Kryuchkov, Xenophon Nikiforovich

Xenofont Nikiforovich Kryuchkov ( 1842 , Poim village , Penza province ^[1] - May 4, 1909 , ibid.) - synodal missionary , archpriest , writer.

Born into a family of rich peasants merchants, Old Believers , bespopovtsev Pomeranian consent . Got a home education. Having a desire for knowledge, without limiting his education to one Old Believer literature, he began to study synodal literature. He approached the famous missionary - Archimandrite Pavel Prussky , under whose leadership he began to study theology. Later, Xenophon had a long conversation with Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) . As a result, Kryuchkov joined the Russian Orthodox Church on the basis of common faith in 1868; later received the rank of priest in 1880 for outstanding achievements in the missionary field. A significant number of Poim Old Believers followed the example of Xenophon. In the village Poim about. Xenophon built two churches of the Faithlessness, large and small. They were built schools, of which one - two-year. A few years later he was appointed diocesan, and then synodal missionary. The public interviews conducted by the missionary Kryuchkov are described in detail in the Orenburg Diocesan Gazette. Xenophon Kryuchkov, never, "... did not stint on the harshest expressions at the address of all the Pomorians ..." Arriving in Orenburg on November 25, 1884, he immediately began active work against the Old Believers, as a result of which 11 people joined the Orthodoxy. The merits of Kryuchkov are expressed in the construction of 150 churches and in the circulation of tens of thousands of Old Believers to common faith. Until his death, Fr. Xenophon followed all current literature, not only spiritual, but secular. Died about. Xenophon May 4 in the rank of archpriest.