. At the age of 20 he went to s. Elesino, Gorky region, where Bishop Kiril lived, after he lived in the village of Kokhma (now the city of Kokhma ). After the death of his father he returned to his homeland and became a priest in the village. Zolotilovo.

Gathering groups of 5 and 6 people, Father George invited a teacher of prominent singing and reading. A few years later there was a wonderful choir in Zolotilovo. Father George and his wife, mother Olga, had three children: Maria, Ivan and Alexander. At the insistence of his wife, Father George began a section with his brother Gregory, then already married, and his mother. When mother Olga was expecting a fourth child, doctors recognized her position as dangerous, but she did not agree to the operation. With tears saying goodbye to relatives, asking for forgiveness for contention, mother Olga died on September 20, 1899, without giving birth to a baby. Father George became a widower at the age of 33. The orphan was helped by the younger brother's wife.

On September 8, 1910, he was placed in the bishop of the Don diocese (Bishop Gennady). Arrested in 1932, shot in May of the same year.

Father Gerontius

The youngest son Gregory was small in his youth, thin and weak in health. Only enormous inner strength helped him to endure all the heavy sorrows and trials, live to a very old age and end his life in the ministry.

• Bishop Gerontiy Lakomkin. Memories